Epidemiological studies indicate that between 8 and 20% of children suffer from an anxiety disorder (Costello, Egger, & Angold, 2004). Researchers have worked for many years to map the developmental trajectory of anxiety in children, yet the pathways remain unclear. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between specific predictors and anxiety in middle school Caucasian and African American adolescents. A secondary purpose was to explore whether acculturation contributes to the prediction of anxiety, after controlling for exposure to negative life events, in the African American adolescents. For the total sample, results indicated that negative life events, social support, coping, and ethnicity were all significant predictors of anxiety, accounting for 18.9% of the variance in anxiety scores. These relationships were confirmed in separate analyses for the African American and Caucasian youth. Furthermore, acculturation moderated the relationship between negative life events and anxiety in the African American sample, as anticipated. More specifically, the relationship between negative life events and anxiety was stronger for those adolescents reporting more affiliation with their own culture. These findings suggest that culture is an important context in understanding the development of anxiety and that it requires additional exploration to understand its relations to the development of mental health problems more broadly. / Master of Science

Losing a loved one – a child or a spouse –is described as one of the most stressful or negative experience of a person’s life. Aging is associated with a higher risk of the death of close family members, yet few studies have investigated the impact of such losses on different health outcomes either by type of loss or by the combined loss of both a child and a spouse. This thesis is based on three studies examining the effect of bereavement on the health of older adults who have lost a child, spouse, or both and whether the different losses were associated with Life Satisfaction (LS) or mortality. The sample was collected from the Swedish National Study of Aging and Care (SNAC). The results showed that the loss of a child, spouse or both was experienced as among the three most important negative life events in the bereaved groups. About 70% of those bereaved of a child or a spouse mentioned these losses as among their three most important negative life experiences. In the child-and-spouse-bereaved group, 48% mentioned both losses while 40% mentioned only the loss of a child or a spouse, but not both. However, only marginally effects on LS and mortality after child, spouse or child-spouse bereavement in older adults was found. Longer time since the loss was associated with higher LS and lower mortality risk, and type of loss did not seem to determine LS or mortality. Gender differences were found: child-, spouse and child-and-spouse-bereaved men had lower LS than the corresponding groups of bereaved women, and furthermore, child-bereaved men had an increased mortality risk compared to child-bereaved women. Finally, significantly more women in the child-and-spouse-bereaved group compared to the men in this group, mentioned the loss of their child but not the spouse, among the three most important negative life events.

Background: Individuals experiencing negative and potentially traumatic life events are at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors; however, suicidal outcomes are not inevitable. Individuals who attribute negative life events to external, transient, and specific factors, rather than internal, stable, and global self-characteristics, may experience fewer deleterious outcomes, including suicidal behavior. Aims: This study examines the moderating effect of explanatory style on the relationship between negative life experiences and suicide ideation in a college student sample. Methods: A total of 138 participants (73% female) were recruited from a rural. Eastern college and completed a self-report psychosocial assessment. Results: Optimistic explanatory style mitigates the influence of negative and potentially traumatic life events on thoughts of suicide, above and beyond the effects of hopelessness and depression. Conclusions: Beliefs about the origin, pervasiveness, and potential recurrence of a negative life event may affect psychological outcomes. Optimistic explanatory style was associated with reduced suicide ideation, whereas pessimistic explanatory style was associated with increased thoughts of suicide. Optimistic reframing of negative life events for clients may have treatment implications for the prevention of suicidal activity.

Objective: Suicide risk is a significant public health concern for college students and may be exacerbated by hopelessness resulting from negative life events (NLE), yet may be ameliorated by self-compassion. We examined the mediating role of hopelessness in the relation between NLE and suicidal behavior, and the moderating influence of self-compassion on all model paths. Participants: Participants were 338 undergraduates (89% white; 67% female). Data were collected from December 2014 to December 2015. Methods: Participants completed the Life Events Checklist for College Students, Beck Hopelessness Inventory, Self-Compassion Scale, and Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire–Revised. Results: Negative life events were related to greater hopelessness and, in turn, to more suicidal behavior, yet self-compassion attenuated this effect. Conclusions: Self-compassion may buffer the NLE–hopelessness linkage, thereby reducing suicide risk among college students. Therapeutic promotion of self-compassion, and reduction of hopelessness, may be important suicide prevention strategies on college campuses.

Objective: Suicide risk is a significant public health concern for college students and may be exacerbated by hopelessness resulting from negative life events (NLE), yet may be ameliorated by self-compassion. We examined the mediating role of hopelessness in the relation between NLE and suicidal behavior, and the moderating influence of self-compassion on all model paths. Participants: Participants were 338 undergraduates (89% white; 67% female). Data were collected from December 2014 to December 2015. Methods: Participants completed the Life Events Checklist for College Students, Beck Hopelessness Inventory, Self-Compassion Scale, and Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire–Revised. Results: Negative life events were related to greater hopelessness and, in turn, to more suicidal behavior, yet self-compassion attenuated this effect. Conclusions: Self-compassion may buffer the NLE–hopelessness linkage, thereby reducing suicide risk among college students. Therapeutic promotion of self-compassion, and reduction of hopelessness, may be important suicide prevention strategies on college campuses.

The current study examined the relationships between Major Depressive Disorder, negative life events, perceived parenting style, perceived family environment and Disruptive Behavior Disorders, specifically Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, in adolescent participants, (N = 381). Results indicated that those factors, with the exception of authoritarian parenting, correlated positively with symptoms consistent with Disruptive Behavior Disorders. In addition, the overall effect of those factors predicted symptoms consistent with Disruptive Behavior Disorders more strongly than each risk factor in isolation. In conclusion, results indicated that negative life events and symptoms consistent with Major Depressive Disorder mediated the effects of perceived parenting and perceived family environment on symptoms consistent with Disruptive Behavior Disorders.

Depression is a significant public health problem for young adults of college age, and negative life events exacerbate risk. Not all individuals who experience negative life events, however, report depressive symptoms, perhaps owing to protective characteristics. We examined one such characteristic, trait hope, a goal-oriented construct, as a potential moderator of the association between negative life events and depressive symptoms in an ethnically diverse sample of 386 college students. In support of our hypotheses, negative life events were significantly associated with greater levels of depressive symptoms, and higher levels of hope attenuated this relationship, such that those with greater hope reported fewer depressive symptoms related to potentially traumatic events. The moderating effect of hope did not differ across ethnic groups. Our findings have implications for managing the sequelae of negative life events, including depression. Cognitive–behavioural interventions tailored to help young adults identify and attain important life goals might help to overcome psychopathology associated with life stress. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders and may be considered as one of the most prevalent forms of emotional/psychological illness among children. The prevalence of depressive disorders tends to rise dramatically during adolescence. Cognitive diathesis-stress models maintain that depression is produced through an interaction between cognitive vulnerability and negative life events. According to Beck, core beliefs are at the core of cognitive vulnerability. After the occurrence of a negative life event, the core belief is activated and influences how the individual interprets the negative life event. Beck maintains that three core beliefs are central to the development and maintenance of depressive disorders: the belief that one is helpless, unlovable, and/or worthless. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a coding system for a storytelling task could reliably assess Beck’s core beliefs. In doing so, this study sought to build upon previous research on the relations between negative life events, core beliefs, and depressive symptomatology among pre- and early adolescent females. Participants were 130 girls ranging in age from 9 to 14. All girls completed a self-report measure of life events and a projective story-telling measure that was used to assess their core beliefs. Participants also completed a semi-structured diagnostic interview, which served as the primary measure of depressive symptom severity. In support of previous research, both negative life events and negative core beliefs uniquely predicted the severity of depressive symptoms. Consistent with Beck’s cognitive model, the helpless and unlovable core beliefs uniquely predicted severity of depressive symptoms, although the worthless core belief did not. Further examination indicated that the helpless core belief was a more powerful influence on depressive symptoms than were the unlovable and worthless core beliefs. Contrary to Beck’s diathesis-stress model, however, negative core beliefs did not moderate the effects of negative life events on depressive symptomatology. For girls aged 9-11, however, a helpless core belief moderated the effects of negative life events on depressive symptom severity. Implications of these results, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed. / text

Background: Individuals who experience negative life events may be at increased risk for suicidal behavior. Intrapersonal characteristics, such as basic psychological needs, however, may buffer this association. Aims: To assess the potential moderating role of overall basic psychological needs, and the separate components of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, on the association between negative life events and suicidal behavior. MethodOur sample of 439 college students (311 females, 71%) completed the following self-report surveys: Life Events Scale, Basic Psychological Needs Scale, Beck Depression Inventory ; II, and the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised. Results: In support of our hypotheses, negative life events were associated with greater levels of suicidal ideation and attempts, and satisfaction of basic psychological needs, including autonomy, relatedness, and competence, significantly moderated this relationship, over and above the effects of the covariates of age, sex, and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Suicidal behavior associated with the experience of negative life events is not inevitable. Therapeutically bolstering competence, autonomy, and relatedness may be an important suicide prevention strategy for individuals experiencing life stressors.

Objective: We tested a hypothesized model consistent with the notion that self-compassion mediates the association between negative life events and suicidal risk (viz., depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviors) in college students. Method: The sample was comprised of 331 college students. Self-compassion facets (viz., self-kindness, self-judgment, common humanity, isolation, mindfulness, and overidentification) were used in testing for multiple mediation, controlling for sex. Results: Common humanity, mindfulness, and overidentification were found to mediate the association between negative life events (NLE) and depressive symptoms. However, common humanity was found to be the only mediator of the association between NLE and suicidal behaviors. Conclusion: These findings suggest that there are specific facets of self-compassion that account for the association between NLE and suicidal risk in college students and that (loss of) common humanity plays a central role in this process.