Psychology Commons^™

The Contribution Of Self-Compassion To Anxiety And Mood In Daily Life, Yamini Pant

Honors Scholar Theses

Self-compassion, the act of being kind and understanding towards oneself, has been shown to have positive impacts on mental health. Depression and anxiety are both common mental health disorders that can interfere with an individual’s ability to function in daily life. Several studies have shown that self-compassion correlates with depression and anxiety at a cross-sectional level and across longer periods of time (e.g., several months). In the present study, we examined the fluctuations and the directionality of self-compassion, depression, and anxiety on a day-to-day basis over the span of a week. We also examined the ways that worry and rumination …

Associations Between Trauma History And Dimensions Of Self-Concept In College Students, Francisco Carrillo-Alvarez

Honors Scholar Theses

Past research in the literature of the self has considered the influence of potentially traumatic or adverse events. In this study, we aim to explore this relationship among undergraduate students utilizing various measures of self-concept including global self-worth, self-concept clarity and domain specific measures of self-perception. Various measures were administered to 308 participants that aimed to determine the instances of potentially traumatic events experienced and the subjective level of distress, in addition to the self-concept measures of global self-worth, self-concept clarity and the domain specific measures of self-perception including self-fulfillment, autonomy, and emotional self-adjustment. The results reveal that global self-worth …

The Effect Of Social Comparison And Fear Of Missing Out On Anxiety Symptoms In Late Adolescents, Olivia Adams

Honors Scholar Theses

Social comparisons between peers are generally adaptive in that they facilitate social learning. However, certain forms of social comparison, especially upward comparison in the form of fear of missing out (FoMO), are posited to relate to both depression and anxiety. Empirical evidence supports that increased FoMO is associated with increased depression in adolescents, both in terms of trait-like aspects as well as in daily fluctuations. However, scant evidence exists for ties to anxiety. This study examined social comparison in the form of FoMO and anxiety in late adolescents to examine potential daily relationships between the two constructs across time. Ninety …

Language Abilities As A Function Of Lateralization Of Language-Specific Brain Networks, Jacey Anderson

Honors Scholar Theses

The strength of hemispheric lateralization appears to be a good predictor of language abilities in children with developmental language impairments. Studies of healthy adults, in contrast, have generally failed to identify any association between degree of lateralization and language abilities, perhaps due to limited sensitivity to individual differences in standardized language assessments. This study used fMRI to measure the lateralization of functional task-engaged language networks in 25 healthy right-handed adults. Linear regressions examined lateralization indices (LI) of language activation in inferior temporal, superior temporal, and frontal brain networks, as a function of syntactic complexity (via story retelling), a grammaticality judgment …

Familial Depression And Adhd In Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Melissa Smith

Honors Scholar Theses

This study explored the relationship between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in toddlers and familial depression, specifically maternal depression. The data on toddlers in this study were collected from the Early Detection of Autism Study at the University of Connecticut. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant relationship between toddlers’ ASD diagnoses and familial depression compared to families with non-ASD toddlers. More specifically, it was hypothesized that there would be a significant relationship between ASD diagnoses and maternal depression, due to the challenges and stressors that result from taking care of toddlers with ASD. This study’s findings did not …

Are Women Higher In Anxiety Than Men? United States Surveys, 2003‐2013, Rabale Hasan

Honors Scholar Theses

A large proportion of the U.S. population suffers from anxiety and related mental illnesses. An in-depth analysis needs to examine all possible factors that may explain why anxiety is on an upward trend and why women are more likely than men to present with anxiety. This study examined the anxiety in five cross-sectional United States surveys (Total N=19,630) taken in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2013. Predictors such as demographics (e.g., race, age, gender), medical conditions, behavioral choices (e.g., BMI, exercise, sleep), and psychosocial stressors were investigated. Linear regression and logistic regression analyses were used to examine trends. Anxiety is …

Responding To Trauma: Help-Seeking Behavior And Posttraumatic Growth In A College Sample, Aaron J. Burrick

Honors Scholar Theses

Research indicates that traumatic experiences can impact college students’ mental health, academic abilities, and relationships with peers. Trauma and associated symptoms of PTSD can lower students’ well-being and increase the risk of withdrawing from the university. Research also emphasizes the importance of psychological help-seeking as a way to experience posttraumatic growth. This study examines traumatic experiences, help-seeking attitudes, barriers, and behaviors, and posttraumatic growth in a sample of 168 undergraduate college students. Results indicated an overwhelming preference for informal help-seeking resources and the importance of traumatic severity in the decision to seek help. Additionally, female participants reported greater traumatic severity …

Co-Worry In Friendship Dyads, Michelle H. Goldstein

Honors Scholar Theses

Anxiety disorders increase in prevalence from childhood into adulthood. Although cognitive theories are prominent in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety, peer relationships are emerging as salient interpersonal risk factors. This study investigates the effects of specific interpersonal interchanges on anxiety symptoms in college students. 60 undergraduates attended the experiment with a same-sex best friend, and were randomly assigned to the co-worry or neutral conversation condition. Each person completed self-report measures of state anxiety, negative affect and positive affect prior to and following an 8-minute conversation about self-generated worry topics such as exams or neutral topics such as the weather. …

History Of Maltreatment And Psychiatric Impairment In Children In Outpatient Psychiatric Treatment, Kerry Gagnon

Honors Scholar Theses

There is increasing evidence that childhood victimization and attachment disruptions impact a child’s development. In this study, children and adolescents from an outpatient psychiatric clinic were assessed, measuring history of trauma, history of out-of-home placement, initial diagnoses, and CBCL internalizing and externalizing problem scores. Multiple regression analyses showed that both violent abuse trauma (physical/sexual abuse) and victim trauma (physical abuse/sexual abuse/witnessing domestic violence/witnessing community violence) are prevalent among patients with externalizing severity problems; concluding that diagnosis alone may not account for a history of victimization, but externalizing problem severity does. Overall, the study is consistent with past literature that it …

Salivary Cortisol, Psychological Stress And Depressive Symptoms Among Patients Undergoing Colon Cancer Screenings, Allyson Reid

Honors Scholar Theses

As the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, colon cancer has a high cure rate if detected early by a colonoscopy (U.S.

Cancer Statistics Working Group, 2007). However, more than 41 million at-risk Americans are not properly receiving colonoscopy screenings according to the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control. This study provides insight into the physiological and psychological benefits of the colonoscopy procedure over and above cancer detection and prevention. Thirty-six patients receiving colonoscopic screening at the University of Connecticut Health Center participated in this study. A questionnaire battery that assessed perceived stress, depressive symptoms, …