The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between adult attachment style, humility, and relationship satisfaction in college student couples. Attachment style--given its significant role in predicting how individuals feel, think, and behave in relationships--was expected to be an important predictor of humility, although this possibility has rarely been studied empirically. The current study found that: (a) attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were significant, negative predictors of total humility, (b) attachment anxiety (but not attachment avoidance) was a significant, negative predictor of both intrapersonal and interpersonal humility, (c) a romantic partner's attachment avoidance (but not attachment anxiety) was a significant, negative predictor of a target person's relationship satisfaction, and (d) a romantic partner's perceived level of humility was a significant, positive predictor of a target person's relationship satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to explore how supportive functions of parent-child relationships influence young adult dating motivations and involvement. Theoretical literature suggests that emotionally supportive homes provide a secure base for children to depend on as they explore themselves and other relationships. However, problematic family ties could be expected to inhibit relationship involvement due to negative past experiences or to encourage involvement as a search for intimacy. A sample of 206 single, female undergraduates completed questionnaires assessing relationships with parents and aspects of romantic involvement and development. The set of Parent-Child Relationship variables included Support, Conflict, Depth, and Affective Quality in relationships with mother and father. The Attachment Related Dating Motivation variables included measures of Anxiety, Dependency, and Closeness in relationships, Attachment Motivation, Sexual Expression, Dating Exploration, Behavioral Indicators of Romantic Involvement, Sexual Involvement, and Level, Satisfaction, and Importance of Romantic Involvement.

Our sample consisted of 116 adults aged 18 and older, recruited from college and community settings. Participants were currently in a romantic relationship and endorsed the sudden and/or violent death of a family member, close friend, or romantic partner. We hypothesized that: 1) prolonged grief is associated with poor dyadic functioning; 2) social support moderates the relationship between prolonged grief and dyadic functioning; 3) religious coping moderates the association between prolonged grief and dyadic functioning. Results indicated that prolonged grief was not significantly related to dyadic functioning, and neither social support nor religious coping moderated this association.

The Ecological Q-Sort was developed specifically for the measurement of self-concept in older adults. Self-concept is defined as individuals' perceptions of themselves in relationship to their environment. Consequently, self-concept is contextual, multidimensional and varies with the situation. The Ecological Q-Sort was subjected to convergent and discriminant validational procedures in the present study. Correlational analyses provided support for both convergent and discriminant validity, suggesting that this instrument measures ecological, domain specific self-concept in older persons. However, multivariate analysis of variance did not yield significant main effects or interactions for sex, marital status, and health as observed on the sets of ecological and non-ecological self-concept measures.

The purpose of the present study was to test a specific path model. It was hypothesized that the relationship between the impact (amount and valence) of stress and an outcome (expressing violence toward a partner) would be mediated by an individual's cognitive appraisal of stressful events. Multiple regression procedures were used to test the model. Standardized beta coefficients indicated the strength of the relationships among the variables. Significant findings indicated that the strength of specific relationships among the ten variables (impact of events, three types of primary appraisal, four types of secondary appraisal and the expression of threats and acts of physical violence toward a partner) differed depending upon subject sex and whether the impact of the events was perceived as positive or negative.

George Kelly has stated that persons place interpretations, or constructs, on what they perceive. Past research has indicated that subjects more meaningfully apply their own personal constructs to persons and situations than constructs supplied from other sources. This study attempted to confirm previous findings. Sixty-three university students used their own personal constructs, elicited from the Role Construct Repertory Test, and supplied instrumental-expressive role constructs to interpret and rate 12 actors portraying instrumental and expressive behaviors in six videotaped scenes. The purpose of this study is to compare the meaningfulness to subjects of stereotypic terms in a sex-role inventory to the meaningfulness of the subjects' own personal constructs when interpreting typical masculine- and feminine-typed behavior.

Research examining how these athletes, specifically football players, are racially mistreated in revenue sports in Power Five conferences, as well as the effect of this mistreatment on their health and well-being, has been sparse. Thus, the purpose of my study was to examine current Black male college football players' experiences of racial mistreatment within their lives in general, and their collegiate sport experiences in particular, and to learn how these experiences have affected their health and well-being across their academic, athletic, and social spheres of functioning. Through reflexive thematic analysis, I gathered that (a) the athletes believed that football defines and limits them, (b) they felt misunderstood and isolated on campus, (b) they were dehumanized and criminalized, and (d) they were physically and psychologically exhausted from chronic racial mistreatment. Despite the NCAA making positive strides toward addressing mental health concerns within collegiate athletics, there remains a clear need for more support and nourishment regarding the mental health of Black male college athletes, particularly football players. Further results and implications are discussed.

Alcoholism is a major health problem, and current methods of treatment have been only partially successful. One treatment approach is to teach coping skills for dealing with problematic situations. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of imagery techniques in teaching coping skills. There were two major objectives of this study. The first objective was to determine whether covert skills training would produce positive changes in alcoholics in terms of their effectiveness in responding to stressful situations, their self-concept, and selected personality characteristics. The second objective was to determine whether alcoholics subjectively experience the imagery approach as beneficial. The statistical design also evaluated whether the effectiveness of the treatment fluctuated as a function of age, education, chronicity of alcohol problem, number of rehabilitation attempts, and environmental support as measured by the presence of a family or job awaiting the alcoholic's return.

his study compares ethnic, age, and gender differences concerning attitudes and behaviors toward death, dying, and bereavement among Caucasian, African, Hispanic, and Asian American adult participants in north Texas with the results of a 1976 study by Kalish and Reynolds on death attitudes and behaviors of Caucasian, African, Mexican, and Japanese American adult participants in Los Angeles, California. A modified version of Kalish and Reynolds' study questionnaire was administered to 526 respondents (164 Caucasian, 100 African, 205 Hispanic, and 57 Asian Americans) recruited from community and church groups. Findings of this study were compared with those of Kalish and Reynolds in specific areas, including experience with death, attitudes toward one's own death, dying, and afterlife, and attitudes toward the dying, death, or grief of someone else. Data was analyzed employing the same statistical tools as those used by Kalish and Reynolds, i.e., chi square calculations, frequencies, percentages, averages, and analyses of variance. As compared with the earlier study, results indicated that this study's participants were less likely to have known as many persons who had died recently or to state they would try very hard to control grief emotions in public. Present study participants were more likely to have visited …

This study investigated the relationship between the depressive attributional style described by Beck and Seligman and elevation of mood. It was proposed that mood elevation would reduce the level of depression and, in addition, would reduce the number of negative attributions. The reduction of negative attributions was assumed to be a more cognitively mediated process and was proposed to occur subsequent to mood change. These assumptions are contrary to the current cognitive theories of depression and attribution which view attributional style as a prerequisite to both the development and reduction of depression. Subjects were 30 undergraduate students between the ages of 19 and 40 years old who volunteered to participate in the study. They were screened on the basis of demonstrated depression (13 and above on the Beck Inventory) and susceptibility to hypnosis (high susceptibility on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility) . Subjects were randcmly assigned to one of three groups; (1) hypnosis with mood elevation, (2) hypnosis with relaxation, and (3) no treatment control. The results supported the hypothesis that mood elevation would reduce level of depression. The mood elevation group demonstrated a lowering of depression. The effects of the treatment procedure did not appear until the …

The empirical study of grace, a relational virtue nestled within the fields of positive psychology and the psychology of religion and spirituality, has had a relatively slow start. Since research on experiences of grace is in the beginning stages, the purpose of the current study was to provide rich, context-based, qualitative data to describe (a) mainline Protestants' experiences of, and beliefs about, grace (e.g., common grace, justifying/saving grace, sanctifying grace, accepting grace), (b) how mainline Protestant Christians experience the interplay between divine grace and forgiveness (i.e., self-forgiveness, other-forgiveness), and (c) how mainline Protestant Christians experience the interplay between divine grace and humility. Interviews were conducted with 28 community adults who were affiliated with a mainline Protestant church. Results indicated that mainline Protestant Christians have varying beliefs about divine grace and how it is related to both the present moment and the afterlife. Divine grace was often defined as, or associated with, other relational virtues (e.g., forgiveness, love), and participants occasionally defined grace as a gift. Divine grace was further described as being instrumental in mainline Protestant Christians' experiences of (a) self-forgiveness, (b) other-forgiveness, (c) acknowledgement of personal weaknesses and limitations, and (d) connecting with others who are different. I conclude …

Attempts to measure self concept in the elderly have been characterized by a variety of differing definitions of self concept, and differing methodological procedures. Previous investigations have used instruments which are stereotypic and not ecologically valid for elderly, test formats which make excessive demands on some elderly persons' cognitive and sensory-motor abilities, and administration procedures which penalize the less psychologically sophisticated older person, factors precluding adequate assessment of self concept in the elderly. In order to address the limitations of previous research, the present investigation developed and tested the Ecological Q-sort, a self concept instrument designed especially for use with the elderly. Items for the Ecological Q-sort were life situations which were ecologically representative and meaningful for older persons as self-defined by them. Two forms of the Ecological Q-sort were developed: the pictorial form consisting of pictorial representations of situations plus one sentence descriptions of situations; another form consisted of only one sentence written descriptions of situations.

The present study was an attempt to further investigate what factors contributed to whether married individuals defined their relationship as traditional or nontraditional. The project, moreover, explored what variables affected marital adjustment levels. The variables whose effects were assessed regarding whether married individuals defined their relationship as traditional or nontraditional included self-actualization and presence or absence of children. The factors examined thought to affect marital adjustment levels were self-actualization, subjective definition of the relationship as traditional or nontraditional, and presence or absence of children.

This study investigated older persons' perception of the negative impact of ill health, retirement, and widowhood in relation to the mobilization of relevant coping mechanisms. In addition, the relationship of coping mechanisms and dissatisfaction with current gender-role identity to seeking counseling was studied. A distributed questionnaire package provided demographic data as well as information pertaining to satisfaction in various areas of life, impact of live events, and coping style. Subjects were 54 males and 67 females aged 50 to 92. Safeguards were taken to ensure complete confidentiality and anonymity of response. Stepwise multiple regression (listwise deletion of data), multivariate and univariate analysis of variance and bivariate correlational analyses of the data were performed, suggesting that perception of negative impact of the events measured (ill health, widowhood, retirement) was related a) to employing numerous useful coping strategies, b) to low dyadic satisfaction, and c) to low life satisfaction. Analyses also suggested that variables which distinguished those in the sample who sought counseling were a) identity discrepancy (wherein Ideal exceeded Real) on the Masculine and Androgynous dimensions, b) employing fewer Coping with Health strategies, and c) employing more Coping with Retirement strategies. These variables also distinguished males who sought counseling, but only …

This study investigates the relationship between an individual's attitude toward gay men and lesbians and their identity development. The sample included 440 undergraduates from a university in the northeast Texas area. Many, if not all, of the factors that are associated with negative attitudes toward gays and lesbians (i.e., restrictive gender-role attitudes, high levels of authoritarianism, perceptions of negative attitudes toward homosexuals within their peer group, little or no contact with homosexuals, and conservative religious ideologies) have a logical relation to identity development. Furthermore, the various functions that attitudes toward gays and lesbians can serve (e.g., value-expression, group membership) were hypothesized to be especially attractive for persons in specific identity statuses. Thus, the case was made that identity development may be a valuable framework in which to understand attitudes toward gays and lesbians. In the current study, attitudes toward gays and lesbians were related to identity development, though the relationship is complex. When comparing persons who were higher and lower on absolutism, attitude toward gays and lesbians were most similar in achieved identity groups, while those who were foreclosed were the most disparate. In the interaction between identity, absolutism and gender role stereotyping, some groups utilized their attitude to express …

The work group in charge of editing the trauma disorders in the upcoming edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) made several changes to the trauma criteria. Specifically, they simplified the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and added a new trauma disorder called complex PTSD (CPTSD). To assess the new and newly defined trauma disorders, Litvin, Kaminski and Riggs developed a self-report trauma measure called the Complex Trauma Inventory (CTI). Although the reliability and validity of the CTI has been supported, no empirically-derived cutoff scores exist. We determined the optimal CTI cutoff scores using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses in a diverse sample of 82 participants who experienced trauma and were recruited from an inpatient trauma unit, student veteran organizations, and university classrooms. We used the Clinician-Administered Interview for Trauma Disorders (CAIT) to diagnose the presence of an ICD-11 trauma disorder, and we correlated the results of the CAIT with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for the DSM-5 to establish the convergent validity of the CAIT, r = .945, p < .001. For the ROC analyses, the CTI was used as the index test and the CAIT was used as the criterion test. The area under the curve (AUC) …

The purposes of this study are a) to explore the construct of "marital commitment" in order to achieve a more clear definition of it; b) to identify the component factors involved in the construct; and c) to design and develop an instrument for assessing the construct.

Eighty-seven single custodial fathers were surveyed to test the validity of previously developed typologies and/or construct a more empirically valid framework with implications for adjustment to the role. Mendes1 (1975) aggressive seekers, conciliatory seekers, conciliatory assenters, and aggressive assenters were compared to O'Brien's (1980) hostile seekers, conciliatory negotiators, and passive acceptors. In addition to demographic variables, relationship to ex-wife and child, and reasons for becoming single and obtaining custody, several personality variables were included along with measures of adjustment. One year follow-up measures of adjustment were collected to evaluate implications of typologies in adjustment. Two nearly equal groups were established in a Q type factor analysis of continuous data. Factor loadings of individual cases suggest a continuum of the two types of single fathers, rather than two distinct groups. Group differences were evaluated in a series of MANOVA and Chisquare analyses. Analysis included six factor scores from a supplemental R factor analysis of selected variables. Type I fathers are characterized as older, more passive, selfreflective, and aloof in interpersonal relationships. They are somewhat less oriented toward a relationship with their children and had felt satisfied with their wives* care of them. Alternatively, Type II fathers are younger, active, assured (not …

This study examined psychoanalytic, physiological, and social learning models of depression in terms of etiology and symptomatology. Emphasis was placed on social learning theories of depression. First, Beck's cognitive approach stated that the root of depression was a negative cognitive set. Depressive episodes might be externally precipitated, but it was the individual's perception and appraisal of the event that rendered it depression inducing. Secondly, Seligman's learned helplessness model explained reactive depression in terms of a belief in one's own helplessness. Specifically, Seligman stated belief in the uncontrollability of outcomes resulted in depression, irrespective of the correspondence of such beliefs to objective circumstances. Additionally, depression resulted from noncontingent aversive stimulation and noncontingent positive reinforcement. Thirdly, Lewinsohn's model was based on these assumptions: a low rate of response-contingent positive reinforcement which acted as an eliciting stimulus for depressive behaviors. This low rate of response-contingent positive reinforcement constituted an explanation for the low rate of behaviors observed in the depressive. Total amount of response—contingent positive reinforcement is a function of a number of events reinforcing for the individual, availability of reinforcement in the environment, and social skills of the individual that are necessary to elicit reinforcement.

In an extension of Louden's work, this study investigated identity development across the lifespan by applying Erickson's and Marcia's identity constructs to two developmental models, the selective optimization and compensation model and a holistic wellness model. Data was gathered from traditionally aged college freshmen and adults older than 60 years of age. Uncommitted identity statuses and work and leisure wellness domains were endorsed across both groups, suggesting that identity for these groups is in a state of fluctuation yet entailing participation as a productive member of society. Emerging adult findings imply that identity diffused and moratorium identity styles are more similar in terms of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional functioning than past literature suggests for this age group. Findings also indicate that identity development is not a process completed by older adulthood, but is an ongoing, lifelong process perhaps driven by contextual factors such as health changes, unpredictable life events, social support group changes, and others. Coping method utilization and overall wellness varied between the two age groups. Conceptually, the SOC model can be viewed as embedded within each of the wellness domains such that selection, optimization, and compensation activities may be carried out within each of the various domains and …

The rationale for this study was based on the application of the cycle of domestic violence theory to elder abuse. It examined the effect of history of experienced childhood violence on tolerance, behavioral intentions, and past behaviors of elder abuse toward general and specific elderly targets. The effectiveness of educational interventions for altering tolerance and behavioral intentions of elder abuse was examined. Two hundred and twenty-five undergraduates were assessed for aging knowledge, general aging attitudes, aging anxiety, elder abuse attitudes, and elder abuse intentions and past behaviors. Participants were assigned to a High or Low Experienced Violence group and participated in an educational group or control group. Posttest and one-month followup measures were obtained. No differences were found at pretest between High and Low Violence. Level of Violence did not impact intervention efficacy. Elder abuse education altered attitudes, intentions, and behaviors of elder abuse at posttest significantly more than did aging education or control groups (p < .001), but these effects were no longer significant at followup. Elder abuse attitudes had higher relationships with elder abuse intentions and reported past behaviors than did global aging attitudes or aging anxiety (p < .05). General elderly targets yielded more tolerance, intentions, and …

The current study replicated and extended previous research by examining empirically the direct and indirect influence of social pressure (to lose weight and diet), social body comparisons, internalization of the thin ideal, body dissatisfaction, self-esteem, and cardiorespiratory fitness on self-reported dietary restraint in a diverse sample of middle school boys (n = 663); Mage was 12.49 years (SD = .99). With IRB approval, parental consent, and child assent, during annual FITNESSGRAM testing, participants completed questionnaires that measured the study’s constructs. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was determined by the boys’ performance on the PACER running test. The proposed model was examined using structural equation modeling (SEM). Because measures demonstrated univariate and multivariate normality, the maximum likelihood procedure within EQS to examine the measurement and structural models was used. Fit was determined using a two-index procedure. Participants were randomly split into exploratory (Sample A - 331) and confirmatory (Sample B - 332) samples. For Sample A, the measurement and structural models fit the data well. The structural model was confirmed in Sample B, with the same paths being significant and nonsignficant. For both Sample A and Sample B, 35% of the Dietary Restraint variance was explained. These findings support a multifactorial approach to …

Proponents of the use of cotherapists have stressed the importance of compatibility for effective cotherapy teams; however, the nature of compatibility has received little attention in experimental literature. This study investigated the nature of an effective cotherapy relationship through use of concepts espoused by George Kelly in his personal construct theory. Based on the results of the study, it was recommended that cotherapists be paired on the basis of their cognitive congruence. It was further proposed that cotherapists, especially those low in content congruence, allow themselves sufficient time for case discussion prior to and following their therapy sessions.

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) a public health emergency of international concern. In March 2020, the United States government imposed impactful safety and confinement measures issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) all over the country to prevent community transmission of COVID-19. Institutions of higher education rapidly transitioned to online learning and eliminated in-person engagements in the spring of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) followed a similar trajectory by shutting down all athletic activities due to the global pandemic. While college students in general notably experienced increased pandemic related distress and mental health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety) during the early stages of the global pandemic, the disruption of collegiate sport competitions and seasons uniquely and significantly impacted collegiate student athletes and their overall well-being. In this qualitative study, I sought to document and understand the narrative of Black student athletes' experiences of stress and coping during the first two months of the COVID-19 global pandemic and cancellation of collegiate sports. Through reflexive thematic analysis, I found that psychosocial resources such as avoidance, acceptance, mindful self-compassion, health …