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In psychological research, positive developmental outcomes in young adulthood are often conceptualized as the absence of psychological symptoms. However, positive outcome may be better understood as high levels of subjective wellbeing and adaptive interpersonal, occupational, and educational functioning. Nevertheless, a comprehensive model that takes into account multiple facets of youth behavior and transactional relations between youth and their environments as predictors of adjustment in young adulthood is lacking. Prior evidence implicates internalizing and externalizing behaviors in the development of subjective wellbeing, and emotion regulation as a reliable predictor and/or correlate of both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Parenting behaviors in childhood and youth substance use represent other shared risk or resilience factors that likely contribute to internalizing and externalizing behaviors, as well as subjective wellbeing and adaptive functioning outcomes in young adulthood. The current study examined an existing sample of youth who were recruited at ages 10-12 and were assessed again at ages 16 and 25. Analyses aimed to (a) identify subgroups of youth who vary in frequency and quality of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and emotion regulation at ages 10-12 and 16 using latent class analyses, (b) examine stability of and transitions in class membership from classes at ages 10-12 to classes at age 16 using latent transition analysis, (c) investigate parenting behaviors as predictors of stability and transitions among classes, and (d) investigate whether classes differ in cross-sectional and prospective levels of substance use, as well as subjective wellbeing and adaptive functioning in young adulthood. Results demonstrated that a 4-class model best fit the data at both time points. Classes of youth with (a) low symptoms and high emotion regulation; (b) low internalizing, moderate externalizing, and high emotion regulation; and (c) moderate internalizing, high externalizing, and low emotion regulation emerged at both time points. The fourth class at ages 10-12 was characterized by high social withdrawal and moderate hyperactivity and emotion regulation, and the fourth class at age 16 was characterized by moderate internalizing, low externalizing, and low emotion regulation. Latent transition analyses revealed transitions from several symptom classes at ages 10-12 into the age 16 Low Symptoms/High Emotion Regulation class, and also stability and transitions to other symptom classes. Predictor analyses indicated that levels of parenting behaviors (maternal and paternal acceptance, child-centeredness, use of guilt and anxiety to control youth, lax discipline, and nonenforcement of rules) were associated with transitions among and stability within classes, but findings were dependent on levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms among classes. Substance use differed cross-sectionally and prospectively across classes based on the substances considered. Further, subjective wellbeing was higher among age 16 classes characterized by low internalizing symptoms, low or moderate externalizing symptoms, and high emotion regulation. Adaptive functioning in select domains was also differentially associated with classes at both time points, with youth in the Low Symptoms/High Emotion Regulation classes experiencing better outcomes in certain areas. Results indicate that distinct classes of youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms and emotion regulation can be identified in late childhood and middle adolescence and are differentially associated with outcomes related to wellbeing and adaptive functioning in young adulthood. Further, the frequency and quality of co-occurring symptoms evidenced among youth may change over time as reflected in transitions from classes identified in middle childhood to adolescence. Emotion regulation and parenting may be potential targets for enhanced interventions intended to promote subjective wellbeing and adaptive functioning among youth with internalizing and externalizing symptoms. / Psychology

The current study examines predictors and outcomes of teacher stress, with the goal of creating a theoretical model depicting relations between teacher stress, self-efficacy, and use of emotion regulation strategies (e.g., cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and behavioral regulation). Further, a range of additional school and teacher-related variables were examined including administrative support, school connectedness, teaching experience, student risk, perceived control, and challenge appraisal. Data were collected from two unique samples. First, 380 teachers participated in a pilot study to provide a preliminary understanding of relations among constructs and shed light on methodological concerns (e.g., need for increased participant recruitment). A longitudinal study was then conducted to understand relations among variables across the school year. Nearly 600 teachers from ten states completed the survey in the fall, winter, and spring of the 2018-2019 school year. Data indicated a relatively well-fitting model. Specifically, teachers who reported greater stress in the fall indicated lower self-efficacy in the spring. In addition, teachers with greater teaching experience and perceived control reported stronger teaching efficacy, whereas teachers who reported more administrative support, school connectedness, and perceived control displayed lower stress levels. A chi-square difference test was then used to examine whether use of emotion regulation strategies moderated the relation between stress and efficacy, within the context of the larger hypothesized model. Unexpectedly, emotion regulation strategies did not moderate this relation; however, when examined individually, each of the three-emotion regulation strategies was associated with stress and efficacy. That is, teachers who were more likely to use cognitive reappraisal and behavioral regulation strategies reported lower stress and greater efficacy. In contrast, expressive suppression was correlated with increased stress and poorer efficacy. Implications regarding using findings to support teachers are discussed. / School Psychology

A research study was conducted to examine Fredrickson's Broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions in a speech anxious sample of undergraduate students. Experimental elicitation of positive emotions has previously been shown to speed cardiovascular recovery, increase attention, and broaden thought-action repertoires compared to elicitation of negative or neutral emotions (Fredrickson et al., 2000). 88 undergraduate students were selected from a screening process based on their reported speech anxiety on the Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker (PRCS). Students who reported low or high speech anxiety completed an anxiety provoking task and were subsequently exposed to either a neutral emotion condition "Pipes" film) or one of two positive emotion conditions ("Puppy" film or thinking of a happy memory task). Fredrickson's theory was not supported since results showed no differences in cardiovascular recovery, thought-action repertoires, or global thinking for either groups or conditions. However, differences were found for broadened scope of attention on a modified Stroop task where the low anxiety group responded faster to threat words in the neutral and happy memory conditions than after viewing a positive film. Results of the study are discussed in light of attribution theory of emotion and previous studies on the effects of positive emotions. / Ph. D.

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the deliberate destruction of one's own body tissue (e.g., cutting, skin picking, biting, hitting) without conscious suicidal intent. Cognitive and affective difficulties may contribute to the development and maintenance of NSSI, such that emotion regulation may mediate the link between cognitive control difficulties and NSSI in youth. This study examined developmental links between cognitive control and emotion regulation on several facets of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in a large sample of youth, collected via the ABCD Study (N=6447). Although a mediation of emotion regulation on cognitive control and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors was not supported, important direct effects were found between neural correlates of inhibition (at ages 9-10 years) on NSSI at 11-12 years, and behavioral measures of cognitive flexibility (at 10-11 years) and inhibition (at 9-10 years) on suicidality at 11-12 years. Further, links between poorer cognitive control and poorer emotion regulation were found. An exploratory aim of this study was examining the potential moderating role of autistic traits on significant associations. Although greater autistic traits significantly predicted presence of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors, this study did not find a moderation of autistic traits. These results provide developmental risk markers for NSSI and suicidality in youth. / Doctor of Philosophy / Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the direct and intentional harm to one's own body (e.g., cutting, skin picking, biting, hitting) without suicidal intent. One's ability to regulate their cognitions and emotions may explain risk and continuation of NSSI and other suicidal thoughts and behaviors. In specific, one's ability to regulate their emotions may explain the relationship between cognitive control and NSSI in youth. This study examined the relationship between cognitive control and emotion regulation on NSSI and suicidality in a large sample of youth, , collected from the ABCD Study (N=6447). Although emotion regulation did not explain the relationship between cognitive control and NSSI or suicidality, results showed that brain activation when trying to inhibit a response at ages 9-10 related to presence of NSSI at ages 11-12. Additionally, behavior related to one's ability to flexibly shift (at ages 10-11) and inhibit responses (at ages 9-10) related to suicidality at ages 11-12. Links between poorer cognitive control and poorer emotion regulation were also found. Recent work has also found that autistic youth have high rates of NSSI and suicidality, thus, the level of autistic traits on these relationships were evaluated. Although greater autistic traits significantly predicted presence of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors, this study did not find that level of autistic traits impacted links between cognitive control, emotion regulation, and NSSI or suicidality. These results provide developmental risk markers for NSSI and suicidality in youth.

Stereotypes are cognitive heuristics used by all individuals. Researchers studying bigotry have demonstrated that individuals often expose underlying stereotypical racial biases when using less effortful processing (e.g. Correll, Park, Judd, & Wittenbrink, 2002; Miarmi & DeBono, 2007). It is well-established in the resource depletion literature that acting beyond natural impulses requires self-regulation. However, the capacity for self-regulation is limited; prior acts of self-regulation deplete regulatory resources, hence temporarily decreasing the ability to self-regulate. The objective of this study was to examine if resource depletion leads to greater expressions of bigotry. More specifically, self-regulation failure was studied from the emotion resource depletion perspective. Even if resources are depleted however, some individuals may be more motivated than others to suppress their biases. Egalitarianism, a value system that emphasizes equal treatment for all, may be an individual difference that influences this motivation. Thus, egalitarianism was examined as a potential moderator of the resource depletion effect. In the current study, 100 participants were randomly assigned to an emotion suppression or a control condition as they watched a race-relevant social injustice video. Then, participants were given the opportunity to express bigotry through responses to a survey assessing reactions to racial microaggressions. Research findings provide evidence for an emotion resource depletion effect in that individuals suppressing their emotions while watching the video expressed greater bigotry on the survey. Additionally, the results also demonstrated a negative relationship between egalitarianism and expressions of bigotry. Although the interaction effect was not found on the full sample, exploratory gender subgroup analyses suggest that gender is a potential moderator of the interaction between emotion suppression and egalitarianism on expressions of bigotry. Within the male sample, relative to participants scoring low on egalitarianism, high egalitarian participants in the emotional suppression condition showed a greater rate of emotional resource depletion due to the video and in turn showed greater levels of bigotry. In contrast, the evidence was only consistent with an egalitarianism main effect for female participants. Thus, findings from the study demonstrate that aside from cognitive-based depleting tasks, emotion resource depletion can also lead to self-regulation failure in terms of expressions of bigotry. Although the resource depletion effect was robust, there are several limitations in this study that need to be addressed in future research. This includes collecting a more genderbalanced sample so gender can be analyzed as part of a three-way interaction to determine the impact gender had on the model. Furthermore, there was a persisting model misspecification issue; in an ongoing replication study, a measure on agreeableness has been included to assess if this was part of the missing variable problem. Finally, the two self-regulation tasks in the current study were domain-specific in the sense that they were both racially-relevant. Next steps include testing the domain-general argument of the resource depletion effect; that is, if selfregulation failure from emotion suppression would still be observed if the two self-regulation tasks were not related through the context of race. / M.S. / Stereotypes are cognitive heuristics used by all individuals. Researchers studying bigotry have demonstrated that individuals often expose underlying stereotypical racial biases when they rely on more automatic thought-associations as they process situations. It is well-established in research that acting beyond these natural impulses requires self-regulation. For example, one study showed that self-regulation effort was required to suppress the automatic association between African-Americans and negative traits such as hostility and recklessness (Muraven, 2008). However, our capacity to effectively self-regulate is limited; prior acts of self-regulation deplete regulatory resources, hence temporarily decreasing the self-regulation ability. The objective of this study was to examine if resource depletion (i.e. practicing self-regulation and using those regulatory resources) leads to greater expressions of bigotry, and particularly to understand the role of emotions in this process. However, even if resources are depleted, some individuals may be more motivated than others to suppress their biases. Egalitarianism, a value system that emphasizes equal treatment for all, may be an individual difference that influences this motivation. Thus, egalitarianism was examined as a potential moderator of the resource depletion effect. 100 participants were randomly assigned to an emotion suppression or a control condition as they watched a race-relevant social injustice video, then they responded to a survey assessing reactions to racial microaggressions. Research findings demonstrate an emotion resource depletion effect; individuals suppressing their emotions while watching the video expressed greater bigotry on the survey. Additionally, a negative relationship was found between egalitarianism and expressions of bigotry. Interestingly, gender seemed to moderate the interaction between emotion suppression and egalitarianism on expressions of bigotry. For males, relative to low egalitarians, high egalitarians who suppressed their emotions expressed greater levels of bigotry; this indicates a greater rate of emotional resource depletion experienced from watching the video. In contrast, there was no difference in emotion resource depletion in females across egalitarian values. Thus, results demonstrate how emotion resource depletion can lead to expressions of bigotry. This carries implications to our social interactions, as both emotion regulation and interracial encounters are common components of our daily lives.

Cognitive reappraisal (CR) involves changing one’s mental states in response to an emotionally eliciting event in order to down regulate the potential emotional impact. In this study, 50 children who were 9-10 years old were instructed to engage in CR during a sad film. Children were then exposed to a disappointing situation and asked to self-report on their CR after the disappointment task. As hypothesized, there was variability in level of CR use during the disappointment task. Contrary to hypothesis, children’s CR was not related to parent CR. Nor was the association between parent CR and child CR moderated by child baseline frontal EEG asymmetry, as hypothesized. Post-hoc analyses revealed that parent CR moderated the association between child baseline frontal EEG asymmetry and task-related frontal EEG asymmetry, such that children presenting with left frontal asymmetry at baseline and who had parents with higher CR showed left frontal asymmetry during the disappointment task. This was conceptualized as physiological regulation during an emotion event. Post-hoc analyses also revealed that children’s CR after the disappointment task was predicted by task-related frontal EEG asymmetry, as well as self-reports of ER strategies. I conclude that task-specific CR can be assessed in preadolescents but that much research is needed to determine the correlates of child use of CR during emotional situations. / M.S. / Changing the way one thinks of an emotional event is considered highly adaptive, this strategy is referred to as cognitive reappraisal (CR). 50 children between the ages of 9 and 10 and their parents participated in this study. Children were asked to engage in CR while watching a sad film. Then, they were exposed to a disappointing event. After the disappointment, children were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire which gathered information on their CR during the disappointment task. Parents also completed an adult version of this questionnaire. Children’s responses were varied, but their CR was not related to their parent’s CR. Children’s brain activity was also not related to either parent’s nor children’s CR. Parent’s own CR was linked to children’s brain activity during rest and during the disappointment task, making brain activity more extreme for children with greater activation in the frontal left hemisphere of the brain during rest, the area involved with greater regulation. Additionally, children’s CR was predicted by their self-reported emotion regulation and their brain activity during the disappointment task. Our results indicate that wen parents are capable of changing the way they think about an emotional event, using CR, their children are benefitting in ways that are not easily observable, such as through brain activity.

Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychological disorders in childhood<br />with reported rates as high as 41.2% (Cartwright-Hatton, McNicol, & Doubleday, 2006; Cooley,<br />Boyd, & Grados, 2004). A majority of the anxiety intervention programs target children who are<br />7 years of age and older. Yet, many anxiety disorders develop in the preschool years (APA,<br />2000). Therefore, it seems desirable to work with young children who display early signs of<br />anxiety to provide them with skills that would protect them from later full-blown<br />psychopathology. Early intervention and prevention programs may be effective ways to modify<br />the developmental trajectory of anxiety disorders.<br /><br />The present research reports findings from an anxiety prevention program for 4-7 year<br />olds. One hundred and ten children from two schools in a rural part of Southwest Virginia<br />participated. Fifty-seven children from one school received a classroom-based prevention<br />program on a weekly basis over 20 weeks. Fifty-three children from a second school served as a control group. The mean age of the sample was 5.11 years. Results suggested that anxiety was  positively correlated with emotional symptoms (r = .67, p<.001), peer difficulties (r = .21,p<.05), and total difficulties (r =.29, p<.03) on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for all children. Overall, there were significant decreases in anxiety symptoms from pre to follow-up for both groups of children [F (1, 105) = 7.79, p =.006]. Unexpectedly, anxiety symptoms increased from pre to post for children in the intervention school whereas they decreased for children in the control school. Although these findings are reversed of what was expected, these results may have important implications concerning the importance of providing anxiety education and awareness for teachers. Implications of the current findings, limitations of the study, and directions for future research and dissemination are discussed. / Ph. D.

The role of children’s emotion regulation as a potential mediator or moderator in the relations between a family’s emotional expressiveness and their child’s social anxiety was explored in a sample of clinic-referred children. For the mediational analyses, it was predicted that emotional expressivity in families would be associated with social anxiety and that this relationship would be mediated by emotion regulation. For the moderator analyses, it was predicted that the level of emotion regulation would affect the strength of the relationship between emotional expressivity in families and social anxiety. The hypotheses were explored through hierarchical regression analyses. Family expressivity was marginally related to social anxiety. However, exploratory analyses indicated that emotion regulation failed to mediate or moderate this marginal relationship. Interestingly, mother reports of expressivity were related negatively to social anxiety whereas father reports of expressivity were related positively to social anxiety in their offspring. These findings are discussed and their implications are explored. / Master of Science

Emerging adulthood is a developmental period associated with increased engagement in health risk behaviors, particularly in college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a disorder characterized by low distress tolerance and significant difficulty managing emotions. However, research has not examined how these factors impact propensity to engage in health risk behaviors in college students with ADHD. Thus, this study examined the independent and joint effects of ADHD status, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance on the propensity of college students to engage in health risk behaviors (alcohol use, impulsive eating, and drug behaviors). Participants included 143 undergraduate students (81.8% female; 44.1% with ADHD) who completed an online questionnaire via REDCap. Individuals with ADHD reported significantly higher use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and lower levels of distress tolerance than the comparison sample. Moderation models using the PROCESS macro for SPSS examined whether the associations between emotion regulation abilities and distress tolerance with health risk behavior engagement were moderated by ADHD diagnostic history. The relation between distress tolerance and engagement in drug use behaviors was moderated by ADHD status, such that for individuals with ADHD, poorer distress tolerance was associated with more drug use. ADHD status also moderated the association between maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and cognitive restraint in eating. For individuals without ADHD, more maladaptive emotion regulation was marginally predictive of less engagement in cognitive restraint around food, but this relation, was not significantly for college students with ADHD. Findings from this study provide insight into intervention targets for college students with ADHD, ultimately resulting in significantly decreased societal and personal health costs. / M.S. / Emerging adulthood is a developmental period associated with increased engagement in health risk behaviors, particularly in college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a disorder characterized by low distress tolerance and significant difficulty managing emotions. However, research has not looked at how these factors impact odds of engaging in health risk behaviors in college students with ADHD. Thus, this study examined the independent and combined effects of ADHD status, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance on the propensity of college students to engage in health risk behaviors (alcohol use, impulsive eating, and drug behaviors). Participants included 143 undergraduate students (81.8% female; 44.1% with ADHD) who completed an online questionnaire via REDCap. Individuals with ADHD reported higher use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and decreased ability to tolerate distress than the comparison sample. The relation between distress tolerance and engagement in drug use behaviors was moderated by ADHD status, such that for individuals with ADHD, poorer ability to tolerate distress was associated with more drug use. ADHD status also moderated the association between maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and cognitive restraint in eating. For individuals without ADHD, more maladaptive emotion regulation was slightly predictive of less cognitive restraint around food, but this relation was not significant for college students with ADHD. Findings from this study provide insight into intervention targets for college students with ADHD, ultimately resulting in significantly decreased societal and personal health costs.