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- All Subjects: Clinical Psychology
- All Subjects: Middle-aged persons--Psychology.
- Creators: Infurna, Frank
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
- Resource Type: Text
- Status: Published
Description
Cognitive reappraisal, or redefining the meaning of a stressful circumstance, is useful in regulating emotional responses to acute stressors and may be mobilized to up- or down- regulate the stressors’ emotional salience. A conceptually-related but more targeted emotion regulation strategy to that offered by cognitive reappraisal, termed positive cognitive shift, was examined in the current study. Positive cognitive shift (“PCS”) is defined as a point of cognitive transformation during a chronic, stressful situation that alters the meaning and emotional salience of the situation for the individual. Key aspects of the PCS that differentiate it from the broader reappraisal construct are that it 1) is relevant to responses to chronic (versus acute) aversive events, 2) is deployed when there is a mismatch between coping and stressors, and 3) involves insight together with redefinition in meaning of the situation generating stress. The current study used qualitative and quantitative analyses to 1) examine whether PCS is an observable, reliable, and valid experience in response to a stressful event that occurred in the past year, and 2) test whether PCS moderates the relations between the number of past-year stressful life circumstances and subsequent emotional well-being and functional health. A community sample of 175 middle-aged individuals were interviewed regarded a past chronic stressor and completed questionnaires regarding number of past year stressors and health outcomes. Theory-based coding of interviews was conducted to derive reliable scores for PCS, and findings indicated that PCS was evident in 37.7 % of participant responses. Furthermore, PCS scores were related positively to openness, personal growth from one’s most difficult lifetime event, and affect intensity-calm, in line with predictions. Also in line with prediction, PCS moderated the relations between number of past-year life events and health outcomes, such that the deleterious relations between past year stressful events and cognitive functioning, wellbeing, positive affect, and negative affect were weaker among individuals higher versus lower in PCS. Of note, PCS moderation effects diminished as the number of stressful events increased.
ContributorsRivers, Crystal (Author) / Davis, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Luecken, Linda (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Robinson Kurpius, Sharon (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The current study examined the unique influence of emotional childhood abuse on positive and negative aspects of different types of social relationships (e.g., family, spouse/partner, and friends) in midlife and whether genetic variations of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) moderated these associations. Genetic variations in OXTR are measured by single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which have been the most substantially studied prospects for explaining individual differences in socio-behavioral phenotypes. Specifically, an SNP, rs53576, involving a guanine (G) to adenine (A) substitution located in the third intron of the OXTR has been associated with fundamental aspects of social processes and behaviors. Compared to A carriers, individuals homozygous for the G allele have enhanced social competencies and tend to elicit more positive responses from social partners, consequently increasing the overall quality of social relationships across the lifespan. However, the G allele of the OXTR has also been associated with greater social sensitivity. In the current study, conducted among a sample of 614 adults in midlife, it was shown that emotional childhood abuse was significantly associated with having less supportive and more strained relationships in midlife. Regarding supportive family relationships, the effect of emotional childhood abuse was moderated by the OXTR rs53576 polymorphism. Specifically, under conditions of more emotional abuse in childhood, individuals homozygous for the G allele had more supportive family relationships in midlife compared to A carriers. Overall, the findings suggest that genetic variations of OXTR rs53576 may be an important candidate in understanding the development of social relationship functioning within the context of negative early life experiences.
ContributorsEbbert, Ashley Marie (Author) / Infurna, Frank (Thesis advisor) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Lemery, Kathryn (Committee member) / Luthar, Suniya (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Guided by the Risky Families model and Daily Process methods, the present study examined how daily stressors are related to emotional well-being at the between- and within-person levels among adolescent grandchildren raised by grandmothers. This study also examined whether risk (i.e., adverse childhood experiences/ACES) and resilience (i.e., socio-emotional skills) factors were linked to differences in daily well-being, stressor exposure, and emotional reactivity, and evaluated the efficacy of an online social intelligence training (SIT) program on daily stressor-emotion dynamics. Data came from a subsample (n = 188) of custodial adolescents who participated in an attention-controlled randomized clinical trial and completed 14-day daily surveys prior to and following intervention. Analyses were conducted with dynamic structural equation modeling. Daily stressors, on average, and experiencing above average stressors, were associated with higher negative emotions and lower positive emotions and social connection. Those with more ACEs, on average, reported higher daily stressors and worse well-being, whereas those with higher socio-emotional skills, on average, reported lower daily stressors and better well-being. At the within-person level, more ACEs were associated with higher daily negative emotions. Nonverbal processing was linked to higher daily positive emotions and social connection. Conversational skills were associated with higher daily positive emotions and social connection, and lower, more inert daily negative emotions. Neither ACEs nor socio-emotional skills were associated with within-person reactivity to stressors. Also, the SIT program did not demonstrate efficacy for any outcome. My discussion focused on how findings extend the literature on custodial adolescents by showing that daily stressors impact well-being, offer knowledge of how ACEs and socio-emotional skills shape daily stressor-emotion dynamics, and considers reasons why the online, self-guided SIT program failed to show efficacy on key outcomes.
ContributorsCastro, Saul (Author) / Infurna, Frank (Thesis advisor) / Doane, Leah (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Experiencing poor, unrefreshing sleep is a common occurrence for individuals with chronic pain. Sleep disturbance predicts not only greater pain and disability, but also heightened negative affect and reduced positive affect in individuals with chronic pain. Such fluctuations in affect have been linked with more negative and fewer positive social events. For those with chronic pain, negative social relations can exacerbate pain, whereas positive social interactions can help decrease disability. Thus, exploring the sleep‒social functioning process in chronic pain may be one way to improve daily functioning and quality of life. The current study examined positive and negative affect as two parallel mediators of the within-day relations between sleep quality and positive and negative social events in individuals with chronic pain. For 21 days, electronic daily diary reports were collected from 220 individuals with fibromyalgia, a condition characterized by widespread chronic pain. Within-person relations among reports of last night’s sleep quality, afternoon affects and pain, and evening social events were estimated via multilevel structural equation modeling. Findings showed that positive affect mediated both the sleep quality‒positive social events and sleep quality‒negative social events relations. That is, greater than usual sleep disturbance last night predicted afternoon reports of lower than usual positive affect. Low positive affect, in turn, predicted evening reports of fewer than usual positive social events and more than usual negative social events that day, controlling for the effects of afternoon pain. In addition, negative affect mediated the sleep quality‒negative social events link. That is, greater than usual sleep disturbance last night predicted afternoon reports of higher than usual negative affect, which, in turn, predicted evening reports of more than usual negative social events that day, controlling for the effects of afternoon pain. Of the three significant mediated paths, the sleep quality‒positive affect‒positive social events path was the strongest in magnitude. Thus, a night of poor sleep can have an impact on social events the next day in those with chronic pain by dysregulating affect. Further, findings highlight the key role of positive affect in the sleep‒social functioning process and potential socio-affective benefits of sleep interventions in chronic pain.
ContributorsKothari, Dhwani J. (Author) / Davis, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Luecken, Linda (Committee member) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Chronic pain is among the most prevalent health issues experienced by older adults and negatively impacts daily functioning and psychosocial well-being through mechanisms that include energy depletion, pain interference, and pain-related changes in negative affect. The capacities to be aware of and regulate negative emotions play a critical role in the successful management of chronic pain. One dimension of negative emotion awareness, termed negative emotion differentiation (NED), is the ability to discriminate between negative affective experiences and recognize them as discrete categories. The ability to identify and distinguish between the various emotions that accompany pain flares and other stressors may enhance the precision of the individual’s regulatory efforts. In doing so, NED may be one possible resilience resource that can facilitate adaptive functioning in the context of chronic pain by buffering the effects of chronic pain flares on daily interpersonal stress. However, this has not yet been investigated. The current study aimed to examine the moderating effect of trait NED on the relationship between daily pain and same-day stress in 259 patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) or fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Individuals completed daily diaries each evening for 30 days reporting on average daily pain, negative emotions, interpersonal stress, and depressive symptoms. It was hypothesized that higher levels of NED would buffer the effects of daily pain on same-day stress. In exploratory analyses, it was evaluated whether the buffering effects were larger for individuals with FMS versus OA. Results of multilevel models revealed that, as expected, higher levels of trait NED predicted lower levels of same-day negative interpersonal events and perceived interpersonal stress. Trait NED also moderated the relationship between pain-related increases in same-day perceived interpersonal stress. Additionally, findings indicated that NED was similarly important for those with FMS and OA. Taken together, the current findings suggest that NED is an important resilience trait that can attenuate chronic pain-related increases in daily experiences of interpersonal stress.
ContributorsOlah, Meryl (Author) / Davis, Mary C (Thesis advisor) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Interpersonal strain is linked with depressive symptoms in middle-aged adults. Self-compassion is an emerging resilience construct that may be advantageous in navigating relationship strain by helping individuals respond to emotions in a kind and nonjudgmental way. Although theory and empirical evidence suggests that self-compassion is protective against the impact of stress on mental health outcomes, many studies have not investigated how self-compassion operates in the context of relationship strain. In addition, few studies have examined psychological or physiological mechanisms by which self-compassion protects against mental health outcomes, depression in particular. Thus, this study examined 1) the extent to which trait self-compassion buffers the relation between family strain and depressive symptoms, and 2) whether these buffering effects are mediated by hope and inflammatory processes (IL-6) in a sample of 762 middle-aged, community-dwelling adults. Results from structural equation models indicated that family strain was unrelated to depressive symptoms and the relation was not moderated by self-compassion. Hope, but not IL-6, mediated the relation between family strain and depressive symptoms and the indirect effect was not conditional on levels of self-compassion. Taken together, the findings suggest that family strain may lead individuals to experience less hope and subsequent increases in depressive symptoms, and further, that a self-compassionate attitude does not affect this relation. Implications for future self-compassion interventions are discussed.
ContributorsMistretta, Erin (Author) / Davis, Mary C. (Thesis advisor) / Karoly, Paul (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Lifespan psychological perspectives have long suggested the context in which individuals live having the potential to shape the course of development across the adult lifespan. Thus, it is imperative to examine the role of both the objective and subjective neighborhood context in mitigating the consequences of lifetime adversity on mental and physical health. To address the research questions, data was used from a sample of 362 individuals in midlife who were assessed on lifetime adversity, multiple outcomes of mental and physical health and aspects of the objective and subjective neighborhood. Results showed that reporting more lifetime adversity was associated with poorer mental and physical health. Aspects of the objective and subjective neighborhood, such as green spaces moderated these relationships. The discussion focuses on potential mechanisms underlying why objective and subjective indicators of the neighborhood are protective against lifetime adversity.
ContributorsStaben, Omar E (Author) / Infurna, Frank J. (Thesis advisor) / Luthar, Suniya S. (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Using data from a randomized, experimental trial of a brief family-based preventive intervention for parentally-bereaved families, this study evaluated whether participation in the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) when the offspring were in childhood/adolescence (ages 8 to 16) improved competencies when the offspring were emerging/young adults (ages 23 to 32). Participants were 244 emerging/young adults; data used were from assessments at pretest, posttest, 6 years post-intervention, and 15 years post-intervention. In addition to testing the direct effects of the program, developmental cascade effects models were used to test the relations between program-induced improvements in positive parenting and decreased negative life events at posttest and subsequent effects on domains of competence and behavior problems in adolescence/emerging adulthood (ages 14 to 22) and four developmental competencies of emerging/young adulthood: academic, peer, romantic, and work competence. Results supported a cascading effects model of program effects on competence outcomes. In the full sample, there were significant mediation effects of the intervention to decreased negative life events at posttest to increased grade-point average (GPA) at the 6-year follow-up to higher academic and work competence at the 15-year follow-up. For females only, two additional significant mediational pathways of the FBP occurred. The FBP led to an increase in peer competence 6 years post-intervention, which was associated with an increase in work competence 15 years post-intervention. Also, the FBP led to a decrease in externalizing problems in adolescence/emerging adulthood, but externalizing problems were positively associated with work competence. For males, additional mediation effects of the FBP on work competence occurred. The FBP decreased negative life events. However, higher negative life events were associated with lower externalizing problems in adolescence/emerging adulthood, and externalizing problems were positively associated with work competence. For males only, a significant three-pathway mediation effect of the intervention occurred on increased positive parenting at posttest to increased romantic attachment at the 6-year follow-up to higher romantic competence at the 15-year follow-up. Peer competence showed continuity over development. Mediational analyses highlighted the role of program-induced improvements in parenting, reductions in exposure to negative life events, and earlier developmental competencies on competence outcomes in emerging/young adulthood. Implications for promoting resilience in parentally-bereaved, at-risk youth are discussed.
ContributorsINGRAM, ALEXANDRA M (Author) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Thesis advisor) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Subjective social status (SSS) is a marker of perceived social rank that has been linked with depressive symptoms over and above objective socioeconomic status (SES),
but longitudinal studies are limited. SSS has been theorized to capture perceived relative
versus absolute deprivation and the corresponding psychosocial processes underlying
status-based disparities in health. The literature suggests that upward social comparisons
inherent in appraising SSS may confer psychosocial risk, which may in turn increase risk
for depressive symptoms and stress-related inflammation involved in the pathogenesis of
depression. However, no studies have examined whether interpersonal and biological
factors simultaneously contribute to the inverse relation between SSS and depressive
symptoms. This study examined whether (1) lower SSS was longitudinally associated
with increased depressive mood symptoms, independent of income, and (2) whether
higher social strain and lower social support simultaneously mediated the SSS—
depressive mood symptoms relation directly and indirectly through higher interleukin-6
(IL-6). This study utilized secondary data from a representative community sample of
804 middle-aged adults taking part in a study of healthy aging between 2007 and 2012.
Plasma levels of IL-6 and self-reported SSS, social support, and social strain were
assessed at baseline, followed by an assessment of depressive mood symptoms by phone
interview on average 20 months later. Results from multiple regression analysis revealed
that lower SSS predicted higher depressive symptoms at follow-up after adjustment for
sociodemographic characteristics and baseline depressive mood symptoms. Path analysis
indicated that social strain significantly mediated the relation between SSS and
depressive mood symptoms, but not after adjustment for baseline mood symptoms.
Lower social support mediated the relation between lower SSS and higher depressive
symptoms, but relations were non-significant in adjusted models. Contrary to predictions,
paths including IL-6 were not significant. Lower SSS may represent a robust risk factor
for subsequent depressive mood symptoms above and beyond income, in line with the
conceptualization of SSS as a measure of relative deprivation. Further research
examining biopsychosocial mechanisms would elucidate the implications of perceived
low status and inform intervention efforts aimed at reducing the global burden of
depressive symptoms.
ContributorsMoore, Shannon Victoria (Author) / Davis, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Luecken, Linda (Committee member) / Anderson, Samantha (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021