CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / As situaÃÃes de estresse, tambÃm entendidas como adversidades psicossociais, estÃo em todo o ciclo de vida, porÃm à na infÃncia que elas podem ensejar os maiores impactos biolÃgicos, emocionais e sociais na idade adulta. O desenvolvimento infantil pode estar susceptÃvel a alteraÃÃes quando hà estas adversidades, vivenciadas principalmente no ambiente famÃlia. EntÃo, estudar a associaÃÃo entre adversidades e desenvolvimento infantil pode nos oferecer um panorama desta influÃncia e facilitar o direcionamento de aÃÃes e programas aos eventos de vida estressores que possam acarretar dÃfices no desenvolvimento infantil, com o intuito de minimizÃ-los ou cessÃ-los. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar as adversidades psicossociais vivenciadas por mÃes e crianÃas atendidas em uma organizaÃÃo nÃo governamental (ONG) referÃncia em primeira infÃncia e sua relaÃÃo com o desenvolvimento infantil. à um estudo do tipo transversal, realizado em uma ONG na cidade de Fortaleza, CE, especializada em primeira infÃncia. A coleta dos dados foi realizada em julho de 2014 com 170 crianÃas de atà 36 meses de idade e suas mÃes. Foi avaliado o desenvolvimento motor, visual, linguÃstico e auditivo das crianÃas mediante a Escala de Desenvolvimento Cognitivo CAT/CLAMS e entrevistadas as mÃes sobre possÃveis fatores de adversidades vivenciadas. Os dados foram armazenados e analisados por meio do software EpiInfo versÃo 3.5.2,e submetidos a anÃlise descritiva e univariada. Os achados deste estudo indicam que a faixa de idade de 25 a 36 meses de idade foi a de maior prevalÃncia para alteraÃÃes no desenvolvimento geral, visuomotor e linguistico-auditivo, (23,3%, 31,6% e 28,3% respectivamente), podendo sugerir uma situaÃÃo de estresse tÃxico em consequÃncia das adversidades psicossociais vivenciadas. Em relaÃÃo à adversidade psicossocial a qual a crianÃa estava submetida, todas as crianÃas mostraram pelo menos uma adversidade, a maioria apresentando de dois a quatro eventos (79,4%). Programas de intervenÃÃo na primeira infÃncia, como aquele ao qual a clientela estudada està inserida, sÃo eficientes para melhorar e intervir no ambiente familiar, diminuindo a carga de efeitos das adversidades vivenciadas, tornando o estresse tÃxico em estresse positivo, saudÃvel ao aprendizado. / The stressful situations, also understood as psychosocial adversity, they are across the life cycle, but it is in childhood that they can give rise to the greatest biological impacts, emotional and social adulthood. Child development may be likely to change when there are these adversities, especially experienced in the family environment. So, study the association between adversity and child development can offer us an overview of this influence and facilitate direct actions and programs to the events of life stressors that can lead to deficits in child development, in order to minimize them or terminate them. The aim of the study was to evaluate the psychosocial adversities experienced by mothers and children attending a non-governmental organization (NGO) Reference in early childhood and its relation to child development. It is a cross-sectional study, conducted in an NGO in Fortaleza, CE, specializing in early childhood. Data collection was conducted in July 2014 with 170 children up to 36 months old and their mothers. It evaluated the motor development, visual, auditory and language of children by Development Scale Cognitive CAT / CLAMS and interviewed mothers about potential factors experienced adversity. Data were stored and analyzed using the EpiInfo software version 3.5.2, and submitted to descriptive and univariate analysis. The findings of this study indicate that the age group 25-36 months of age was the most prevalent for changes in the overall development, visuomotor and linguistic-hearing (23.3%, 31.6% and 28.3% respectively ) and may suggest a toxic stress situation as a result of experienced psychosocial adversity. Regarding the psychosocial adversity which the child was submitted, all children showed at least one adversity, most featuring two to four events (79.4%). Intervention programs in early childhood, like that which studied the customer is located, are efficient to improve and intervene in the family environment, reducing the load effects of experienced adversity, making the toxic stress into positive stress, healthy learning.

The six short stories in this collection explore the lives and desires of disparate women. In "Sentinel," a woman visits an ex-boyfriend, injured in the army, and his family, with whom she has a fraught relationship, in their vacation home. A diagnosis of cancer spurs a woman to change her life in "Cell Division"; when a new possibility for treatment arises, she reconsiders the choice she made to take her life apart. In the story, "A Wake," a funeral and an unexpected pregnancy set the stage for the breakdown of a couple's relationship. In "A Cyclic Process," a woman conflates her ambivalence toward the anti-depressants she takes with her feelings about her relationship; in the end, she cannot let go of either. A woman, traveling with a new acquaintance, takes a trip to Venice in "The Edge of the World," and falls into an unsettling relationship with a man she meets there. The process of protein denaturation serves as a metaphor in "Marina," for the unraveling of a friendship between two teenage girls.

A group of hospitalized psychiatric patients and a randomly selected non-therapy group responded to the Schedule of Recent Experiences questionniare. In order to determine the magnitude of life change events for the two groups, Life Change Unit totals were derived for the years 1966 and 1967. To test the hypothesis that patients in psychiatric treatment have experienced a quantitatively significant greater amount of life change than a group of non-therapy subjects, an analysis of variance was used to determine whether there were significant differences between the scores for the two groups. For the year 1966, no significant difference was found between the therapy and non-therapy samples. For the year 1967, there was a significant difference between the mean Life Change Unit scores for the two groups. As a result of these findings, it is concluded that an accumulation of life change events may serve to precipitate mental health change, and that that probability of such health change occurring is significantly greater when there is a clustering of life change events during any given year than when such a clustering does not occur.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-209).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 223-240).

published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study examined the influence of activated and chronic interpersonal expectations on primary and secondary appraisal of a stressful life event. Fifty-one female undergraduates were asked to imagine themselves facing an unplanned pregnancy, after which affective state and coping strategies were assessed. A subliminal priming technique was used during the experimental session to activate either positive, negative or neutral interpersonal expectations. Chronic interpersonal expectations were assessed in a telephone interview, using the Collins and Read (1990) attachment scale. Activated negative interpersonal expectations reduced positive affect; chronic interpersonal anxiety heightened overall negative affect, while chronic comfort with closeness and feeling one can depend on others were associated with less feelings of depression. Both activated and chronically accessible positive interpersonal expectations increased intentions to seek emotional support. Chronic anxiety in relationships was related to hostile coping, while a lack of comfort with closeness and depending on others were conducive to self-blaming. Implications of these findings for close relationships and stressful life events and for future priming research are discussed.

The Reformulated theory of learned helplessness emphasizes maladaptive explanatory style and its influence on depression, achievement, health, and coping. Individuals who habitually explain unpleasant/uncontrollable events by internal, stable and global causes (and good events by external, unstable, specific causes) are said to have a maladaptive explanatory style. Researchers speculate that negative life events (such as parental divorce or death) contribute to the development of this style. Researchers have sought to explain adjustment-related difficulties by focusing on traumatic life events, such as divorce or death of a parent and their adverse effects on childhood development.Literature concerning the correlates of father absence, divorce, parental death, attachment and stressful life events shows that closeness to parents can mediate the impact of these events on adjustment and development. The mediating effects of closeness to parent may explain why not all children who experience these events actually develop maladaptive explanatory styles.This investigation examined the relations between Negative Life Events, Closeness to Parent and Explanatory Style. By looking at these relations, we can determine which variable is more influential in developing the maladaptive style. It was expected that Closeness to Parent would be a better predictor of explanatory style than Negative Life Events.Participants were 86 college students who completed a questionnaire that assessed explanatory style, closeness to parent, negative life events, and level of depression. Multiple regression was used to determine the significant predictors of explanatory style and depression. Results showed that none of the variables were significant predictors of explanatory style. Recent life events, closeness to mother and explanatory style were significant predictors of depression. Discriminant analysis was used to determine whether participants whose parents were divorced could be differentiated from those whose parent's marriage was intact using explanatory style, closeness to parent and depression as predictors. Results showed no significant differences between these groups. Sample group means for depression and life events were higher than those from normative studies for the Beck Depression Inventory and the Life Experience Survey.As the literature showed, closeness to parent and negative life events should account for some of the variance in the maladaptive style. The absence of these relations may be attributed to theoretical and methodological issues concerning closeness to parent and explanatory style.However, since this sample had high levels of depression and life stress, theoretically these relations should have been found. This points to the importance of the problems discussed.Prospective longitudinal studies, although costly and time consuming may be useful in determining the antecedents of a maladaptive explanatory style. / Department of Psychological Science

An important component of a developing identity is an understanding of personal persistence or self-continuity—how one remains the same person throughout the various changes in their life (Chandler, Lalonde, Sokol & Hallet, 2003). Chandler et al., (2003) have suggested that individuals vary in terms of both the style (essentialist or narrativist) and the level of complexity of their reasoning regarding self-continuity. In previous research this variability has been measured using a lengthy interview process. The present study explored the feasibility of more efficiently measuring variability in selfcontinuity understanding with the creation of a new Likert scaled questionnaire. Factor analysis suggested that 20 of the newly created questionnaire items clearly displayed a 2- factor structure mirroring the “essentialist” and “narrativist” styles reported by Chandler et al. (2003). Initial evidence of convergence between the interview and questionnaire methods is also apparent in that those rated as essentialists in the interview scored higher on the first essentialist factor than narrativists and narrativists by the interview scored higher on the second narrativist factor than essentialists.

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2002.