Psychology
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Item INVESTIGATING DIFFERENCES IN STRUCTURAL KNOWLEDGE AND METACOGNITIVE PROCESSES AMONG LAY HELPERS ADVANCED STUDENTS AND SENIOR PROFESSIONAL THERAPISTS(2011) London, Kevin; Kivlighan, Dennis M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Therapist expertise is associated with the use of complex knowledge structures and metacognitive processes. A cross sectional ex-post facto design assessed differences in structural knowledge and metacognitive processes between lay helpers, advanced students, and senior professional therapists. A card sorting task involving 19 therapist intentions was used to assess the following structural knowledge indicators: minutes to complete a card sort, number of card sort categories, and card sort score. Metacognitive processes were assessed using an adaptation of the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory and the Self-reflection subscale of the Self-Reflection and Insight subscales. An inverse U shaped relationship was found in where compared to lay helpers and senior professional therapists; advanced student's had higher card sort scores, indicative of greater consistency with a sample of experienced therapists. Compared to lay helpers and advanced students, senior professional therapists used significantly more time to sort therapist intentions and sorted intentions into a greater number of categories. Relative to metacognitive process, advanced students and senior professional therapists reported significantly greater knowledge of cognition than lay helpers. Also, advanced students also reported greater self-reflection than both lay helpers and senior professional therapists. Discriminant analysis assessed the potential for a linear combination of structural knowledge indicators and metacognitive processes to differentiate participants by level of therapist development. Self-reflection and card sort scores discriminated advanced students from senior professionals, whereas knowledge of cognition and minutes to complete the card sort discriminated experienced professionals from lay helpers. Multidimensional scaling analysis was used to assess the optimal structural configuration of the pooled card sort data and yielded a 4 dimensional solution of the 19 therapist intentions. Results were consistent with Skovholt and Ronnestad's (1992) model of therapist professional development. Results also supported the attenuating effect of ill defined problems on problem solving ability of highly experienced individuals in their respective domain. The study concludes with implications for training, therapy, and research.Item Dream Groups versus Interpersonal Groups: Comparison of Two Approaches to Eating Disorder Prevention among Sorority Women(2010) Spangler, Patricia Tschirhart; HIll, Clara E; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Maladaptive eating attitudes and behaviors are prevalent among college women, and members of sororities may be at particular risk for developing eating disorders. Recently, group-format prevention programs targeting maladaptive cognitions and unhealthy eating habits among college women have yielded promising results but did not account for the effects of changes in alexithymia or interpersonal dynamics, factors that have been associated with eating disorder etiology. The current study targeted these and other eating disorder risk factors among sorority women, comparing process and outcome of group dream work versus group interpersonal psychotherapy versus control groups. Pre- to post-intervention changes in alexithymia, body dissatisfaction, fear of negative evaluation, and depression and were compared. In addition, development across time of affective referents and image intensity in written responses and group climate were examined. Growth curve analysis was used to compare changes in all variables over time. Results indicated that the written responses of dream group participants had more intense images in them that either the interpersonal groups or control condition. In addition, at post-test, the image intensity in interpersonal group members' written responses predicted the proportion of affect expressed in them, whereas this was not the case for dream group or control participants. For group climate, members of interpersonal groups perceived higher initial levels of conflict that decreased significantly over time.Item Affective Pathways of Work-Family Enrichment Among Dual-earner Couples(2009) Dunn, Marianne Grace; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The current study examined the extent to which resources generated at work influence family functioning among dual-earner couples while accounting for interdependence of observations among couples. Path analytic findings based in the Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM; Cook & Kenny, 2005) and Work-Family Enrichment Theory (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006) supported the presence of a mediated model. The relationship between resources generated at work to positive family performance was mediated by positive affect at work. A number of intrapersonal effects, including one mediated effect emerged between work, positive affect at work, and family variables. One interpersonal effect was detected: female family-supportive organization perceptions predicted male dyadic adjustment. The results and implications for theory, policy, practice, and research are discussed.Item Psychological Health and Meaning in Life: Stress, Social Support, and Religious Coping in Latina and Latino Immigrants(2007-04-13) Dunn, Marianne Grace; O'Brien, Karen; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined and the relative contributions of (a) gender, (b) perceived stress, (c) social support from family and significant other, and (d) positive and negative dimensions of religious coping to the prediction of the psychological health and meaning in life among Central American immigrants. Findings revealed that greater perceived stress by Latinas/ Latinos was predictive of psychological health and meaning in life. Social support from significant other also was predictive of presence of meaning in one's life. Negative religious coping, specifically reappraisal of God's powers was predictive of search for meaning in one's life.