This two-part study examined the adjustment of Hispanic immigrants. Part one examined the communication that occurs between Hispanic immigrant parents and their adolescents/young adults about life in the United States (U.S.). It also examined how attitudes toward the U.S. and various protective factors influence psychological adjustment. Hispanic immigrants (n = 123) with an average of 11 years living in the United States and their adolescents/young adults between the ages of 14-22 served as participants. For both parents and their adolescents/young adults, favorable attitudes toward the U.S. were associated with improved psychological adjustment. Contrary to prediction, attitudes toward the U.S. did not correlate with quality of life or life satisfaction for either family member. Further, results indicated that among adolescents/young adults, resiliency predicted positive U.S. attitudes, whereas among parents, openness to new experiences predicted favorable attitudes toward the U.S. Finally, parental views of the U.S. correlated positively with their adolescents'/young adults' views of the U.S. In an extension of the study, 37 Hispanic college students who were either immigrants or children of immigrants were randomly assigned to either a control condition or a psychoeducation condition. The psychoeducation condition focused on improving their emotional regulation and views of the United States. No significant differences were found among the groups.

No description available.

This study developed and tested a new typology for use in Marriage and Family Therapy. The typology was created by integrating two already established typologies currently in use in MFT, the attachment style typology and the Enneagram typology. The attachment typology is based on attachment theory, a theory of human development that focuses on how infants and adults establish, monitor and repair attachment bonds. Differences in attachment style are associated with different kinds of relationship problems. The Enneagram typology categorizes people according to differences in attention processes. These differences in attention processes are also associated with different kinds of relationship problems, but also with different kinds of spiritual problems and talents. Support was found for both the internal and external validity of the integrated typology. The results were discussed in terms of relationship satisfaction and attachment based therapy. Implications for using the integrated typology to address spirituality in MFT were also discussed. / Ph. D.

Emotions are integrated psychological, physical and cognitive responses that function as an internal automatic process that provides feedback to the individual regarding the success and quality of achieving goals, relations with others and the meaning of life. It is therefore important that emotions are regulated – this refers to the monitoring, evaluation and the modification of emotional reactions (Todd & Lewis, 2008) – so that failures do not negatively impact on a person‟s ability to achieve important goals in life. Young adulthood, between the ages of 20 and 30, can be typified as a developmental phase during which critical decisions with regard to goals in life are made. However, young adults are often not able to effectively regulate the emotional impact of blocked life goals. As a result the risk for poor decision-making and lower psychological well-being increases. The aim of this study is to firstly identify critical factors in emotional regulation of young adults in reaction to blocked life goals. Secondly, the research identifies relations between these critical factors and lastly, the study offers a model on emotional regulation in reaction to goals in life that are blocked. An availability sample of 77 young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 years took part in the study. The study was granted ethical permission by the North-West University and all the participants gave informed consent. Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA), a systems approach to qualitative research was used to generate and analyse data (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004). IQA uses interviews with groups and individuals to collect and analyse data in a participatory way. Eight themes are identified, three of which are specifically considered regulation strategies, namely: the supression of emotions, productivity and giving in to primal urges. The other five themes can be considered emotions, namely: loneliness, frustration and disappointment, uncertainty, anger and discouragement. Participants indicated 56 possible cause-and-effect relations between these eight themes. According to a frequency analysis only 24 of these relations, which explains 74.8% of the variance in the group, were used in the development of the model. The model indicates that there are three central processes, namely: a feedback-loop that comprises three negative emotions and suppression as regulation strategy, a destructive path and a productive path. The findings support the literature in terms of the fact that emotions serve as an internal feedback process that provides feedback to the individual about the success and quality of achieving his or her goals, relations with others and the meaning of life. In this case, negative emotions are experienced as a result of goals in life that are blocked. The literature (Kassin et al., 2008) also confirms that suppression is not a successful long term strategy and eventually it only leads to further loneliness, uncertainty, and ultimately frustration and disappointment. For some of the participants alternative behaviours characterised by anger, discouragement and giving in to primal urges like smoking and alcohol abuse follow this. This seems to be an externalisation of negative emotions by participants with lower self-control, and it supports previous literature in this regard (Caprara et al., 2013). On the other hand, it seems that participants with more self-control make constructive plans to reach their goals or set new goals despite the frustration and disappointment that comes with having goals in life blocked. The final conclusion is that the regulation of emotions can be described as a complex process that individuals use to change or control their emotions in order to achieve a desired outcome. In this study it was particularly evident that the suppression of emotions play an important role and further research is needed to determine its short and long term effects. Further research is also needed to determine the factors that differentiate between young adults that apply destructive and productive regulation strategies respectively. / MA (Clinical Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Emotions are integrated psychological, physical and cognitive responses that function as an internal automatic process that provides feedback to the individual regarding the success and quality of achieving goals, relations with others and the meaning of life. It is therefore important that emotions are regulated – this refers to the monitoring, evaluation and the modification of emotional reactions (Todd & Lewis, 2008) – so that failures do not negatively impact on a person‟s ability to achieve important goals in life. Young adulthood, between the ages of 20 and 30, can be typified as a developmental phase during which critical decisions with regard to goals in life are made. However, young adults are often not able to effectively regulate the emotional impact of blocked life goals. As a result the risk for poor decision-making and lower psychological well-being increases. The aim of this study is to firstly identify critical factors in emotional regulation of young adults in reaction to blocked life goals. Secondly, the research identifies relations between these critical factors and lastly, the study offers a model on emotional regulation in reaction to goals in life that are blocked. An availability sample of 77 young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 years took part in the study. The study was granted ethical permission by the North-West University and all the participants gave informed consent. Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA), a systems approach to qualitative research was used to generate and analyse data (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004). IQA uses interviews with groups and individuals to collect and analyse data in a participatory way. Eight themes are identified, three of which are specifically considered regulation strategies, namely: the supression of emotions, productivity and giving in to primal urges. The other five themes can be considered emotions, namely: loneliness, frustration and disappointment, uncertainty, anger and discouragement. Participants indicated 56 possible cause-and-effect relations between these eight themes. According to a frequency analysis only 24 of these relations, which explains 74.8% of the variance in the group, were used in the development of the model. The model indicates that there are three central processes, namely: a feedback-loop that comprises three negative emotions and suppression as regulation strategy, a destructive path and a productive path. The findings support the literature in terms of the fact that emotions serve as an internal feedback process that provides feedback to the individual about the success and quality of achieving his or her goals, relations with others and the meaning of life. In this case, negative emotions are experienced as a result of goals in life that are blocked. The literature (Kassin et al., 2008) also confirms that suppression is not a successful long term strategy and eventually it only leads to further loneliness, uncertainty, and ultimately frustration and disappointment. For some of the participants alternative behaviours characterised by anger, discouragement and giving in to primal urges like smoking and alcohol abuse follow this. This seems to be an externalisation of negative emotions by participants with lower self-control, and it supports previous literature in this regard (Caprara et al., 2013). On the other hand, it seems that participants with more self-control make constructive plans to reach their goals or set new goals despite the frustration and disappointment that comes with having goals in life blocked. The final conclusion is that the regulation of emotions can be described as a complex process that individuals use to change or control their emotions in order to achieve a desired outcome. In this study it was particularly evident that the suppression of emotions play an important role and further research is needed to determine its short and long term effects. Further research is also needed to determine the factors that differentiate between young adults that apply destructive and productive regulation strategies respectively. / MA (Clinical Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

<p>Emotional regulation is how people manage their emotions especially anxiety, anger, and frustration, which are all negative emotions. It is critical to health, academic achievement, and work performance to have proper emotion regulation skills. In order to facilitate participants to manage emotions, we developed a series of training programs by using HTC^© Vive^TM headset and Neuracle. The HTC Vive is to improve immersion in presence to lead to more effective training, and the Neuracle is using Electroencephalography (EEG) techniques for reading user’s brainwave signals which provide real time input for the training programs. We focused on analyzing if emotion, which was reflected in brainwave signals, had changes when participants were exposed to positive/negative stimuli. The testing results indicated that there were noticeable changes in brainwave signals to stimuli. The findings from the testing provide a solid foundation to use brainwave signals as real-time input in our game development for improving emotion regulation skills in the future. </p>

Les recherches actuelles en psychologie clinique sont centrées sur l’étude des processus psychologiques impliqués dans le développement et le maintien de nombreux troubles psychologiques. Deux de ces processus ont fait l’objet de nombreuses études : les pensées répétitives négatives (PRN), qui sont majoritairement verbales, et la perspective visuelle adoptée dans les images mentales (i.e., acteur vs. observateur). Bien que représentant des phénomènes distincts, les PRN et la perspective d’observateur semblent toutes deux avoir une fonction d’évitement et dépendre d’un processus d’abstraction centré sur l’analyse du « pourquoi » des événements (i.e., l’adoption d’un mode abstrait de traitement de l’information). Ces similarités fonctionnelles et processuelles amènent à se questionner sur les liens possibles entre les PRN et la perspective d’observateur. Pourtant, très peu d’études se sont intéressées à cette association. Par conséquent, cette thèse portait sur les liens entre les PRN et la perspective d’observateur en imagerie mentale, ainsi qu’à leur processus sous-jacent (i.e., l’abstraction) et leur fonction (i.e., l’évitement). Les résultats de quatre études corrélationnelles indiquent que les PRN et la perspective d’observateur ne sont pas associées. Ils répliquent aussi des résultats d’études passées sur le rôle de l’évitement et de l’abstraction dans les PRN mais pas dans la perspective d’observateur. Les résultats de trois études expérimentales montrent également que l’induction de PRN sur un mode abstrait n’a pas d’effet sur la perspective visuelle adoptée ou la réactivité émotionnelle et, plus globalement, que l’induction d’un mode abstrait de traitement de l’information n’a pas d’effet sur la perspective visuelle adoptée, les PRN, ou la réponse émotionnelle lors de l’anticipation ou le rappel d’une tâche émotionnelle. Finalement, une méta-analyse conduite sur les études publiées et les études menées dans le cadre de cette thèse semble confirmer l’absence de lien entre les PRN et la perspective d’observateur. Dans l’ensemble, il semblerait que les PRN et la perspective d’observateur en imagerie mentale ne soient pas associées. Ces résultats sont discutés au regard des modèles théoriques et des implications méthodologiques. / Current research in clinical psychology is focused on the study of psychological processes implicated on the onset and maintenance of many psychological disorders. Two of these processes have been extensively explored: repetitive negative thinking (RNT), which is predominantly verbal, and the visual perspective adopted in mental images (i.e., actor vs. observer). Even if they represent two distinct phenomena, RNT and the observer perspective both seem to serve an avoidance function and be underpinned by a process of abstraction focused on the analysis of the “why” of events (i.e., the adoption of an abstract level of construal). These functional and processual similarities suggest a potential association between RNT and the observer perspective. However, few studies have examined this association. Therefore, this dissertation explored the association between RNT and the visual perspective in mental imagery as well as their underlying process (i.e., abstraction) and function (i.e., avoidance). Results of four correlational studies showed that RNT and the observer perspective were not associated. They also replicated results from previous studies on the role of avoidance and abstraction in RNT but not in visual perspective. Results from three experimental studies also showed that the induction of RNT at an abstract level had no effect on visual perspective or emotional reactivity, and more generally, that the induction of an abstract level of construal did not influence visual perspective, RNT, and emotional response during the anticipation or the post-event processing of an emotional task. Finally, a meta-analysis conducted on published studies as well as on our studies confirmed the absence of association between RNT and the observer perspective. Overall, it seems that RNT and the observer perspective adopted in mental imagery are not associated. These results are discussed in light of theoretical models and methodological implications.

Neuropsychological assessment and psychoeducation of patients diagnosed with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) Mgr. Lucia Hrešková Tutor: Assoc. Prof. Lenka Krámská, Ph.D. Abstract: The term psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) refers to a conversion disorder (300.11) imitating epileptic seizures that are psychological etiology (DSM-5). Neuropsychological assessment including personality profile and mood status is an integral part of the diagnosis and treatment of PNES. The main treatment is psychotherapy. In the theoretical part of this research project, we have processed psychoeducation guide for clinical psychologists and psychotherapists working with patients diagnosed with PNES, based on recommended standards (Myers, 2014; LaFrance & Wincze, 2015; Reiter et al., 2015) and long-term clinical experiences with these patients (in particular Assoc. Prof. Lenka Kramska, Ph.D.). The purpose of our research project was to assess the presence of maladaptive emotional regulation in the profile of patients diagnosed with PNES (N = 51) compared to healthy populations (N = 51), through self-report questionnaires Affective Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). The results of our research show a significantly higher level of maladaptive emotional regulation in the...

Emotional impairment can lead to emotional disorders or dysfunction. Childhood abuse or neglect can be used to predict disorders and dysfunction. Missing from the literature was research exploring a direct relationship between a history of abuse or neglect and future emotional impairment. This quasi-experimental study served to examine whether histories of childhood abuse or neglect can be used to predict future emotional impairment using the Mayer and Salovey model of emotional functioning. A community sample of 138 adults from rural Wyoming completed retrospective reports of childhood trauma and current measures of emotional functioning, and 42% of the sample reported a history of childhood emotional abuse. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated childhood emotional abuse was not a valid predictor of impaired emotional functioning, while the covariates of physical neglect and sexual abuse were significant predictors. A history of childhood physical neglect could be used to predict lower measures in emotional understanding and global emotional functioning, while sexual abuse in males could be used to predict lower measures in emotional regulation and global emotional functioning. The new knowledge that childhood abuse or neglect can impair emotional functioning during adulthood provides a pathway for researchers to further explore the detrimental impact of childhood abuse and neglect on emotional functioning during the developmental years. In addition, for those individuals with a history of childhood abuse or neglect, positive social change may stem from gains in emotional understanding, emotional regulation, and global emotional functioning through improved interventions, preventative methods, and efficacious treatments.

Both theoretical models and empirical evidence implicate the combined influences of high emotional reactivity and low emotional regulation to exacerbation in children's stuttering behavior (e.g., Conture, Walden, Arnold, Graham, Hartfiled, Karrass, 2006; Conture & Walden, 2012; Karrass et al., 2006). Attentional control is a key factor in both the development and implementation of emotional regulation (Bell & Calkins, 2012; Rueda, Posner, & Rothbart, 2004). The purpose of this study was to investigate attentional control along the distraction process in children who stutter using two event-related potential (ERP) experimental tasks: auditory-auditory distraction and visual search. Eight school-age children who stutter (CWS) and eight school-age children who do not stutter (CWNS) were recruited in this study. Using a Go/No Go paradigm, children in this study were asked to discriminate tone duration in the auditory-auditory distraction task and detect specific visual targets in the visual search task in both the auditory and visual tasks. Behavioral measures included reaction time (RT), hit rate (HR, accuracy) and false alarm (FA), while electrophysiological measures included the peak latency and mean amplitude of the mismatch negativity (MMN), P3a, N2pc and reorientation negativity (RON), and N2pc. Each ERP component reflects a specific stage along the distraction process: automatic scanning and change detection (MMN), involuntary orientation to deviants (P3a), attentional filtering (N2pc) and voluntary attentional reorientation (RON). The first three components are involved in the sensory/perceptual processing, while the last component is involved in the goal-directed processing (cognitive control for distraction compensation). These behavioral and ERP results were correlated with temperament data obtained from parent-report questionnaires. There were three main findings. First, CWS, but no CWNS, exhibited a P600 and increased peak latency of the late phase of RON (lRON). The P600 is elicited by violations in rule-governed sequences or the effect of encountering unexpected stimuli, while the lRON reflects evaluation of task-relevant information and motor preparation. The existence of P600 suggests that CWS return and re-evaluate deviants, perhaps due to reduced inhibitory control. As a result, CWS are delayed to start the attentional process reflected by lRON. Second, CWS exhibited a higher rate of false alarms in the auditory-auditory distraction task; this finding confirmed the notion of less efficiency in inhibitory control for CWS. Third, similar to previous research findings, our temperament data also revealed that CWS tended to exhibit relatively high negative affect in combination with relatively low effortful and attentional control, compared to their fluent peers. Taken together, present findings corroborate previous observations of relatively high emotional reactivity and relatively low efficiency in emotional regulation for CWS, including attentional and inhibitory control. Further, our results reveal that the low attentional control in CWS may result from less efficiency in the goal-directed processing for distraction compensation.