archives@tulane.edu / Working with traumatized individuals can result in the development of secondary traumatic stress (STS) symptoms, which can lead to significant emotional and occupational impairment (e.g., Figley, 1995; Lee et al., 2015). Although STS has been investigated across many helping professions, few studies have considered its effects among educators. The primary goal of the current study was to determine whether teacher secondary traumatic stress (STS) influences student socio-emotional functioning through its effects on teacher-student relationships. A second goal was to examine predictors associated with the development of STS symptomology in teachers. This study was conducted with 150 educators and 610 students across six urban, public, charter schools in the Gulf South. Multi-level structural equation modeling (ML-SEM) was used to examine the impact of STS symptoms on two important dimensions of teacher-student relationships (sensitivity and quality) and the subsequent implications for student socio-emotional outcomes. The model also examined predictors of teacher STS symptom severity including teacher adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and use of cognitive reappraisal (CR) as an emotion regulation strategy. Findings indicated that STS was associated with increased student socio-emotional difficulties. Contrary to study hypotheses, teacher STS was not associated with teacher-reported relationship quality nor was it associated with observations of teacher sensitivity. When predictors of STS were examined, teachers’ use of cognitive reappraisal (CR) was negatively associated with STS and teacher ACEs were positively associated with STS. The current findings highlight the importance of continued efforts to identify the prevalence and impact of STS among teachers as well as the associated outcomes for students. Additionally, by helping to identify risk and protective factors associated with STS symptoms in teachers, the current findings can inform efforts to prepare, train, and support educators as they work to foster students’ socio-emotional development in concert with academics. / 1 / Kathryn Simon

Emotional Intelligence ( EI ) is held to explain how emotions may function to advance life goals, with the basic proposition being that individuals monitor and discriminate emotions within themselves and others to solve problems. A number of different theories of EI have been proposed and consequently there is still controversy about the best way in which to conceptualise and measure EI. It is, nonetheless, agreed that the relevance of EI is largely dependent on it being able to predict significant life outcomes. Academic achievement, life satisfaction, coping, problem - solving ability and anxiety are variables that have relevance in academic, occupational and interpersonal situations. The relationship between these variables and EI was assessed in two diverse populations ( University sample : N = 246 ; mean age = 19.9 ; Older community sample : N = 212 ; mean age = 51.6 ). The magnitude and direction of findings in both studies were found to be remarkably similar. As expected, older adults ( community sample ) were found to score significantly higher on EI than younger adults ( University sample ). Few gender differences in EI, however, were apparent, but those that were significantly favoured females. Previously identified relationships suggesting that self - report EI measures are moderately - to - highly correlated to personality, whereas ability EI is reasonably distinct from other constructs, were also upheld. Inconsistent with previous research, however, differential associations between EI and verbal and abstract reasoning ability were not observed. Fitting theoretical expectations, in both studies EI was low - to - moderately correlated with higher life satisfaction, problem and emotion focused coping and perceived problem solving ability and with lower avoidance coping and anxiety. However, the correlations for academic achievement were not significant. These correlations were found to be higher for self - report EI than they were ability EI, perhaps due to method variance with the life skills. Nevertheless, despite these low - to - moderate correlations, hierarchical regression analyses controlling for personality and cognitive abilities revealed that the incremental predictive validity of EI was 7 % at most. This finding was found for all life skills regardless of the EI measure involved. This raises some implications for the field of EI and highlights that personality and cognitive abilities should be taken into account when making assertions about EI ' s predictive power. / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2006.

This multiple case study describes students who are highly emotionally competent yet have learning disabilities. The study sheds light on how such students perceive their educational experience and begins to answer inter-related questions, such as how emotional strengths assist with learning disabilities. A multiple case study design was used. The participant group ranged from 11 to 16 years of age and came from two separate schools which actively work with students diagnosed with learning disabilities. The study was divided into two phases. In the first phase, the Mayer—Salovey—Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test-Youth Version (MSCEIT-YV) was given to students in the two participating classes. The two students from each class who achieved the highest scores on the MSCEIT-YV were then asked to participate in the second phase of the study. Here, the researcher conducted observations of the participants within the school environment. Additionally, the participants attended a semi-structured interview, with interview questions based on the MSCEIT-YV and school related scenarios. Themes that emerged were then analyzed and compared within and between cases as well as with emotional intelligence research. Case study descriptions emerged from this analysis and a brief follow up interview was conducted with one family member and the participating student as a means of sharing and verifying findings. Participants revealed varying ability with emotional intelligence. However, all students demonstrated strong abilities with the ‘Strategic Emotional Reasoning’ Skills associated with Mayer, Salovey and Caruso’s (2004) theory of emotional intelligence. Moreover, all students showed a strong ability to use their emotional intelligence to improve academic functioning, with one student in particular displaying outstanding abilities and insights into emotional intelligence. The study contributes to our understanding of the complexity of ability and disability that can exist within students diagnosed with learning disabilities; this understanding, in turn, may be reflected in how these students are perceived and understood by researchers and teachers alike.

The main aim of this essay is to examine the extent to which journalists choose certain emotional words in order to influence public opinion in a certain political direction. A number of headlines about the nuclear accident in Fukushima on 11th March 2011 in three British broadsheets with different political alignment form the basis of my analysis. To identify emotional language, I have used a method developed by Professor Friedrich Ungerer: the “emotional inferencing system”. There are emotional triggers in all the broadsheets. In most cases, the triggers in the different broadsheets are quite similar. There seem to be no clear connections between emotions, or the strength of emotions, and the political alignment of the newspapers. A larger corpus or a corpus on a different issue would possibly imply a different result.

According to leading psychosocial models of worry, the reduced imagery and concreteness of worries may prevent emotional processing and ultimately maintain fear. Given that Pennebaker’s written emotional disclosure paradigm may facilitate emotional processing, the present study investigated whether writing about potential problems about which individuals were worried had physical and psychological health benefits similar to the benefits of writing about other emotionally meaningful topics (e.g., decreased physician visits, reduced symptoms of psychopathology). Participants were randomly assigned to write either emotionally or objectively about a potential problem worrying them or a neutral topic (a 2 x 2 between-participants design). Each group completed four 15-min writing sessions on four consecutive days. Physician visits, generalized anxiety symptoms, trait worry, and problem appraisals were monitored six weeks before (visits), immediately after (all variables), one month after (symptoms, worry, and appraisals), and 3 months after (visits) writing. Contrary to past research, the present research revealed no beneficial effects of written emotional disclosure about potential problems. However, among emotional disclosure participants who wrote about the same worry across all four writing sessions, there was a subsequent decrease in trait worry scores one month later. Affective data suggested that disclosure facilitated slight fear activation and habituation, although these effects were small. Potential reasons for these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Cardiac crises (e.g. heart attack or bypass surgery) have been shown to be related to poorer patient psychological and relational functioning. While these studies assume that the event significantly impacts patients, they do not measure the specific ways by which the cardiac event impacts their lives. In the current study, new measures were developed and validated to assess specifically how the event emotionally impacts the patient’s life. I proposed that how these emotions are engaged in part accounts for the impact of the event on negative outcomes. Results showed that the greater the current impact of the cardiac event on patients, the greater their current levels of depression, anxiety and trauma. Further, greater emotional blocking (failure to willingly process emotions internally) was associated with less optimal psychological and relational functioning. Unexpectedly, greater disclosure of emotions to one’s partner was also related to diminished psychological health, but unrelated to relationship functioning. Thus, it appears disclosure in the current study reflects distressed “venting”, and blocking represents an unhealthy form of engaging negative emotions from the cardiac event. Implications for further research using the scales assessing the distinct components of the emotional impact of the event and the engagement of these emotions are discussed.

A processing model of emotion regulation (PMER) was investigated by assessing the attachment system and the two types of emotion regulation strategies (adaptive and maladaptive) in undergraduate students (N = 307) at Georgia State University. The analysis of the data revealed an interesting set of findings: (a) attachment anxiety was a stronger indicator of whether people use adaptive or maladaptive emotion regulation strategies than was attachment avoidance; (b) self efficacy, and not cognitive inability to suppress unwanted thoughts, partially mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and adaptive emotion regulation strategies; and (c) cognitive inability to suppress unwanted thoughts, and not self efficacy beliefs, partially mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Overall, the findings provided substantial support for the PMER, and also have important implications for clinical interventions aimed at effective emotion regulation.

According to leading psychosocial models of worry, the reduced imagery and concreteness of worries may prevent emotional processing and ultimately maintain fear. Given that Pennebaker’s written emotional disclosure paradigm may facilitate emotional processing, the present study investigated whether writing about potential problems about which individuals were worried had physical and psychological health benefits similar to the benefits of writing about other emotionally meaningful topics (e.g., decreased physician visits, reduced symptoms of psychopathology). Participants were randomly assigned to write either emotionally or objectively about a potential problem worrying them or a neutral topic (a 2 x 2 between-participants design). Each group completed four 15-min writing sessions on four consecutive days. Physician visits, generalized anxiety symptoms, trait worry, and problem appraisals were monitored six weeks before (visits), immediately after (all variables), one month after (symptoms, worry, and appraisals), and 3 months after (visits) writing. Contrary to past research, the present research revealed no beneficial effects of written emotional disclosure about potential problems. However, among emotional disclosure participants who wrote about the same worry across all four writing sessions, there was a subsequent decrease in trait worry scores one month later. Affective data suggested that disclosure facilitated slight fear activation and habituation, although these effects were small. Potential reasons for these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Cardiac crises (e.g. heart attack or bypass surgery) have been shown to be related to poorer patient psychological and relational functioning. While these studies assume that the event significantly impacts patients, they do not measure the specific ways by which the cardiac event impacts their lives. In the current study, new measures were developed and validated to assess specifically how the event emotionally impacts the patient’s life. I proposed that how these emotions are engaged in part accounts for the impact of the event on negative outcomes. Results showed that the greater the current impact of the cardiac event on patients, the greater their current levels of depression, anxiety and trauma. Further, greater emotional blocking (failure to willingly process emotions internally) was associated with less optimal psychological and relational functioning. Unexpectedly, greater disclosure of emotions to one’s partner was also related to diminished psychological health, but unrelated to relationship functioning. Thus, it appears disclosure in the current study reflects distressed “venting”, and blocking represents an unhealthy form of engaging negative emotions from the cardiac event. Implications for further research using the scales assessing the distinct components of the emotional impact of the event and the engagement of these emotions are discussed.

This study examined the participation rates and performance results of students with emotional disturbance (ED) in a statewide reading assessment. Public school districts in Texas use the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test in assessing the reading performance of their students in grades 3 through 8 and in grade 10. Factors of gender, ethnicity, cognitive ability, school level socio-economic status and instructional setting in reading were examined. This study found that 58% of students with emotional disturbance enrolled in grades 3 through 8 and in grade 10 participated in the 2007 TAKS reading assessment. Implications include differences by sub grouping of students with ED. This study also found that 44 % of those students with emotional and behavioral disorders enrolled in the grades who took the test met proficiency standards on the TAKS reading assessment in 2007. Chi square analysis showed that there is a significant relationship between students’ instructional setting in reading and both their participation in and their performance on the TAKS Reading Assessment. Logistic regression analyses results showed that instructional setting in reading can be used as a predictor of both a student’s participation in and performance on the TAKS Reading Assessment.