Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Complex Trauma In Childhood And Its Relationship To Emotion Regulation And Distress Tolerance In College Students, Elizabeth Lombardo

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The influence of childhood trauma has been found to be related to difficulties in emotion regulation and distress tolerance in young adulthood (Berenz et al., 2018a, 2018b). Research has shown that childhood abuse and adversities such as neglect or emotional abuse results in impaired processes related to the development of emotion regulation and efficient interpersonal skills, while also resulting in symptoms reflecting disordered affective self-regulation (Cloitre et al., 2009; Shipman, Edwards, Brown, Swisher, & Jennings, 2005; Shipman, Zeman, Penza, & Champion, 2000). Research has examined emotional regulation and distress tolerance in the context of childhood trauma but has not …

The Relationship Of Executive Function And Alpha Band Activity During The Eriksen Flanker Task: An Eeg Study, Destiny A. Willis

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: Neural frequencies, measured by electroencephalogram, can be indicative of certain cognitive states. One oscillation, called the alpha wave, has become a proxy for the cognitive ability related to attention. Research suggests that anxiety may result in atypical alpha oscillations when engaging in an attention task, thereby also resulting in potentially dysfunctional attentional abilities. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between alpha wave frequency, executive function, trait anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and response selection.

Method: The Eriksen flanker task was used to measure response selection, while an electroencephalogram recorded alpha brainwave activity (N = 47). This study incorporated …

Interactions With Horses Is Associated With Higher Mindfulness And Heart Rate Variability And Lower Electrodermal Response In College Students, Sarah Mary Wach

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

A wealth of research has revealed psychological and physiological benefits of interactions with animals. As yet, research is limited to smaller animals such as dogs and cats and has not examined the benefits of human-horse interactions. The present study examined the effects of video-simulated human-horse interactions compared with simulated interactions with a car and a person on state mindfulness and physiological arousal. The relationship between trait mindfulness and horse experience was also examined. Undergraduate students with (n = 16) and without experience with horses (n = 26) were recruited with the exclusion criteria of a fear of horses. …