Other Psychology Commons^™

Early Life Exposure To Unpredictable Parental Sensory Signals Shapes Cognitive Development Across Three Species, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Kari Mccormack, Hina Arora, Desiree Sharpe, Annabel K. Short, Jocelyne Bachevalier, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Hal S. Stern, Mar Sanchez, Tallie Z. Baram

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Exposure to early life adversity has long term consequences on cognitive function. Most research has focused on understanding components of early life adversities that contribute to later risk, including poverty, trauma, maltreatment, and neglect. Whereas these factors, in the aggregate, explain a significant proportion of emotional and cognitive problems, there are serious gaps in our ability to identify potential mechanisms by which early life adversities might promote vulnerability or resilience. Here we discuss early life exposure to unpredictable signals from the caretaker as an understudied type of adversity that is amenable to prevention and intervention. We employ a translational approach …

A Predictable Home Environment May Protect Child Mental Health During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Laura M. Glynn, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Joan L. Luby, Tallie Z. Baram, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Information about the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent and adult mental health is growing, yet the impacts on preschool children are only emerging. Importantly, environmental factors that augment or protect from the multidimensional and stressful influences of the pandemic on emotional development of young children are poorly understood.

Methods

Depressive symptoms in 169 preschool children (mean age 4.1 years) were assessed with the Preschool Feelings Checklist during a state-wide stay-at-home order in Southern California. Mothers (46% Latinx) also reported on externalizing behaviors with the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire. To assess the role of environmental factors in …

Does A Good Advisor A Day Keep The Doctor Away? How Advisor-Advisee Relationships Are Associated With Psychological And Physical Well-Being Among Graduate Students, Monica Becerra, Emily Wong, Brooke N. Jenkins, Sarah D. Pressman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

It is well established that graduate students face large amounts of stress during their education. Despite this, little research has focused on factors that can help this high stress population maintain well-being in the face of numerous challenges. One potentially important but neglected probable wellness determinant is the advisor-student relationship. This study explored to what extent advisor and department characteristics related to advisor selection are associated with student well-being and examined whether a positive advisor-advisee relationship can reduce the negative effects of stress on student well-being. Four hundred and forty-six graduate students from Ph.D. programs across the United States completed …

Stress And Negative Affect As Mediators In The Association Between Parental Social Support And Lung Function In Adolescents With Asthma, Amber Osorno, Eric Sternlicht, Pornchai Tirakitsoontorn, Azucena Talamantes, Anchalee Yuengsrigul, Zeev N. Kain, Brooke Jenkins

SURF Posters and Papers

Asthma is the leading chronic condition amongst children in the United States as 7.5% of children are diagnosed with asthma. Studies have shown that positive social support is associated with positive asthma management. A strong social support system predicts good management of asthma symptoms; however, current literature has not yet examined how social support impacts lung function as opposed to merely symptom management. Stress and negative affect have been revealed to be associated with worse asthma control, as well as exacerbation of symptoms. Stressful situations, such as the death of a family member, unemployment, and familial tensions lead to worsening …

Positive Affect And Health: What Do We Know And Where Next Should We Go?, Sarah D. Pressman, Brooke N. Jenkins, Judith T. Moskowitz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Positive affect (PA) is associated with better health across a wide range of physical health outcomes. This review reflects on why the study of PA is an essential component of our understanding of physical health and expands on pathways that connect these two variables. To encourage forward movement in this burgeoning research area, measurement and design issues in the study of PA and health are discussed, as are the connections between PA and a range of different health outcomes. Plausible biological, social, and behavioral pathways that allow for positive feelings to get under the skin and influence physical wellness are …

Advancing Research On Psychological Stress And Aging With The Health And Retirement Study: Looking Back To Launch The Field Forward, Alexandra D. Crosswell, Madhuvanthi Suresh, Eli Puterman, Tara Gruenewald, Jinkook Lee, Elissa S. Epel

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objectives

The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was designed as an interdisciplinary study with a strong focus on health, retirement, and socioeconomic environment, to study their dynamic relationships over time in a sample of mid-life adults. The study includes validated self-report measures and individual items that capture the experiences of stressful events (stressor exposures) and subjective assessments of stress (perceived stress) within specific life domains.

Methods

This paper reviews and catalogs the peer-reviewed publications that have used the HRS to examine associations between psychological stress measures and psychological, physical health, and economic outcomes.

Results

We describe the research to date …

Finding Meaning At Work: The Role Of Inspiring And Funny Youtube Videos On Work-Related Well-Being, Sophie Janicke-Bowles, Diana Rieger, Winston Connor Iii

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Watching online videos on social media is a common activity in today’s digital age, but its’ impact on employee well-being at work has not been investigated yet. The current study tried to fill this gap by investigating the role hedonic and eudaimonic online videos play on employee’s stress levels and well-being at work. An online experiment with 200 full time employees in the US was conducted exploring the role of inspiring affect and positive affect on three distinct well-being outcomes: subjective well-being, psychological well-being and social well-being at the workplace. A path model suggests unique effects for inspiring videos on …

Male Psychological Adaptation To Unsuccessful Medically Assisted Reproduction Treatments: A Systematic Review, Mariana Veloso Martins, Miguel Basto-Pereira, Juliana Pedro, Brennan Peterson, Vasco Almeida, Lone Schmidt, Maria Emília Costa

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

BACKGROUND Similarly to women, men suffer from engaging in fertility treatments, both physically and psychologically. Although there is a vast body of evidence on the emotional adjustment of women to infertility, there are no systematic reviews focusing on men's psychological adaptation to infertility and related treatments.

OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE The main research questions addressed in this review were ‘Does male psychological adaptation to unsuccessful medically assisted reproduction (MAR) treatment vary over time?’ and ‘Which psychosocial variables act as protective or risk factors for psychological maladaptation?’

SEARCH METHODS A literature search was conducted from inception to September 2015 on five databases …