Utilizing an analogue research design conducted via the Internet, this study assessed athletic trainers' abilities to recognize, diagnose, and intervene with a hypothetical athlete experiencing depression, and examined the impact of their gender, athlete gender, and athlete's presenting problem on their decisions. Athletic trainers' perceived competency in using psychosocial interventions with athletes, history of referring athletes to psychology professionals, and training backgrounds in psychology also were examined. Participants (270 male and 370 female certified athletic trainers) were randomly assigned to one of six conditions (Athlete Gender X Presenting Problem). After reading the appropriate vignette, they completed questions related to the athlete's psychological symptoms and diagnosis, referral recommendations, and use of psychosocial interventions if working with the athlete. The vignettes were identical except for the athlete's gender and problem. Overall, athletic trainers accurately identified the athlete's depressive symptoms/diagnosis and need for psychological referral. They rated the athlete significantly higher in Depressive Symptoms than in Anger/Agitation Symptoms and Compulsive Behavioral Symptoms, and as more likely to be experiencing a depressive disorder compared to an adjustment disorder, anxiety disorder, sleep disorder, or substance abuse disorder. Female athletic trainers provided significantly higher ratings of Depressive Symptoms than males and the injured athlete was rated …

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of attachment processes and coping strategies in the development of psychiatric symptoms among military veterans and active duty personnel. Data were obtained from 268 male and female military veterans and active duty personnel. A path analysis was conducted to estimate the relationships between attachment processes, coping strategies, and psychiatric symptoms. Findings demonstrated that greater levels of attachment anxiety were related to increased levels of avoidant coping and psychiatric symptoms, while higher levels of attachment avoidance were related to avoidant coping and PTSD symptoms, as well as decreased levels of problem-focused coping. Alcohol use was associated with psychiatric symptoms. Avoidant coping, but not problem-focused coping, was associated with psychiatric symptoms and partially mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and psychiatric symptoms. Avoidant coping also fully or partially mediated the relationships of avoidant attachment to depression and PTSD symptoms. The findings of this study increase our knowledge of mechanisms that contribute to psychiatric symptoms among military populations, which in turn can guide treatment planning and interventions.

Minimal empirical research using longitudinal data to explore integrative models of eating disorder development exists. The purpose of this study was to further explore multidimensional models incorporating parental attachment, history of stress, appraisal/coping processes, internalization of the thin-ideal, negative affect, body image, and eating disordered behavior using prospective, longitudinal data. The models were evaluated using 238 participants who completed an initial series of self-report questionnaires during their first semester in college and completed follow-up questionnaires 6 months and 18 months later. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships among the factors. Analyses confirmed that college freshman with insecure parental attachment relationships and those with a history of previous stressful experiences appraised the adjustment to college as more stressful and reported feeling less able to cope with the transition; these conditions predicted increased negative affect and increased eating disturbances. Women who reported experiencing negative affect and those that endorsed internalization of the thin-ideal also reported higher levels of body dissatisfaction; these women engaged in more disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. A second model investigating negative affect as mediating the relationship between the appraisal/coping process and eating disturbances also revealed that experiencing difficulties with the transition to college predicted later …

This study investigated the impact of victim provocativeness and rape history upon male and female subjects' perceptions of attribution of blame toward the rape victim. One hundred and forty-four subjects (a) read one of 12 fictional case reports of a rape incident from a sexual abuse center which systematically varied level of victim provocativeness and rape history and (b) completed a nine-item Rape Questionnaire (RQ). Data were analyzed by a 2 (subject's sex) x 3 (level of provocativeness) x 2 (rape history) analysis of variance on the Rape Questionnaire total score. An ancillary multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) was also performed on the nine Rape Questionnaire items to check for potential masking of individual item differences from the Rape Questionnaire score. In addition, the data were reanalyzed in the 2 x 3 x 2 design by substituting high versus low scorers on the Attitudes Towards Women Scale (AWS) based upon median splits of the AWS for subject sex. The 2 (subject sex) x 3 (provocativeness) x 2 (rape history) MANOVA resulted in a sex by provocativeness interaction with males, relative to females, attributing more blame as the victim's level of provocativeness increased. In addition, significant differences emerged for provocativeness, rape …

Today’s military encompasses a wide variety of families who are affected by deployments in multiple and complex ways. Following deployments, families must reconnect in their relationships and reestablish their way of life. Appropriate and effective communication during this time is critical, yet many military couples struggle with this process. Moreover, student service members/veterans and their families are in a unique position. In addition to coping with changes in their marital relationship, student veterans may feel isolated or unsupported on college campuses, often experiencing anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress, or suicidality. The current study seeks to bridge the gap between the military family literature and the student service member/veteran literature by examining how deployment experiences, mental health issues, and communication patterns influence post-deployment relationship adjustment among student veterans. Analyses tested whether communication style and/or current mental health concerns mediate associations between combat experiences and couples’ relationship adjustment, as well as between experiences in the aftermath of battle and relationship adjustment. Results suggest that although posttraumatic stress is significantly related to deployment experiences among student veterans, participants report no significant negative effects of deployment on relationship adjustment. Communication style, however, was significantly associated with relationship adjustment, and a lack of positive communication was …

Guided by the framework of bicultural identity integration (BII), a conceptual model depicting the direct and indirect effects of BII, cognitive flexibility, affect regulation, and coping on psychological wellbeing indicators (i.e., life satisfaction, depression) of adult children of immigrants (ACI) in the U.S. was developed. It was hypothesized that greater BII would contribute to greater cognitive flexibility and affect regulation, which would be associated with more utilization of adaptive coping strategies and greater psychological wellbeing. A total of 240 young ACI from across the U.S. completed the online research questionnaire that measured all variables of interest. Results from structural equation modeling analyses showed adequate model fit with the data. Findings provided support to the indirect effects of BII factors on wellbeing through affect regulation, however, the indirect effect paths are more complicated than what were hypothesized originally. Specifically, higher levels of identity harmony and identity blendedness contributed to more difficulties in emotion regulation, and subsequently, poorer wellbeing. Additionally, both cultural identity harmony and identity blendedness contributed to greater levels of cultural and relational maintenance strategies (i.e., avoidance, forbearance) in the context of intergenerational conflict through affect regulation, but not through cognitive flexibility. Notably, the latent variable of cultural coping strategies …

The assumption that EMG biofeedback cultivates an antistress response was tested under stress conditions while investigating the comparative efficacy of low versus high arousal treatment strategies. Biofeedback-assisted, cue-controlled relaxation training was used as the low arousal treatment strategy for half of the 20 normal subjects used in the study. The other half received a high arousal treatment strategy which used the same training in combination with an avoidance conditioning procedure. In this procedure mild electric shock was used as contingent aversive stimulation designed to reinforce relaxation responses. Both groups received four in-lab training sessions with a 4-day interim of home practice of cuecontrolled relaxation prior to the last in-lab training session. Pretraining assessment consisted of four 10-minute periods of alternating no-stress and stress conditions. Mild electric shock and loud tones were used as stressors. Posttraining assessment was identical to pre training except subjects employed self-directed, cue-controlled relaxation rather than self-directed relaxation based on instructions without training. Frontal EMG, subjective mental and muscle tension ratings, and behavioral observations of relaxation behavior served as dependent measures during pre- and posttraining assessment. EMG readings were used during in-lab training and the two subjective rating scales were used during home practice.

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 …

Bipolar disorder is a serious mental disorder, affecting anywhere from 2 to 4 percent of Americans. Though research has indicated that this disorder can be devastating for patients, less is known about how the disorder impacts family members. There is no research that has considered impacts on family members adjusting to college. The purpose of the current study was to determine the extent to which having a family member with bipolar disorder impacts adjustment to college, as well as factors that might account for worse functioning. Two groups were recruited: students with a bipolar family member (n = 25) and students with no family history of the disorder (n = 50). Participants were interviewed regarding their own histories of a mood disorder, as well as mood disorder histories in their immediate families. They then completed surveys assessing adjustment to college, functioning, caregiving burden, parental relationship, and attachment style. Students with a family history of bipolar disorder had significantly lower social adjustment scores, lower personal-emotional adjustment scores, and lower financial functioning scores than students without this history. Lower scores were found even after controlling for psychopathology. Avoidant attachment behaviors, anxious attachment behaviors, and aspects of the paternal relationship were identified as …

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.

Female collegiate athletes have been identified as a group at risk of developing eating disorders (EDs) and unhealthy weight control behaviors. Interventions grounded in cognitive dissonance theory and those that incorporate mindfulness-based interventions have shown improved body image and reductions in internalization and ED symptomatology over time in female non-athletes. However, few studies have examined the efficacy of intervention programs among female athletes, and, despite early promising results, previous research has been limited in several ways (e.g., methodology, small sample size). The purpose of this study was to conduct a long-term (i.e., three years) qualitative follow-up evaluation of Bodies in Motion (BIM), an ED prevention program developed specifically to acknowledge the unique experience and needs of female athletes with respect to their bodies as women and athletes. Results indicate that, similar to their initial experiences, now-retired athletes reported increased awareness of sport and societal messages and their impact on body image, shifted perspectives in their view of themselves and their bodies, and ongoing use of skills to manage body image in their lives. Further, with the passage of time, athletes continued to report a positive experience in the program and the utility of Bodies in Motion as they navigated challenging …

Traditionally, body image research has focused on young women. However, there are indications of cultural shifts which extend physical appearance pressures to both men and women, as well as to middle-aged and older adults. Two hundred and ten subjects were administered objective body image measures including the Figure Rating Scale, the Body Shape Questionnaire, and the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire, as well as projective measures including the Holtzman Inkblot Technique and the Draw-A-Person. The NEO-Five Factor Inventory and the Social Anxiety Subscale were also used to explore variables which might covary with body image. A 3 X 2 X 2 Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was utilized with social desirability as the covariate.

The present study is a comparison of music and non-music students with respect to their response patterns on the Brief Symptom Inventory as well as several demographic questions. The sample consisted of 148 non-music students and 141 music students at three levels: (1) freshmen/sophomore; (2) juniors/seniors; and (3) graduate students. Music students consisted of volunteers from several different music classes and non-music students were volunteers from non-music classes. There were no significant differences found among or between groups for the BSI subscales. However, music students were significantly less likely to have gone to counseling in the past and to seek professional counseling for future problems. Recommendations for psycho-educational interventions with musicians are discussed as well as suggestions for future research.

Graduate students in mental health service training programs are at risk of experiencing burnout. Using adult attachment theory as the guiding framework, this study examined a conceptual model which depicted the direct and indirect effect of attachment insecurity on burnout and the subsequent psychological distress via low self-compassion and emotion regulation difficulty with two cultural samples recruited from the U.S. and Taiwan, respectively. The final sample included 216 U.S. mental health graduate trainees and 201 Taiwanese trainees. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings from the final models best supported by the data revealed that in both cultural groups, attachment anxiety contributed to lower self-compassion which subsequently resulted in greater burnout and that emotion regulation did not play a mediational role in the models. Results also demonstrated cultural differences in several paths of the research model. For the U.S. sample, only higher attachment anxiety indirectly contributed to more psychological distress through low self-compassion and burnout was best positioned as an outcome variable similar to psychological distress, instead of being a mediator. For the Taiwanese sample, on the other hand, both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance demonstrated significant indirect effects on higher psychological distress through lower self-compassion and …

Academically talented college students have unique development needs that often go unmet. One area that is currently attracting more attention in the academically talented literature is career counseling. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of individual and group career counseling interventions. Subjects included 54 students from a special Texas program that provides the opportunity for gifted students to attend college during their final two years of high school. One instrument used assessed identity, confidence, career goals, and professional identity. The second instrument evaluated whether the subjects had recently discussed career concerns, were seeing a vocational counselor, or seeking career information. A pre-test was followed by group or individual intervention, and a post-test was conducted two months later. Results indicated an overall decrease on the instrument assessing professional identity and career goals. This study revealed no difference in effectiveness between group or individual interventions. Further research in this area is necessary to develop and refine the most effective career counseling interventions for the academically talented student.

Personality characteristics of spousal and adult children and active potential caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's Disease were studied in order to better predict caregiver burden and aspects of well-being. Contrary to prediction, no differences were found between spouse and adult children active caregivers on measures of well-being. Additionally, adult children potential caregivers indicated feeling less control over their lives than spouse potential caregivers. When social desirability was controlled, active caregivers reported greater fluctuations in affect than did potential caregivers. As predicted, personality characteristics of individuals were found to have the biggest role in determining which individuals experience stress or burden.

The purpose of the present study was to compare 42 community-dwelling spouse and child Alzheimer's Disease caregivers with 38 community-dwelling potential caregivers on salience of illness symptoms, and accuracy of judging symptoms of illnesses.

With three homogenous caregiver groups (i.e., Alzheimer's caregivers, grandparents raising grandchildren, parents), caregiving styles were explored to determine their reliability and validity, their unique role in predicting caregiver outcomes, and their differences between groups of caregivers. A conceptual framework was adapted to determine the impact of contextual variables, caregiving styles, caregiver appraisal, and mediating variables on caregiving outcomes. A more concise version of the Caregiving Style Scale (CSS) was developed with 49 items yielding an internal consistency coefficient of .74. As expected, three caregiving styles emerged and were positively related to the parallel parenting styles. Across the caregiver samples, there were positive relationships among caregiving style dimensions within the same caregiving style, while those from opposing caregiving styles tended to have negative relationships indicating good convergent and discriminant validity. Authoritative caregiving style dimensions were generally associated with healthier functioning, while authoritarian and permissive caregiving style dimensions were correlated with less healthy functioning. Caregiving style dimensions were among the predictors of several outcome measures, highlighting the importance of their placement in the conceptual framework for caregiver stress and coping. Generally, an unexpected finding was that authoritative caregiving style dimensions tended to predict less adaptive caregiving outcomes, particularly for parents and grandparents, …

The purpose of this study was to functionally define and empirically test a model of psychological distress for mothers of children diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This model delineates characteristics of the child, the parent, and the environment that may affect mothers' psychological symptomatology.

Childhood maltreatment by a caregiver can occur in many forms, ranging from overt abuse to more subtle neglect. Amidst a primary focus on the outcome of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), less research attention has been given to understanding the impact of maltreatment on one's developing sense of self, internal working model (IWM) of relationships, and emotion regulation capacities. Difficulties experiencing, regulating, and enjoying a full range of affect are common transdiagnostic features among adult survivors of child maltreatment, who frequently display emotional reactivity (e.g., mood swings, anger) and/or disengagement (e.g., numbing, dissociation). What makes the difference between individuals who lash out in emotional outbursts, those who tend to withdraw or dissociate, and those who frequently alternate between these two affective poles? In a mixed college and community sample of 417 adults, we explored two covert forms of childhood emotional maltreatment (e.g., chronic emotional disengagement and frightened/helpless parenting) as potentially linked to adult psychological and relational functioning. Controlling for the effects of childhood physical and sexual abuse, path analysis indicated that these types of maltreatment were significantly associated with insecure attachment patterns, emotional reactivity, and dissociation in adulthood. These findings inform therapeutic work with survivors of childhood trauma, signifying the importance …

Different family structures and levels of parental and financial stress were investigated in relation to children's overtly expressed fears, and secondarily, covertly measured fears and concerns. The family structures consisted of divorced and remarried families divided into those divorced less than two years and those divorced greater than two years. Intact families were used as the control group. One-hundred-twenty-one children from six to eleven years of age and their biological mothers from a semirural, southwestern town comprised the sample. The children were administered five instruments assessing overt fears, covert fears/concerns, and positiveness in family relationships. Mothers were given eight self-report measures which included a questionnaire, a report of their child's overt fears, and an indication of the positiveness in family relationships. Results indicated that the children of divorced, single mothers tended to report greater overt fears than remarried and intact families. Indications of covert fears of death and separation were also suggested. This was especially true for those single mothers divorced less than two years. Children of intact families did not generally differ from remarried groups although there were implications that remarriage too soon after divorce may impact covert fears as well as positive feelings toward the stepfather. Children of …

This purpose of this research study was to identify key differences that distinguish stepfamilies from intact families with regard to individual members' perceptions of family environment and family functioning. Additionally, an initial look at how membership in a stepfamily impacts the young children's perceptions of interpersonal family functioning is offered.

Due to demographic shifts and efforts to recruit culturally diverse professionals, it is plausible that more Caucasians will encounter ethnic minority counselors in the future. Yet, the majority of multicultural literature has only emphasized Caucasian counselors' multicultural counseling competence. Research has rarely discussed how ethic minority counselors influence the perceptions of Caucasian clients. The research purpose was to explore how acculturation and gender of Asian and Caucasian counselors influence Caucasians' perceptions of the counselors and counseling services. With an analog research design, 562 Caucasian college students read 1 of 8 randomly assigned counselor descriptions, which were varied by counselor characteristics, and reported their perceptions on dependent measures: Counselor Rating Form - Short Version (CRF-S), Working Alliance Inventory - Short (WAI-S) and 4 Willingness items. With the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help - Shortened Form as a covariate, 15 hypotheses were expected that Caucasians would prefer high-acculturated, same sex, and same ethnic counselors tested by simple contrast, while an exploratory question, investigating main and interaction effects among independent variables (counselor ethnicity, acculturation and gender, and participant gender) on dependent measures, was examined by MANCOVA and ANCOVA. Although only 2 of 15 hypotheses showed significance, the exploratory investigation revealed: Caucasian participants …

Subjects comprised four groups including: 73 judges; 90 family law practitioners; 38 psychologists; and 43 psychology graduate students. The subjects completed surveys designating the five most relevant and the five least relevant factors of effective parenting from a list of 85 such factors. As hypothesized, the family law attorneys and family law judges generated similar clusters of factors while the results of the psychologists and psychology graduate students likewise clustered similarly. These results suggest the possibility of the existence of common cognitive structures used in the custody decision-making process. Results could be used in the modification and refinement of the Custody Quotient (CQ) Technique. Future study could focus more specifically on the cognitive structures particular subjects use in making custody decisions.