Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Thoughts Of Suicidality And Self-Harm In Middle Childhood: Relationship With Child Maltreatment And Maternal Substance Abuse And Depression, Tara K. Cossel, Natasha Elkovitch, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Presentations

Child maltreatment victims are at increased risk for a multitude of symptoms, including: internalizing problems (e.g., depression, anxiety), behavior problems (e.g., aggression) and post-traumatic stress symptoms (Paolucci, Genuis, & Violato, 2001). Not all maltreated children present with the same outcomes, and research consistently demonstrates child abuse does not have an inevitable pattern or a unified presentation of symptoms. Some youth may be asymptomatic following abuse; others display a myriad of symptoms at varying levels of severity (Kendall-Tackett, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993). A small percentage of this group becomes suicidal.

Recent studies have presented accumulating evidence that suicidality and self-harm warrant …

Personality And Psychosocial Factors Of College Drinking Amount And Frequency, Lindsay A. Vuchetich, Tara K. Cossel, Laura C. Herschl, Dennis E. Mcchargue Ph.D.

Department of Psychology: Presentations

Despite laws in every State that make it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase or possess alcohol, young people report that alcohol is easy to obtain and that many high school and college students drink with one goal – to get drunk. Binge drinking is defined as consuming six or more drinks in a row for boys and four or more in a row for girls. In this exploratory research, several articles were gathered in order to integrate previous findings in the current study. One factor that was looked at in the current study was if …

Gambling Interacts With Trauma To Predict Alexithymia Scores Among College Students, Tara K. Cossel, María José Herrera, Dennis E. Mcchargue

Department of Psychology: Presentations

Gambling is fairly common among college age students, with estimates ranging from 15% (Kerber, 2005) to 42% (LaBrie, Shaffer, LaPlante, & Wechslet, 2003). Furthermore, gambling among college students is associated with a variety of negative consequences, particularly for men (Engwall, Hunter, & Steinberg, 2004). Despite this, less is known about psychological factors linking gambling among college age students. In a recent study conducted among college students, the relationship between pathological gambling and psychological variables (e.g., alexithymia) was examined. Findings indicate that psychological variables like alexithymia might be a noteworthy risk factor to problem gambling (Parker, Wood, Bond, & Shaughnessy, 2005). …

Motivation To Self-Harm In Middle Childhood: Relationship To Emotional Symptomotology And Home Environment, Tara K. Cossel, Natasha Elkovitch, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Presentations

Self-harm in childhood is an important, though neglected area of empirical research. Research has, however, investigated the emotional and environmental factors associated with self-harm in adolescent and adult populations. This research provides a foundation from which to investigate desire to self-harm in child populations.

With regard to emotional factors, self-injurers report having a negative affect they wish to avoid (Polk & Liss, 2007). Further, distraction from emotional pain has been identified as the most prevalent motivation for self-harm across genders (Swannell, Martin, Scott, Gibbons, & Gifford, 2008). Briere and Gil (1998) found self-injury is used in an attempt to decrease …

Self-Harm, Substance Abuse And Age: Relatedness To Sexually Abusive Behaviors Toward Others By Juveniles, Tara K. Cossel

Department of Psychology: Presentations

The present study analyzes three factors as they relate to functioning: selfharm, substance abuse and age. Research has shown girls highest in mid-adolescent selfharm are those who engage in high levels of bullying (Barker, Arseneault, Brendgen, Fontaine, & Maughan, 2008). Little research has been done to analyze specific behaviors toward others among adolescents who self-harm. Dembo, la Voie, Schmeidler, & Washburn (1987) found a positive correlation between antisocial orientation and illicit drug use. Further research was done to understand the nature of behaviors and functioning of juveniles who abuse substances. Johnson (1988) found a history of substance abuse in the …

Childhood Trauma Enhances The Association Between Age Of Cigarette Smoking Initiation And College Drug Use Frequency, Tara K. Cossel, Alicia Klanecky, Dennis E. Mcchargue

Department of Psychology: Presentations

Previous research has reported that across the nation 29% of college students engage in cigarette smoking while four out of five students who have reported smoking in the past 30 days have also binge drank or used an illicit substance. In turn, 70% of students who described using an illicit substance in the past month have smoked cigarettes as well. Because the number of college students abusing substances continues to increase, the prevalence of both cigarette and illicit substance use denotes a major health concern.

Developed to explain the rate and onset of specific use patterns, the “gateway” hypothesis posits …