Psychology Commons^™

Distinguishing Among Within-Person Variability: Affective Intra-Individual Variability, Affective Psychological Flexibility, And Health In A National Us Sample, Jaime Hardy

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Affective intra-individual variability (IIV) and affective psychological flexibility (PF) are both types of within-person variability. Affective IIV is defined as the range of emotions experienced by an individual assessed at multiple time points. PF is defined as the ability to vary one’s responses in a contextually dependent manner in order to appropriately meet situational demands. Currently, there are no comparisons between affective IIV and PF demonstrating how these constructs might be uniquely different from each other. The current study proposed to examine affective IIV and PF in order to establish discriminant and convergent validity, and stability data for each construct. …

Purpose In Life In Als Patient-Caregiver Dyads: A Multilevel Longitudinal Analysis, Natasha E. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Despite the debilitating nature of this disease, some evidence suggests patients maintain their quality of life (QOL). Caregivers, on the other hand, experience decreased QOL. Evidence suggests existential aspects of well-being such as purpose in life (PIL) may be unique and stable sources of well-being for patients and caregivers. Furthermore, patients’ and caregivers’ well-being may impact one another. The present study examined the variance structure, trajectory, and dyadic relationship of PIL and QOL in patients with ALS and their caregivers (N = 110 dyads). Data from the Seattle ALS Patient …

The Effects Of Alcohol-Related Visual Stimuli On Inhibitory Control And Attentional Bias: Testing The Roles Of Classical Conditioning And Semantic Priming, Ramey G. Monem

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Alcohol research has shown that alcohol-related stimuli can disrupt behavioral control and attract more attention in alcohol drinkers. Stimuli typically used in tasks assessing these mechanisms are likely representative of an individual's history. Responses to visual stimuli that no longer closely resemble an individual's history may help shed light on whether these behaviors are due to classical conditioning or processes such as semantic priming. Hypotheses were tested using typical visual stimuli and modified, abstract versions in these tasks. 41 participants were exposed to these stimuli types while using a visual dot probe task. The difference in degree of attentional bias …

The Reciprocal Predictive Relationship Between Personality And Risky Behaviors: An 8-Wave Longitudinal Study In Early Adolescents, Elizabeth N. Riley

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

While the overall stability of personality across the lifespan has been well-documented, there is also evidence of meaningful personality change. This is particularly true when individuals are going through periods of developmental transition. Over time, one sees incremental changes not just in behavior but in basic personality as well. 1,906 early adolescents were assessed for urgency scores, levels of maladaptive behavior engagement (drinking, smoking, and binge eating), and pubertal status every six months for four years. Zero-Inflated Poisson structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the model of reciprocal influence between behavior and personality. Across most six-month intervals over …

Parenting Behaviors Of Sleepy Parents: Associations With Emotion Regulation And Stress, Lauren R. Gilbert

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Over the last decade, the topic of sleep has garnered a great deal of interest from psychologists, due to the physiological, emotional, and behavioral outcomes associated with its deprivation. However, questions remain to be answered regarding sleep's influence in the day-to-day life of families. The current study examines the importance of sleep deprivation for parents’ parenting behaviors during problem solving discussions with their children; emotion regulation and stress reactivity are examined as mediators of these associations. Participants were 196 families with a child between the ages of 6-11. Parents filled out diaries for 7 days prior to their in-lab visit, …

Development Of A Measure Of Craving Suppression, Brian T. Upton

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

While there is evidence to support the efficacy of mindfulness-based treatment for substance use, the mechanisms through which they lead to therapeutic outcomes have received less attention. A growing body of literature suggests that the ways in which people respond to cravings may be an important mediator of change. Individuals with substance use problems may use them to cope with or avoid negative experiences, which could include the experience of craving itself. Thought suppression in particular has been investigated as a specific form of experiential avoidance, and findings suggest that thought suppression strategies may interfere with attempts to quit using …

Moderated Mediation Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) Symptoms And Peer Relations, Christine A. Lee

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience frequent and persisting peer rejection, yet current social skills training is ineffective. The current study focused on emotion dysregulation as a possible mediator between ADHD symptoms and poor peer outcomes with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms as a moderator. Participants included 145 elementary-age children ranging from 8-10 years old. Parents and teachers rated children’s ADHD and ODD symptoms as well as their social skills. Parents also rated children on their emotion regulation abilities. Children then participated in a three-hour playgroup with unfamiliar peers in six structured and unstructured tasks. Research assistants provided global ratings …

Bidirectional Relations Of Impulsive Personality And Alcohol Use Over Two Years, Alison J. Kaiser

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Impulsive personality traits have been found to be robust predictors of substance use and problems in both cross-sectional and longitudinal research. Studies examining the relations of substance use and impulsive personality over time indicate bidirectional effects, where substance use is also predictive of increases in later impulsive personality. The mechanism(s) accounting for the impact of substance use on later personality remain unknown. The present study sought to explore the bidirectional relations of alcohol use with the impulsive personality traits over three time points, and to examine two potential mechanisms that could account for the impact of alcohol use on personality: …

Affective Instability Across Diagnostic Models, Whitney L. Gore

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC; Insel et al., 2010; Sanislow et al., 2010) were established in an effort to explore underlying dimensions that cut across many existing disorders as well as to provide an alternative to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; APA, 2013). The present dissertation aimed to study one major component of the RDoC model, negative valence, as compared to other models hypothesized to be closely related, as well as its relationship to a key component of psychopathology, affective instability. Participants were adult community residents …

Effect Of Social Peers On Risky Decision Making In Male Sprague Dawley Rats, Virginia Weiss

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Adolescence is a time associated with increased risk taking and peer relations. Research has shown that adolescents are more vulnerable to peer pressure compared to adults, leading to exacerbated risk taking. Preclinical research suggests that these findings may also be applicable to adolescent rodents, which find social interaction rewarding and are prone to risky behavior. There is, however, little research on the effect of social interaction on rodent models of risky decision-making. This thesis utilized social chambers, which consisted of adjacent operant chambers separated by wire mesh. Adolescent rats performed a risky decision-making task in which they had a choice …

On A(Pe)Theism: Religious Dehumanization Of Atheists And Other Outgroups, Ben Kok Leong Ng

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Research on the dark side of religion has recently found evidence that anti-atheist prejudice is embedded in distrust (Gervais et al, 2011). Anti-atheist prejudice though old in its form, has only been systemically researched on over the last couple of years. This study seeks to extend on research in anti-atheist prejudice by examining religious dehumanization of atheists in comparison with other religious outgroups – gays and Muslims. Study 1 utilized a two factor model of dehumanization (Haslam, 2006) to examine dehumanization. Study 2 serves as a conceptual replication and extension using two different measures of dehumanization. Study 1 failed to …

Developmental Trajectories Of Excessive Exercise And Fasting Across The Middle School Years, Heather A. Davis

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Repeated excessive exercise (EE) fasting behavior, in the absence of binge eating and purging, are important eating disorder behaviors that are not captured by the current diagnostic system. Though they appear to be harmful and distressing for adults, little is known about these behaviors in youth. To begin to understand their development, I studied the course of the behaviors across the three years of middle school (n = 1,195). Both behaviors were present in middle school girls and boys, and youth progressed along different developmental trajectories of engagement in the behaviors. Youth involved in either behavior experienced elevated levels of …

The Effects Of Alcohol And Hypoxia Exposure In The Developing Brain, Megan L. Carter

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Exposure to alcohol (ethanol (ETOH)) during fetal development results in a variety of cognitive/behavioral deficits. The effects of fetal ETOH exposure vary across individuals and numerous studies have shown that ETOH’s interaction with other variables can affect outcome in offspring. These studies investigated the effects of developmental ETOH and hypoxia. It was hypothesized that a history of ETOH during development alters the response to a subsequent hypoxic challenge, such as that which may occur during parturition; this results in central nervous system (CNS) damage and behavioral deficits.

The first study determined if developmental ETOH and hypoxia exposure produced behavioral deficits …

Interpersonal Rejection Sensitivity Predicts Burnout: A Prospective Study, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

We examined whether interpersonal rejection sensitivity (IRS)—the hallmark of atypical depression – prospectively predicted burnout, controlling for baseline symptoms, history of depressive disorders, antidepressant intake, gender, age, and length of employment (mean between-assessment duration: 21 months; n = 578; 74% female). IRS was related to a 119% increased risk of burnout at follow-up. Three of four burned out participants reported to be affected by IRS, or 2.5 times the rate observed in participants with no (or subthreshold) burnout symptoms. Our study highlights a dispositional factor in burnout’s etiology also known to be a key component of atypical depression’s etiology. The …

Burnout Does Not Help Predict Depression In French Schoolteachers, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Objectives: Burnout has been viewed as a phase in the development of depression. However, supportive research is scarce. We examined whether burnout predicted depression among French school teachers.

Methods: We conducted a 2-wave, 21-month study involving 627 teachers (73% female) working in French primary and secondary schools. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory and depression with the 9-item depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The PHQ-9 grades depressive symptom severity and provides a provisional diagnosis of major depression. Depression was treated both as a continuous and categorical variable using linear and logistic regression analyses. We controlled …

A Longitudinal Examination Of The Mediating Role Of Social Problem Solving Between Parental Attachment And Early Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction, Xu Jiang

Theses and Dissertations

Both attachment theory and empirical evidence indicate that the quality of parental attachment profoundly influences many different aspects of adolescent life. However, one area that has been somewhat neglected in the literature is the discovery of the psychosocial mechanisms that account for the link between parental attachment and important adolescent developmental outcomes, such as social problem solving (D’Zurilla & Goldfried, 1971) and life satisfaction (LS: Diener, 1994). Driven by the conceptual framework of development of LS proposed by Evans (1994), Attachment Theory and Social Problem Solving Theory, a mediation model was hypothesized to explore the link between parental attachment and …

Working Memory In Children With Neurocognitive Effects From Sickle Cell Disease: Contributions Of The Central Executive And Processing Efficiency, Kelsey Erin Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at risk for neurocognitive impairment due to disease effects including stroke, sleep disordered breathing, anemia-induced hypoxia, and small vessel occlusion. In particular, problems in working memory are an area of concern due to the importance of this construct in determining intelligence and academic functioning. According to Baddely’s model, working memory is composed of verbal and spatial working memory, but it is unclear whether one aspect of working memory is more impacted than another in children with SCD. In addition, little is known about the role of two key components in SCD-related working memory …

Antecedents Of Adolescents' Hope: Personality, Parental Attachment, And Stressful Life Events, Kristin L. Otis

Theses and Dissertations

In the past decade, psychology has concentrated on the importance of identifying psychological qualities in individuals that indicate positive mental health and flourishing. Hope has been proposed to be one of these qualities (Day, Hanson, Maltby, Proctor, & Wood, 2010; Marques, & Lopez, 2014). This study examined the relations among parental attachment, stressful life events, personality variables, and hope in a sample of 647 middle school students from one middle school in a Southeastern US state. The results showed statistically significant correlations between hope and all four predictor variables as well as students’ grade levels and socioeconomic status (SES). The …

What Do We Know About Technical Assistance? Enhancing The Science And Practice Of Technical Assistance Via A Research Synthesis, Jason S. Katz

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction. Each year billions of dollars are spent on providing technical assistance (TA) to build the capacity of host settings (e.g., organizations, communities) to implement innovations, but there is little consensus (or even discussion) about: what the essential features of TA are, how to provide TA with quality, and how a quality-based accountability perspective can help us to enhance the science and practice of TA. To begin to address these needs, a research synthesis methodology was used for conducting a content analysis of the current evidence base for TA using three frames: (1) applying a conceptual and operational model (Getting …

Profiles Of African American College Students’ Risky Behaviors: General And Culturally-Specific Stress And Social Support As Factors Of Risk And Resilience?, Isha Walwina Metzger

Theses and Dissertations

Studies show that, while alcohol use and risky sexual activities increase during emerging adulthood, college students are more likely to engage in these behaviors than their non-student counterparts (Slutske et al., 2004). Researchers should explore risk behavior participation among African American youth, as they often face health disparities and more severe consequences of engaging in these acts than their White American counterparts (Sharma & Atri, 2006; Jackson, Hodge, & Vaughn, 2010). Although epidemiological and variable-centered studies often examine the drinking and sexual behavior of African American college students, there is a need for research utilizing a profile-oriented approach to explore …

Representation Of Affect From Fmri Data As A Function Of Stimulus Modality And Judgment Task, Jongwan Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The theory of core affect posits that the neural system processes affective aspects of stimuli encountered by the organism quickly and automatically, resulting in a unified affective state described along the dimensions of valence and arousal. Core affect theory posits two functional subsystems that guide affective processing: a sensory integration and a visceramotor network. The proposed study investigates how the representation of affective dimensions depends on sensory modality, features of the task, and brain regions. A series of behavioral studies was run to develop an experimental stimulus set of silent videos and musical clips that met requirements of equating valence …

Mindfulness And Cognitive Aging, Elise J. Herndon

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness meditation involves the cultivation of a focused, pre-conceptual consciousness that enables increased present-centered awareness of internal states, cognitive processes, and external stimuli (Mikulas, 2011; Kornfield, 2010). Studies suggest that mindfulness practice affects the brain structures and cognitive processes related to fluid intelligence, and may affect fluid intelligence itself among highly experienced practitioners (e.g., Gard, Taquet, et al., 2014; Lazar et al., 2005; Ritskes et al., 2003). Fluid intelligence includes higher-order reasoning and problem-solving abilities that are independent of cultural and environmental influences. These abilities peak in young adulthood, then begin to decay (Cattell, 1987; Goldberg, 2005).

The current study …

Beyond Grades: The Impact Of Race And Academic Disidentification On Social Functioning And Academic Outcomes Among At-Risk High School Students, Brian K. Colar

Theses and Dissertations

An extant literature has supported the notion that black students perform poorly in comparison to white students on frequently used indicators of academic functioning, known as the academic gap between races. Although previous studies have identified this academic inequity between White and Black high school students, there is a dearth of literature examining the context and processes which may contribute to this gap. The current study further examines this educational disparity by evaluating the role of students’ social functioning, the impact of race, and academic outcomes among at-risk high school students. Although analytical evidence reports a positive correlation between social …

The Association Of Gender, Age, And Coping With Internalizing Symptoms In Youth With Sickle Cell Disease, Laura Reinman

Theses and Dissertations

Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at an elevated risk for having internalizing symptoms. Prior studies have suggested unique age by gender patterns of internalizing symptoms may be present in this population, however this pattern has not been thoroughly examined and the mechanisms underlying this pattern are not known. We examined rates of depression and anxiety symptoms between males and females with SCD across childhood and into adolescence in a cross-sectional design. We also considered the potential role of coping styles and health related locus of control for SCD morbidity that could account for age or gender patterns for …

The Influence Of Backlash On Self-Sexualization And Cognitive Depletion, Mallory Helen Elizabeth Nurse Grembowski

Master's Theses

A woman who acts agentically in the workplace is more likely to be disliked and viewed as less competent than a woman who acts caring and communal. The negative consequences for acting outside of a cultural stereotype are called backlash. Cultural gender stereotypes for western society depict women as warm and communal while men are agentic and independent. Women in the workplace act outside of the cultural stereotype, and thus face backlash from their peers. This study examines the extent to which women utilize self-sexualization as a recovery strategy to cope with the fear of backlash, and ultimately how these …

Investigating The Role Of Cognitive Biases As A Risk Factor For Depression, Daniel Aaron Dickson

Dissertations

Consistent with the combined cognitive bias hypothesis (Hirsch, Clark, & Mathews, 2006), cognitive biases in attention, memory, and interpretation have been posited as an underlying vulnerability to the maintenance and recurrence of depressive episodes. While research supports the presence of these biases during current depressive episodes, there is limited evidence that these biases persist following the remission of depression symptoms. However, there is some initial data that suggest that these biases persist in remitted depressed individuals, indicating that these biases may serve as a vulnerability factor for subsequent depressive episodes. In addition, there is little research that has evaluated these …

The Influence Of Racial And Crime Stereotypes On Jurors' Representations Of Trial Evidence And Verdict Decisions, Katharina Kluwe

Dissertations

Past research has shown that jurors tend to make more severe culpability judgments when defendants are charged with crimes that are associated with their racial group (e.g., Jones & Kaplan, 2013). Although the Story Model (e.g., Pennington & Hastie, 1988) has received much empirical support and currently is the most prominent model in the juror decision making literature, it has not been applied to cases where racially stereotypical crimes might bias verdict decisions. The present research investigated whether the narrative believability of the stories that are suggested at trial, especially story coherence, would explain the effect of race-crime congruence on …

Being And Becoming: A Grounded Theory Study Of The Racial And Ethnic Socialization Processes Of Fifteen Haitian Immigrants Living In The United States, Lud Abigail Duchatelier-Jeudy

Dissertations

This study examined and described the racial and ethnic socialization processes of 15 Haitian immigrant mothers, eight of whom were born and raised in Haiti and migrated to the United States after the age of 21 (Group A) and seven of whom were born and raised in the United States or born in Haiti and migrated on or before the age of the five and raised of the United States (Group B). The two groups of Haitian immigrant mothers were recruited from cities throughout the Northeast region of the United States.

Using Harkness and Super’s Developmental Niche as a theoretical …

Predictors And Profiles Of Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among African-American Adolescents And Young Adult Males Behaviorally-Infected With Hiv: A Classification Tree Analysis Approach, Israel Moses Gross

Dissertations

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy is crucial for thwarting disease progression and reducing secondary transmission, yet HIV+ youth struggle with adherence. The highest rates of new HIV infections occur in young African American men (YAAM), thus understanding reasons for non-adherence in this group is critical. Reasons for non-adherence can be complex and multifactorial, and innovative methods of exploration are needed for advancing prevention and treatment efforts. A sample of 387 HIV+ YAAM who reported currently taking HIV medications were selected from a cross-sectional assessment of 2,226 HIV+ youth from sites within the Adolescent Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) from 2009-2012 …

Mother-Infant Relationships In The Nicu: A Multiple Case Study Approach, Ilona Helin

Dissertations

Parent-child relationships consist of both external and internal components. The external component is the behavioral interaction between mother and child, while the internal components are expectations each member of the dyad has for the both the relationship and of the other partner. These expectations are called internal working models (IWMs) and are blueprints that have been developed from an individual’s childhood experience of sensitive or insensitive parenting. A mother’s IWMs influence how she perceives her child, her relationship with her child and herself as a mother, the sensitivity of her caregiving, and ultimately her child’s IWM of him or her …