Psychology
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2270
Browse
32 results
Search Results
Item Bereaved College Students: Examining Predictors of Grief Counseling Skills Among University Counseling Center Therapists(2019) Jankauskaite, Greta; O'Brien, Karen M.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Between 22% to 30% of college students are grieving a death of a close friend or family member, and nearly 60% of college seniors report experiencing at least one loss in the last three years of college (Balk, 2011; Cox, Dean, & Kowalski, 2015). The university counseling center often is the primary resource for bereaved students, yet centers have limited resources and some psychologists reported inadequate training for working with grieving students (Kim, 2016). This study examined predictors of grief counseling skills in a sample of university counseling center therapists. Grounded in the death competence model (Gamino & Ritter, 2012), results indicated that cognitive competence and emotional competence predicted grief counseling skills, with training/experience being the most robust predictor. Future directions for research and clinical implications are discussed.Item DO POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EMOTIONS PREDICT OLDER ADULT WELL-BEING? PROSPECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH, SOCIAL FUNCTIONING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS IN A NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE(2018) Hunt, Carly Ann; Hoffman, Mary Ann; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in older American adults. To improve both individual and population cardiovascular health (CVH), the American Heart Association (2016) has emphasized the concept of ideal cardiovascular health, which involves achieving ideal levels on several health factors (e.g., blood pressure) and health behaviors (e.g., exercise engagement). Using nationally representative data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) survey, the present study explored whether positive affect (PA) relates to ideal CVH in 1266 adults followed over a 20-year period, above and beyond the effects of negative affect (NA). At present, the relative contributions of PA and NA on CVH remain unclear. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotion posits that PA supports health by 1) broadening one’s repertoire of adaptive behaviors and 2) building personal resources, which could be psychological, physical, or social. From this perspective, CVH was explored as a physical resource that may build in conjunction with and following. Analyses also explored the extent to which PA predicts a broadening of behaviors relevant to CVH and healthy aging (i.e., volunteerism) and a building of psychological resources tied with CVH and healthy aging (i.e., positive reappraisal, or the tendency to locate positive meaning during times of loss and difficulty). Linear growth models were used to examine initial levels and change trajectories in outcomes, and post-hoc analyses were conducted using multiple linear regression modeling. Collectively, results suggest that PA is irrelevant for CVH and provide support for the well-established detrimental effects of NA on CVH. PA did not associate with volunteerism, and NA predicted lower volunteer engagement on average at the 20-year follow-up. PA, and not NA, supported positive reappraisal use. Results also provide evidence of the well-documented detrimental effects of socioeconomic and racial disadvantage on CVH. Implications for further research are discussed.Item Appealing to Masculinity or Empathy?: Educating Men to Recognize Warning Signs of Dating Violence(2018) Kearney, Monica Sherri; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Dating violence continues to be a social concern for young adults (Barrick, Krebs, & Lindquist, 2013). Dating violence occurs often on college campuses, with between 16% and 50% of college women reporting experiences of dating violence prior to graduation (Knowledge Networks, 2011; Murray & Kardatzke, 2007). However, over half of college students reported that it is difficult to identify warning signs of dating violence (Knowledge Networks, 2011). Moreover, one study determined that undergraduate, heterosexual men have more difficulty recognizing warning signs of dating violence than undergraduate heterosexual women (Kearney & O’Brien, 2016). Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess multiple strategies to increase recognition of warning signs of dating violence and engagement in an online dating violence intervention with a sample of heterosexual college men. Participants were assigned randomly to one of four conditions: (1) the appeal to masculinity condition, (2) the appeal to empathy condition, (3) the combined appeal to masculinity and empathy condition, or (4) the control condition. Participants were instructed to watch the first component of STOP Dating Violence (O’Brien et al., 2016), a short online video intervention developed to educate college students about dating violence. Participants in the control condition received the standard intervention, while participants in the experimental conditions viewed a brief (one minute) introduction before beginning the intervention. Results indicated that all participants demonstrated an increase in ability to recognize warning signs of dating violence after participating in the intervention. Moreover, there was an interaction of time and condition for three dimensions of dating violence warning signs. However, condition did not have an effect on engagement with the intervention material. The results and future directions for research are discussed.Item An Experience-Sampling Study of Sexual Orientation Self-Presentation Among Nonmonosexual Women(2018) Kase, Colleen Alyssa; Mohr, Jonathan J.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Previous research suggests that nonmonosexual individuals engage in complex patterns of sexual orientation self-presentation, which may be obscured by traditional measures of disclosure and concealment. This study used an experience-sampling design to examine 165 nonmonosexual cisgender women’s day-to-day self-presentation experiences using the novel framework of self-presentational accuracy. Participants demonstrated substantial within-person variability in self-presentational accuracy. Several contextual factors (e.g., anticipated acceptance, interaction partner sexual orientation) predicted self-presentational accuracy at the within-person level, and several person-level factors (e.g., outness, internalized monosexism) predicted self-presentational accuracy at the between-person level. Furthermore, self-presentational accuracy predicted same-day life satisfaction and positive affect through the mediator of social support at the within-person level. Contrary to my hypotheses, self-presentational accuracy was unrelated to romantic partner gender and to negative affect. Overall, results suggested that nonmonosexual women are sensitive to context when making sexual orientation self-presentation decisions, and that these decisions influence their day-to-day well-being.Item Career Barriers of College Women across Racial/Ethnic Groups: Examination of The Perception of Barriers Scale(2018) Kim, Young Hwa; O'Brien, Karen M.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of the study was to examine the factor structure, measurement invariance, and psychometric properties of a commonly used measure of perceived career barriers (The Perception of Barriers Scale; Luzzo & McWhirter, 2001) with a sample of racially diverse college women. The results supported a nine-factor structure of the Perception of Barriers Scale indicating different sources of barriers. In general, configural, metric, and scalar invariance of the Perception of Barriers subscales were found across Asian American, African American, Latina American, and White American college women for the nine-factor structure. All three groups of women of color reported higher career barriers due to racial discrimination, higher educational barriers due to finances concerns, and higher educational barriers due to lack of confidence and skills than White women. The results also demonstrated the potential difference in salient barriers across Asian American, African American, and Latina American women. The reliability estimates were satisfactory and construct validity was supported by negative associations among the scores on several Perception of Barriers subscales and a career-self-efficacy measure. The findings suggested that college women experience barriers from various sources when pursuing their career and educational goals.Item WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL IS SAFE: PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENSS AND PERCEPTIONS OF STI RISK AMONG MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN(2018) Sarno, Elissa Louise; Mohr, Jonathan J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Men who have sex with men (MSM) are the group most severely impacted by HIV in the United States (CDC, 2015). Many MSM, however, still engage in sex without condoms (Smith, Herbst, Zhang, & Rose, 2015). One factor influencing a lack of condom use among MSM may be an assumption of low risk of contracting HIV or another STI from physically attractive partners. This assumption may be particularly dangerous for MSM who use geosocial networking applications (GSN) to find sexual partners. Previous researchers have suggested that this assumption could be based on two theoretical mechanisms: implicit personality theory and motivated reasoning. The present study tested two hypothesized models of the associations between physical attractiveness, perceived HIV/STI risk, and condom use intentions, based on these proposed theories. Participants were 197 MSM who completed an online survey in which they viewed photos of physically attractive and unattractive men and responded to items on perception of positive partner personality characteristics, intention to have sex with the partner, perceived risk for HIV/STIs, and condom use intentions. Results supported both theories. Specifically, physical attractiveness was negatively associated with perceived risk for HIV/STIs and condom use intentions, and these relations were mediated by intentions to have sex and positive partner personality. Implications of these findings for further research and practice are discussed.Item Intersectional experiences, stigma-related stress, and psychological health among Black LGB communities(2018) Jackson, Skyler; Mohr, Jonathan J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Contemporary theories of stigma-related stress (Hatzenbuehler, 2009; Krieger, 2014; Meyer, 2003) suggest that marginalized populations face chronic experiences of prejudice and discrimination due to their minority statuses—and that these stressful events undermine psychological health. Research based on this perspective typically (a) focus on one aspect of identity (e.g., sexual orientation) in isolation from other salient aspects of identity (e.g., race), (b) test temporal theories of discrimination and health using cross-sectional study designs, and (c) focus on experiences of stigmatization, overlooking the potential role of positive, identity-supportive experiences in mental health. The present study uses daily diary methods to explore the prevalence and day-to-day correlates of intersectional experiences (IEs) in a sample of 131 Black lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals. Every evening for one week, participants reported both negative and positive IEs from the last 24 hours, and completed measures of identity conflict, rumination, and affect. Across 849 combined study days, participants described 97 negative IEs (11.4% of days) and 263 positive IEs (31.0% of days). Multilevel regression was used to test concurrent and temporal relations between daily IEs and mood—as well as the mediating roles of identity conflict and rumination—at the within-person and between-person levels. Negative IEs were associated with identity conflict and negative affect at both the within- and between-person levels, and negative rumination at the within-person level only. Positive IEs predicted positive rumination and positive affect (but not identity conflict) at the within- and between-person levels. Results indicated that identity conflict mediated the concurrent association between negative IEs and negative affect (but not between positive IEs and positive affect) at both levels of analysis. Negative rumination mediated the concurrent association of negative IEs and negative affect at the within-person level (but not the between-person level). The study also produced a significant indirect path from positive IEs to positive affect, mediated through positive rumination, at both levels of analysis. No direct or indirect lag-effects were demonstrated in which IEs predicted next day outcomes. This microlongitudinal investigation is among the first to quantitatively capture the prevalence and day-to-day correlates of intersectional experiences among LGB people of color.Item Future Chore Division Ideals and Expectations: Validating a Measure with Undergraduate Women(2018) Silberberg, Ayelet; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)College-aged women expect to disrupt their future careers, earn less, and be responsible for more household and childcare chores than their future spouses. This unequal division of labor has been linked to inequality in the workforce between women and men with women earning less and being concentrated in low pay, low prestige occupations. The current investigation sought to improve understanding of this phenomenon by exploring the factor structure and psychometric properties of a measure of chore division ideals and expectations in a sample of undergraduate women. Exploratory factor analyses suggested separate measures of ideal and expected chores, each comprised of two factors: traditionally feminine chores, and traditionally masculine chores. Confirmatory factor analyses did not reach satisfactory cutoff levels, but the scores on the preliminary scales showed evidence for convergent validity, internal reliability, and test-retest reliability. Results also supported hypotheses regarding relationships between the subscales. Tentative implications of these findings, future directions for research, and clinical implications are discussed.Item Secrets in Psychotherapy: A Longitudinal Study of Client Concealment and Disclosure(2017) Marks, Ellen Christina; Hill, Clara E.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study investigated how secrets unfold over the course of therapy in a naturalistic setting, including identifying longitudinal patterns and investigating relationships with other session-level variables. Participants were 39 client and graduate student therapist dyads in open-ended therapy at a community psychotherapy clinic. Data on concealment, disclosure, working alliance, real relationship, and session evaluation were collected after each session. Data were analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). Results demonstrated that disclosure and concealment of secrets are relatively infrequent occurrences, with disclosure occurring more often than concealment. Over time, clients became less likely to disclose a secret and less likely to conceal a significant secret. Clients rated the working alliance as lower for sessions where secrets were disclosed, but this relationship was less pronounced when the disclosed secret was viewed as significant. Clients rated session quality as higher for sessions in which they both concealed and disclosed secrets, as well as for sessions in which a preoccupying secret was shared. Clients tended to feel neutral or positive about their disclosures and believe that the disclosure had no change on how they were viewed by their therapist. Implications for practice and research are discussed.Item Master Therapists' Perceptions of Self-Disclosure Use in Individual Psychotherapy: A Qualitative Study(2016) Pinto-Coelho, Kristen Giddens; Hill, Clara E; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The majority of psychotherapy practitioners use therapist self-disclosure (TSD; Lane, Farber, & Geller, 2001; Henretty & Levitt, 2010), clients say it is helpful (Hanson, 2005) Hill, Helms, Tichenor, Spiegel, O’Grady, & Perry, E., 1988), and a growing body of research and theory suggests that avoiding TSD in all circumstances may have harmful effects on both the client and the therapy (Barnett, 2011). Thus, continued research is called for to provide clinicians with recommendations for how to use the intervention therapeutically, as well as how to avoid using it in ways that might be harmful. However, little is known about how master therapists make decisions about TSD, and researchers have found that studying therapists’ use of disclosure, in general, is of limited use (Gallucci, 2002). Accordingly, we interviewed 13 master therapists about their general attitudes about TSDs, examples of actual successful TSDs, examples of actual unsuccessful TSDs, and instances during which they felt an urge to disclose but chose not to do so. We analyzed the transcripts using consensual qualitative research. In terms of general attitudes, therapists believed that some types of TSD can be helpful in some situations if used sparingly, but had many cautions about using TSDs. In successful TSDs, there were no typical antecedents; therapists typically intended to provide support, facilitate exploration and insight, and build and maintain the therapeutic relationship; the content was typically about similarities between the therapist and client and relevant to the client’s issues; and the consequences were typically positive. In unsuccessful TSDs, the typical antecedents were countertransference reactions; the typical intentions were to provide support; therapists typically misjudged perceived similarities; and the consequences were negative. In instances when therapists felt urged to disclose but did not, the typical antecedent was countertransference; and the content of what was not disclosed typically seemed relevant to the client’s issues. Implications for practice, training, and research are discussed.