abstract: Past research has focused on the important role humor plays in interpersonal relationships; however, researchers have also identified intrapersonal applications of humor, showing that people often use humor to alleviate negative affect, and that humor has generally been found to beneficially influence mental health. The purpose of this study is to examine whether humor-based coping can be utilized as an intrapersonal tool to aid or facilitate creative thinking and problem solving when faced with a distressing situation. The current study posits reduced rumination as the mechanism by which humor facilitates creativity. To measure creativity, a task was devised that had individuals brainstorm under some distress; participants were asked to recall and describe an ongoing, unresolved problem they were facing, followed by a rumination induction, as rumination is characterized by perseverative thoughts that hinder constructive action. After the rumination induction, participants were randomly assigned to a control condition or either of two emotion regulation conditions: positive reappraisal or humor-based reappraisal. Following this, participants were asked to complete an “alternate solutions” task, based on Guilford’s Alternate Uses Task, generating solutions for their own unresolved problem. Results of the study showed that the use of humor was indeed related to a decrease in rumination, but that the humor condition did not outperform either control condition on any measure of creativity (performing worse in some cases). Limits of this study and future directions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2019

Wildnerness therapy is becoming increasingly popular as a treatment for adolescents. It has been established as an efficacious treatment in previous literature, but the mechanisms as to why have thus far remained a mystery. This research is looking at the connection between wilderness therapy and DBT, another evidence-based treatment. This study will examine 156 adolescents, comparing the efficacy of wilderness therapy to traditional inpatient and intensive outpatient. Pre-treatment assessments of suicidal ideation, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance will be taken. It is expected that there will be main effects for each of the treatments, but that wilderness therapy will be strongest. Additionally, it is expected that emotion regulation and distress tolerance will act as mediators, and their effect on suicidal ideation will be even greater than that of treatment.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent and destructive social problem affecting millions of people around the world. Although partner violence has been widely examined among women, few studies have focused on women in the role of perpetrator. The purpose of this investigation was to identify the underlying mechanisms of IPV perpetration among college women. Specifically, we investigated the relationship among attachment insecurity (i.e., anxious and avoidant), emotion regulation (ER) strategies (i.e., expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal), and IPV among a sample of college women. Participants (N = 177) were recruited from a Southern California university and completed measures of adult attachment, ER strategies, and incidences of IPV. Results revealed significant positive associations among attachment insecurity, the ER strategy expressive suppression, and IPV perpetration. Furthermore, results of a mediation analysis demonstrated the relationship between insecure attachment and IPV perpetration was mediated by expressive suppression. Results from this investigation further our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of female-perpetrated IPV and have significant implications for therapeutic and intervention efforts for women who perpetrate partner violence.

In comparison with their peers, adolescents with ADHD are at increased risk for developing depression, with prevalence estimates for comorbid depression ranging from 14% to 20%. Youth with comorbid ADHD and depression are at greater risk for multiple negative outcomes compared to youth with ADHD alone, including suspension from school, failing a grade, or difficulties in peer relationships. Identifying risk factors for depression among adolescents with ADHD is important for facilitating early identification and treatment efforts. Research completed to date indicates that interpersonal impairment and emotion regulation may mediate the relationship between ADHD and depression. However, a comprehensive longitudinal model including both interpersonal impairment and emotion regulation has not been tested. The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether the indirect pathway from ADHD to depression through interpersonal impairment is moderated by emotion regulation in a longitudinal study of young adolescents with ADHD (N = 239; M age at follow-up = 12.30, SD = .92). Data were collected at three time points over 18 months. Parents completed ratings of externalizing symptoms (ADHD and Oppositional Defiant Disorder, [ODD]), parent-child relationship problems, and peer relationship problems. Adolescents rated their depressive symptoms and emotion regulation problems. Moderated mediation models as outlined by Preacher, Rucker, and Hayes (2007) were used to test whether the indirect effects of externalizing symptoms on depression through parent-child relationship stress and peer relationship problems are moderated by emotion regulation. Controlling for baseline levels of depression, results suggest that these pathways vary as a function of emotion regulation, such that the paths from externalizing symptoms to depression are significantly stronger among adolescents with high levels of emotion regulation problems. In addition, an exploratory analysis of the associations between multiple aspects of emotion regulation problems and depression revealed that access to emotion regulation strategies was the only unique predictor of later depression among adolescents with ADHD.

Adolescents engage in risk behaviors at an alarming rate, and particularly when they are with peers. Despite efforts to develop prevention and intervention programs, rates of risk-taking among adolescents is still relatively high. Adolescents continue to engage in physical fights and aggressive behavior, use substances such as alcohol and illicit drugs, and make decisions that impact driving and motor vehicle incidents. The regulation of emotions plays a significant role in adolescents’ decisions to engage in such risk behaviors.Examining adolescents’ emotion expression and regulation is therefore critical to identifying ways to support positive development. This dissertation project explored important regulatory mechanisms that underlie adolescents’ behavior in 108 adolescents, by examining synchrony between emotion expression and physiological arousal (change from baseline heart rate to tasking heart rate)during a risk-taking task. The study also assessed the extent to which the social context of peers shifts emotion expression and physiological arousal, and whether this is associated with adolescents’ behavioral and social outcomes, and if these associations vary by gender. Study results suggest that the presence of a peer influences adolescents’ emotion expression. Specifically, adolescents showed greater expression of emotion when completing a risk-taking task in the presence of a peer, than when they completed the task alone. Additionally, adolescent girls are generally more expressive than their male counterparts and equally expressive alone and with a peer, but adolescent boys express more when they are with a peer than when they are alone. Synchrony between emotion expression and physiological arousal was not evident, however results of supplemental analyses suggest that physiological arousal (change from baseline heart rate to heart rate during the task)plays a moderating role in the association between emotion expression and social competence. Findings from the proposed study may inform intervention and policy efforts to understand and promote positive development among adolescents. In particular, results may shift how adults understand and respond to adolescent behavior in social contexts such as classrooms.

The diploma thesis concerns the link between coping and attachment. The primary aim is to discover and define how children cope in respect to specific type of attachment. Research sample includes children at the age of 11-12. Research methodologies include qualitive field research. The data were collected by a questionnaire (Experience in Close Relatioship) for purpose to meassure attachment. Research was then accompanied by semi-structured interviews with children, which based on theories of Lazarus and Folkman (1987) and motivational theory (Skinner and Wellborn, 1994). The findings show that in this research children with secure attachment cope differently from children with other types of attachment. The two groups of children vary in their reactions of stress, how they experience stressful encounters, in their appraisal of stresfull encounters and a purpose of social support. KEYWORDS Stress, coping strategies, attachment, stress reactions, emotional regulation

Adolescence is characterized as a time of impulsivity, emotional decision-making, and peer influence; thus, interventions targeting the development of effective psychosocial skills are imperative. Improved psychosocial functioning can equip adolescents for successfully overcoming future life challenges. There are few studies that have examined how adolescents' psychosocial skills could be improved in the context of substance abuse prevention program participation. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in psychosocial skills in a group of adolescents who participated in 2 of 10 Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence (Lions Quest SFA) programs being used in central Virginia middle schools. This study examined whether Lions Quest SFA was useful in observing changes in the total score of lagging psychosocial skills, which incorporated measures of impulse control, emotion regulation, and social skills. The adolescent population of interest had already demonstrated weaknesses in these areas as they had been referred to this program from school-based mental health services. This archival study used an ANCOVA to analyze 1-year pre- and posttest score differences on the Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems and examine possible gender differences following participation in the program for 1 school year. The secondary dataset consisted of pre- and posttest scores of 36 male students and 30 female students. The results of this study demonstrated implications for social change as they extended the knowledge in this area by suggesting that participation in the Lions Quest SFA program may contribute to the improvement of psychosocial skills, and these findings could contribute to the improvement of treatment interventions used at Horizon Behavioral Health.

Eating disorders are among the most prevalent psychiatric conditions in both developed and developing countries. In Turkey, eating disorders have been increasing in prevalence among adolescents. Family relations and parenting have been studied as sociocultural influences that shape individuals' eating behaviors and relationships with food. Eating behaviors have psychosocial outcomes for adolescents' development and are affected by parental warmth and care. This study investigated the relationship between fathers' parental attitudes and young individuals' emotion regulation skills and eating behaviors. It focused on fathers' parental attitudes in Turkey, where a collectivistic and patriarchal culture typically has father figures playing an important role in family as well as in society. The Eating Attitude Test (EAT-26), Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire-Child Form (PARQ-C) were used to collect data from 401 Turkish adolescents. Correlation analyses showed positive correlations between 2 combinations of variables: adolescents' eating behaviors and emotion regulation skills, and fathers' parenting and adolescents' eating behaviors. Multiple regression analysis showed that father's parenting was predictive of adolescents' eating behaviors and emotion regulation skills. Based on the results, this research may promote positive social change by identifying the importance of fathers' parenting attitudes on adolescent health and by raising awareness of eating disorders in Turkey. The study will guide researchers and counselors in designing eating disorders prevention programs and identify tools for involving fathers in developing healthy parenting attitudes and awareness of eating disorders.

Natural aging leads to substantial brain changes. These biological changes can, and often do, precede changes in affect, cognition, and behavior. Even subtle changes, for example in affective experience, can create problematic outcomes in day-to-day emotion regulation and decision-making. For example, poor emotion regulation may lead an individual to fall prey to an emotionally potent scam. Similarly, an overly positive individual may not fully attend to or consider potentially negative future outcomes when faced with a decision. This work characterizes changes in affect across the lifespan, and how affect corresponds to brain function, as indexed by the blood oxygen dependent signal, during tasks taxing emotion regulation and decision-making functions. I predicted that age would correlate with greater positive relative to negative emotions and with a more global (i.e., less specific and less complex) representation of emotions. The former predicted pattern indicates increased "affective optimization" and the latter indicates reduced "affective complexity." I predicted that affective optimization and complexity would correlate with brain function during emotion regulation and decision-making. I used time-based experience sampling, self-reported affect, implicit measures of affect, and performance based measures of affect to determine the associations between age and affective optimization and complexity. Results show that age negatively correlates with affective complexity. Specifically, older age was associated with less negative affect complexity, less positive emotion regulation, less affective awareness. Also, older age corresponded to lower levels of negative affect, as indexed by their experiences and an implicit measure of affect. Next, I examined emotion regulation using a cognitive reappraisal task. I found that older age was associated with less successful reappraisal of negative and positive affect. I also found individual differences in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex among older adults during emotion regulation. Lastly, I examined decision-making patterns using an intertemporal choice task. I found that younger adults’ experienced affect aligned more closely with their decision patterns. Among older adults, affective acceptance correlated with individual differences in the striatum and insula. Taken together, these results support the idea that lower levels of affective competence, rather than higher levels, characterize older age. Also, individual differences in affect parallel individual differences in brain function in the somatic marker circuitry. This suggests possible deficits in interpreting visceral information important to emotion regulation and decision-making. The findings from this work will be important for understanding why some older adults are more susceptible to scams, fraud, and decision-making problems.

Recent models of adolescent development and psychopathology emphasize the importance of the social regulation of emotion during adolescence (Allen & Manning, 2007; Allen & Miga, 2010), and emotion regulation as a mediating factor between multiple aspects of adolescent development and adolescent adjustment (Morris, Silk, Steinberg, Myers, & Robinson, 2007). The present dissertation investigated these two phenomena in two separate studies of adolescent development, emotion regulation, and psychological adjustment. In study one, a new measure of adolescent social regulation of emotion – the Managing Distress Interpersonally Scale, or MANDI – showed good internal consistency, test-retest reliability and factor structure across two samples (217 college students in sample one and 63 community adolescents in sample two). The MANDI also showed good convergent and discriminant validity in its relations with independent assessments of adolescent emotion regulation, relationship functioning, psychological functioning, and physiological regulation of emotion. In study two, 64 community adolescents completed self-report, interview, and physiological procedures (salivary cortisol and respiratory sinus arrhythmia), while one of their parents also completed survey measures. Emotion regulation was found to mediate the developmental context and adolescent depressive symptoms, alcohol problems, and peer aggression. Findings are discussed in terms of the utility of intervening at the level of emotion regulation for adolescents displaying difficulty with internalizing and externalizing symptoms.