Research has only recently begun to examine how individuals can be mentally healthy as opposed to simply showing the absence of distress. One way of defining mental wellness, Psychological Well-Being (PWB; Ryff, 1989), encompasses six dimensions of positive functioning. Cognitions relating to the future are a key element of well-being and are particularly relevant in the late adolescent developmental stage. The study's first aim was to examine how the positive and negative events adolescents anticipate in the future are seen as being implicated in various aspects of their well-being. The second aim was to examine the relationship between PWB self-report scores and levels of anxiety and depression. Sixth form students completed a task which elicited positive and negative events they were anticipating in the future and their thoughts about what was good or bad about those events. They also completed a measure of anxiety and depression and self-report scales of PWB. Open-ended responses about the consequences of the events (what was good or bad about them) were independently coded for the presence of the six PWB dimensions. Environmental Mastery was the most salient aspect of PWB present when participants discussed the consequences of both positive and negative events. The frequency of PWB dimensions present in adolescents' responses was similar between those with high and low levels of anxiety and depression, except those with high levels expressed significantly more responses related to Positive Relations with Others. On the self-report measures Positive Relations and Self-Acceptance showed unique relationships to depression scores, and Environmental Mastery and Self-Acceptance showed unique relationships to anxiety scores. The findings have implications for developing prevention strategies focusing on strengthening these aspects of PWB in the hope of protecting vulnerable people from future distress.

<p> Instagram (IG) is a social media application that allows users to upload personal images in a public forum by including a searchable link (e.g. hashtag) along with a posted image. An IG community devoted to a pro-recovery (i.e., #anarecovery) perspective on eating disorders (EDs) stands alongside the pro-ana lifestyle IG community (i.e., #ana). Research has yet to examine the nature of visual representations associated with pro-ana and pro-recovery social media imagery and moreover, not much empirical attention has been given to the nature of this content on IG. Thus, the first aim of this qualitative content analysis was to examine how the underlying theoretical constructs of objectified body consciousness (OBC) and positive body image (PBI) were represented among #ana and #anarecovery content. A second aim was to compare the frequency of the themes present for #ana versus #anarecovery images. A coding guide was developed and high levels of interrater reliability were established for the primary codes (kappa &ge; .80). One hundred and fifty IG images each from #ana and #anarecovery were systematically coded. Within- and between-hashtag comparisons of images were performed using frequency counts and chi-square analyses. Within #ana images, the theme of body shame (62.7%) was more frequently depicted relative to body surveillance (22%) and appearance control (22%) themes. Within #anarecovery images, the theme of body protection was most prevalent (67.3%) followed by body functionality (38.7%) and body acceptance (11.3%) themes. All three OBC themes were more likely to be present in #ana images. Conversely, PBI themes of body protection and body functionality were more frequently represented in the #anarecovery images. The frequency of body acceptance themes did not differentiate the images sampled from both hashtags. This research calls for more expanded and distinguished definitions of the constructs that comprise the continuum of PBI. Findings also suggest how the lack of distinction in the frequency of body acceptance observed between the two hashtags may be clinically relevant for exploring potential risk factors that persist in the process of ED recovery.</p>

<p> Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) is an acceptance and change-based treatment protocol that includes parent participation, and has been shown to be effective with emotionally dysregulated, suicidal, and self-injurious adolescents (Mehlum et al., 2014, 2016) who often show high rates of treatment utilization and subsequent dropout (Groves, Backer, van den Bosch, &amp; Miller, 2012). Despite its demonstrated effectiveness and despite parents&rsquo; active role in treatment, there is limited treatment acceptability data for DBT-A, and even less investigation into the parent perspective. Pretreatment expectancies and preferences are two common factors associated with treatment acceptability that have been shown to influence treatment participation, adherence, and outcomes that can inform methods for enhancing evidence-based treatments, yet remain underinvestigated (Nock &amp; Kazdin, 2001; Wymbs et al., 2015). The primary goal of the current study was to assess parent pretreatment expectancies and preferences prior to entering an outpatient DBT-A program with their adolescents. Twenty-three parents completed two self-report assessment measures just prior to starting treatment: The Parent Expectancies for Treatment Scale (PETS; Nock &amp; Kazdin, 2001), and the Parent Preferences for Treatment form developed for this study to assess preferences for eight alternative treatment delivery formats. Results showed that parents had moderately high overall expectancies for DBT-A (<i> M</i> = 97.78, <i>SD</i> = 9.03). Subscale analyses indicated high parent expectancies for its credibility (Credibility, <i>M</i> = 52.09, <i>SD</i> = 5.44), moderately high expectancies for child improvement (Child Improvement, <i>M</i> = 23.43, <i> SD</i> = 3.49), and moderate expectancies for parent involvement (Parent Involvement, <i>M</i> = 22.17, <i>SD</i> = 2.98). Highest rated expectancies were related to the credibility of DBT-A as a valuable, worthwhile treatment and the large role of parent involvement in treatment. The four most preferred alternative format options were to add weekly skills training for individual families, weekly individual parenting skills sessions, weekly parent-only support groups, and weekly parent therapy sessions. The two least preferred format options involved partially or fully separating parent and teens in multifamily skills group. This study provides preliminary support for the use of assessing parents&rsquo; pretreatment expectancies and preferences for DBT-A as an initial step toward understanding the treatment attitudes and desires of parents with teens referred to DBT-A. Clinical implications for the utility of these findings in clinical practice and future research are discussed.</p>

The primary purpose of this explorative study was to develop a therapeutically relevant theory of emotional well-being. The developed theory focuses on coping skills because they are observable, measurable, and teachable. The secondary purpose of this study was to begin researching other important aspects of human nature that may impact emotional well-being. As a foundation to this study, stress and coping theories were reviewed. Contemporary theories concerning coping styles were applied to current conceptions of emotional well-being. The author developed the Well-Being Pilot Test (WBPT) to serve two functions. The WBPT was devised to obtain a useful understanding of the composition of emotional well-being in terms of coping skill divisions. The second function of the WBPT was to begin exploring spiritual, physical, and intellectual health and how they relate to emotional well-being. The WBPT consists of 273 items and was given to 370 people in the United States. The results of this explorative study yielded five coping skill divisions associated with emotional well-being: interpersonal, intrapersonal, stress regulation, emotional stabilization, and problem solving skills. Results of this study are discussed in terms of their usefulness in the therapy session for both, the psychotherapist and the client. The results also indicated that all three of the chosen aspects of human nature (i.e., spiritual, physical, and intellectual health) were significantly related to emotional well-being. Intellectual health was most strongly related to emotional well-being, followed by physical health, and finally, spiritual health. This explorative study, thus, provides pertinent information for the psychotherapist regarding therapeutically relevant conceptualizations of emotional well-being. The information gained from this study will help the psychologist move away from the focus of decreasing emotional sickness to one of encouraging coping skills designed to enhance emotional wellness. Key Words: Emotional well-being, coping skills, stress, wellness, depression, interpersonal, intrapersonal, problem solving, emotional stabilization. / Graduate

<p> The purpose of this project was to write a grant proposal to develop a mental health program for foreign born Latinos with depression. The goal of this project is to provide mental health services consisting of individual and group therapy to this at risk group in Service Provider Area 6 (SPA 6).</p><p> Research shows that SPA 6 in Los Angeles County is an area lacking adequate mental health services for foreign born Latinos. SHIELDS for Families, Inc. is the target agency chosen to provide services with staff co-located at St. Francis Medical Center in the city of Lynwood. The California Wellness Foundation was chosen as the funding source.</p><p> If funded, the project would provide culturally modified treatment in depression at no cost to adult Latino immigrants, a high risk group, in SPA 6. Actual submission of this grant was not a requirement for this project. </p>

M.A. / The quest for a healthy mind and body has received increasing attention in recent years and the focus it seems, is not only on attaining optimal physical and psychological health, but also the maintenance and enhancement thereof. In light of this, the aim of this study was to understand the contributing factors in reaching optimal physical and psychological health or what is referred to in this study as an Optimal State of Being. To this end, the Investment in Self construct was developed to explain the aspirations towards optimal physical and psychological health. In view of this, the criteria thought to be a part of an Optimal State of Being are outlined in this study and one of the main tenants of this study is that Investment in Self will play a role in reaching an Optimal State of Being. Since there is no comprehensive construct that conceptualises the essence of Investment in Self, there is consequently no objective method of measuring it. This study, in addition to developing the Investment in Self construct, developed an instrument to measure Investment in Self called the Investment in Self Questionnaire. The Investment in Self construct was correlated with Sense of Coherence, Satisfaction with Life and Optimism using the self-constructed Investment in Self Questionnaire, Sense of Coherence – Short Form, Satisfaction with Life Scale and Life Orientation Test respectively, in order to establish its relationship to optimal well-being. The questionnaires were administered to 256 volunteer participants from the general population and the results of the study showed that Investment in Self is significantly related to psychological well-being.

<p> Eating behavior in humans is complex and has developed over the millennia in intricate webs of biological, psychological, and social factors. While maladaptive eating strategies have been studied extensively, the adaptive eating strategy known as intuitive eating is gaining wider attention as a means to treat and prevent maladaptive eating behavior. Using multiple regression with self-report questionnaires, the researcher explored the psychosocial variables of impression management and subjective physical health as they relate to intuitive eating in men, who have been underrepresented in the literature on eating behavior. The results indicate that subjective physical health predicts eating disorder symptomatology, but may not predict intuitive eating in men. Further, while impression management predicts intuitive eating, anxiety may account for this relationship. Additionally, sexual orientation is discussed as a relevant predictor of eating behavior. Clinical and research implications, as well as future directions are discussed.</p>

<p> Counselors are members of the general public and, thus, are exposed to popular misperceptions about specialty populations, specifically sex offenders. Male and female counselors can be socialized to vary in their responses to sex offenses. Inaccurate assumptions about sex offenders and discrepancies in counselor attitudes towards clients can linger in the counseling environment impacting treatment. This quantitative survey study was conducted to assess the attitudes of male and female counselors towards sex offenders of both sexes. This study hypothesized that male and female counselors would differ significantly in their attitudes towards sex offenders and that counselors&rsquo; attitudes towards male sex offenders would differ significantly from attitudes toward female sex offenders. Participants completed the Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders Scale (ATS) in conjunction with reading a vignette about the relationship between an adult teacher and a high school student. A purposive sample of 202 counselors was obtained through national and state counseling organizations. Participants reviewed vignettes and completed the ATS online via Qualtrics. Data were analyzed with SPSS and ANOVA, indicating that male counselors had significantly more positive attitudes towards sex offenders than female counselors. Results also showed that both male and female counselors had more positive attitudes towards female sex offenders than toward male sex offenders; however, the difference in attitudes towards male versus female sex offenders was not statistically significant. The findings suggested that counselors are at risk for maintaining inaccurate assumptions leading to unhelpful treatment. The results can lead to improved trainings to counselors and counselor educators to provide education about the experience of specialty populations and to discuss internal counselor responses to such clients.</p>

<p> This quantitative study investigates the relationship between video game usage, video game addiction, compulsive Internet use, and subjective well-being. The key variables were measured using three different scales: The Game Addiction Scale; the Compulsive Internet Use Scale; and the Flourishing scale. 121 participants over the age of 18 partook in the study. The empirical results demonstrate a statistically significant, negative correlation between addictive video game usage and well-being. Video game addiction and compulsive Internet use were both found to be negatively correlated with subjective well-being.</p>

This thesis examines the implementation of mental health reforms in Britain and Italy since the 1950s from a geographical perspective. Both countries have experienced the policies of deinstitutionalisation and community care, yet the timing, methods and outcomes of implementation have varied considerably, both between the countries and within them. This situation suggests that underlying social, political, economic and cultural differences have been important influences on the implementation of the respective mental health reforms, and this is a theme that is considered throughout the thesis. The research was conducted at three levels of enquiry: firstly by comparing the implementation of mental health reforms at the national scale in Britain and Italy, looking in particular at the influence of politics and place; secondly by focusing upon the implementation of the reforms in two cities, for which Sheffield and Verona were selected; thirdly a case study approach was adopted in order to study in greater detail one community-based mental health service in each city. It was at this level of enquiry that the more intensive research was carried out, in the form of two local resident questionnaire surveys, one in each city, and semi-structured interviews with mental health professionals from the two case study services. This research illustrates that the implementation of mental health reforms in Britain and Italy has led to a geographical unevenness in the distribution of community-based services at all spatial scales. However, the social, cultural and political contexts in which the reforms have occurred in the two countries have been quite different and therefore when contemplating direct comparisons between mental health reforms in Britain and Italy, the argument that 'place matters' is highly pertinent.