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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

The Contribution Of Attachment Styles And Reassurance Seeking To Daily Mood And Relationship Quality In Romantic Couples, Lyndsay E. Evraire Nov 2014

The Contribution Of Attachment Styles And Reassurance Seeking To Daily Mood And Relationship Quality In Romantic Couples, Lyndsay E. Evraire

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Excessive reassurance seeking (ERS), defined as the stable tendency to excessively and persistently seek assurances from others, has recently emerged as a possible risk factor for interpersonal distress and depression. An important limitation in the ERS literature concerns the mechanism(s) by which individuals engage in ERS. The current daily diary study was among the first to examine the daily relationships among ERS, mood, and relationship quality in romantic couples, and explore how these associations were moderated by individual and partner attachment styles. Method: A sample of 110 heterosexual couples completed measures of attachment, ERS, symptoms of depression, and relationship quality. …


Self-Referential Processing: An Investigation Of The Mediating Role Of Alpha Power, Tanaz Javan Sep 2014

Self-Referential Processing: An Investigation Of The Mediating Role Of Alpha Power, Tanaz Javan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The EEG correlates of valenced self- and other-referential processing (SRP-ORP) are relatively little understood. This study examined the immediate effects of mindfulness meditation (MM) and EEG alpha neurofeedback (NFB) on resting state EEG alpha amplitudes and alpha event related (de-)synchronization (ERD/S) during an experimental implicit and explicit SRP-ORP task. Undergraduate students (n = 93) were randomized to a single session of MM, NFB alpha synchronization training (“alpha-up”), NFB alpha desynchronization training (“alpha-down”), or sham (placebo control) NFB before completing the Visual-Verbal Self-Other Referential Processing Task (VV-SORP-T). A reduction in resting-state alpha power over posterior cortex was observed across groups relative …


Mediators Of Change In The Stigmatization Of Depression Among Caucasian And Asian Populations, Francois B. Botha Aug 2014

Mediators Of Change In The Stigmatization Of Depression Among Caucasian And Asian Populations, Francois B. Botha

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Public stigma negatively impacts public health by discouraging people with depression from seeking help. In North America, Asians reliably report higher levels of stigma and lower levels of help-seeking than do Caucasians. The reasons for this discrepancy and possible methods of reducing this have, however, rarely been explored. In Study 1, undergraduate students (n = 573) completed several questionnaires related to public stigma, values and ideological beliefs, attitudes and beliefs regarding people with depression and perceived norms. At least one week afterward, participants completed the second part of Study 1, where they were presented with contrived articles highlighting a …


Multi-Sector Service Use By Children In Contact With Ontario Mental Health Agencies, Christian M. Hahn Aug 2014

Multi-Sector Service Use By Children In Contact With Ontario Mental Health Agencies, Christian M. Hahn

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Children and youth frequently receive services for mental health issues from multiple service sectors but little is known about the rates of multi-sector involvement over time. Thus, the prevalence of multi-sector service use for children in contact with Ontario mental health agencies, and the influence of demographic, familial, and need variables on child multi-sector involvement, were examined. Secondary data analyses were performed on chart reviews of clients (N=355; 67% boys; ages 4 to 13) from six mental health agencies. Approximately two-thirds of clients had multi-sector involvement. In cross-sectional analyses, risk factors predicted increased likelihood of multi-sector involvement, whereas protective factors …


The Integration And Evaluation Of Humor And Positive Psychology Approaches To Well-Being, Nadia Maiolino Jun 2014

The Integration And Evaluation Of Humor And Positive Psychology Approaches To Well-Being, Nadia Maiolino

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The research domains of humor and positive psychology promote strategies that can enhance well-being. However, these lines of investigation have proceeded in relative isolation. Therefore, this thesis considered how positive psychology constructs, namely, gratitude and savoring, share features with the humor styles. Study 1 mapped out the inter-relationships among these strategies, as differentially used by individuals. Findings indicated that these strategies share meaningful relationships, and that humor and positive psychology have unique roles within the context of well-being. The humor styles also moderated relationships gratitude shared with well-being. Study 2 extended this work by manipulating use of positive psychology and …


Cognitive Predictors And Behavioural Mediators Of Vulnerability-Specific Stress Generation In Depressed Adults, Katerina Rnic Jun 2014

Cognitive Predictors And Behavioural Mediators Of Vulnerability-Specific Stress Generation In Depressed Adults, Katerina Rnic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This longitudinal study investigated the prospective relation of core beliefs and maladaptive behaviours with stress generation. A sample of 151 depressed females completed a battery of questionnaires to assess the presence of early maladaptive schemas, excessive reassurance seeking (ERS), avoidance, depression and anxiety. Approximately three months later, participants were administered the Beck Depression Inventory-II, a diagnostic interview, and a semi-structured contextual interview that assessed the number and severity of life events experienced since Baseline. ERS mediated the association between a Subjugation schema and dependent interpersonal stress, and behavioural-nonsocial avoidance mediated the relation of an Abandonment schema and dependent interpersonal stress. …


Secondary Traumatic Stress And Alexithymia In High-Risk Professionals, Matthew R. J. Vandermeer Apr 2014

Secondary Traumatic Stress And Alexithymia In High-Risk Professionals, Matthew R. J. Vandermeer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigated the role that cognitive deficits in emotional processing (i.e., alexithymia) play in the development of traumatic responses, such as secondary traumatic stress (STS), following work with clients who have experienced trauma. Using a prospective cohort of novice counselling psychology and pre-service education students, participants were measured for traits of alexithymia and STS before and after their first practicum placements. Elevated rates of STS consistent with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder were identified in participants following initial practicum placement. Correlation analyses demonstrated that alexithymia and alexithymia symptom clusters were significantly, and robustly, associated with STS and STS …


Towards An Improved Understanding Of The Heterogeneity Of Violence: A Test Of The Clinical Utility Of The Reactive-Instrumental Distinction Among Adult Male Inmates, Jennifer L. Tapscott Apr 2014

Towards An Improved Understanding Of The Heterogeneity Of Violence: A Test Of The Clinical Utility Of The Reactive-Instrumental Distinction Among Adult Male Inmates, Jennifer L. Tapscott

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Purpose: Interpersonal violence exacts a high cost on society, both in terms of its impact on victims and its associated financial burden. To better understand the heterogeneity of violence, forensic researchers often distinguish between reactive violence, which occurs in response to provocation, and instrumental violence, which is goal-oriented. Although these subtypes of aggression have been associated with unique psychosocial vulnerabilities in samples of children or community adults, the current study examined whether this pattern of divergence generalized to an adult correctional sample. Method: Participants were 151 adult male federal inmates. Inmates completed self-report measures of childhood maltreatment, social-cognitive processing, and …


Executive Dysfunction: A Contributor To Subtypes Of Violence Or General Criminality?, Megan B. Hancock Jan 2014

Executive Dysfunction: A Contributor To Subtypes Of Violence Or General Criminality?, Megan B. Hancock

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Purpose: The adverse consequences of violence on society are tremendous. Several factors have been identified as potential contributors to violent crime, including deficits in executive functioning. Executive functioning is a term used to a describe number of higher-order cognitive abilities (e.g., working memory, inhibition) that are thought to be essential for appropriate, socially desirable behavior. The extent to which executive functions influence the occurrence of general criminality versus specific subtypes of crime is largely unknown. Of particular interest is the ability of executive functioning to distinguish between reactive and instrumental subtypes of violence. Whereas reactive violence is committed with the …