Psychology Commons^™

Profiles Of Activity Engagement And Depression Trajectories As Covid-19 Restrictions Were Relaxed, Jonathan L. Chia, Andree Hartanto, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Given elevated depression rates since the onset of the pandemic and potential downstream implications, this research examined the association between activity engagement and depression among middle-aged and older adults postlockdown. This study aimed to (a) identify activity engagement profiles among middle-aged and older adults, (b) understand factors associated with profile memberships, and (c) compare depression trajectories across profiles as COVID-19 restrictions eased over 16 months in Singapore. This longitudinal study involved 6,568 middle-aged and older adults. Latent growth analysis was first conducted to obtain estimates of depression trajectories for each individual. Latent profile analysis was then conducted to identify different …

Gender As An Environmental Stressor In Individuals Genetically Predisposed To Mood Disorders: A Preliminary Analysis, Kara West

Audre Lorde Writing Prize

Given the recent ‘epidemic’ of mental health disorders, we urgently need to better understand who is suffering and how. One aspect of this that research has come closer to identifying is where symptoms and diagnoses are missed in certain individuals, especially based on gender. However, if certain genders are actually more likely to deal with certain disorders we need to understand why and where that comes from. There is a general consensus in the medical field that some individuals are simply genetically predisposed to various disorders based on sex, but there is limited evidence that sex actually determines genetic predisposition. …

The Acute And Persisting Impact Of Covid-19 On Trajectories Of Adolescent Depression: Sex Differences And Social Connectedness, Sabrina R. Liu, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Anton M. Palma, Curt A. Sandman, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

The COVID-19 era is a time of unprecedented stress, and there is widespread concern regarding its short- and long-term mental health impact. Adolescence is a sensitive period for the emergence of latent psychopathology vulnerabilities, often activated by environmental stressors. The present study examined COVID-19′s impact on adolescent depression and possible influences of different domains of social connectedness (loneliness, social media use, social video game time, degree of social activity participation).

Methods

A community sample of 175 adolescents (51% boys, mean age = 16.01 years) completed questionnaires once before and twice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Piecewise growth modeling examined the …

The Effect Of Stress, Acculturation, And Heritage Identity On Depression In Arab Americans, Abdul-Rahman Suleiman, Omar Afify, Keith E. Whitfield

Office of the President Faculty Publications

Introduction: Arab Americans are significantly affected by depression with prevalence as high as 50%. Our study assesses whether unique causes of depression such as stress, acculturation, and heritage identity play a role in the high prevalence of depression in Arab Americans. Methods: We surveyed 142 self-identified Arab Americans using a convenience model. Participants answered questions about their level of perceived stress, everyday discrimination, and acculturative stress. They also answered questions regarding their level of acculturation and heritage identity. Finally, participants answered questions regarding their depressive symptoms. A score of 16+ on the depression scale was used as the cut-off for …

Preferences In Information Processing, Marginalized Identity, And Non-Monogamy: Understanding Factors In Suicide-Related Behavior Among Members Of The Alternative Sexuality Community, Robert J. Cramer, Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Andrea R. Kaniuka, Corrine N. Wilsey, Annelise Mennicke, Susan Wright, Erika Montanaro, Jessamyn Bowling, Kristin E. Heron

Psychology Faculty Publications

Suicide-related behavior (SRB) is a mental health disparity experienced by the alternative sexuality community. We assessed mental health, relationship orientation, marginalized identities (i.e., sexual orientation minority, gender minority, racial minority, ethnic minority, and lower education), and preferences in information processing (PIP) as factors differentiating lifetime SRB groups. An online cross-sectional survey study was conducted in 2018. Members of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF; n = 334) took part. Bivariate analyses identified the following SRB risk factors: female and transgender/gender non-binary identity, sexual orientation minority identity, lower education, suicide attempt/death exposure, Need for Affect (NFA) Avoidance, depression, and anxiety. …

Social Work Trauma Interventions: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Kassie Baumann

Senior Honors Theses

According to Lynne Weilart (2013), in her article on the reasons why people seek out therapy, trauma is the number one reason people attend counseling. Many different trauma-informed approaches are designed specifically to address the consequences of trauma and to facilitate healing. Some of these approaches are as follows: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT);Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT); Trauma Systems Therapy (TST); Trauma Assessment Pathway (TAP); and Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC) (de Arellano, Danielson, Ko, & Sprauge, 2008). The effectiveness of each trauma intervention will be examined. DBT is one of these trauma interventions that is growing …

Interpretation Bias Toward Ambiguous Information In Burnout And Depression, Renzo Bianchi, Eric Laurent, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Jay Verkuilen, Chantal Berna

Publications and Research

Burnout has been defined as a job-related syndrome combining pervasive fatigue and loss of motivation. In recent years, evidence has mounted that burnout may reflect a depressive condition. In this study, we expanded on past investigations of burnout-depression overlap by focusing on interpretation biases toward ambiguous information among the two entities. We conducted a web-based study involving 1056 participants (83% female; mean age: 42.87). Burnout symptoms were assessed with the Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure and depressive symptoms with the PHQ-9. The Ambiguous Scenarios Test (AST), a measure of interpretation bias validated among dysphoric individuals, was the outcome of interest. The AST …

Relationship Of Optimism And Suicidal Ideation In Three Groups Of Patients At Varying Levels Of Suicide Risk, Jeff C. Huffman, Julia K. Boehm, Scott R. Beach, Eleanor E. Beale, Christina M. Dubois, Brian C. Healy

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Optimism has been associated with reduced suicidal ideation, but there have been few studies in patients at high suicide risk. We analyzed data from three study populations (total N=319) with elevated risk of suicide: (1) patients with a recent acute cardiovascular event, (2) patients hospitalized for heart disease who had depression or an anxiety disorder, and (3) patients psychiatrically hospitalized for suicidal ideation or following a suicide attempt. For each study we analyzed the association between optimism (measured by the Life-Orientation Test-Revised) and suicidal ideation, and then completed an exploratory random effects meta-analysis of the findings to synthesize this data. …

Depression, Emotional Eating And Food Choice, Jhen-Da Prince

Honors College

The prevalence of depression has been steadily growing throughout the years, especially among college students. Depression has been rated third amongst the presenting problems in college counseling centers (Drum & Baron, 1998) and studies have indicated that as much as 80% of college students say they have experienced some form of depression throughout college (Westefeld & Furr, 1987). Not only does depression affect college students, but positive affect does as well. Evidence that suggests that those with a history of depression may get the most benefit from having positive affect, given a negative relationship between positive affect and depressive symptoms …

Teacher Support Mediates Concurrent And Longitudinal Associations Between Temperament And Mild Depressive Symptoms In Sixth Grade, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Patrick Pössel, Stephanie Winkeljohn Black, Kate Niehaus

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The combination of changes occurring at the transition to middle school may be a catalyst for the onset of depressive symptoms, yet teacher support at this transition is protective. Research points to certain temperamental traits as risk factors for developing depressive symptoms. This study examines student reports of teacher support and teacher reports of student–teacher relationship (STR) quality as mediators of associations between child temperament (i.e. negative emotionality at age 4½ : and emotional reactivity in elementary grades) and depressive symptoms in sixth grade. Results indicate (a) negative emotionality predicted emotional reactivity and depressive symptoms; (b) emotional reactivity predicted depressive …

Correlation Between Facebook Usage And Loneliness And Depression, Jasmine (Chi Man) Tang, Michael Livingston

Psychology Faculty Publications

Facebook has emerged into our society within the last couple years as a powerful social phenomenon. 11.5% of the world population are active users of Facebook while there is a serious lack of psychological theory relating to functions or effects of Facebook. Researchers began realizing the importance of investigating the usage of Facebook and how that might be related to different personality traits. However, not much research has been done on how Facebook use could be related to our social well-beings.

The current study aims to investigate how the use of Facebook influences loneliness and depression. The results showed that …

Structural Relations Among Negative Affect, Mate Value, And Mating Effort, Beth Randi Kirsner, Aurelio Jose Figueredo, W. Jake Jacobs

Faculty and Research Publications

We compared the ability of models based on evolutionary economic theory and Life History (LH) Theory to explain relations among self-reported negative affect, mate value, and mating effort. Method: Two hundred thirty-eight undergraduates provided multiple measures of these latent constructs, permitting us to test a priori predictions based on Kirsner, Figueredo, and Jacobs (2003). We compared the fit of the initial model to the fit of five alternative theory-driven models using nested model comparisons of Structural Equations Models. Rejecting less parsimonious and explanatory models eliminated the original model. Two equally parsimonious models explained the data pattern well. The first, based …