Introduction: People with a learning disability are members of a stigmatised group and research has shown that stigmatisation can have a negative impact on psychological wellbeing. The process of social comparison has been shown to be important in the experience of stigmatisation and has been shown to have been used by people with a learning disability. This thesis aims to examine the perception of stigma in people with a learning disability and the relationship it has with their psychological wellbeing. The process of social comparison in this population will be explored and the possible moderating effect it may have on the relationship between stigma and psychological wellbeing will be investigated. Methods: The study involved a questionnaire-based interview with 43 adults with a mild to moderate learning disability who attended local adult resource centres. Participants completed four self-report measures of perception of stigma, self-esteem, symptoms of psychological distress and social comparison. The social comparison measure was completed twice: once in comparison with other service users and again in comparison with people in the community. Results: Correlational analyses revealed significant relationships between perception of stigma and self-esteem and symptoms of psychological distress. Perception of stigma was shown to be significantly related to negative social comparisons, and negative social comparisons were significantly related to low self-esteem and high symptoms of psychological distress. No difference was found between social comparisons made with other service users and those made with people in the community. Social comparison was not found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between stigma and self-esteem. Discussion: The results provide further evidence that greater awareness of stigma is related to lower self-esteem, higher psychological distress and more negative social comparisons. Furthermore, those that compare themselves negatively to others report lower self-esteem and higher psychological distress. Although there was no difference in the way people with a learning disability compared themselves to their peers versus the general population, the way they see themselves compared to others in general has implications for their wellbeing. The significance of this and the relevance for future research is discussed.

<p> Research on microaggressions has consistently lacked focus on microaggressions experienced by persons with mental illness. What little research has been conducted has examined microaggressions as reported by the victim. The current study aimed to explore mental illness microaggressions by examining the view of the committer (i.e., the person enacting the microaggression), the role specific prejudicial beliefs (i.e., <i>authoritarianism, social restrictiveness, benevolence</i>) play in microaggressive behavior, and whether level of intimacy of interpersonal contact is related to reduced mental illness microaggressions. Participants for this study were recruited using Amazon&rsquo;s Mechanical Turk; they completed a series of questionnaires and were compensated for their work. Results indicated there is a positive relationship between the likelihood of mental illness microaggression perpetration and the prejudicial beliefs <i>authoritarianism</i> and <i> social restrictiveness</i> while there is an inverse relationship between mental illness microaggression enactment and the prejudicial belief <i> benevolence.</i> This study determined that social restrictiveness accounts for the most variance when predicting potential perpetration of mental illness microaggressions. Additionally, results of this study determined there is a negative relationship between mental illness microaggression enactment and level of intimacy of interpersonal contact with mentally ill individuals, suggesting that interpersonal contact may be an effective strategy for reducing mental illness microaggressions.</p>

Masculinity has been widely regarded as a harmful cognition that may lead men to engage in risk behavior. The present study sought to examine the role of hyper masculine cognitions and behaviors on sexual health in a sample of gay and bisexual men. A sample of n=313 gay and bisexual men were sampled from the community. Results indicate significant effects of hyper masculine behaviors and hyper masculine cognitions on sexual health variables. Moreover, engaging in risky sexual situations fully mediated effects of hyper masculine behavior on high-risk sexual behavior. Results are discussed with a focus on ego depletion and hegemonic masculinity.

<p> The posttest only experimental design study was conducted to examine if exposure to neutral or negative portrayals of mental illness in media influences viewers&rsquo; attitudes on mental illness. Participants were 22 self-selected students from a private, co-educational university in an urban area of the east south-central region of the United States. Two groups watched one of two movies that were pre-determined to be reflective of American culture and mental illness (i.e., <i>Lars and the Real Girl and Drive</i>). Data was collected by administering Community Attitudes Toward Mental Illness (CAMI) and a demographic questionnaire. An independent t-test was used to determine if CAMI subscales varied because of the movie presented. Participants who watched the movie portraying mental illness in a negative context were predicted to have higher social restrictiveness and authoritarianism subscale scores, and those who watched the movie portraying mental illness in a neutral context were predicted to have higher benevolence and CMHI subscale scores. However, there was not a significant difference on any subscales scores at <i> p</i> = .05 between the movies presented to each group. Implications are discussed.</p>

Positive psychology has become a vibrant, well-regarded field of study, and a powerful tool for clinicians. But, for many years, the research in areas relevant to positive psychology, such as happiness, subjective well-being, and emotional intelligence, has been based on findings from largely White samples and has rarely taken the concerns of the ethnic community into consideration. Now, for the first time, leaders in the field have come together to provide a comprehensive reference that focuses specifically on how a culturally-informed approach to positive psychology can help capitalize on the strengths of racial minority groups and have a greater potential to positively impact their psychological well-being. Acting as a bridge between positive psychology theory and research—largely based on an essentialist view of human behavior—and the realities of practice and assessment in diverse groups, Positive Psychology in Racial and Ethnic Groups focuses on four main ethnic groups: Asian Americans, Latin Americans, African Americans, and American Indians. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1133/thumbnail.jpg

Type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is the most common metabolic disorder among children and adolescents (Wysocki, Greco, & Buckloh, 2003) and research has indicated that children with T1DM are more likely to develop clinical depression and anxiety relative to children without T1DM. Building on this literature, the present study utilized a multi-method assessment strategy of self- and parent-reported depression, anxiety, behavioral regulation (i.e. internalizing and externalizing behaviors), social competence, personality, and family dynamics to identify whether preadolescents with T1DM were distinguishable from children without T1DM, and also whether psychosocial differences were evident in the T1DM group as a function of treatment (i.e., insulin injection vs. insulin pump). The findings demonstrated that there were significant differences between the Diabetes and Non-Diabetes groups among parent-report measures of social deficits (i.e., CBCL Social Problems and Aggressive behaviors subscales, PIC-2 Dyscontrol subscale, and FES Independence subscale), cognitive difficulties (i.e., CBCL Thought Problems subscale and PIC-2 Cognitive Problems subscale), somatic complaints (ex. PIC-2 Somatic Complaints and Psychosomatic Preoccupations subscales), and mood problems (ex. PIC-2 Psychological Distress and Depression subscales). The data indicated differences between T1DM children in good versus poor metabolic control on a measure of personality (i.e. Withdrawal and Isolation subscales of the PIC-2). The findings also revealed differences between the insulin pump and insulin injection users among self and parent-reported measures of mood difficulties and behavior problems (i.e., CDI Anhedonia subscale and PIC-2 Withdrawal and Isolation subscales).

<p> Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health concern in the United States. Yet, many who suffer from anxiety do not receive treatment or fail to respond to well-established cognitive and behavioral interventions. Mindfulness- and values-based strategies are possible alternatives for these individuals. However, values-based approaches have not been adequately studied in anxious populations and it is unclear how they may interact with mindfulness-based approaches. Moreover, little is understood about the mechanisms of action underlying behavioral changes resulting from mindfulness meditation (MM) practices. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one approach that employs values clarification (VC) and mindfulness to bring about improvements in quality of life (QOL). ACT also provides a behavioral account of human vitality that may increase specificity of mediating and moderating variables that are critical for good outcomes following mindfulness-based treatment. The present investigation aimed to evaluate the effects of MM and VC on QOL and anxiety symptomology and to elucidate significant mediators and moderators of the relations between MM and VC and positive outcomes. In so doing, highly anxious participants (<i>N</i> = 120) were randomly assigned to a 10-min MM practice + control task or a 10-min MM practice + VC task. Pre, post, and daily diary assessments were employed over the course of 16 days and included several well-established process and outcome measures. Results suggest that 2-weeks of MM practice leads to decreases in anxiety symptom frequency and increases in QOL during the previous 24-hour cycle. VC did not significantly affect primary outcomes. Acceptance appears to be the most important mediator assessed herein of the daily effects of mindfulness on anxiety symptoms, though valued action was a numerically stronger mediator between mindfulness and QOL. Practice quality was related to daily reductions in anxiety symptoms and improvement in daily QOL. However, it did not moderate response to MM. Surprisingly, MM practice time, when controlling for average practice quality, was related to worse QOL outcomes for those who participated in VC. Results are discussed in terms of enhancing the impact of psychological treatments for the anxiety disorders, in addition to implications for personal mindfulness meditation practices.</p>

This research assessed the clinical utility of an augmented Short Form 36 (SF-36) instrument, namely, the Treatment Outcomes in Pain Survey (TOPS) in an Australian chronic pain population. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was adopted. Intervention comprised patients attending the Comprehensive Outpatient Pain Education and Rehabilitation (COPER) program, which is an intensive, inter-disciplinary, three-week, cognitive behaviour therapy based outpatient chronic pain treatment. Statistical analysis comprised pre-treatment and post-treatment means and standard deviations, effect sizes, paired samples t-tests, and Cronbach's alpha. Australian norms for 86 (42 males and 44 females) patients were presented for initial values and treatment-related improvements. Internal consistency reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alpha) demonstrated that the TOPS was a reliable measure of group outcomes. Two dimensions, Life control and Total Pain Experience, were sensitive enough to follow individual patients. All SF-36 domains and ten of the fourteen TOPS domains improved significantly following treatment. Despite the limitations to this research, the results are consistent with previous findings (Fishbain, 2000; Morley, Eccleston, & Williams, 1999) that cognitive behavioural, multidisciplinary pain treatment is associated with improvement in a number of biopsychosocial aspects of chronic pain as measured by the TOPS. These include Pain Symptom, Lower Body Functional Limitations, Perceived Family/Social Disability, Objective Family/Social Disability, Total Pain Experience, Life Control, Solicitous Responses, Upper Body Functional Limitations, Fear Avoidance, Patient Satisfaction with Outcomes, as well as general health and wellbeing aspects measured by the SF-36 component of the TOPS. Limitations of the study and potential future research are discussed. / Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2005.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1987. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 179-196).

<p> Obesity has been identified as a public health crisis across demographics; as such, it is especially a risk factor for disease in African American women. However, the factors that contribute to this risk continue to elude researchers. While obesity shares a relationship with depression&mdash;as depressive symptoms influence eating behaviors in some demographics&mdash;the pathways of influence between depression and eating behaviors on obesity are not as clear with regard to African American women. This study took a closer look at those pathways and examined the relationship between obesity, emotional eating, and depression in women. Race was examined as a moderator in the relationship between emotional eating and depressive symptoms predicting obesity. Emotional eating is defined as &ldquo;overeating in response to negative emotional states&rdquo; as well as &ldquo;poor food choices in response to stress and negative mood.&rdquo; To assess these goals, 345 women completed an online survey that included: demographic questions; 25 questions from the Emotional Eating Scale; 10 questions from the Perceived Stress Scale; 20 questions from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised; and height and weight to assess body mass index (BMI). Race was a significant predictor of obesity as African American women had greater BMI when compared to White women. In addition, women who engaged in more emotional eating were more likely to have higher BMI. The relationship between emotional eating and obesity was moderated by race; emotional eating was a strong predictor of obesity in White women but not African American women. Further research is warranted to identify factors related to obesity that include other measures for weight beyond BMI as well as the eating behaviors of African American women.</p><p>