Psychology Theses and Dissertations

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    A Comparative Study of Certain Personality Characteristics of College Women Participating in Basketball and Modern Dance
    (1965) Bird, Anne Marie; Johnson, Warren R.; Health Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
    Twenty-five college women attending the University of Maryland during the spring semester of 1963 were studied in an effort to determine whether or not there were any identifiable personality characteristics among those (14) who chose to participate in basketball, as compared to those (13) who chose to participate in modern dance. The subjects used in this study voluntarily chose the activity in which they participated. The California Psychological Inventory was used to evaluate the personality characteristics of the subjects. Analysis of the data showed that the basketball group scored significantly higher, at the 5 percent level of confidence, on the community scale. The modern dance group scored significantly higher, at the 5 percent level of confidence, on the scales measuring flexibility and femininity. A comparison of the group means for all other scales proved insignificant at the 5 percent level of confidence.
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    THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SENSATION SEEKING, ANXIETY, SELF-CONFIDENCE AND AIDS-RELATED SEXUAL RISK-TAKING IN A COLLEGE STUDENT SAMPLE
    (1994) Isralowitz, Stuart Adam; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
    The researcher investigated how the personality traits of sensation seeking, anxiety, and self-confidence are associated with AIDS-related sexual risk-taking of college students. It was hypothesized that individuals who exhibited high levels of sensation seeking, low anxiety, and low self-confidence in specific domains would participate in a significant amount of sexual risk-taking. If this were true, then preventive approaches could be geared toward helping risk-takers cope with the characteristics that place them at-risk. The researcher administered the following measures to 313 college students: the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V (SSS V), the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales-Trait (EMAS-T), the Personal Evaluation Inventory (PEI), a modified Sexual Behavior Questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire. Two aspects of sensation seeking (Disinhibition and Boredom Susceptibility) on the SSS V were significantly associated with AIDS-related sexual risk-taking. High sensation seekers engaged in more sexual risk-taking than low sensation seekers in these areas. In addition, moderate sexual risk-takers only exhibited less anxiety than low risk-takers in the Daily Routines aspect of anxiety on the EMAS-T. Moderate risk-takers displayed greater self-confidence regarding Romantic Relationships than low risk-takers on the PEI. The association between sensation seeking and anxiety was negative. High sexual risk-takers showed a greater worry about getting AIDS and higher perception of AIDS risk than low sexual risk-takers. No gender differences were found in sexual risk-taking. Implications for research included conducting studies regarding sensation seeking and AIDS-related sexual behavior with gay and lesbian college students, and with individuals of college age not attending college. Studies measuring the psychometric qualities of the SSS V and the PEI were also suggested. A practical outcome of this study was the proposed use of an updated measure to assess participation in novel, varied, and risky activities. Clinicians could employ this measure in public schools and college counseling centers, under certain circumstances.
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    Information Uncertainty Influences Learning Strategy from Sequentially Delayed Rewards
    (2023) Maulhardt, Sean Richard; Charpentier, Caroline; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The problem of temporal credit assignment has long been posed as a nontrivial obstacle to identifying signal from data. However, human solutions in complex environments, involving repeated and intervening decisions, as well as uncertainty in reward timing, remain elusive. To this end, our task manipulated uncertainty via the amount of information given in their feedback stage. Using computational modeling, two learning strategies were developed that differentiated participants’ updates of sequentially delayed rewards: eligibility trace whereby previously selected actions are updated as a function of the temporal sequence - and tabular update - whereby additional feedback information is used to only update systematically-related rather than randomly related past actions. In both models, values were discounted over time with an exponential decay. We hypothesized that higher uncertainty would be associated with (i) a switch from tabular to eligibility strategy and (ii) higher rates of discounting. Participants’ data (N = 142) confirmed our first hypothesis, additionally revealing an effect of the starting condition. However, our discounting hypothesis had only weak evidence of an effect and remains an open question for future studies. We explore potential explanations for these effects and possibilities of future directions, models, and designs.
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    Understanding Parent and Teacher Perspectives of Temperament Profiles in Young Children
    (2023) Waldrip, Sabrina M; Teglasi, Hedwig; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The study of temperament profiles is considered a person-centered approach to understanding temperament, as it takes into consideration the complex combinations and interactions of multiple traits that characterize an individual. However, most studies of temperament profiles have focused on reactive traits in infants and toddlers using parent ratings and/or laboratory conditions and since outdated methodologies. This study contributed to the temperament profile literature by exploring profiles based on parent and teacher ratings of reactive and regulatory traits of young children in kindergarten using the modern statistical technique of latent profile analysis. Kindergarten is a unique and critical time in development in which children are suddenly learning new academic, social, and self-regulatory skills as they begin formal education. Parent and teacher ratings of kindergarteners’ temperament were analyzed separately and the behavioral profiles produced by each were described. When only reactivity traits were included in the analyses, the profiles that emerged were mostly consistent with the three to four profiles that have been found in previous studies, including inhibited, exuberant, average, and/or low reactive profiles. When both reactive and regulation traits were included in the analyses, more nuanced profiles emerged that generally reflected subdivisions of the traditional reactivity profiles found in the literature but with varying levels of regulation. There were many similarities but important distinctions among the profile numbers, temperament patterns, and proportion sizes of the parent and teacher profile solutions. Neither child age nor child sex were found to be important predictors of profile membership. Despite its own limitations, the present study serves as a model for how previous methodological limitations in the field may be addressed to enhance our understanding of the complexity and nuances of temperament development and continue to push the field forward. Through such person-centered approaches, the field may one day guide parents, educators, and practitioners towards meeting the diverse needs of children with various temperament dispositions.
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    Early emotional caregiving environment and associations with memory performance and hippocampal volume in adolescents with prenatal drug exposure
    (2023) Kohn, Brooke Hannah; Riggins, Tracy; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Early adversities, including prenatal drug exposure (PDE) and a negative postnatal emotional caregiving environment, impact children’s long-term development. The protracted developmental course of memory and its underlying neural systems offer a valuable framework for understanding the longitudinal associations of pre- and postnatal factors on children with PDE. This study longitudinally examines memory and hippocampal development in 69 parent-child dyads with PDE histories to investigate how the early emotional caregiving environment affects children with PDE’s neural and cognitive systems. Measures of physical health, drug exposure, and the emotional caregiving environment were collected between 0-24 months. At age 14 years, adolescents (N=69, 52.17% Female) completed multiple measures of episodic memory. at ages 14 (n=27) and 18 (n=17) years, a subset of adolescents underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Latent constructs of episodic memory and the caregiving environment were created using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Multiple regressions revealed a negative emotional caregiving environment during infancy was associated with poor memory performance and smaller left hippocampal volumes at 14 years. Better memory performance at 14 years predicted larger right hippocampal volume at 18 years. At 18 years, the association between the emotional caregiving environment and hippocampal volume was moderated by sex, such that a negative emotional caregiving environment was associated with larger left hippocampal volumes in males but not females. Findings suggest that the postnatal caregiving environment may modulate the effects of PDE across development, influencing neurocognitive development.
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    The emergence of symbolic norms
    (2023) Pan, Xinyue; Gelfand, Michele J.; Nau, Dana S.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Human groups are experts in developing and maintaining social norms. Many social norms have clear practical functions, such as regulating competition or facilitating coordination. Some other norms, however, have arbitrary functions and limited direct material consequences for the self or the group, but are nevertheless enforced. I define such norms as symbolic norms. Symbolic norms are prevalent across human societies. Given the discrepancy between the social importance and the functional opacity of these norms, it is important to understand how a seemingly neutral behavior can emerge as a symbolic norm and be adopted by the population. In this dissertation, I argue that a neutral behavior is more likely to evolve as a symbolic norm when it shows statistical correlation with a practical behavior on the population level. I call this the norm spillover effect. The norm spillover effect predicts that if, on the population level, followers of a practically beneficial norm happen to conduct a certain neutral behavior more often than practical norm violators, the social norm will spill over from the practical domain to the neutral domain. Thus, people will adopt and enforce that neutral behavior, and a symbolic norm will emerge. This dissertation uses agent-based models and an empirical experiment to test the norm spillover effect across two levels of analyses. First, agent-based models are used to test the evolutionary force behind the norm spillover effect on the population level. I argue that the statistical correlation between a practical and a neutral behavior creates an ecology that fosters symbolic norm following and enforcement. Second, an empirical experiment is conducted to examine the psychology of the norm spillover effect on the individual level. I argue that the perceived correlation between a practical and a neutral behavior increases the perceived direct function of and the pressure to conform to the symbolic norm.
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    ROLE OF PROJECTIONS FROM ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX TO DORSAL STRIATUM IN INCUBATION OF OXYCDONE CRAVING
    (2023) Lin, Hongyu; Li, Xuan; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Oxycodone seeking progressively increases during abstinence and maintains for an extended period, a phenomenon termed incubation of oxycodone craving. We previously found that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays a causal role in this incubation. Here, we aimed to identify critical downstream regions of OFC in incubation of oxycodone craving by focusing on the central to medial portion of the dorsal striatum (DS), based on previous anatomical evidence. We first measured projection-specific activation on abstinence day 15 seeking test by using cholera toxin b (retrograde tracer, injected into DS) +Fos (activity marker) double-labeling in the OFC. Next, we determined the effect of pharmacological reversible inactivation of DS on incubated oxycodone seeking on abstinence day 15. We then used an anatomical asymmetrical disconnection procedure to determine whether OFC to DS projections contribute to incubated oxycodone seeking.
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    Stepping into the Breach: Followers Reclaiming Leadership from Formal Leaders
    (2023) Butler, Alexander I; Hanges, Paul; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Recently, DeRue (2011) reconceptualized leadership as a dynamic process in which individuals engage in interdependent and interlocking acts of leading and following called “double interacts.” The behaviors that take place in double interacts are categorized as claims and grants, and they signify the assertion or bestowment of status as leader or follower in interpersonal exchanges. The present study (N = 367) builds upon DeRue’s theoretical model by testing antecedents to claiming and granting. Results show that leader behavior predicts followers’ decisions to claim or grant leader status. Furthermore, followers’ trust perceptions mediate the relationship between leader behavior and claiming and granting, and leader identity magnitude moderates the mediating effect of trust. This study has implications for understanding leader influence, claiming and granting, trust, and leader identity construction.
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    Reactions to a Request for a Benefit in Communal and Exchange Relationships
    (1977) Clark, Margaret Snydor; Mills, Judson R.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, MD)
    Based on a distinction between communal relationships, in which benefits are given in response to the needs of the other, and exchange relationships, in which benefits are given with the expectation of receiving comparable benefits in return, the following hypotheses were proposed: 1) If a person has been aided by another, that other will be liked more when he requests a benefit than when he does not request a benefit, if the person expects an exchange relationship with the other. 2) If a person has been aided by another» that other will be liked more when he does not request a benefit than when he does request a benefit, if the person expects a communal relationship with the other. 3) If a person has not been aided by another, that other will be liked more when he does not request a benefit than when he does request a benefit, if the person expects an exchange relationship with the other. 4) If a person has not been aided by another, that other will be liked more when he requests a benefit than when he does not request a benefit, if the person expects a communal relationship with the other. Under the guise of a study of performance, female college students worked on a vocabulary task while a television monitor showed another female working on a similar task in another room. In order to manipulate the expectation of an exchange or a communal relationship, some of the subjects were told that the other was married, had a child, lived far from the university and that she and the subject would be discussing differences in interests in the second study (Exchange condition). Other subjects were told that the other was new at the university, did not know many people and that she and the subject would be discussing common interests in a second study (Communal condition). The other female finished the task, received one point and gave the subject aid on her task or did not give aid. The other female then requested a point from the subject or did not request a point. Finally, the subject's liking for the other and her expectations concerning the future discussion with the other were assessed. In general the results for the measure of liking provide evidence for the distinction between communal and exchange relationships. In support of the first hypothesis it was found that the other female was liked more in the Exchange-aid-request condition than in the Exchange-aid- no request condition. In support of the second hypothesis it was found that the other female was liked more in the Communal-aid-no request condition than in the Communal-aid-request condition. In support of the third hypothesis it was found that the other female was liked more in the Exchange-no aid-no request condition than in the Exchange-no aidrequest condition. The fourth hypothesis was not supported; there was no difference in liking for the other female in the Communal-no aid-request condition and in the Communal-no aid-no request condition. As would be expected from the distinction between communal and exchange relationships, liking was greater in the Exchange-aid-request condition than in the Exchange-no aid-request condition, marginally less in the Communal aid- request condition than in the Communal-no aid-request condition and less in the Exchange-aid-no request condition than in the Exchange-no aid-no request condition. The results for the measure of pleasantness of the future discussion with the other were also consistent with the distinction between communal and exchange relationships. The results on the liking measure demonstrate that equity principles, which have been useful in understanding a number of different social relationships, do not apply to all relationships.
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    Relations Between Latent Episodic Memory, Nap Habituality, and the Cortex During Childhood
    (2023) Allard, Tamara Lynn; Riggins, Tracy; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    During childhood, episodic memory demonstrates marked improvements that are supported by the protracted development of the hippocampus and a larger network of cortical regions. To date, most research has focused on associations with the hippocampus in this age group. Few studies have explored the contribution of cortical regions and no studies have explored this longitudinally. Thus, the first aim of this dissertation was to examine the longitudinal co-development of cortical thickness and surface area in memory-related cortical regions with a latent episodic memory variable in 4- to 8-year-old children (N = 177). Findings, uncorrected for multiple comparisons, demonstrated that a thinner cortex in multiple episodic memory network regions (i.e., inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal sulcus, lingual gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, precuneus, lateral occipital cortex, superior frontal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, superior temporal gyrus, and temporal pole) at age 4 predicted more rapid improvements in memory performance from age 4 to 6 years. Similarly, greater surface area in the precuneus and less surface area in the medial orbitofrontal gyrus at age 4 also predicted more rapid improvements in memory performance from age 4 to 6 years. Additionally, results revealed that several regions demonstrate parallel co-development with latent episodic memory performance from age 4 to 8 years. Specifically, greater changes in cortical thickness and surface area of the entorhinal cortex were associated with greater changes in memory from age 4 to 6 years. Furthermore, cortical thickness of entorhinal cortex and surface area of anterior cingulate cortex, entorhinal cortex, inferior parietal sulcus, lingual gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus showed co-development with latent episodic memory from age 6 to 8 years. Together, these findings suggest that cortical thickness and surface area of the episodic memory network support improvements in memory performance during childhood. However, these findings did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Although age-related differences were one focus of this investigation, individual differences were another. Specifically, during childhood children transition away from afternoon napping. This transition has previously been associated with differences in memory consolidation abilities and hippocampal maturation. These associations suggest that habitual nappers require more regular sleep to consolidate memories due to an immature episodic memory network. However, limited work has examined these associations outside the hippocampus. Therefore, the second aim of this dissertation was to examine whether regions that support longitudinal memory development differ as a function of nap habituality (N = 44). Findings revealed significant differences in cortical thickness of right inferior frontal gyrus and surface area of lateral occipital cortex, such that non-nappers demonstrated a thinner cortex and greater surface area in these regions compared to nappers, though these findings did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Thus, although there is some evidence that memory-related cortical regions may differ based on nap habituality, additional work is needed to support this claim. Together this dissertation provides new data on the co-development of memory with brain structure in the episodic memory network and identifies individual differences that may be associated with these brain structures.
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    Cultural Humility and Outcome Rating Scale: Multilevel Mediation Effects of Dyadic Working Alliance
    (2023) Dixon, Katherine Morales; Kivlighan Jr., Dennis M.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Abstract Current psychotherapy research on cultural humility (CH) indicates that CH is positively associated with client treatment outcomes and that working alliance may mediate the relationship between CH and treatment outcome. However, these studies have used cross-sectional data and have largely ignored the nested nature of therapist-client data sets. To address this gap in the literature, the current study applied a two-level, time-lagged, Multilevel Structural Equation Model (MSEM) to a longitudinal data set and examined whether working alliance mediates the relationship between client-perceived CH of the therapist and client-perceived symptom improvement (Outcome Rating Scale; ORS). The working alliance was conceptualized and operationalized as a dyadic construct (Cl-WA, Th-WA). Results were mixed; contrary to predictions, sessions in which clients perceived the therapist as higher in CH compared to average sessions were associated with poorer ORS scores. This relationship between cultural humility and client perceived improvement was not significant at the between-client level. The mediation hypothesis was supported at the within-client level but not at the between-client level. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
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    Trajectories of Clinician Competence and Student Engagement During an Adolescent ADHD Intervention
    (2023) Sommer, Samantha Lynn; Teglasi, Hedwig; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    School-based organization, time management, and planning skills-related (OTMP) interventions have been developed to address academic and organizational difficulties students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder face (ADHD), especially when entering secondary school (DuPaul et al., 2012; Evans et al., 2018; Villodas et al., 2014). For OTMP interventions to be reliably administered, interventionists must be appropriately trained to not only implement session procedures that adhere to intervention protocol, but to also adjust their responses to individual students to maintain quality interactions, which is referred to as competence (Goense et al., 2016; Perepletchikova et al., 2007). This study tested the hypothesis that the constructs, interventionist competence and student engagement, would significantly change over the course of a 16-session school-based intervention for adolescents with ADHD and academic challenges. Specific student characteristics were also expected to interact with initial levels or changes in competence and engagement over time. Using an archival dataset (N= 111) and latent growth modeling, findings revealed that neither competence nor engagement changed significantly over time. However, initial levels of both constructs significantly varied. Further conditional growth modeling found that greater ADHD symptom severity negatively contributed to competence and that internalizing symptoms contributed uniquely and positively to competence. Although interventionist competence and student engagement did not exhibit significant change over time, certain student factors were associated with the quality of interventionists responses to students and with the degree to which students remain engaged with intervention materials.
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    Client Attachment Dimensions and Therapist Skills: A Longitudinal Analysis
    (2023) Gerstenblith, Judith; Hill, Clara E; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Although scholars have highlighted the usefulness of attachment theory for psychotherapy (e.g., Bowlby, 1988; Holmes & Slade, 2018; Mallinckrodt, 2010), minimal empirical research exists examining the relationship between client attachment and therapist skills. In this study, we first investigated the factor structure of the therapist- and client-rated Helping Skills Measure (HSM; Hill & Kellems, 2002) for 5,830 psychodynamic psychotherapy sessions of 202 adult community clients working with 25 doctoral student therapists in a university clinic. The multilevel-confirmatory factor analysis supported a 3-factor structure (Exploration, Insight, Action), stable across time, at the session level in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Next, using a dynamic structural equation model for 592 sessions of 37 clients working with 6 therapists using both the HSM and the Experiences in Close Relationships-Short Form (Wei et al., 2007), we found a slight increase in exploration and insight skills as rated by therapists, but no significant change in client attachment dimensions over time. For the model using the therapist-rated HSM, we found significant and positive auto correlations for Anxiety, Avoidance, and Action, and a significant and positive cross-lagged correlation for Avoidance in one session predicting Action in the next session. For the model using the client-rated HSM, we found significant and positive auto correlations for Anxiety, Avoidance, and Exploration, and significant and negative cross-lagged correlations for Anxiety in one session predicting Exploration and Action in the next session. We did not find any significant cross-lagged correlations for therapist skills in one session predicting client attachment dimensions in the next session. We provide suggestions for practice and research, including training in attachment-informed therapy to improve therapist responsiveness and linking associations between client attachment and therapist skills to client outcome.
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    MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT UTILIZATION: THE INTERSECTIONAL EFFECTS OF RACE, SEX, AND AREA-LEVEL DEPRIVATION AMONG VETERANS WITH PTSD
    (2022) Arenson, Melanie B; De Los Reyes, Andres; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Background: PTSD is a debilitating disorder impacting approximately 10-30% of veterans within their lifetime. While multiple efficacious treatment for PTSD have been developed, access to and utilization of mental health care remains a significant barrier. Models of health care utilization (e.g., Andersen, 1995; Fortney, 2011) implicate predisposing and enabling factors such as sex, race and/or ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) or socioeconomic deprivation in healthcare access and utilization decisions. Although each of these factors has been examined in isolation, research on race and/or ethnicity and SES is limited, and almost no studies have examined the intersectional impacts of these factors on mental health service utilization among veterans. This study does so, hypothesizing that each will predict mental health service utilization individually, as well as show two and three-way interaction effects. Methods: All variables of interest were derived from the VA medical record, excepting area-level deprivation and geospatial access. Area-level deprivation was determined by linking veteran residential address to the Area Deprivation Index. Geospatial access was calculated by employing kernel density estimation, and linking ZIP-code level values to veteran residential address. All hypotheses were tested using negative binomial regression. Multiple imputation was employed for missingness. Results: Of the 245,574 veterans newly diagnosed with PTSD in 2017 or 2018, 75% attended at least one mental health appointment following diagnosis. The average number of follow-up appointments was 8.9 (mode = 1, median = 3). Sex, race-ethnicity, and area-level deprivation all predicted mental health service utilization individually. There was only one significant two-way interaction effect: identifying as a Black or African American male was positively associated with greater mental health service utilization following diagnosis (0.68, p=.007). There were no three-way interaction effects. Discussion: 1 in 4 veterans with PTSD in this sample did not attend any mental health appointments following diagnosis, highlighting the formidable gap between need and utilization. Furthermore, of those who did attend a follow up appointment, the modal number of appointments was 1, suggesting that entering care is not sufficient to ensure adequate treatment. Sex, race-ethnicity, and area-level deprivation all predicted mental health service utilization individually, but, with a singular exception, did not do so in combination with one another. It is possible that any variance explained by the well-documented compounding effects of societal bias, injustice, and disparities on (mental) health determinants and (mental) healthcare outcomes is more accurately measured by the covariates included in our models, rather than the socially-constructed identities themselves. Taken together, these study findings highlight the need for continued work in lowering barriers to mental health care for this population, as well as a greater understanding of the multitude of factors that influence access to and utilization of services.
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    ETHNIC-RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND ETHNIC-RACIAL SOCIALIZATION IN CHINESE IMMIGRANT PARENTS: ETHNIC-RACIAL IDENTITY AS A MEDIATOR
    (2022) Zhu, Qianyu; Wang, Cixin; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Ethnic-racial discrimination against Chinese people have been prevalent, resulting in great stress to Chinese families. The current study was aimed of revealing the intergenerational associations between parental racism-related stress and perceived Sinophobia messages in the media, parental ethnic-racial identity (ERI), parental ethnic-racial socialization (ERS), and children’s psychological difficulties and examined the mediation roles of parental ERI and ERS as well as the effects of contextual factors (i.e., neighborhood racial diversity and perceived Chinese density). This study relies on a longitudinal study funded by National Science Foundation RAPID grant to understand Chinese American children’s and parents’ experience with discrimination and adjustment during COVID-19, and only data collected between March to May, 2020 (Time 1) and January to April, 2021 (Time 2) were used in this study. The subsample consists of 294 Chinese immigrant parents (Mage = 44.28, SD age = 6.18, ages ranged from 29 to 63 years, 79% female). The results showed that parental racism-related stress during COVID-19 at Time 1 had significant indirect effects on parental lower use of avoidance of outgroups at Time 2 and higher maintenance of heritage culture practice at Time 2 via parental ERI greater private regard at Time 2. Parental perceived Sinophobia in the media at Time 1 had significant indirect effects on child’s lower psychological difficulties at Time 2 via parental higher use of maintenance of heritage culture practice at Time 2. Parental racism-related stress during COVID-19 at Time 1 had significant indirect effects on child’s higher psychological difficulties at Time 2 via parental higher use of avoidance of outgroups practice at Time 2. Additionally, the multi-group analysis was used to compare the mediation model differences between neighborhoods with low and high general racial diversity and perceived Chinese ethnic specific density. With regard to neighborhood general racial diversity, only for the high neighborhood general racial diversity group, parental racism-related stress during COVID-19 at Time 1 positively and parental ERI private regard at Time 2 negatively predicted parental use of avoidance of outgroups practices; Parental use of avoidance of outgroups practices positively predicted child’s psychological difficulties at Time 2. For perceived neighborhood Chinese ethnicity specific density, no significant model differences were found between perceived high and low Chinese density groups. Practical implications, limitations, and future directions of these findings were discussed.
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    THE PREDICTIVE POWER OF GRIT VERSUS GROWTH MINDSET ON LATER LITERACY ACHIEVEMENT
    (2022) Meyering, Kristin; O'Neal, Colleen; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Noncognitive, socioemotional variables impact individual’s academic achievement. Grit and growth mindset are two well researched socioemotional variables known to positively predict academic outcomes. This quantitative study is the first to systematically evaluate if growth mindset predicts later literacy achievement above and beyond grit. Method: The relative predictive strength of these two variables was evaluated using a short-term longitudinal dataset with a total of 267 upper elementary school students from two schools (5% Asian, 10% Black, 6% Latinx, 17% Multiethnic/Other, and 62% White; 36% dual language learner; 60% female; average age = 9.7 years). Measures included self-report on the Short Grit Scale, the Resiliency: Helpless vs. Mastery-Oriented Responses to Failure Scale, and a student literacy achievement performance task (Test of Silent Reading Efficiency and Comprehension, TOSREC). Analytic Approach: Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were run to determine the factor structure of the grit and growth mindset scales for the data. Consistency in grit and growth mindset over time was evaluated via measurement invariance testing. A latent variable path analysis (LVPA) of latent grit and latent growth mindset at Time 1 predicting observed literacy achievement Time 2 was run to determine the relative predictive power of grit and growth mindset. Results: A second-order two factor structure fit the data and theoretical model for both grit and growth mindset. Partial measurement invariance was established for the Short Grit Scale and non-invariance was found for the Resiliency: Helpless vs. Mastery-Oriented Responses to Failure Scale. Finally, both grit and growth mindset were significant positive predictors of later literacy achievement, but grit was found to predict literacy above and beyond the variance accounted for growth mindset. Findings support the continued study of grit and growth mindset as viable predictors of outcomes among elementary-age students. Psychologists and educators should consider integration of socioemotional constructs, such as grit and growth mindset, into academic learning.
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    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.
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    Evaluating an Online Intervention to Educate Psychology Graduate Students about Grief and Grief Counseling and to Increase Their Self-Efficacy in Working with Bereaved Clients
    (2022) Jankauskaite, Greta; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Grief is a ubiquitous human experience with most if not all individuals experiencing a death loss at some point in their lives. Prior research found that all surveyed therapists reported having worked with bereaved clients at some point in their careers, with many (44.4%) noting that they provided grief counseling fairly often (Jankauskaite et al., 2021). However, research suggested that majority of therapists never received formal graduate training on grief counseling and may rely on outdated knowledge and questionable skills in working with grieving clients (e.g., Dodd et al., 2020; Jankauskaite et al., 2021; Ober et al., 2012), yet expressed desire to learn more about this clinical skill (Jankauskaite et al., 2021). Thus, the purposes of the present study were to develop an online intervention to educate psychology graduate students about grief and grief counseling and to evaluate whether the intervention can increase knowledge on grief and grief counseling and self-efficacy in working with grieving individuals. The study compared three study conditions – full video intervention, partial video intervention, and a control consisting of a reading. The results indicated that while controlling for prior grief counseling training and experience, participants randomized to the full video intervention had higher grief and grief counseling knowledge and self-efficacy in working with bereaved individuals than those randomized to the partial intervention and control groups. Overall, the results indicated that the full intervention is a feasible and efficacious way to teach psychology doctoral students about grief and grief counseling and to increase their confidence in working with bereaved client population. We end by discussing clinical implications and future research considerations.
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    PARENTAL DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS, CHILD DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS, AND PARENTING: RECIPROCAL RELATIONS FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD THROUGH ADOLESCENCE
    (2022) Chad-Friedman, Emma Leila; Dougherty, Lea R; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Theories on the interactional nature of families suggest that parents and children each impact one another’s moods and behaviors. However, little work has examined reciprocal relations among parental depression, parenting, and child depression across development. We conducted cross-lagged panel models to examine reciprocal relations between parental depression, negative parenting, and child depression from early childhood through adolescence in a community sample of 609 youth. At ages 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 years old, mothers and fathers completed self-report measures about their own depression and parenting. Child depression was assessed with a developmentally appropriate semi-structured clinical interview at all timepoints. Results demonstrated reciprocal, indirect pathways between maternal and child depression: maternal depression at age 3 led to child depression at age 15 and child depression at age 3 led to greater maternal depression at age 15 via a number of indirect pathways. Moreover, while child depression at age 3 led to greater maternal and paternal negative parenting from ages 3 to 15, this effect was not reciprocal. Pathways between paternal and child depression were not observed. Our findings highlight the importance of examining reciprocal pathways to identify mechanisms in the development of parent and youth depression across childhood.
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    Application of Behavioral Economic Theory to College Student Drinkers with and without ADHD: A Daily Diary Study
    (2022) Oddo, Lauren Elizabeth; Chronis-Tuscano, Andrea; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Aims: Young people with ADHD are vulnerable to the initiation and escalation of hazardous alcohol use in college, posing high direct and indirect costs to these individuals and society. Behavioral economic theory proposes key etiological and maintenance factors of hazardous alcohol use that have never been examined at the daily level in connection to ADHD: alcohol demand, substance-free enjoyment and activity engagement, and behavioral activation. Method: College student drinkers with (n=51) and without (n=50) ADHD completed 14 consecutive days of daily diaries (n=1,414). We conducted a series of multilevel path models to examine (1) the effect of ADHD on average daily alcohol demand, substance-free enjoyment and activity engagement, and behavioral activation; (2) the effect of average daily alcohol demand, substance-free enjoyment and activity engagement, and behavioral activation on alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences; and (3) the moderating effect of ADHD on these same-day associations. Results: On average, drinkers with ADHD experienced more daily alcohol-related negative consequences relative to non-ADHD drinkers. ADHD was also associated with less daily substance-free enjoyment and behavioral activation. Regardless of ADHD status, there were significant associations among each behavioral economic risk factor and alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences, though effects differed at the within and between person levels. There were no moderating effects of ADHD on these same-day associations. Conclusion: This is the first study to apply daily diary methodology to examine behavioral economic risk factors among drinkers with versus without ADHD. Results expose areas of daily impairment specific to drinkers with ADHD and meaningfully advance theoretical conceptualizations of ADHD and hazardous alcohol use. Future research identifying daily associations among environmental triggers and alcohol problems in an ecologically valid manner has tremendous potential to inform the development of adaptive interventions delivered to the right people at the right time.