<p> Researchers have described psychopaths as callous, cold-hearted individuals who show reduced empathic response to their victims. It is suggested that the inability to identify negative emotions, specifically fear, in individuals is what allows psychopaths to offend/take advantage of other people as they do not recognize the fear in victims that may otherwise deter victimization. This is the first study to examine how non-incarcerated individuals high on psychopathic personality traits process emotions. Additionally, eye-tracking technology was used to provide a more fine-grained assessment of attention. In contrast to hypotheses, the high psychopathic group did not differ from the low psychopathic or anxious control groups on any of the emotion processing tasks. This said, exploratory analyses revealed potentially interesting sex moderation effects. For example, men high on psychopathic personality spent more time looking at fearful eyes compared to men low on psychopathic personality and anxious men. Additionally, men low on psychopathic personality had more errors in identifying angry faces compared to men high on psychopathic personality and anxious men. Possible reasons for these findings as well as suggested areas of future research are discussed.</p>

<p> Charisma has been intently studied in professions that value social influence. A notable exception has been in the field of psychotherapy, despite the central importance of therapists&rsquo; ability to engage and influence their clients. The present study is the first to qualitatively examine the phenomenon of therapist charisma as perceived by clients. The researcher conducted a semi-structured interview with 17 participants in order to gain a sense of how they perceived, related to, and described their charismatic therapists and their therapeutic efficacy. Participants were an ethnically diverse adult sample, with an average age of 42, who had a minimum of 8 sessions with a licensed therapist they considered to be charismatic. Only those participants who rated their therapist&rsquo;s charisma as 7 or above on a 1-10 scale were included. Themes identified across transcripts highlighted the importance of common factors, especially relationship factors associated with the quality of the alliance, in determining clients&rsquo; evaluations of the therapy relationship and outcome. Responses suggest that participants&rsquo; perceptions of charisma were interwoven with common factors valued in therapists. Of participants reporting positive experiences, 67% described their therapist&rsquo;s charisma as relationally and therapeutically helpful. Only 2 participants reported their therapist&rsquo;s charisma as a negative. Multiple positive differences were reported between charismatic and non-charismatic therapists, such as greater rapport, comfort, relatability, and quality of working alliance. Participants identified characteristics and behaviors in their therapists commonly associated with charisma in the literature (e.g., animated voice and body language, emotional expressiveness, quality of eye contact, articulateness) and linked several positive descriptors with their therapist&rsquo;s charisma (e.g. engaging, intriguing, friendly, happy, genuine, funny, warm). The interweaving of charisma within themes makes it difficult to gage the specific impact of charisma on participants&rsquo; experiences. The possibility is put forth that common factors described in this study refer to the content of what therapists delivered in therapy and charisma refers to the style with which therapists delivered content. Results indicate it is reasonable to be curious about how charisma might enhance a therapist&rsquo;s effectiveness. The fact that clients in this study describe their therapists&rsquo; charisma as relationally and therapeutically helpful suggests it is worthy of further investigation.</p>

<p> Objective: The objective of the current investigation was to attempt to contribute to the limited body of literature regarding the role and importance of social context, in particular social support, to the experience of pain. Specifically, the current study proposed that some of the previously observed effects of pain catastrophizing on pain experience operate through a social mechanism of action by reducing available social resources to help people cope with the stress of pain. Thus, it was hypothesized that perceived social support would at least partially mediate the relationship between pain catastrophizing and pain experience or response variables (perceptions of pain intensity and unpleasantness and tolerance time). </p><p> Method: A sample of 285 college students enrolled in introductory psychology courses answered baseline questionnaires about dispositional variables before completing a fixed-time cold pressor task (60s) followed by an open-ended cold pressor task (to test pain tolerance). Questionnaires assessed perceived general social support (the Social Provisions Scale), dispositional and situational pain catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale), and perceptions of pain intensity and unpleasantness (using visual analog scales). </p><p> Results: The final sample consisted of 285 college students (Age: M = 19.62, SD = 1.73), was primarily White (77.9%) and female (58.2%), and the majority denied having either chronic or recurrent pain (n = 160, 56.1%). Regression and SEM analyses demonstrated that the study mediation hypothesis was not supported. </p><p> Conclusion: Results of the current study suggest important revisions and considerations for future replications and similar studies.</p>

<p> Executive functioning (EF) has been suggested as a possible factor that might affect the behaviors of individuals with ADHD. The purpose of this study is to examine whether executive functioning moderates the association between ADHD symptoms and self-reported aggression. Participants (80 female, 20 male undergraduates) completed the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, ADHD Self-Report Scale, as well as three neuropsychological tasks: the Berg&rsquo;s Card Sorting Test-64, the Stroop Task, and the Iowa Gambling Task. Results revealed that both cold and hot EF does not moderate the relationship between ADHD symptoms and self-reported aggression. However, gender moderated the association between ADHD symptoms and self-reported aggression. Females and males with more ADHD symptoms had more self-reported aggression than those with less ADHD symptoms, and the rate of increase in aggression was less for females than males.</p>

<p>Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder have difficulties with interpersonal relationships at all ages and functioning levels, including difficulties in effective communication, sharing enjoyment and interests with others, and emotional reciprocity (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Many individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder struggle with social connectedness. In typically developing individuals, a lack of social connectedness may yield a perception of loneliness. In the current study, the investigator sought to determine what features influence perceptions of loneliness in adolescents with and without High-Functioning ASD. The features investigated were social skill ability, self-esteem, anxiety and social involvement inside and outside of school. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to identify if adolescents with High-Functioning Autism experience higher rates of loneliness than their typically developing peers, and if so, what most contributes to feelings of loneliness in this population. This study included adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 who had been diagnosed with high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HF-ASD) as well as a neurotypical group and the groups were grade matched. It was hypothesized that: 1) Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism would report higher rates of loneliness than their typically developing peers, 2) Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism will report lower rates of social skill ability and higher rates of problem behaviors than their typically developing peers, 3) Adolescents with high functioning autism would report higher rates of anxiety, and 4) Adolescents with high functioning autism would report lower rates of self-esteem than their typically developing peers. Additional analyses on gender were examined. </p><p> Univariate ANOVAs were used to determine the differences between ratings from adolescents with High-Functioning Autism when compared to their typically developing peers. An ANOVA conducted on loneliness indicated no statistical difference between groups as identified by diagnosis <i>F</i> (1, 38) = 3.17, <i>p</i> = .083, or between groups as identified by gender <i>F</i> (1, 38) = 1.65, <i>p</i> = .213. An ANOVA conducted on social skills, indicated a significant difference between groups as identified by diagnosis, <i>F</i> (1, 38) = 11.65, <i>p </i> =.002 and as identified by gender, <i>F</i> (1, 38) = 5.55, <i>p</i> =.024. An ANOVA conducted on problem behaviors indicated no statistical difference between groups as identified by diagnosis <i> F</i> (1, 38) = .119, <i>p</i> = .732, or between groups as identified by gender <i>F</i> (1, 38) = .253, <i>p</i> = .618. An ANOVA conducted on anxiety indicated no statistical difference between groups as identified by diagnosis <i>F</i> (1, 38) = .002, <i> p</i> = .969, or between groups as identified by gender <i>F</i> (1, 38) = .317, <i>p</i> = .577. An ANOVA conducted on self-esteem indicated a significant difference between groups as identified by diagnosis, <i> F</i> (1, 38) = 9.35, <i>p</i> =.004 and as identified by gender <i> F</i> (1, 38) = 11.10, <i>p</i> = .002. </p><p> Results suggest that adolescents with HF-ASD do not perceive loneliness at the same rate as their typically developing peers, and a significant difference in reports of social skill ability and self-esteem in females with HF-ASD than their typically developing peers. Implications of these findings and future research ideas are discussed. </p>

<p> Marital distress is common and can have a tremendous influence on an entire family. Spousal conflict related to children is known to have a particularly negative impact on both the parenting and marital relationship. A number of evidence-based therapies exist to support couples in need including integrative behavioral couple therapy (IBCT; Jacobson &amp; Christensen, 1998), which focuses on emotional acceptance and behavior change as mechanisms that improve marital satisfaction. While IBCT is well documented as an effective treatment with lasting outcomes (Christensen, et al., 2004), how and why IBCT works remains less clear. The current study used qualitative methodology to increase understanding of IBCT and expand upon literature related to marital conflict and child rearing. Recommended case study methods were combined with the spirit and steps of discovery-oriented research to provide a rich description of change processes and mechanisms associated with therapeutic progress. The research questions posed in this study were designed to mirror the components and phases of the Doss (2004) framework for studying change in psychotherapy, and were addressed in the context of a selected course of IBCT for a couple who presented with conflicts about child rearing. Results included detailed reports of the client and therapy change processes, change mechanisms, and treatment outcomes for the selected couple. These results revealed that acceptance growth and behavior change taking place over the course of therapy lead to increased marital satisfaction and a reduction of conflict related to child rearing. Important findings about how and why IBCT works were discussed. Future research might examine change processes in unsuccessful treatments so as to continue to refine therapies and expand upon knowledge of how and why therapies work.</p>

<p> In order to help child victims of bullying, a greater understanding of the psychological empowerment process was needed, especially what type of activities support the development of empowerment and how empowerment is related to mental health. Artistic expression, an activity described as therapeutic, had received little attention in regards to its role in empowerment. Thus, this exploratory case study explored the role of artistic expression in psychological empowerment with child bullying victims specifically using the Nomological Network of Psychological Empowerment model by Zimmerman (1995). The research questions of this study were: (1) in what ways can individuals experience a sense of psychological empowerment from the artistic process; (2) how can the artistic process relate to the three components of the NNPE model; and (3) how are artistic expression, psychological empowerment, and psychological healing related. The archived data of four children involved in a 14- week art therapy program in 2007 in an elementary school in Ontario, Canada was explored. For this case study various data sources, such as pre and post surveys, were examined to uncover any experiences of psychological empowerment. Qualitative content analysis, with a directed approach revealed that artistic expression in art therapy provided experiences of psychological empowerment in a myriad of ways and psychological empowerment was experienced as a cyclical process for participants. Additionally, artistic expression, psychological empowerment, and psychological healing were experienced as an interactional process. Thus, art therapy should be considered as an intervention method for children experiencing bullying. Additionally, researchers should investigate empowerment as a cyclical process and conduct longitudinal studies to determine the empowerment process over time.</p>

<p> Negative social reactions that sexual assault survivors receive upon disclosure have been correlated with psychological distress such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and problem drinking. However, the impact of ethnicity in the relationship between unsupportive reactions to assault disclosure and the psychological sequelae remains unclear. Using hierarchical linear regressions and a sample of 665 African-American, Latina, and Caucasian female adult sexual assault survivors, the present study examined the role of ethnicity in that relationship. The results suggest that ethnicity moderates the influence of negative disclosure reactions on psychological symptoms, however, the moderation impact was not similar across races and psychological outcomes. With regard to posttraumatic stress disorder and depression, contrary to expectations, African-Americans were less impacted by negative reactions as compared to Caucasians. However, as predicted, more African-Americans and Latinas reported problem drinking upon receiving unsupportive responses than Caucasians.</p>

<p> The long-term devastation caused by childhood sexual abuse among adult survivors has been well documented within the literature. Similarly, numerous studies have addressed efficacy of various treatment modalities targeting psychological sequelae associated with such abuse. However, despite the recent rise in popularity of mindfulness within the field of psychology, as well as indication of tremendous psychological benefits associated with such practice, few studies have sought to understand the connection between mindfulness and healing among abuse survivors. The current study attempts to bridge the gap in the literature by examining the experiences of clinicians using mindfulness as a framework for their treatment of adult childhood sexual abuse victims. Participants (<i>N</i>=6) were recruited from the Los Angeles area and the qualitative design utilized semi-structured interviews as a means of data collection. Grounded theory analysis of the data revealed a complex and dynamic interplay of elements that captured the nature of mindfully framed treatment with abuse survivors. Results suggested that core elements of mindfulness practice, along with therapeutic conditions and factors related to the therapist&rsquo;s way of being, allow growth and change within the client. However, it was further revealed that the interplay of such elements was surrounded by the tremendous impact of a clinician&rsquo;s personal mindfulness practice, which fostered essential healing elements. While the observed results provide no conclusive data, the importance of environmental conditions, as well as therapeutic presence, rather than a focus on specific techniques or interventions suggests implications for work with abuse survivors. Additionally, it is hoped that further research continues to observe mindfulness and provide support for its implementation as a viable and effective treatment for trauma survivors.</p>

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.