Health Psychology Commons^™

Testing Theory Of Planned Behavior And Neo-Socioanalytic Theory Models Of Trait Activity, Industriousness, Exercise Social Cognitions, Exercise Intentions, And Physical Activity In A Representative U.S. Sample, Phuong T. Vo, Tim Bogg

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

Prior research identified assorted relations between trait and social cognition models of personality and engagement in physical activity. Using a representative U.S. sample (N = 957), the goal of the present study was to test two alternative structural models of the relationships among the extraversion-related facet of activity, the conscientiousness-related facet of industriousness, social cognitions from the Theory of Planned Behavior (perceived behavioral control, affective attitudes, subjective norms, intentions), Social Cognitive Theory (self-efficacy, outcome expectancies), and the Transtheoretical Model (behavioral processes of change), and engagement in physical activity. Path analyses with bootstrapping procedures were used to model direct and …

Rejection Sensitivity, Perceived Power, And Hiv Risk In The Relationships Of Low-Income Urban Women, Kathy R. Berenson, Christine Paprocki, Marget Thomas Fishman, Devika Bhushan, Nabila El-Bassel, Geraldine Downey

Psychology Faculty Publications

The psychological processes associated with HIV infection in long-term relationships differ from those operative in casual sexual encounters, and relatively little research has considered the aspects of personality applicable in the ongoing heterosexual relationships in which women are at greatest risk. Sensitivity to rejection has been linked with efforts to prevent rejection at a cost to the self and, therefore, may be relevant to the health risks that many women incur in relationships. We examined the association of rejection sensitivity with women's sexual risk behavior in a sample of women at heightened risk for HIV exposure. Women in long-term heterosexual …

Predictors Of Money Spent On Drugs In Substance Users, Simona Ciobotaru

DePaul Discoveries

Financial need is a major stressor for individuals who are reentering the community after substance abuse and/or incarceration. Family members and friends make up a great majority the support networks from which reentering people can receive financial support. However, that financial support could possibly contribute to drug use when the individual is actively using. The goal of this study was to further understand the implications of material and financial support specifically being transmitted from family members. This study looks at psychosocial predictors in relation to money spent on drugs in the last 30 days of 270 individuals entering substance abuse …

Fatalism, Diabetes Management Outcomes, And The Role Of Religiosity, Vincent Berardi, John Bellettiere, Orit Nativ, Slezak Ladislav, Melbourne Hovell, Orna Baron-Epel

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

This study aimed to determine whether fatalistic beliefs were associated with elevated levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and to establish the role of religiosity in this relationship. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 183 Jewish adults with diabetes visiting a large medical center in northern Israel. Self-administered questionnaires assessed level of religiosity, fatalistic beliefs, diabetes management behaviors, and demographic/personal characteristics; laboratory tests were used to measure HbA1c. Multivariate regression indicated that fatalism was significantly associated with HbA1c (β = 0.51, p = 0.01). The association was no longer statistically significant after including self-reported religiosity in the …

Personality Types And Attachment Styles Underlying Body Dissatisfaction, Milad Khosravi, David Frederick

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Attachment style and personality are powerfully related to a person’s patterns of thoughts, interests, and behaviors. Surprisingly, there is little research on the links between these psychological factors and body dissatisfaction. We hypothesized that anxious attachment style and neuroticism would be linked to greater body dissatisfaction in women.

Methods: Adult women reported their overall satisfaction with their weight, muscle tone, and appearance using validated, one-item measures. Participants also completed measures of attachment style and personality type.

Results: Consistent with the hypotheses, people who were more neurotic and with more insecure-attachment styles reported higher body dissatisfaction.

Discussion: This study highlights the …

Perfectionism, Psychological Wellbeing, And Maladaptive Eating Practices., Bridget Kenny, Richard Hicks

Richard Hicks

The links between perfectionism and maladaptive eating practices are reasonably well established. However, little is understood about how or why these links occur. The aim of the current study was to investigate psychological wellbeing as a potential mediating variable in this relationship and to determine how gender differences impacted these variables. A sample of 67 males and 162 females completed the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS), the Ryff Psychological Wellbeing Scales (PWB), and the Maladaptive Eating Practices Questionnaire (MEPQ-25) among several questionnaires completed for a recent body image and eating disorders research project. Results indicated that females aged below 30 …

Engaging Youth In Bullying Prevention Through Community-Based Participatory Research, Jen Gibson, Paul D. Flaspohler, Vanessa Watts

Faculty Scholarship

Few studies that engage youth in community-based participatory research (CBPR) focus on issues of safety/violence, include elementary school-aged youth, or quantitatively assess outcomes of the CBPR process. This article expands understanding of CBPR with youth by describing and evaluating the outcomes of a project that engaged fifth-grade students at 3 schools in bullying-focused CBPR. Results suggest that the project was associated with decreases in fear of bullying and increases in peer and teacher intervention to stop bullying. We conclude with implications for the engagement of elementary school-aged youth in CBPR to address bullying and other youth issues.

School Mental Health Early Interventions And Academic Outcomes For At-Risk High School Students: A Review Of The Research, Aidyn L. Iachini, Elizabeth Levine Brown, Annahita Ball, Jen Gibson, Steven E. Lize

Faculty Scholarship

The current educational policy context in the United States necessitates that school-based programs prioritize students’ academic outcomes. This review examined the quantitative research on school mental health (SMH) early interventions and academic outcomes for at risk high school students. Seven articles met the inclusion criteria for this review. All articles were examined according to study design and demographics, early intervention characteristics, and outcomes. Of the studies included, most were conducted in urban settings, involved the implementation of group-based early intervention strategies, and monitored GPA as a distal academic outcome. Counselors were frequent implementers of these early interventions. A meta-analysis found …

Evaluating An Abbreviated Version Of The Paths Curriculum Implemented By School Mental Health Clinicians, Jen Gibson, Shelby Werner, Andrew Sweeny

Faculty Scholarship

When evidence-based prevention programs are implemented in schools, adaptations are common. It is important to understand which adaptations can be made while maintaining positive outcomes for students. This preliminary study evaluated an abbreviated version of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) Curriculum implemented by school-based mental health clinicians in preschool/kindergarten classrooms. Results suggest that students (N = 80) demonstrated increases in emotional understanding and prosocial behavior. Children with low initial levels of problem behavior demonstrated large and continual increases in prosocial behavior over the entire course of the intervention, whereas children with high initial levels of problem behavior only demonstrated …

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. …

What Is The Attraction? Pornography Use Motives In Relation To Bystander Intervention, John D. Foubert, Ana J. Bridges

John D. Foubert

Use of pornography is common among adolescents and young adults, with most men and a growing number of women viewing regularly. A vast body of research suggests pornography use is associated with multiple attitudinal and behavioral variables. One of those associations, for both men and women, is higher pornography use is correlated with a lower likelihood of intervening to prevent sexual assault. The present study explored how motives for viewing pornography related to male (n = 139) and female (n = 290) college students’ willingness and efficacy to intervene to help prevent a sexual assault from occurring. We found that …