Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Process Of Therapeutic Change In The Attention Training Technique, Benjamin J. Laman-Maharg

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Background: An unacceptably large proportion of individuals remain symptomatic after receiving first-line interventions. The attention training technique (ATT) is a potentially effective treatment augmentation and standalone treatment that may help improve the treatment of psychological disorders. The machanisms of therapuetic change of ATT remain understudied. This study is a randomized controlled trial of ATT compared to progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) that examined mindfulness and attentional control as potential mechisms of therapeutic change.

Method: A convenience sample of 64 participants (Mage = 20.13, SD = 3.65; 42.2% Male; 64.1% non-Hispanic White; 23.4% Black; 9.4% Hispanic/Latino; 3.1% Other) were randomly assigned to …

Sleep, Experiential Avoidance, And Mental Health Symptoms, Anthony Reffi

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The explanatory mechanisms by which sleep disturbances promote psychopathology are not well understood. Given that poor sleep promotes a broad range of negative emotions the next day, sleep disturbances may increase the tendency to identify inner experiences as aversive, thereby promoting experiential avoidance (EA). Though temporarily effective, the frequent and rigid use of EA has been shown to worsen mental health. Therefore, using a seven-day ecological momentary assessment design, this study investigated momentary EA as a mechanism linking subjective sleep quality and quantity with subsequent anxiety and depressive symptoms. Undergraduate participants (N = 86, Mage = 19.72) first completed an …