Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Functions Of Disordered Eating Behaviors: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Lived Experience And Clinician Perspectives, Abbigail Kinnear, Jaclyn A. Siegel, Philip C. Masson, Lindsay P. Bodell

Psychology Publications

Background

One method to improve treatment outcomes for individuals with eating disorders (EDs) may be understanding and targeting individuals’ motives for engaging in DE behaviors—or the functions of DE behaviors. The goal of this study was to investigate and categorize the various functions of DE behaviors from the perspectives of adults who engage in DE behaviors and clinicians who treat EDs.

Methods

Individuals who engage in DE behaviors (n = 16) and clinicians who treat EDs (n = 14) were interviewed, and a thematic analysis was conducted to determine key functions of DE behaviors.

Results

Four main functions …

Rhythmically Modulating Neural Entrainment During Exposure To Regularities Influences Statistical Learning, Laura J. Batterink, Jerrica Mulgrew, Aaron Gibbings

Psychology Publications

The ability to discover regularities in the environment, such as syllable patterns in speech, is known as statistical learning. Previous studies have shown that statistical learning is accompanied by neural entrainment, in which neural activity temporally aligns with repeating patterns over time. However, it is unclear whether these rhythmic neural dynamics play a functional role in statistical learning, or whether they largely reflect the downstream consequences of learning, such as the enhanced perception of learned words in speech. To better understand this issue, we manipulated participants’ neural entrainment during statistical learning using continuous rhythmic visual stimulation. Participants were exposed to …

Characterizing And Predicting Canadian Adolescents’ Internalizing Symptoms In The First Year Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Haley E. Green, Andrew R. Daoust, Matthew R. J. Vandermeer, Pan Liu, Kasey Stanton, Kate L. Harkness, Elizabeth P. Hayden

Psychology Publications

To date, most longitudinal studies of adolescents’ internalizing symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic include few time points, limiting knowledge about the long-term course of adolescents’ mental health during the pandemic. Moreover, examining intraindividual variability in symptoms, which may have important implications for adolescents’ adjustment beyond mean or “typical” symptoms, requires multiple time points. We examined the course of internalizing symptoms in 271 Ontario adolescents (mean n = 193 across time points) during the first year of the pandemic (March 2020–April 2021) via mixed-effect location scale models, drawing upon established internalizing symptom risk factors as predictors of mean trends and intraindividual …

The Contribution Of Attachment Styles And Reassurance Seeking To Trust In Romantic Couples., Lyndsay Elizabeth Evraire, David J. A. Dozois, Jesse Lee Wilde

Psychology Publications

The current daily diary study examined the moderating impact of attachment style on the association between excessive reassurance seeking (ERS) behavior and trust in romantic dyads. A sample of 110 heterosexual couples completed measures of attachment, ERS, and relationship trust. In line with prior research, an anxious attachment style was associated with higher daily ERS, and an avoidant attachment style with lower daily ERS. Lower levels of trust were also associated with greater daily ERS. Moreover, analyses remained significant while controlling for symptoms of depression. This study extended the literature by demonstrating that for women with an anxious attachment style, …

Formal Innovations To Clinical Cognitive Science And Assessment, Richard W.J. Neufeld, Matthew J. Shanahan

Psychology Publications

Mathematical modeling is increasingly driving progress in clinical cognitive science and assessment. Mathematical modeling is essential for detecting certain effects of psychopathology – mental disturbance--through comprehensive understanding of tell-tale cognitive variables such as workload capacity and efficiency in using capacity, and their contrast under quantitative measurement. The research paradigm guiding this formal clinical science is outlined. An example using a distinctive cognitive abnormality in schizophrenia – taking longer to cognitively represent encountered stimulation – provides an illustration of a quantitative framework for studying intricate mental health-impairing phenomena. Added benefits of formal developments, among others, include symptom description and prediction, new …

Exceptional Canadian Contributions To Research On Cognitive Vulnerability To Depression., David J. A. Dozois, Elizabeth P. Hayden

Psychology Publications

For more than four decades, Canadian psychologists have made significant contributions to the understanding of cognitive vulnerability to depression. This article highlights some of these exceptional contributions and the important roles Canadian scientists have played in enhancing our understanding of the cognitive products (e.g., dysfunctional attitudes), cognitive operations/processes (e.g., attention, encoding, and memory biases), and cognitive structures (i.e., cognitive organization) involved in depression. Following this review, we discuss research that has integrated cognitive vulnerability with other risk factors for depression, address some important measurement issues in cognitive vulnerability research, and highlight directions for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 …

How Long Do Mood Induction Procedure (Mip) Primes Really Last? Implications For Cognitive Vulnerability Research., Jennifer C P Gillies, David J A Dozois

Psychology Publications

BACKGROUND: Mood Induction Procedures (MIPs) are used widely in research on cognitive vulnerability to depression. Although empirical evidence supports certain MIPs as effective, little research has evaluated whether MIP-induced sad moods are sufficiently persistent. This study aimed to determine (1) how long an MIP-induced mood lasts according to commonly used operational definitions and (2) whether these findings vary according to the type of MIP used.

METHODS: Four-hundred-and-one undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of three commonly used sad MIPs (music, memory, music+memory) or to one of three matched neutral MIPs. Mood was repeatedly measured immediately prior to and following …

Depressive Cognition On Twitter., David J A Dozois

Psychology Publications

No abstract provided.

The Importance Of Social Connectedness: From Interpersonal Schemas In Depression To Relationship Functioning And Well-Being, David J. A. Dozois

Psychology Publications

In this article, a program of research is described, which began with a focus on depression. A number of studies have demonstrated that negative self-schemas, particularly for interpersonal content, are well organized and appear to represent stable vulnerability factors for depression. Fortunately, this negative interpersonal structure is also modifiable through effective treatments (both psychological and pharmacological). An important extension of this research has involved investigating the impact of schemas on interpersonal phenomena (e.g., excessive reassurance seeking) and the formation of schemas about others (e.g., romantic partners). The dyadic partner-schema model, which articulates how self- and partner-schemas impact relationship functioning, is …

Neural Activity During Self-Referential Processing In Children At Risk For Depression., Pan Liu, Matthew R J Vandermeer, Marc F Joanisse, Deanna M Barch, David J A Dozois, Elizabeth P Hayden

Psychology Publications

BACKGROUND: According to cognitive theories of depression, more negative and less positive self-schemas are thought to play a causal role in the disorder. Existing evidence speaks to the neural substrates of self-referential processes in both healthy and depressed individuals, but little is known about how the brain relates to self-referential processing in the context of depression risk in children. We therefore studied the neural substrates of self-referential processing in never-depressed preadolescent children at high and low risk for depression based on maternal depression history.

METHODS: A total of 87 never-depressed 10-12-year-old children (29 with maternal depression) completed a self-referential encoding …

Online Mindfulness Training Increases Well-Being, Trait Emotional Intelligence, And Workplace Competency Ratings: A Randomized Waitlist-Controlled Trial, Ruby Nadler, Julie J. Carswell, John Paul Minda

Psychology Publications

A randomized waitlist-controlled trial was conducted to assess the effectiveness of an online 8-week mindfulness-based training program in a sample of adults employed fulltime at a Fortune 100 company in the United States. Baseline measures were collected in both intervention and control groups. Following training, the intervention group (N = 37) showed statistically significant increases in resilience and positive mood, and significant decreases in stress and negative mood. There were no reported improvements in the wait-list control group (N = 65). Trait mindfulness and emotional intelligence (EI) were also assessed. Following the intervention mindfulness intervention participants reported increases in trait …

Measuring Personal Growth And Development In Context: Evidence Of Validity In Educational And Work Settings, John P. Meyer Dr.

Psychology Publications

Consistent with the trend toward viewing psychological well-being as more than the absence of illness, we developed an instrument – the personal growth and development scale (PGDS) – that can be used to assess positive change in well-being attributable to context-specific experiences. As part of the validation process, we examined relations between the PGDS and measures of need satisfaction and autonomous motivation in students (N = 241) and employees (N = 468). In the student sample, we also examined relations with engagement and burnout. The findings supported our hypothesis that need satisfaction, autonomous motivation and engagement would relate positively with …

Prediction-Based Learning And Processing Of Event Knowledge., Ken Mcrae, Kevin S Brown, Jeffrey L Elman

Psychology Publications

Knowledge of common events is central to many aspects of cognition. Intuitively, it seems as though events are linear chains of the activities of which they are comprised. In line with this intuition, a number of theories of the temporal structure of event knowledge have posited mental representations (data structures) consisting of linear chains of activities. Competing theories focus on the hierarchical nature of event knowledge, with representations comprising ordered scenes, and chains of activities within those scenes. We present evidence that the temporal structure of events typically is not well-defined, but it is much richer and more variable both …

Should It Stay Or Should It Go? Smartphone Dependency, Kira Foreman-Tran, Karina Schnurr, Ana C. Ruiz Pardo, John Paul Minda

Psychology Publications

As smartphones grow in use and popularity, it is important to understand the possible effects that varying levels of smartphone use may have on human cognition. Although smartphones provide many advantages for daily activities, one must also recognize the potential disadvantages. For example, smartphone use may lead to nomophobia, which is defined as the modern fear of not being able to access your smartphone or the internet (Yildirim & Correia, 2015). The present study used a pilot and main study to examine the effects smartphones have on human cognition. The pilot study was conducted to measure nomophobia, mobile phone involvement, …

Cognitive Change In Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Leanne Quigley, David J A Dozois, R Michael Bagby, Daniela S S Lobo, Lakshmi Ravindran, Lena C Quilty

Psychology Publications

BACKGROUND: Although cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is a well-established treatment for adult depression, its efficacy and efficiency may be enhanced by better understanding its mechanism(s) of action. According to the theoretical model of CBT, symptom improvement occurs via reductions in maladaptive cognition. However, previous research has not established clear evidence for this cognitive mediation model.

METHODS: The present study investigated the cognitive mediation model of CBT in the context of a randomized controlled trial of CBT v. antidepressant medication (ADM) for adult depression. Participants with major depressive disorder were randomized to receive 16 weeks of CBT (n = 54) or ADM …

Late Positive Complex In Event-Related Potentials Tracks Memory Signals When They Are Decision Relevant., Haopei Yang, Geoffrey Laforge, Bobby Stojanoski, Emily S Nichols, Ken Mcrae, Stefan Köhler

Psychology Publications

The Late Positive Complex (LPC) is an Event-Related Potential (ERP) consistently observed in recognition-memory paradigms. In the present study, we investigated whether the LPC tracks the strength of multiple types of memory signals, and whether it does so in a decision dependent manner. For this purpose, we employed judgements of cumulative lifetime exposure to object concepts, and judgements of cumulative recent exposure (i.e., frequency judgements) in a study-test paradigm. A comparison of ERP signatures in relation to degree of prior exposure across the two memory tasks and the study phase revealed that the LPC tracks both types of memory signals, …

A Dyadic Partner-Schema Model Of Relationship Distress And Depression: Conceptual Integration Of Interpersonal Theory And Cognitive-Behavioral Models., Jesse Lee Wilde, David J. A. Dozois

Psychology Publications

Difficulties in romantic relationships are a prominent part of the disorder for many individuals with depression. Researchers have called for an integration of interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral theories to better understand the role of relational difficulties in depression. In this article, a novel theoretical framework (the dyadic partner-schema model) is presented. This model illustrates a potential pathway from underlying "partner-schema" structures to romantic relationship distress and depressive affect. This framework integrates cognitive-behavioral mechanisms in depression with research on dyadic processes in romantic partners. A brief clinical case example is presented to illustrate the utility of the dyadic partner-schema model in conceptualizing …

The Role Of Outcome Expectancy In Therapeutic Change Across Psychotherapy Versus Pharmacotherapy For Depression., Thulasi Thiruchselvam, David J A Dozois, R Michael Bagby, Daniela S S Lobo, Lakshmi N Ravindran, Lena C Quilty

Psychology Publications

BACKGROUND: Patient outcome expectancy - the belief that treatment will lead to an improvement in symptoms - is linked to favourable therapeutic outcomes in major depressive disorder (MDD). The present study extends this literature by investigating the temporal dynamics of expectancy, and by exploring whether expectancy during treatment is linked to differential outcomes across treatment modalities, for both optimistic versus pessimistic expectancy.

METHODS: A total of 104 patients with MDD were randomized to receive either cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or pharmacotherapy for 16 weeks. Outcome expectancy was measured throughout treatment using the Depression Change Expectancy Scale (DCES). Depression severity was …

Translating The Bdi And Bdi-Ii Into The Hamd And Vice Versa With Equipercentile Linking., Toshi A Furukawa, Mirjam Reijnders, Sanae Kishimoto, Masatsugu Sakata, Robert J Derubeis, Sona Dimidjian, David J. A. Dozois, Ulrich Hegerl, Steven D Hollon, Robin B Jarrett, François Lespérance, Zindel V Segal, David C Mohr, Anne D Simons, Lena C Quilty, Charles F Reynolds, Claudio Gentili, Stefan Leucht, Rolf R Engel, Pim Cuijpers

Psychology Publications

AIMS: The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) are the most frequently used observer-rated and self-report scales of depression, respectively. It is important to know what a given total score or a change score from baseline on one scale means in relation to the other scale.

METHODS: We obtained individual participant data from the randomised controlled trials of psychological and pharmacological treatments for major depressive disorders. We then identified corresponding scores of the HAMD and the BDI (369 patients from seven trials) or the BDI-II (683 patients from another seven trials) using the equipercentile linking …

Cognition And The Brain Of Brood Parasitic Cowbirds., David F Sherry, Mélanie F Guigueno

Psychology Publications

Cowbirds are brood parasites. Females lay their eggs in the nests of other species, which then incubate the cowbird eggs and raise the young cowbirds. Finding and returning to heterospecific nests presents cowbirds with several cognitive challenges. In some species, such as brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), females but not males search for and remember the locations of potential host nests. We describe recent research on sex differences in cognition and the hippocampus associated with this sex difference in search for host nests. Female brown-headed cowbirds perform better than males on some, but not all, tests of spatial memory and females …

Individual Differences In Cognitive Map Accuracy: Investigating The Role Of Landmark Familiarity, Nicole L. Youngson, Megan Vollebregt, Jennifer Sutton

Psychology Publications

Broad individual differences exist in the ability to create a cognitive map of a new environment. The current studies investigated whether familiarizing participants with to-be-learned target landmarks (Experiment 1) or target landmarks plus the order they would be encountered along routes (Experiment 2) before exploring the Silcton virtual environment would increase performance on tasks assaying spatial memory of Silcton. Participants in both experiments were randomly assigned to be pre-exposed either to information about target landmarks in Silcton or control landmarks on the university campus. In both experiments, participants explored Silcton via four prescribed routes and then performed a direction estimation …

Multimodal Event Knowledge In Online Sentence Comprehension: The Influence Of Visual Context On Anticipatory Eye Movements, Valentina Benedettini, Pier Marco Bertinetto, Alessandro Lenci, Ken Mcrae

Psychology Publications

People predict incoming words during online sentence comprehension based on their knowledge of real-world events that is cued by preceding linguistic contexts. We used the visual world paradigm to investigate how event knowledge activated by an agent-verb pair is integrated with perceptual information about the referent that fits the patient role. During the verb time window participants looked significantly more at the referents that are expected given the agent-verb pair. Results are consistent with the assumption that event-based knowledge involves perceptual properties of typical participants. The knowledge activated by the agent is compositionally integrated with knowledge cued by the verb …

Teachers` Dual Commitment To The Organization And Occupation: A Person-Centered Investigation, John P. Meyer, Alexandre J. S. Morin, Laura J. Stanley, Elyse R. Maltin

Psychology Publications

This study extends previous commitment research by applying person-centered analytic techniques to identify and compare profiles of affective, normative, and continuance commitment to the organization and occupation. Latent profile analyses applied to data from 336 Canadian teachers revealed five profiles with unique combinations of the three commitment mindsets across the two targets. Differences observed across profiles in teachers’ turnover intention and physical and psychological well-being are used to illustrate the benefits of taking a more holistic approach to the investigation of commitment compared to analyses involving individual targets and/or mindsets. Implications for commitment theory, future research, and practice are discussed.

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Internet-Delivered Cbt And Attention Bias Modification For Early Intervention Of Depression, R. Mcdermott, David J. A. Dozois

Psychology Publications

Abstract

The conceptualization and empirical knowledge base related to major depression has increased dramatically in recent years. We now have well-developed and validated models of depression from a range of theoretical perspectives. These models have significantly enhanced the development of effective treatments and preventative interventions. Although various prevention programs are available, Web-based protocols can enhance accessibility to evidence-based prevention programs. The current study involved a randomized controlled trial focused on the prevention and treatment of depression in high-risk first- and second-year undergraduate students. Three Internet-delivered preventative programs were compared: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT; MoodGym), attentional bias modification, and an active …

Estrogens And Androgens In The Prefrontal Cortex: Relevance For Cognition And Decision-Making, Elizabeth Hampson

Psychology Publications

Organizational and activational effects of reproductive steroids regulate many aspects of brain function in nonhuman species, including certain cognitive functions. These actions are often exerted in a region- or pathway-specific manner in the CNS to promote reproductive objectives. Similar effects are thought to occur in human brains. Growing evidence suggests that 2 major families of hormones, estrogens and androgens, may influence cognitive and motivational processes. This chapter will briefly review findings from humans and nonhuman primates suggesting that the prefrontal cortex is an important target for estrogens and androgens. Hormonal regulation in the frontal cortex is discussed in terms of …

Universal Features In Phonological Neighbor Networks, Kevin S. Brown, Paul D. Allopenna, William R. Hunt, Rachael Steiner, Elliot Saltzman, Ken Mcrae, James S. Magnuson

Psychology Publications

Human speech perception involves transforming a countinuous acoustic signal into discrete linguistically meaningful units (phonemes) while simultaneously causing a listener to activate words that are similar to the spoken utterance and to each other. The Neighborhood Activation Model posits that phonological neighbors (two forms [words] that differ by one phoneme) compete significantly for recognition as a spoken word is heard. This definition of phonological similarity can be extended to an entire corpus of forms to produce a phonological neighbor network (PNN). We study PNNs for five languages: English, Spanish, French, Dutch, and German. Consistent with previous work, we find that …

Abstract Concepts And Pictures Of Real-World Situations Activate One Another., Ken Mcrae, Daniel Nedjadrasul, Raymond Pau, Bethany Pui-Hei Lo, Lisa King

Psychology Publications

Abstract concepts typically are defined in terms of lacking physical or perceptual referents. We argue instead that they are not devoid of perceptual information because knowledge of real-world situations is an important component of learning and using many abstract concepts. Although the relationship between perceptual information and abstract concepts is less straightforward than for concrete concepts, situation-based perceptual knowledge is part of many abstract concepts. In Experiment 1, participants made lexical decisions to abstract words that were preceded by related and unrelated pictures of situations. For example, share was preceded by a picture of two girls sharing a cob of …

Semantic Memory, Eiling Yee, Michael N. Jones, Ken Mcrae

Psychology Publications

How is it that we know what a dog and a tree are, or, for that matter, what knowledge is? Our semantic memory consists of knowledge about the world, including concepts, facts and beliefs. This knowledge is essential for recognizing entities and objects, and for making inferences and predictions about the world. In essence, our semantic knowledge determines how we understand and interact with the world around us. In this chapter, we examine semantic memory from cognitive, sensorimotor, cognitive neuroscientific, and computational perspectives. We consider the cognitive and neural processes (and biases) that allow people to learn and represent concepts, …

Evidence For A Bifactor Structure Of The Scales Of Psychological Well-Being Using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling, Jose A. Espinoza, John P. Meyer, Brittney K. Anderson, Chelsea Vaters, Christina Politis

Psychology Publications

This research investigates the much-debated factor structure of the 54-item version of Ryff’s (1989) Scales of Psychological Well-being (SPWB). Using two samples (n₁ = 573; n₂ = 449) of undergraduate university students, we apply confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) along with recently developed exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) techniques to evaluate several unidimensional and multidimensional models identified in previous research, as well as a new bifactor model. In a bifactor model, items load directly on both a global and a specific factor; when tested using ESEM, cross-loadings on other specific factors are also permitted and are targeted to …

Not The Years In Your Life, But The Life In Your Years: Lessons From Canadian Psychology On Living Fully., David J.A. Dozois

Psychology Publications

Over the past couple of decades, there has been an increasing focus on positive psychology in both the popular media and the scientific literature. Prior to this time, the predominant focus has been on what is aberrant or deficient, and how to ameliorate problems or dysfunction (i.e., a psychopathology orientation). Indeed, my own research has focused on cognitive vulnerability to depression and how we can understand and modify underlying core beliefs and cognitive structures. In this article, I deviate from my own ‘comfort zone’ to highlight some key concepts related to understanding what makes life fulfilling and meaningful. Specific lessons …