Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item The Role of Effortful Control in Moderating the Relationship Between Temperamental Shyness, Fearfulness, and Internalizing Behaviors(2023) Zheng, Shanyun G; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Internalizing behaviors, such as anxiety and depression, have frequently been associated with temperament characteristics, specifically Behavioral Inhibition (BI) traits, such as Shyness and Fearfulness. While Effortful Control (EC) has been posited as a potential moderator in the relationship between heightened negative emotionality and Internalizing problems, empirical evidence precisely about BI remains inconclusive. This cross-sectional study investigated the role of Effortful Control and its sub-constructs (Attentional Focusing, Inhibitory Control, Low-intensity Pleasure, and Perceptual Sensitivity) in moderating the relation between Behavioral Inhibition (fear and shyness) and internalizing behaviors in a sample of 130 kindergarteners. The findings indicated that Behavioral Inhibition was significantly correlated with and predicted internalizing behaviors. However, no significant correlations were found between Effortful Control, its sub-constructs, and internalizing behaviors in this sample. Additionally, Effortful Control and its sub-constructs did not moderate the relationship between Behavioral Inhibition and internalizing behaviors.Item DIRECTIONAL RELATIONS OF CHILD ANXIETY AND PARENTING ACROSS EARLY INTERVENTIONS FOR INHIBITED YOUNG CHILDREN(2022) Novick, Danielle; Chronis-Tuscano, Andrea; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Given the robust evidence-base for the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapies (CBTs) in reducing youth anxiety disorders, researchers have moved beyond efficacy outcome analysis to better understand how such interventions operate (i.e., mediation). However, the majority of this research has examined mechanisms of change in CBTs targeting anxiety in school-age youth or adolescents, and applying such findings to younger children may be misguided. Grounded in developmental-transactional models, interventions for younger children with or at risk for anxiety tend to target key parenting and child factors implicated in the early emergence and maintenance of anxiety. Nevertheless, the directional and temporal relations among these child and parenting factors in the context of early interventions remain unknown. The current study thus builds on previous studies of CBT for older youth to elucidate mechanisms of change and treatment directionality within two early interventions for young children (N = 151) at risk for anxiety by virtue of behavioral inhibition: The multi-component Turtle Program and the parent-only Cool Little Kids program. Reciprocal relations between parent-reported child anxiety, observed parenting (negative control and positive affect), and parent-reported accommodation of child anxiety were examined across 4 timepoints (pre-, mid-, and post-treatment, and one-year follow-up). Study hypotheses were tested via 1) a traditional cross-lagged panel model (CLPM), 2) a latent curve model with structured residuals (LCM-SR), and 3) a latent change score model (LCS). Results were consistent with the child-to-parent influences found in previous research on CBT for older anxious youth. However, after extending the traditional CLPM to parse within- and between-person effects in the LCM-SR, these results only remained in Turtle. LCS analyses revealed bidirectional effects of changes in parent accommodation and changes in child anxiety during and after the intervention, but only in Turtle. Our findings coincide with developmental-transactional models suggesting that the development of child anxiety may be the result of child-to-parent influences rather than just the reverse, and highlight the importance of targeting parent and child factors simultaneously in early interventions for young inhibited children and their parents.Item INTERPRETIVE BIAS AND ANXIETY VULNERABILITY IN BEHAVIORALLY INHIBITED CHILDREN: DISAMBIGUATING THE COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH INTERPRETIVE BIAS ACQUISITION(2013) White, Lauren K.; Fox, Nathan A.; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Behavioral inhibition (BI), a temperament characterized by a fear of novel and unfamiliar people and situations, is associated with increased risk for anxiety problems throughout life. One mechanism thought to moderate the link between BI and anxiety is a child's interpretive bias (i.e., the manner in which emotional ambiguity is interpreted). Behaviorally inhibited children who consistently interpret ambiguous information in a threatening manner are thought to be at increased risk for anxiety. Conversely, behaviorally inhibited children who consistently interpret ambiguity as benign or non-threatening may be protected from such risk. Little research, however, has experimentally examined interpretive biases in behaviorally inhibited children. This dissertation investigates the causal relations between interpretive biases and anxiety vulnerability in behaviorally inhibited children. To examine if changes in interpretive biases affect anxiety vulnerability, a cognitive bias modification procedure was employed to induce a non-threatening interpretive bias in a group of 9-12 year old behaviorally inhibited children. After training, children were assessed on their mood, emotional vulnerability to stress, and attention bias toward threat in order to determine if bias modification affected anxiety vulnerability. The findings of this study demonstrate that the cognitive bias manipulation was successful; behaviorally inhibited children displayed decreased threat interpretations after training. No training effects on anxiety vulnerability were detected. As a result, the notion that interpretive biases are causally linked to a child's anxiety vulnerability is not supported by the findings of this study. The implications of these findings are discussed in this dissertation.