Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 24-29). Also available via the World Wide Web.

A substantial body of literature suggests that depression influences how individuals communicate. Much of this work utilizes cognitive frameworks to explain observed differences in language of those with increased depression, as language is traditionally viewed as a cognitive process. Although cognitive models somewhat explain these observed patterns in language, an increasing amount of literature also recognizes the interconnectivity between cognition and affect. Currently, no studies examine the impact of affect on language. Thus, the current study sought to address this gap in the literature by explaining changes in language using both cognitive and affective frameworks through an examination of the influence of depression and temporary affective state on language. As in previous studies, analysis of linguistic samples from 136 adults demonstrated that depression predicted specific linguistic trends; specifically, depression positively correlated with self- and shared-identity focus. The present study took this a step further by demonstrating that induction of temporary affective states also caused changes in linguistic style, with a negative affective induction group showing more self-focus language whereas those induced with positive affect demonstrated decreased negative emotion language. I end the thesis with a discussion of the importance of the current findings, as they suggest depressed mood may be an explanatory factor in the linguistic patterns of depressed individuals

This study was designed to address several issues related to PMS. One purpose was to compare women who say they have PMS with those who say they do not have PMS and to compare women diagnosed with PMS with those not diagnosed as having it. Forty-eight women and 11 men (included for comparison) who had a mean age of 34 years, were not students, and met other screening criteria, volunteered to keep daily charts for 120 days (prospective daily data). They did not know the menstrual purpose of the study. Each participant's daily reports were examined individually for PMS patterns according to strict criteria, and they were accordingly assigned to one of five groups. Only six women (12.5%) met the diagnostic criteria for premenstrual syndrome, but 62.5% said they had PMS. Fourteen women and 2 men (randomly assigned to menstrual cycles), 28% of the total sample, had diagnosable "downs" in other phases. The greater proportion of diagnosable downs in phases other than the premenstrual phase calls into question the appropriateness of a singular focus on PMS rather than on general cyclicity in adults' day-to-day experiences. Indeed, 74% of all participants in this study(including 73% of the men) had one or more diagnosed cyclic patterns in at least one of the three (menstrual, day of week, lunar) cycles studied. Participants also recalled (retrospective data) their menstrual (women only), weekday, and lunar moods. When prospective and retrospective data were compared, analyses revealed that participants may have used menstrual and day of week stereotypes to assist in their recall. Both parametric (normative) and nonparametric (idiographic)analyses were conducted, with sometimes contrasting results. These contradictions and their implications are discussed. It was concluded that it may be inappropriate to refer to a premenstrual syndrome, that the proposed inclusion of Late Luteal Phase Dysphoric Disorder (LLPDD) in the Psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM) is questionable, and that more needs to be known about healthy cyclical changes before conclusions about unhealthy cyclic changes can be drawn. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Autobiographical memory has been theorized to serve as an adaptive function in coping with negative mood state. To gain a better understanding of whether autobiographical memory changes with negative mood state, a number of experiments examined the relative accessibility of cognitive content and ability to recall specific event memories in those who had a previous history of depression or showed some aspects of current depressive symptoms. Five separate studies involved 288 participants and examined the effects of negative mood components on autobiographical recall. Studies 1 – 4 examined the autobiographical content by cueing content using a cue word technique to evoke autobiographical memories by means of a modified version of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT; Williams & Broadbent, 1986). Negative mood state was induced by Velten mood induction technique, and self-reported mood was measured using University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology Mood Adjective Checklist (UWIST-MACL; Matthews, Jones & Chamberlain, 1990) before and after mood induction. The ability to recall specific event memories was measured in Study 5 by the Sentence Completion for Events from the Past Test (SCEPT; Raes, Hermans, Williams, & Eelen, 2007). The results indicate that negative mood does influence autobiographical recall in terms of content and memory. These results indicate that autobiographical memory is a phenomenon that is in part dependent on negative mood state and in part dependent on current depressive symptoms and history of depression. Increased rumination was particularly responsive to induced negative mood state in those with current depressive symptoms. Reduced levels of activity, alertness, loss of interest and diminished pleasure are aspects of negative mood that seem to be particularly important components of mood state at the time of recall. To gain further insights into mood state effects in autobiographical recall, future directions in mood research should focus on and differentiate between the separate mood state components that are more important in bringing about changes in recalled content, especially in those with either a history of depression or showing current depressive symptoms.

The present research examined the relationship between mood and fear. A musical mood induction technique was utilized to induced either a happy mood or a sad mood in eighty-four female university students fearful of spiders or snakes. Following mood induction, subjects underwent in vivo systematic desensitization to reduce their fear. Fear levels were reassessed four weeks later and those subjects who showed a return of fear underwent a second session of exposure therapy. Measures of subjective fear and self-efficacy were taken before and after mood induction and again after fear reduction. The length of time taken to reduce fear was also recorded. The findings showed that an induced sad mood led to greater subjective fear and lower self-efficacy compared with an induced happy mood. In addition, an induced sad mood during fear reduction was associated with greater return of fear four weeks later. No difference was found in the length of time taken to reduce fear for happy and sad subjects. This study also addressed the issue of mood state dependency of fear reduction. It was hypothesized that subjects who underwent their second session of fear reduction while in a mood state congruent with that of their first session would show more rapid habituation than those in an incongruent mood state. The results did not support this hypothesis. If the findings of this investigation prove generalizable to clinical depression, they suggest that the most effective approach in treating individuals who are both clinically depressed and anxious may be to treat the depression before beginning exposure to fearful situations or stimuli. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Mental toughness has become a focus for researchers as coaches, athletes, and others extol its influence in performance success. In this study I examined mental toughness among collegiate athletes, focusing on its potential relationship to different demographic variables and to the athletes’ mood. Two hundred seventy-two student-athletes representing 12 different sports from a southwestern NCAA Division I university, participated by completing the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ), the Brief Assessment of Mood (BAM), and providing demographic information. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) assessed differences in mental toughness scores by sex, race, scholarship status, and starting status. Significant differences in mental toughness emerged between Black – White, male – female, and full – partial – zero scholarship athletes. Pearson correlations showed mental toughness was significantly related to lower levels of anxiety, sadness, anger, confusion, fatigue, and total mood disturbance, and higher levels of vigor.

"Books recording the mores and folkways of small segments of our society are often of great sociological value. Such records may be scientific reports or interesting fiction. In the latter group are Julia Mood Peterkin's books, which attempt to record the lives of the South Carolina coastal Negroes known as Gullahs. Mrs. Peterkin's description of the lives of these exotic and unusual people has brought her literary recognition. For two of her short stories, she received the O'Henry Memorial Prize Award, and for her novel, Scarlet Sister Mary, a Pulitzer Prize. Despite her literary fame, factual knowledge about Mrs. Peterkin's life is sparse and fragmentary. To compile information not hitherto available in one source, along with bibliographical data relative to Julia Peterkin and her works, is the purpose of this study"--Introduction. / "June, 1959." / At head of title: Florida State University. / Typescript. / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Robert Clapp, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-43).

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