Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition that consists of deficits in social communication as well as restricted, repetitive interests or behaviors. Individuals with ASD also often have comorbid psychiatric and medical disorders. One such concern is high rates of seizures and epilepsy. Researchers have found that rates of seizures tend to be higher in individuals with ASD who also have more impaired functioning. However, few studies have examined how the presence of seizures is related to symptoms of ASD. The current study aimed to expand the extant literature by investigating whether a history of seizures is associated with ASD symptomology across different domains (i.e., Socialization/Nonverbal Communication, Restricted Interests/Repetitive Behaviors, Communication), as measured by the BISCUIT-Part 1. Young children with atypical development without a diagnosis of ASD or a history of seizures were found to have the lowest endorsement of overall ASD symptomology as well as across subscales. Individuals with seizures but without an ASD diagnosis had the second lowest scores, followed by individuals with both ASD and seizures. The ASD without a history of seizures group had the highest ASD symptomology scores. These results indicate that, for atypically developing individuals without ASD, a history of seizures was related to higher levels of autism symptomology. Conversely, for young children with ASD, a history of seizures was related to lower endorsement of autism symptoms than those without a history of seizures. These findings support the need for early identification of both ASD and seizure disorders, as both diagnoses have significant implications for treatment. Future directions for research are discussed.

There has been increased recognition of the negative impact of being bullied on youth maladjustment. As such, identifying environmental and psychological factors that moderate the impact of bullying is an important research consideration. In evaluating the effectiveness of intervention, it is imperative that research examine processes that may function to buffer adverse effects. Although social support has been shown to mitigate the impact of trauma on children and adults, few studies have examined the role of social support as a protective factor for victimized youth. The present study investigated perceived social support as a protective factor against the negative impact of bullying on self-esteem and internalizing symptoms. Additionally, specific sources of social support (e.g., parent, peer, adult, relative, sibling) were examined to determine whether unique sources of support differentially moderated negative outcomes. Participants were 284 adolescents between the ages of 11 to 18 (M = 14.93, SD = 2.03), with 43.4% of the sample constituting ethno-racial minorities. After controlling for the effects of gender, hierarchical regression and simple slope analysis revealed that social support significantly moderated symptoms of anxiety, but not depression. Specifically, parental social support was the strongest predictor of anxiety, whereas peer and relative social support were the strongest predictors of depression in bullied youth. Strengths, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed.

As part of school- and district-wide preventative efforts, universal screening serves to identify students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders while their behavior is still amenable to treatment. However, there are few universal screeners available for middle school students, who may be at heightened risk for developing emotional and behavioral difficulties due to major academic and social changes. The Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD), often considered the gold standard for behavior screeners, was recently validated for use in middle schools. However, there is little research on the reliability and validity of the SSBD for screening middle school students and the differences in responses between teachers of different academic areas. The purpose of this study is to extend the previous research validating the SSBD by assessing the adequacy of its technical characteristics and sensitivity in middle school students among teachers of different academic subjects.

<p> It is not too difficult to get an individual to start a physical activity program. It is incredibly difficult to get an individual to maintain a physical activity program over time. All of life&rsquo;s major and minor inconveniences can become a barrier to performing physical activity, and thus lead to sedentary behavior. The construct of resilience, defined as positively adapting to adverse circumstances, may be helpful in the maintenance of physical activity. However, resilience as a construct is not entirely understood in the current literature. Some theorists suggest resilience is a single construct, while other theorists suggest that resilience is a hierarchical construct that is comprised of other traits. The first portion of this dissertation tested a hierarchical model of resilience. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factors analyses suggest six traits underlie resilience (purpose in life, self-esteem, life satisfaction, cognitive flexibility, proactive coping, and social support). The hierarchical model of resilience found in the first part of this dissertation was then used for the second portion where structural equation modeling tested if resilience mediated the relationship between barriers to physical activity and physical activity. Consistent with a mediational model, the results showed a significant negative relationship between barriers to physical activity and resilience, and a significant positive relationship between resilience and physical activity. However, there was also a significant direct negative link between barriers to physical activity and physical activity. Thus, results suggest that resilience can help mediate the relationship between barriers to activity and being active, although there is also a direct link. Future research may want to examine this relationship longitudinally, and further refine the hierarchical model.</p>

<p> Organizations continue to invest time and money in diversity programs to provide people with the competencies to work effectively in an increasingly diverse workplace. Most programs are based on cognitive theories of behavior change and research however fails to show long-term changes in attitudes and behavior (e.g., Brynes &amp; Kiger, 1990; Hogan &amp; Mallot, 2005; Sanchez &amp; Medkik, 2004). Empirical work on mindfulness demonstrates that greater awareness of the process of one&rsquo;s own thinking, and the process of active categorization has been associated with reductions in stereotypes, prejudice, and the emotional discomfort related to cognitive dissonance (e.g., Djikic et al., 2008; Hayes et al., 2004; Lillis &amp; Hayes, 2007; Kuscera, 2009). Unfortunately, only one study of diversity programs that included a formal mindfulness intervention was found (e.g., Lillis &amp; Hayes, 2007). Given the prevalence of experiential exercises in programs as well as a theoretical argument that can be drawn between Kabat-Zinn&rsquo;s (2003) definition of mindfulness and experiential exercises, this study utilized meta-analytical procedures to investigate whether programs that included experiential activities showed stronger and longer lasting positive effects. Results indicated that programs that included experiential activities were indeed correlated with better affective outcomes (i.e., attitudes, feelings, and interracial comfort and tolerance) in academic settings, at least in the short-term. Future recommendations regarding the intentional use of mindfulness interventions are made to further enhance affective outcomes among diversity programs both inside and outside of academia.</p>

Psychopathy is a pervasive and persistent personality disorder comprised of combination of a broad range of personality traits. These traits include low fear, diminished empathy, and a propensity to be manipulative, mixed with impulsivity, aggression, and reward seeking. These traits are associated with increased rates of substance abuse, interpersonal violence, and criminal behavior, all of which result in significant costs to society. Until very recently it has been hypothesized that the psychopathic personality is the result of either an underlying cognitive or affective deficit. The affective hypotheses have proposed an inability to experience fear, and by extension to learn from punishment, and to recognize fear in others, as the primary underlying deficit. The cognitive hypotheses have proposed impaired shifting attention from goal relevant or rewarding stimuli to contextual cues as the primary underlying deficit. More recently the Impaired Integration (II) hypothesis attempted to account for both cognitive and affective deficits in psychopathy and proposed deficient or altered connections between brain areas, leading to impaired integration of affective and perceptual information as the primary underlying deficit. However, the II hypothesis is still one primarily based in attentional differences and does not provide an adequate explanation for the unique behavioral and psychophysiological correlates associated with different psychopathy factors. Therefore, I put forth here an interactive theory of psychopathy that proposes a bi-directional interactive relationship between cognitive and affective deficits in psychopathy and accounts for differences between psychopathy factors by allowing for specific unitary deficits to be related to each factor. The two studies that make up this dissertation are first attempts to test this theory and demonstrate the bi-directional nature of these cognitive-affective interactions, as well as the differences in their expression between factors. Study One tested this theory by investigating the effect of potential rewards on attention and working memory as a function of psychopathic traits. Study Two investigated the influence of processing emotional faces on attention and working memory as a function of psychopathic traits. Both studies took advantage of the temporal resolution provided by event-related potentials (ERPS) to measure cognitive and affective processes during task performance. Overall, the evidence provided by these two studies provides initial support for the cognitive-affective interaction hypothesis of psychopathy. This evidence suggests specific relationships between cognitive processes and the impulsive antisocial factors of psychopathy, and between affective processes and the more interpersonal affective factors of psychopathy. Factors that measure callousness and lack of empathy were related to both cognitive and affective processes. These results also suggest broader interactions with both positive and negative affect, and not interactions that are fear specific. Furthermore, these results indicate that the interactive deficits underlying psychopathic traits may be limited to human emotions, and may not extend to affective reward processes. Finally, because of their relationship with both cognitive and affective processes, it may be those factors related most strongly to problematic interpersonal relationships such as meanness and coldheartedness that hold the key to truly understanding the etiology of the psychopathic personality.

<p> Abstract Latinos represent the largest minority group in the United States, with 17.6% of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). About 1 in 68 individuals is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (CDC, 2016). However, the research on Latino first generation mothers who have a child diagnosed with ASD is nonexistent. The current study explores the narratives of 15 Latino first generation mothers who have a child diagnosed with ASD and their stories regarding their roles as mothers. This study used phenomenology methodology and data was collected through the use of semi-structured interviews. Three major themes emerged from the data: (1) General experience as a mother with a child diagnosed with ASD, (2) Culture views on ASD, (3) Experience with autism-related specialists and professionals. Discussions and clinical implications were included to provide insight for mental health clinicians working with this population.</p>

<p> Abstract This study investigated how coaches support the development of global leaders (GL) working in multicultural environments and supporting change initiatives. The study is a qualitative embedded case study with the main theme of how coaches develop global leaders. It was conducted through 60 to 90-minute Skype interviews with twelve global coaches from across the world. The embedded case study used the embedded elements of coaching, global leaders, multicultural environments, and change management. Eight themes emerged, a) Diversity in coaches&rsquo; style, b) Challenges to coaching global leaders, c) Isolation of global leaders, d) Global leaders&rsquo; cultural blinders, e) Global framework of coaching, f) Indirect coaching change, g) Psychological theory and measurement, and h) Standards for coaching profession in a real global world. The results found that in theme b, a total of 36 challenges were noted that were grouped into 5 categories. The data findings posed two different splits related to evidence based methods and measurement. These splits were, coaching methods based in psychological theory vs coaching methods not based in psychological theory (6/6) and assessing GL vs non-assessment of GL (5/7). The participants agreed on the following: a) Coaching is not therapy, b) the client owns the results and sets the measurement, c) the coach must be client focused, d) the coach must be flexible in approach e) the coaching relationship is based on trust and confidentiality, f) global leaders work in multicultural environments g) the coach must coach in the global context, h) coaching standards should be elevated to bring more rigor to the field and lastly i) there needs to be more research in the field of coaching. The participants recommended the following three areas of research consideration for the coaching industry: coaching in context of the global world that related to cultural sensitivity within the coaching industry; differentiation between types of coaching, credentialing and raising the standards; and training of the coach and research around the transformation that happens to the client and the organization from the coaching relationship. Previous research and this study propose additional research is needed as the coaching field is still young.</p>

Affect labeling, the act of putting oneâs feelings into words, is a form of emotion regulation that can be applied in multiple therapeutic contexts. However, it is unclear if affect labeling provides a general down-regulating effect regardless of the specific emotional context or if it works differently across different negative emotions. Additionally, mixed findings in the literature need clarification, as both related and unrelated labels have shown to be effective in different experimental contexts. The present study examined the effects of labeling fear, disgust, and sadness images in multiple labeling contexts, using both subjective and physiological measurement. Although there was a general exposure effect of reduced reactivity to images over time, affect labeling did not provide additional benefit; in some cases, unrelated labeling outperformed related affect labeling. Despite hypothesized benefits of affect labeling for those with weaker emotion-regulation skills, greater exposure effects were found for those with high emotional intelligence and reduced use of emotional suppression, especially in the unrelated labeling condition. Implications for the use of affect labeling and other forms of emotion regulation in cognitive-behavioral and exposure therapy are discussed.

<p> The following study explored the experiences of Ghanaian adult siblings of a brother or sister with a mental disability in Accra, Ghana. The literature review included international and multidisciplinary research on culture, Ghana, Ghanaian culture, family caregiver experiences, and adult siblings of individuals with a mental disability. A descriptive phenomenological design was employed to capture and describe the essence of the experiences of the participants of this study. The primary research question explored through this design was: what is the experience of being an adult sibling of a brother or sister with a mental disability in Ghana? The secondary research question was: what are the factors that impact the adult caregiver in caring for the sibling with a mental disability in Ghana? A purposeful sampling method was used to recruit 15 adult siblings of an individual with a mental disability with the assistance of a school for individuals with special needs located in Accra, Ghana. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data for this study. Five themes were identified in relation to the primary research question: 1) impact on self, 2) sibling relationship, 3) family, 4) interactions with society, and 5) caregiver. In answer to the secondary research question, several factors were found to impact the adult siblings in caring for their brother or sister: level of care needed, total number of siblings, sibling rank order, age, gender, parents living or passed, parental status, and financial status. The results of the study were discussed in relation to the reviewed literature, implications for the findings, and recommendations for future research were included. This study added to existing body of international psychology literature, demonstrated the importance of attending to the influence of culture when seeking to understand the experiences and needs of adult siblings of a brother or sister with a mental disability, and has the potential to inform systems of support for Ghanaian siblings of individuals with mental disabilities.</p>