Psychology Commons^™

Cognitive Fusion, Self- And Other-Blame, And College Adjustment Outcomes, Olivia Tipton, Stephanie Weigel

SACAD: John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days

A significant portion of college enrollees drop out of college before their degree is awarded, and college persistence is lower in students from challenging backgrounds. The college environment can bring increased academic workload, financial stress, and social stress for first-time enrollees. Several factors may contribute to difficulties in emotion regulation during this time, making it more difficult for college students to respond adaptively to novel stressors. Cognitive fusion is a concept proposed by acceptance and commitment therapy to describe a state in which one believes the literal content of their thoughts, even when those thoughts may be irrational or emotionally …

Maladaptive Perfectionism And Regulation Of Negative Affect After Failure: The Influences Of Self-Esteem And Mindfulness, Gregory Neil Friedman

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

The aim of the present study was to investigate the use of emotion regulation strategies among adaptive and maladaptive perfectionists and determine if there are differences. It proposed a model that maladaptive perfectionists experience heightened negative affect in response to their perceived deficiencies, and that both self-esteem and mindfulness contribute to emotion regulation strategy choice. A sample of 336 participants, ages 18 and older, completed online self-report measures related to perfectionism, self-esteem, mindfulness, current affect, and emotion regulation strategy choice, along with a manipulated failure task. Results showed that after a perceived failure, maladaptive perfectionists had lower odds of choosing …

Cognitive Fusion, Self And Other-Blame, And College Adjustment Outcomes, Olivia B. Tipton

Master's Theses

College students from socioeconomically challenging backgrounds are more likely to drop out of college before being awarded a bachelor’s degree. A challenging background predicts difficulties in emotion regulation, which may affect adjustment to college and, subsequently, persistence in college until a bachelor’s degree is awarded. Previous research has identified cognitive fusion, a state in which one unquestioningly believes the literal content of their thoughts, and inflexible usage of self and other-blame as predictors of negative social, psychological, and academic outcomes. The present study used self-report data collected from emerging adult college students at a small midwestern university to assess whether …

Exploring The Relationships Among Adhd, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, And Emotion Regulation, Anna S. Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationships among Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms and common comorbid struggles for clients, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) symptoms, and executive functions, especially emotion regulation. ADHD and GAD are prevalent mental health conditions, are commonly comorbid with each other, and are both correlated with relative deficits in executive functions. Executive functions comprise higher-order cognitive processes like planning, inhibition, initiation, and monitoring, as well as emotion regulation. Prior research established connections among ADHD symptoms, GAD symptoms, and emotion regulation but did not examine which specific facets of emotion regulation were most relevant. The current study aimed to …

Connections Between Polyvictimization, Daily Stress, Emotion Regulation, And Mental Health Symptoms: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study., Zoe L. Bridges-Curry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background and Objectives: Individuals who experience polyvictimization, or victimization across multiple life contexts, evidence particularly severe outcomes across a range of mental health diagnoses. Preliminary evidence suggests that emotion regulation difficulties and stress sensitization effects may help explain observed links between trauma exposure and mental health symptoms. However, the use of between-subjects designs to address within-subjects processes – a common approach across this literature – can result in erroneous interpretation of findings. Moreover, widespread reliance on retrospective trait measures of emotion regulation, daily stressors, and mental health symptoms have limited insight into the ways that these processes unfold in daily …

Nightmares And Self-Injury Among High-Risk Adolescents: Examining The Role Of Emotion Regulation, Kinjal K. Patel

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) are a public health concern among youth. SITB rates rise drastically during adolescence -- a critical and sensitive developmental period characterized by dramatic changes in biological and social systems. Prior research has identified distal risk factors which tell us who is at risk for SITBs. Emerging research suggests proximal risk factors may be useful to identify when an individual may be at risk for SITBs. One promising proximal risk factor for SITBs is sleep problems. Although the relation between sleep problems and SITBs has been widely documented, little is known about the short-term, proximal links …

Emotion Regulation Tendencies Moderate Momentary Associations Between Sadness, Binge Urges, And Overeating, Jacoby D. Banet, Julia Nicholas, Taylor Penwell, Rowan Hunt, Cheri Levinson

The Cardinal Edge

Background: Eating disorders (EDs) are notably adverse, and previous research emphasizes that analysis of momentary triggers may be useful in determining the factors that maintain ED psychopathology. Negative affect (NA) is one momentary trigger of special interest in regard to binge eating tendencies. While current literature differs on the precise mechanisms by which NA maintains ED psychopathology, emotional regulation has been nevertheless implicated in encouraging binge eating behaviors. The present study explores correlations among sadness, binge urges, and overeating, and assesses emotional avoidance and emotional awareness as potential moderators of these relationships. Method: Participants (N = 34) with moderate …

Affect, Mind-Body Factors, And Disordered And Intuitive Eating Behaviors: Examining Naturalistic Associations Among Young Women With Elevated Eating Disorder Symptoms, Kelly A. Romano

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Objective: The present study examined whether three mind-body factors—emotion dysregulation, interoceptive sensibility, and mindfulness—that are theorized to be implicated in the onset and maintenance of eating disorder (ED) pathology mediated (Aim 1) and moderated (Aim 2) within-person associations between affect and women with elevated ED symptoms’ disordered and intuitive eating behavior use. Method: Participants included 150 young women with elevated ED symptoms who completed a 10-day ecological momentary assessment protocol. To address Aim 1, multilevel structural equation models examined whether the mindbody factors (separately) mediated momentary associations between negative and positive affect, and women’s disordered (dietary restriction, loss of control …

College Student Depression Throughout Covid-19: Fall 2019-Spring 2022, Matthew Powless, Zachary Pilot, Valentin Bouvier, Elisabeth Brown, Mikaila Ealum, Lakota Iron Rope

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

The current study examined the trends in depression and emotion regulation for students (n = 899) at one university in the Midwest United States from prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (Fall 2019) through the Spring 2022 semester. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted, controlling for difficulties in emotion regulation and gender identity. The ANCOVA indicated that depression was significantly lower in Fall 2019 than in the remaining five semesters under investigation. Results of these analyses appear to indicate that depression rose significantly in students after the onset of the pandemic and implementation of social restrictions. This negative effect …

The Effects Of Music On Emotion Regulation And Stress In Test Performance, Jorge Eduardo Alvarenga

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of music on stress and emotion regulation and whether the emotional valence of the music attended to would result in differences in the resulting stress and emotion dysregulation experienced by individuals. A sample of 181 college students, ages 18-50 were recruited via posted flyers and a digital portal for students to volunteer in studies in exchange for class credit and were then randomly assigned to one of two music conditions (music with positive or negative emotional valence). The sample completed a number of self-report measures related to positive and …

The Effects Of A Six-Week Mindfulness Intervention Designed For Adolescents On Emotion Regulation And Perceived Stress In College Students, Theodora Malinowski

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

College students are a vulnerable population to developing mental health problems. Without adequate emotion regulation abilities and adaptive coping skills to manage stress, college students are at risk of experiencing negative mental and physical health outcomes. Mindfulness has been shown to improve mental and physical health. Unfortunately, many mindfulness interventions are developed with the needs of adults in mind. Some features of common mindfulness programs, such as cost and required length of daily practice, make the interventions difficult for most college students to access. The present study investigated the effects of a six-week mindfulness intervention (Learning to BREATHE) that was …

Early Adversity, Emotion Regulation, Object Relational Functioning, And The Moderating Effect Of Gender Identity: A Community Sample Study, Victoria Schilder

Dissertations and Theses

Introduction: Clinical and social psychological literature have long demonstrated group status, culture, and social support as equally integral and influential factors which contribute directly both to the quality of one’s lived experience, and to the development and experience of one’s sense of identity or selfness. For example, acceptable norms regarding behavior, dress, and emotional experience – particularly when an individual does not live up to societal standards – have been demonstrated to contribute to deleterious internalizations surrounding self-confidence, self-worth, and self-esteem. More specifically, the social and cultural implications of being identified as “female” versus “male” have been found to be …

Silver Linings Playlist: Exploring The Effectiveness Of Music As An Emotion Regulation Tool, Caitlin Fountain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Music not only entertains listeners, but it also evokes emotions and facilitates emotion regulation (Gabrielsson, 2001; Krahe & Bienick, 2012). Specifically, music helps listeners to express their emotions and alter their mood through cognitive reappraisal (Chin & Rickard, 2014; Witvliet & Vrana, 2007). Listening to music also enhances relaxation and reduces physiological arousal after experiencing a stressful event (Yehuda, 2011). Stress often involves an influx of negative emotions, which when left unmitigated, may result in fewer positive emotions, increased depression, and maladaptive coping (Flynn & Rudolph, 2010; Lazenby et al., 2019). While music appears to be an effective stress management …

The Conditional Effects Of Emotion Regulation On The Relationship Between Occupational Stress And Suicidal Behaviors In Veterinary Students, Sara Carroll Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is an area of increasing concern in the field of veterinary medicine. As veterinary students prepare to enter the profession and take on the unique stressors associated with this line of work, there is a need for models that identify protective factors for suicidal behaviors. Specifically, research is needed to identify factors that offset the relationship between occupational stress and suicidal behaviors. To better inform interventions designed to prevent suicidal behaviors in veterinary students, emotion upregulation and downregulation strategies were evaluated as potential moderators in the relationship between occupational stress and suicidal behaviors in a sample of veterinary students. …

The Role Of Facial Emotion Recognition Abilities In Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration, Margot Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Interpreting facial affects is a key aspect in everyday human interaction and intimate partner relationships. Being unable to accurately recognize facial expressions may prompt an inappropriate reaction from the viewer. Limited literature suggests perpetrators of intimate partner violence are less able to accurately recognize facial expressions. The previous body of literature regarding facial affect recognition (FAR) abilities in intimate partner violence failed to take into account the role empathy and emotion regulation play in the relationship between intimate partner violence and FAR abilities. In addition, prior studies investigated these differences in primarily White Non-Hispanic individuals limiting the generalizability of their …

Individual Differences And Neural Correlates Of Emotion Reactivity And Regulation: Potential Intervention Targets In Depression, Ian James Kahrilas

Dissertations

Depression, Electroencephalography, Emotion reactivity, Emotion regulation

Testing A Contextual Framework Of Intimate Partner Violence In Young Adults, Phoebe Tabb Hitson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Bell and Naugle (2008) proposed a comprehensive theoretical framework that includes multiple variables hypothesized to be involved in intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, including distal and proximal variables. The current study (1) assessed the extent to which childhood physical abuse victimization, interparental violence, insecure attachment, accepting beliefs about violence, sexism, stress, alcohol and marijuana use, relationship satisfaction, emotion regulation, and anger management were associated with physical IPV perpetration; (2) determined whether some of these variables influenced physical IPV perpetration more than others; (3) explored the mediation of distal variables by more proximal variables in predicting physical IPV perpetration; and (4) …

Racial Differences In Tobacco Use And Risk Factors Among Young Adults: Roles Of Expectancies And Emotion Regulation, Laurel Brockenberry

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

African Americans experience higher mortality from lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases than Caucasian Americans (Kochanek et al., 2016) despite engaging in cigarette and e-cigarette use significantly less or at comparable rates to other racial groups (CDC, 2015; Schoeborn, 2013). During adolescence, smoking prevalence is lower among African Americans than Caucasian Americans, but there is a “cross-over effect” whereby smoking rates become similar later in adulthood (Belgrave et al, 2010). The mechanisms driving this effect are poorly understood. Thus, examining motivating factors for tobacco use, such as outcome expectancies and emotion regulation, may be especially illuminating for young adult African …

Joint Laughter Between Patient And Therapist: Exploring The Function Of These Moments And Their Relationship To The Working Alliance In Short-Term Psychotherapy, Molly Rappaport

Dissertations and Theses

Laughter emerges in infancy and reflects mutually aroused and regulated positive affect within the caregiver-infant relationship and repeated cycles of shared, co-regulated positive arousal have been shown to play a critical role in fueling secure attachment bond formation and laying the groundwork for the infant’s capacity for affect regulation (Schore, 2003). Throughout life, laughter continues to function as an attachment behavior with the possibility of promoting interpersonal closeness or creating distance. Attitudes toward the role of laughter in psychotherapy vary among psychodynamically-oriented clinicians and research has mostly focused on the kinds of humor and interventions that provoke laughter rather than …

Examining The Effects Of An Online Social Skills Program Targeting Emotional Regulation Skills For A Young Adult With An Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Single Case Study., Danielle Curtis

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Social skills deficits have been identified as a core feature deficit in individuals with autism. Several studies have identified the implications that arise when social skills deficits are ignored, such as poor academic performance and challenges with social adjustment. Therefore, it is imperative that professionals find effective interventions to compete with challenges faced in the social environment. The present study uses a behavioral skills training model to teach emotion regulation through video modeling. The results provide potential support for reducing difficulties with emotional regulation. In addition, there were improvements in reducing problematic internalizing behaviors and increases in self-control behaviors.

Examining The Effects Of An Online Group Social Skills Program On Emotion Regulation Skills For Adolescents And Young Adults With An Autism Spectrum Disorder, Breanna Perron

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Difficulties with emotion regulation and social skills have been identified as core deficits for individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (Turcotte et al., 2016). These deficits have been shown to lead to a multitude of social consequences and difficulties across the lifespan when unaddressed (Shattuck et al., 2011). Therefore, it is vital to establish effective interventions to teach the skills necessary to combat those deficits. The present study uses a behavioral skills training model to teach emotion regulation online using video modeling. The results provide potential support for increasing emotion regulation through the teaching of social skills. There were also …

The Mechanism Of Reducing Anxiety Through Mindfulness Interventions: Digital Therapeutic Program, Maria Neizvestnaya

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the prevalence of anxiety disorders, making it a population health concern in the United States and worldwide. The growing need for effective prevention and treatment of anxiety coincides with a deficit of mental health providers and physicians. With the healthcare system currently overwhelmed and the slow training pipeline of new providers, the gap between patient demand and treatment providers will not be closed in the next decade. There is a growing need for evidence-based treatments for anxiety disorders that can increase access to care while addressing the underlying mechanisms of anxiety. Digital therapeutics is a fast-developing …

The Role Of Emotional Attention Regulation In High Psychopathy Incarcerated Males, Michael K. Webb

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the role of emotional attention regulation in men (N = 60) currently incarcerated in a Midwestern prison. Modern conceptualizations define psychopathy as a multifaceted and dimensional construct that includes atypical experience of affect, interpersonal problems, and remarkable social deviance. Attentional differences and deficient emotional experience have been shown to predict psychopathy and other outcomes related to the construct. However, attentional and emotional functioning in individuals high in psychopathy is complex and results have been shown to vary across discrete emotion states and experimental paradigms. The negative preception hypothesis (Kosson et al. 2018) suggests that these differences may …

Relation Of Emotion Regulation Difficulties, Self-Compassion, And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Emily Anne Kalantar

Dissertations and Theses

Exposure to potentially traumatic events is associated with high emotion regulation difficulties, development of posttraumatic stress disorder, and elevated healthcare expenditures. Emotion regulation difficulties are related to worse clinical and sub-clinical posttraumatic stress symptomology relative to use of effective emotion regulation strategies. Yet, significant variance in posttraumatic stress symptom severity remains unexplained after accounting for emotion regulation difficulties, suggesting identification of additional explanatory variables is warranted. Considerable research suggests high (vs. low) self-compassion, which entails extending kindness to oneself, is related to more effective emotion regulation and low posttraumatic stress symptom severity. As such, self-compassion may be one variable that …

The Influence Of Emotion Regulation And Neural Cognitive Control On Distress Tolerance, Alicia L. Milam

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Tolerance of negative emotions has been associated with transdiagnostic negative mental health outcomes. Theory and research implicate emotion regulation and cognitive control as factors in tolerance of negative emotions. But their unique contributions to tolerance of negative emotions and interdependency have been unclear due to methodological limitations. This study aimed to explicate cognitive and emotional factors affecting distress tolerance in a non-clinical sample of emerging adults. Undergraduate psychology students completed self-report measures of emotion regulation ability and tolerance of negative emotions. The N2 ERP component elicited by a Go-NoGo task was also used as a neurophysiological marker of cognitive control …

Individual Differences And Ecological Validity Of Emotion Regulation In Response To Sadness, Colin M. Bosma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The majority of research on emotion regulation processes has been restricted to controlled laboratory settingsthat use experimental paradigms to investigate short-term outcomes (Berking & Wupperman, 2012). A true understanding of emotion regulation requires an unobtrusive, ecologically valid assessment of the construct as it naturally unfolds in the environment. Digital phenotyping, or moment-by-moment quantification of individual-level human behavior using data from smartphone sensors (Torous & Onnela, 2016), is a novel method for evaluating human behavior in naturalistic settings. The present project is the first to implement digital phenotyping in the investigation of emotion regulation.

The central aim of the study was …

The Relationship Between Emotion Regulation And Substance Use Treatment Attrition, Melanie Ruth Roys

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Severe substance use disorders are characterized by chronic cycles of relapse; however, individuals who complete substance use treatment are less likely to experience relapse. Research has focused on trying to identify factors that predict treatment dropout to help improve treatment outcomes. Most of this research has focused on examining demographic and patient-specific factors, with little success in reliably predicting treatment attrition. There has been less focus on investigating transdiagnostic factors that span across discrete psychological diagnoses and demographics. The present study sought to determine if self-report and behavioral measures related to emotion regulation predicted inpatient substance use treatment dropout above …

Effects Of Sleep On Intrusive Symptoms And Emotional Reactivity In A Laboratory-Based Film Analog Study, Anna Marie Thi Thanh Nguyen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by four symptom clusters. Recently, research highlights the need to focus on the impact of intrusive symptoms as a possible risk factor for the development and maintenance of PTSD. Cognitive and sleep models contribute to further understanding of intrusive symptoms. Recent work also highlights disgust as an emotion closely associated with the emergence of posttraumatic stress symptomology following traumatic events. This study used a film eliciting disgust in order to examine the effects of sleep on the intensity of intrusion symptoms and emotion reactivity. The sample consisted of 49 college students randomly assigned to …

Exploring Emotion Regulation And Altruism When Experiencing Compassion Fatigue From Humanitarian Crises, Including Covid- 19., Saniya Tabani

Theses and Dissertations

Despite knowledge of devastating statistics, it has been observed that when hundreds, or even millions are suffering in large-scale crises, including genocides, refugee crises, and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, humans seem unable to process and comprehend the magnitude of that suffering on an emotional level. While the expectation is that compassion should increase proportionally with the number of people suffering in catastrophes, prior research has shown a negative relationship such that as need increases, donations decrease. Some factors that may impact this include the identifiable victim effect, use of emotion regulation strategies, specific cognitive processing styles, and compassion fatigue. …

Childhood Trauma And Ptsd Symptoms: Disentangling The Roles Of Emotion Regulation And Distress Tolerance, Jenna E. Russo, Deepali M. Dhruve, Arazais D. Oliveros

College of Arts and Sciences Publications and Scholarship

Background: Research documents that individuals with a history of childhood trauma experience greater emotion regulation difficulties (ED), as well as lower distress tolerance (DT), two constructs that independent lines of research implicate as transdiagnostic factors in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To help elucidate how such mechanisms may influence the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of PTSD, the current study investigates the distinct mediating roles of ED and DT and explores which accounts for more unique variance.

Methods: Participants (N = 385, aged 18-48) with a childhood trauma history provided self-ratings of cumulative trauma exposure, and endorsed current ED, DT, and …