Psychology Commons^™

Family Functioning Guidelines For The Care Of People With Spina Bifida, Tessa K. Kritikos, Grayson Holmbeck

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Research supports a resilience-disruption model of family functioning in families with a child with spina bifida. Guidelines are warranted to both minimize disruption to the family system and maximize family resilience and adaptation to multiple spina bifida-related and normative stressors. This article discusses the spina bifida family functioning guidelines from the 2018 Spina Bifida Association’s Fourth Edition of the Guidelines for the Care of People with Spina Bifida, and reviews evidence-based directions with the intention of helping individuals with spina bifida achieve optimal mental health throughout their lifespan. Guidelines address clinical questions pertaining to the impact of having a child …

Distributed Cognition In Teams Is Influenced By Type Of Task And Nature Of Member Interactions, R. S. Tindale, Jeremy R. Winget, Verlin B. Hinsz

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In contemporary organizations, many if not most teams work on cognitive or information processing tasks (Hinsz, Tindale, & Vollrath, 1997). The past 50 years of research has taught us much about how information is accessed, created, attended to, and processed as groups attempt to complete various tasks. However, many of the information processing effects that have been observed are at least somewhat task specific, yet little research has focused specifically on tasks and how their information processing requirements differ. In this chapter, we discuss how task differences can impact how groups use and process information and how different information distribution …

The Youngest Victims: Children And Youth Affected By War, James Garbarino, Amy E. Governale, Danielle Nesi

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In 1989, the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child declared, “[state parties] shall take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected by an armed conflict.” In addition to attempting to secure the welfare of children in armed conflict, the Convention went on to ban the recruitment and deployment of children during armed conflict. Despite the vast majority of sovereign nations signing and ratifying this agreement, this treaty, unfortunately, has not prevented children and youth from witnessing, becoming victims of, or participating in political, ethnic, religious, and cultural violence across the past …

Neuroticism As The Intensity, Reactivity, And Variability In Day-To-Day Affect, Garrett C. Hisler, Zlatan Krizan, Tracy Dehart, Aidan G.C. Wright

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Neuroticism has been linked to typical levels of affect, affect reactivity to negative events, and variability in affect over time. However, the intercorrelations among these characteristics make it unclear whether neuroticism reflects unique variance in each of these aspects of emotional life. Data from two daily-diary samples revealed that neuroticism was associated with average levels and variability of positive and negative affect and reactivity of negative affect to stressors, but was only uniquely related to mean levels of positive and negative affect. Findings highlight the substantial overlap in affect indices, suggesting that mean levels of affect, at the very least, …

Stereotypic Morality: The Influence Of Group Membership On Moral Foundations, Jeremy R. Winget, R. S. Tindale

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Today’s modern world affords many benefits, one of which is the ability to have near-instantaneous interactions with groups and cultures other than our own. Though advantageous in many situations, one challenge for these groups is navigating what they perceive to be right and wrong in a cooperative manner despite having different modes of morality. Moral foundations theory holds groups use the same moral foundations to guide their judgments and decision making, but there has been little research on how the perception of these foundations differs within and between groups. Thus, the current study examined how moral foundations operate from a …

Savoring The Moment: A Link Between Affectivity And Depression, Ian J. Kahrilas, Jennifer L. Smith, Rebecca L. Silton, Fred B. Bryant

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Objective: Positive affectivity (PA; disposition to experience positive moods) and negative affectivity (NA; disposition to experience negative moods) may be risk factors for depression. Low PA may impair positive emotion regulation (savoring), potentially exacerbating depression. Understanding the mechanisms in which temporal domains of savoring influence the relationship between affectivity and depression may help advance depression treatments.

Method: 1,618 participants (1,243 females; 70.0% Caucasian, 19.1% Asian, 4.5% African American, 0.9% Pacific Islander, 0.7% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 4.9% Biracial) ages 17 - 40 (M = 18.99, SD = 1.33) completed questionnaires. An exploratory path analysis was run with …

Cheers To Equality! Both Hostile And Benevolent Sexism Predict Increases In College Women’S Alcohol Consumption, Hannah R. Hamilton, Tracy Dehart

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Based on research suggesting that alcohol consumption can be used as a means of coping with negative affect (Cooper et al. 1995), the current study examines sexism as a factor in college women’s alcohol consumption. Despite being more prevalent than hostile sexism, benevolent sexism is often viewed as less sexist (Oswald et al. 2018) and having a less aversive impact on women (Bosson et al. 2010). To increase understanding of the negative effects of both hostile and benevolent sexism, the current study experimentally manipulated sexism during a lab session and measured 176 U.S. college women’s actual alcohol consumption that evening. …

Regulating Positive Emotions: Implications For Promoting Well-Being In Individuals With Depression, Rebecca L. Silton

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Experiencing positive emotions is paramount to derive vitality from daily lived experiences. Positive emotions are associated with a range of beneficial outcomes, including longevity, reduced incidents of stroke, improved sleep quality, larger social networks, increased prosocial behavior, lower cortisol levels, and increased endogenous opioids and oxytocin. Despite these benefits, only limited research has focused on understanding positive emotion regulation within the context of depression. Rather, mechanisms related to the regulation of negative emotion have been the focus of research and evidence-based treatments. This interdisciplinary review article aims to advance knowledge regarding the role of positive emotion regulation in individuals with …

Rewarding Effects Of M4 But Not M3 Muscarinic Cholinergic Receptor Antgonism In The Rostromedial Tegmental Nucleus, Nicole Buie, Dharm Sodha, Sarah B. Scheinman, Stephan Steidel

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) receives inputs from the laterodorsal tegmental and pedunculopontine tegmental nuclei, the two principle brainstem cholinergic nuclei. We tested the effects of RMTg M3 and M4 muscarinic cholinergic receptor antagonism in a conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm in mice. RMTg infusions of the M3 muscarinic cholinergic receptor antagonist 1,1-Dimethyl-4-diphenylacetoxypiperidinium iodide (4-DAMP) do not result in the acquisition of CPP but increase locomotor activation. By contrast, RMTg infusions of the M4 muscarinic cholinergic receptor antagonist Tropicamide result in the acquisition of CPP but do not increase locomotor activation. The rewarding effects of RMTg Tropicamide infusions are dopamine-dependent …

Transitions Into Higher Education, Brynn M. Huguenel, Colleen S. Conley

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The transition into higher education is internationally recognized as a critical developmental period characterized by changes in contexts, identities, relationships, roles, and responsibilities. Further, it typically coincides with the developmental progression from late adolescence to emerging adulthood, which brings its own challenges and opportunities for success as well as struggle. This confluence of disruption and change can contribute to psychological upheaval or reveal resilience. The entry begins with a discussion of the current state of higher education enrollment, and describes the transition to higher education within various key domains, including considerations of identity and development in emerging adulthood, relational and …

Self-Management In Youth With Spina Bifida: Associations With Parent Factors In The Context Of A Summer Camp Intervention, Colleen F. Bechtel Driscoll

Dissertations

Achieving condition-related independence is an important developmental milestone for youth with spina bifida (SB) that can be impacted by a variety of parent factors. This study aimed to investigate (1) the cross-sectional associations between parent factors (adjustment, perceptions, attitudes, behaviors) and youth self-management (e.g., youth's condition-related responsibility and mastery), (2) relations between these same parent factors and changes in youth self-management following participation in a summer camp intervention for one summer, and (3) associations between parent factors and growth in self-management variables over two summers. Participants were 89 camper-parent dyads recruited at a summer camp for youth with SB (Myouth …

The Influence Of Dialecticism On Savoring Across Cultures, Soyeon Kim

Dissertations

The present study investigated the influence of dialectical thinking on the ways in which people savor positive experiences across culture. Although both the concept of savoring (i.e., the capacity to attend to, appreciate, and regulate positive experience) and the concept of dialecticism (i.e., a prevalent Eastern philosophy that values the interconnectedness of all things, constant changes in life, and coexistence of contradictory phenomena) are essential topics in contemporary psychology, there is a lack of theory and research that links together these two concepts within a cross-cultural framework. Literature has shown that emotion is a product of culture and norms; East …

Using Moral Foundations Framing To Influence Partisan Attitudes Toward Latino Immigrants, Salma Moaz

Master's Theses

This study aims to use Moral Foundations Theory to reduce prejudiced attitudes towards Latino immigrants. Research has shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ in their support of moral foundations. Liberals are more likely to endorse individualizing moral foundations (fairness and caring for others) while conservatives are more likely to endorse binding moral foundations (sanctity, loyalty, and authority). Participants read one of two brief messages in support of Latino immigrants framed in either the binding or individualizing morals. the hypothesis was that conservatives who read the binding message will have more pro-immigrant attitudes, be more supportive of pro-immigrant policies, …

Testing An Ecological Model Of Obesity Among School-Age Children: Identifying Targets For Tailored Intervention, Dorothy Mcleod Loren

Dissertations

Childhood obesity rates remain historically high in the US. One way to conceptualize the many factors that contribute to obesity is through the use of an ecological model. There is a particular need to adapt and test this type of comprehensive model among vulnerable racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Using a large sample of US youth drawn from the ECLS-K:2011 (N=8,225), this project first investigated an ecological model of childhood obesity from kindergarten to second grade, including factors such as child physical activity, child screen time, child bedtime, family physical activity, family food insecurity, family meals, and neighborhood safety. Then, it …

Community Violence Exposure Among Ethnic Minority Youth: Understanding The Predictive Roles Of Depressive Symptoms And Risky Behavior In A Community Sample, Amanda Nicole Burnside

Dissertations

Ethnic-minority youth residing in urban communities are disproportionately impacted by community violence exposure (ECV), and despite decades of research, rates of ECV in youth continue to increase. Further, person-based analyses have demonstrated variability in rates of ECV, even among youth who share similar risky demographic factors and it is important to examine the utility of psychological factors as predictors of ECV. Drawing from public health frameworks and the reciprocal-stress model, the current study seeks to better understand the longitudinal relationship between various components of depressive symptoms (depressed affect, somatic symptoms, depressive cognitions, suicidal thoughts and behaviors) in the prediction of …

Layperson's Norms Surrounding Politician Sexual Misconduct And Sexual Harassment, Yelyzaveta Distefano

Master's Theses

While there are legal definitions of what actions and circumstances constitute gender based prejudiced, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape, less is known about lay people's norms and perceptions of what behaviors and situations qualify as each of these categories, especially involving the role of context in which ambiguous social-sexual behaviors occur. Additionally, sexual harassment paradigms have not explored the unique power relationships of politicians and those working under them in political office, an especially topical locale of workplace SH in a post #MeToo America. 277 participants completed a survey with a 2 (setting: workplace, office party at the bar) …

An Experimental Test Of Fiedler's Contingency Model Of Leadership Effectiveness: The Effect Of Gender, Samantha De Souza

Master's Theses

The present study is an experimental test of Fiedler's (1967) Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness across genders, as Fiedler's Contingency Model has been tested largely with male participants. The model predicts group performance based on four key variables: leadership style, as indexed by the Least-Preferred Coworker (LPC) Scale, and three situational variables, leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. In situations characterized by high leader-member relations, and low position power, Fiedler predicts a negative correlation between the leader's LPC score and group performance when groups perform a structured task (Octant II), and a positive correlation when groups perform an unstructured …

The Effect Of Individual Differences On The Experience Of Meaningful Work: The Influence Of Social Status And Work Motivation, Plamena Daskalova

Dissertations

As the employment landscape continues to change through rapid advancements in technology, globalization, and the growing presence of contingent work opportunities, what remains the same is workers' quest towards decent and meaningful work (MW). Such work depends on employees' perception that their work is important and that it contributes to their own growth, as well as to that of society. Emergent research on the construct points to a host of benefits associated with obtaining MW. Among these include greater vocational satisfaction, increased organizational commitment, and improved job engagement. However, not all individuals have access to such work. Differences in social …

Dietary Intake And Executive Function In Youth And Emerging Adulthood: Environmental Correlates And Developmental Considerations, Amy Michelle Egbert

Dissertations

Obesity is a major public health concern impacting one in five young people in the U.S., and research suggests that consumption of high calorie, low nutrient foods may play a role in weight gain. Executive function (EF) has emerged as a factor that may play a role in dietary intake across youth development. Although biopsychosocial models of obesity emphasize the importance of identifying individual and environmental influences that may be associated with poor dietary intake, empirical research in this area is lacking. Therefore, the current set of studies seeks to 1) systematically review the literature on the association between EF …

Black Women College Students, Impostor Phenomenon, Stereotypes, And Mental Health: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Lincoln Hill

Dissertations

The present research project expands on impostor phenomenon (IP) literature by incorporating an intentional intersectional framework using two studies to determine if IP mediates (explains) the relationship between group stereotype threat susceptibility and mental health outcomes for Black women college students attending predominantly White institutions. by including a diary study to ascertain the frequency, intensity, and triggers for impostor beliefs, this project provides support for context dependent impostorism. It provides clarification around what types of situations precede the endorsement of heightened impostor beliefs for Black women college students. This project answers the following research questions amongst a sample of Black …

Mortality Salience, Group Membership, & Reciprocity, Fatima A. Martin

Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of mortality salience, group membership, partner's behavior, and adherence to the norms of positive and negative reciprocity. Three-hundredeighty- four participants completed the either a mortality salience or control (where mortality was not salient) induction, a group membership induction, a personal norms of reciprocity scale, one round of a single-shot trust game (a measure of positive reciprocity), and one round of a singleshot ultimatum game (a measure of negative reciprocity). During the trust game, an ostensible interaction partner received a small monetary endowment, and contributed either that entire endowment or less than half of it (keeping …

Neuropsychological Correlates Of Chronic Pain: The Influence Of Anxious Arousal On Cognitive Control, Kelly L. Polnaszek

Dissertations

The present set of studies assessed the relation between neural, psychological, and cognitive mechanisms that have been shown to influence the experience of chronic pain. Specifically, Studies One and Two advanced our understanding of chronic pain by illustrating its unique relationship with anxious arousal and frontal neural activity on inhibitory control difficulties. Study Three focuses on targeting how anxious arousal is distinctly associated with neural correlates of inhibitory control in order to provide a framework that can be applied to individuals experiencing chronic pain. Together, these studies aim to inform the development of evidenced-based interventions that target anxious arousal in …

An Ecological Model Of Transmission Of Depression: Risk And Protective Factors For Mexican Immigrant Mothers And Children Living In Poverty, Anna Maria Ros

Dissertations

Family poverty has been found to predict a number of negative outcomes across a multitude of domains of child development, including health, education, language and cognitive development (Reiss, 2013; Yoshikawa, Aber & Beardslee, 2012). Furthermore, studies examining differing prevalence rates of mental illness depending on socioeconomic status have found that children liv-ing in poverty in the United States are between two and three times as likely to meet criteria for a psychiatric disorder when compared to their higher SES counterparts (McLaughlin et al, 2011; Reiss, 2013). Family poverty has been found to predict internalizing psychopathology risk across childhood and adolescence, …

The Flexible Impact Of Affective States On Group Decision-Making And Ideational Creativity, Young-Jae Yoon

Dissertations

Positive and negative affect are often thought to influence the cognitive performance of individuals and groups via their effects on two different dimensions of cognitive processing style: heuristic vs. systematic processing, and global vs. local attentional focus. Recently, research has suggested that the effects of affective states on the analytic and creative performance of individuals depend on the relative dominance of heuristic vs. systematic processing (for analytic performance) and of a global vs. local attentional focus (for creative performance) just prior to the affect's arousal (Huntsinger, Isbell, & Clore, 2014; Huntsinger & Ray, 2016). Extending this individual-level evidence to small …

Decreasing Women's Endorsement Of Benevolent Sexism, Kelsey Berryman

Master's Theses

The aim of the current study was to reduce women's endorsement for benevolent sexist beliefs. the intervention aimed to educate women about the prevalence and seriousness of benevolent sexism. as this is a subtle and deceptively positive type of sexism, women are particularly susceptible in endorsing it (Glick & Fiske, 2001). in order to increase awareness for benevolent sexism in their everyday lives, some participants read an informational text about the pervasiveness and harmfulness of benevolent sexism in the U.S. This text was read after participants had already written about a time they engaged in benevolent sexism to elicit negative …

Understanding The Role Of Relationship Satisfaction In Social Support Provision For Youth In The Child Welfare System, Nathan Michael Lutz

Master's Theses

The objective of this study was to examine kin social support and relationship satisfaction, as well as the interaction between these two variables, in terms of their association with placement stability, externalizing behaviors, and internalizing symptoms for youth in the child welfare system. Ordinary Least Squares Regression methods were used in conjunction with Poisson and Negative Binomial Regression methods. the study also examined two different methods for calculating the interaction term to determine relationship satisfaction's moderating effect on the relationship between social support and the outcomes. Results suggested that relationship satisfaction does act as a moderator when externalizing behaviors and …

The Effect Of Imagined Intergroup Contact On Heterosexism, Laurel Mertz

Master's Theses

Heterosexism and other forms of prejudice against the LGBTQ community remain prevalent across the world. Thus, the study of how to reduce heterosexism has become a much more common and necessary domain of research in recent years. Previous research has demonstrated mixed results of the effect of imagined intergroup contact on heterosexism. the current study sought to evaluate various contexts in which imagined intergroup contact would decrease or increase levels of both implicit and explicit heterosexist attitudes. I predicted that individuals who imagined winning a basketball game with a gay teammate would display more positive attitudes toward gay men whereas …

The Longitudinal Relationship Between Callous-Unemotional Traits And Exposure To Community Violence: Examining Primary And Secondary Psychopathy In Serious Adolescent Offenders, Elizabeth Sargent

Master's Theses

in youth, psychopathy is often represented by callous-unemotional traits, characterized by a lack of guilt and empathy. While justice-involved youth can exhibit such traits, less research has been done in adolescents than has been with adults in the justice system. Still, previous research supports that callous-unemotional traits in particular can predict higher risk for adverse outcomes and violent behavior in youth. Various vulnerabilities and experiences contribute to the development of callous-unemotional traits, and while some individuals with psychopathic traits are thought to have been born with an innate inability to feel empathy (primary psychopathy), others may experience psychological distress in …

Latino Parents' Acculturative Stress And Their Preschoolers' Prosocial Development: Testing The Mediating Role Of Parenting Style, Zahra Fatima Naqi

Master's Theses

Studies increasingly recognize the importance of cultural factors when studying the development of immigrant children from low-income backgrounds. There is reason to believe that parents' acculturative stress may be linked to children's prosocial development, via parenting. the present study included a sample of immigrant Latino parents of 3- to 5-year-old Head Start preschoolers (N = 28) to examine how parents' acculturative stress might be associated with children's prosocial behavior at home, as reported by parents, and at school, as reported by teachers. Furthermore, it studied whether this linkage is mediated by warm, supportive, and hostile parenting practices. Results indicated that …

Condition Severity And Parent Psychosocial Functioning In Families Of Youth With Spina Bifida: The Role Of Parental Attitudes And Beliefs, Elicia Wartman

Master's Theses

Past research suggests that parents of youth with spina bifida (SB) have worse psychosocial outcomes than parents of typically developing youth. SB is a complex medical condition that is accompanied by varying degrees of physical disability and cognitive deficits. Research on stress and coping suggests that parents' attitudes and beliefs may contribute to their own psychosocial adjustment. This study unpacks condition severity and examines the role of severity of condition-related factors in predicting parental adjustment and parental attitudes and beliefs. Participants were recruited as part of a larger longitudinal study. Information on condition severity, including type of SB, lesion level, …