<p> This study, as well as the initial pilot study, are the first known, stand-alone, empirical studies of the Tibetan Buddhist <i>tonglen</i> meditation practice, which is intended to increase levels of compassion (and the benefits that come with that), in addition to reducing less helpful mind-states such as fear and egotism. The premise of this larger proof-of-concept study was to investigate whether tonglen meditation can 1) increase self-compassion and compassion for others, 2) in novice meditators 3) with very little instruction, and 4) short amounts of practice time. This study examined changes in self-compassion and compassion for others through a pre/post intervention study design (&alpha; = .05). Subjects (n = 53), who were novice meditators, were given only ten minutes of introduction and instruction; after which, they were asked to participate in an 18-minute guided tonglen meditation, practice on-the-spot tonglen for 30-seconds twice a day for six days, then do one additional 18-minute guided tonglen practice. Results showed a statistically significantly increase in the total scale score of self-compassion (p &lt; .01) and statistically significant beneficial changes in each of the six subscales as measured by Neff's self-report questionnaire, the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). An increase in compassion for others, though trending up, could not be determined through Pommier's self-report questionnaire, the Compassion Scale (CS), due to a ceiling effect. In addition to the study results, this dissertation includes a detailed discussion of the findings and of the results from the qualitative feedback, which offers insight into the perceived benefits subjects reported, including a reduction in pain, increased communication skills, and the ability for greater perspective taking. The dissertation also contains an introduction to tonglen meditation, a tonglen troubleshooting guide, a chart of tonglen commentaries in English organized by century, and an extended literature review of a cousin compassion meditation practice, loving-kindness meditation (LKM).</p>

<p> Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) refers to positive psychological change experienced as a result of the struggle with grievous life circumstances that often coexist with significant psychological distress (Tedeschi &amp; Calhoun, 1996). PTG makes clear that persons experiencing this phenomenon have grown beyond their previous level of psychological functioning. PTG is recognized in four domains of change, including perception of self, relationships with others, philosophy of life, and spiritual transformations (Tedeschi &amp; Calhoun, 1996). The present study explored the concept of PTG and transformation among twelve Cambodian community leaders who are survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide. Based on a phenomenological qualitative paradigm, this study utilized the PTG model to explore coping, meaning making, and positive growth as both a process and outcome. Four core themes emerged for the process of posttraumatic growth: (a) separation, loss, enslavement and other dehumanizing experiences; (b) distress and psychological responses to trauma; (c) methods of coping used to manage debilitating distress; and (d) process of healing and meaning making. Five core themes emerged for the outcome of posttraumatic growth: (a) gratitude and greater appreciation of life; (b) new priorities and goals; (c) importance of family and interpersonal relationships; (d) increased personal strength; and (e) effective leadership. Overall, principal findings in this study highlighted the importance of self-disclosure, hard work, hope, optimism, and education as a foundation to recovery and growth, as well as community activism and the continued pursuit to fulfill their survivor's mission (Herman, 1992). These factors greatly supported participants in their process of PTG and gave them profound life purpose and meaning. Theoretical, societal, and clinical implications of findings as well as future directions are discussed. </p>

<p> This study examined the application of experiential avoidance to understanding anger, a universal emotion that is not presently well-understood despite its pervasiveness in both clinical symptomatology and general experience. Theories including the anger avoidance model (Gardner &amp; Moore, 2008) and the cognitive-neoassociationistic perspective (Berkowitz, 1983) proposed that anger is related to avoidant behaviors and lack of control. Experiential avoidance (EA), a concept introduced in Relational Frame Theory (Hayes, 2004b), describes the avoidance of unpleasant thoughts and negative emotional experiences. Historically, EA has primarily been used to examine anxiety, but may also present a valuable theoretical approach to other emotional experiences, including anger. </p><p> To clarify the link between experiential avoidance and anger, correlations between subjects' scores on subtypes of anger and levels of experiential avoidance were examined. A non-clinical sample of 215 graduate students completed the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) and the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II). Scores were analyzed for correlations between levels of experiential avoidance and types of anger experiences. Results suggest that experiential avoidance is related to higher levels of trait anger, increased inward expressions of anger, and decreased control over anger experiences. Implications for research, theory, and clinical approaches to anger and aggression are discussed.</p>

<p> Retrospective emotional frequency appraisals are often used in clinical assessment measures, but their suitability for use with children has not been well studied. The aims of this project were to (a) examine whether items that use retrospective frequency structures gather more or less information than items that do not use such structures and (b) examine whether the information gathered by such items differs across children's ages. <i>Method</i>. Data were gathered from 9- to 12-year-old girls who participated in a larger study of a depression treatment protocol. Two sets of five pairs of items were sampled from two children's depression measures. The item pairs contained one item from each measure. One set of item pairs was matched for content and the use of retrospective frequency structures. The other set was matched for content only. <i>Results</i>. For the first research question, information curves for the two item sets were generated using Samejima's (1969) Graded Response Model (GRM). Visual analyses of the information curves provided inconclusive results as to whether the presence of retrospective frequency structures is associated with differences in item information levels. The second research question was conducted in two parts. For both, only data from the 9- and 12-year-old participants were analyzed. In the first part, confirmatory factor analysis was used to analyze measurement invariance across the two groups' responses. Theses analyses showed signs of measurement non-invariance in both item sets. The second part of the analyses was conducted by generating separate GRM information curves for the two age groups and conducting visual analyses of the information curves. These analyses showed that the model which had been used throughout the remainder of the study did not fit the 9-year-old group well. They also showed that the 12-year-old group's information curves varied more in height across measures and item sets than did the 9-year-old group's curves. <i>Discussion</i>. Although the findings failed to shed light on the effects of retrospective frequency structures on children's responding, they highlighted potential differences between the 9- and 12-year-old groups' factor structures and indicated that the 9-year-olds displayed decreased sensitivity to differences in item structure.</p>

<p> People with intellectual disability have historically been excluded from the benefits of psychotherapy, despite the higher incidence of mental illness, in general, and PTSD, in particular, in this population. It had been thought that intellectual disability precluded the cognitive and emotional ability required to participate in therapy. A growing body of literature is reporting successful application of a number of these therapies, established as empirically effective for the general population, with people with intellectual disability. Typically, minor modifications are required. Criticism continues, now based on the problem of using therapies with a population for which they have not been empirically established as effective. The current study contributes to the empirical process of establishing effectiveness of a specific trauma therapy for people with intellectual disability. It applies the EMDR therapy to six participants in a multiple-baseline, ABA, time-series experiment design. EMDR has previously been used with people with intellectual disability, reporting improved symptoms and functioning for the more than 35 cases published. For the current study, the participants were all diagnosed with PTSD and other diagnoses reflecting the emotional distress associated with histories of multi- and poly-traumatization, beginning at an early age. They received weekly assessments on multiple measures: self-report, physiological, observer ratings, and continuous actigraph recordings. Each participated for a minimum of 60 weeks, which included: an A phase, the Baseline; a B phase, the Intervention; and, a second A phase, Maintenance. After a Hiatus of six weeks, participants returned for Follow-up testing. The EMDR therapy was delivered during the Intervention phase, only. All participants lost the diagnosis of PTSD and showed emotional and functional improvement on a number of measures. The self-report measures produced the most descriptive time-series data, providing indication of change in a number of dimensions, visually interpretable from graphs of the data, included in this document. Linear regression analyses support visual analysis. Additional research in using the EMDR therapy with people with intellectual disability is recommended, with the purpose of establishing it as appropriate for use with this population. Limitations of the study are addressed. </p>

<p> The present study investigated differences between individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and non-anxious controls (NAC) on measures of thought processes and anxiety responses surrounding an anxiety-provoking situation. Participants gave a spontaneous speech to an audience and reported their anxiety throughout. Measures of trait decentering and anxiety, situational anxiety, negative thoughts and believability, and willingness to repeat the task were administered. Compared to NAC, individuals with SAD reported a higher prevalence of negative thoughts, found the thoughts more believable, reported lower levels of trait decentering, and reported less willingness to repeat an anxiety-provoking task. Collapsing the groups, we found an inverse relationship between the amount of negative thoughts and willingness to repeat the task, and a positive correlation between decentering and willingness. We did not find evidence to support that decentering and believability moderate this relationship. The present study partially supports the proposed model of SAD, as the SAD and NAC groups differed at each step of the proposed model, however moderation analyses were not significant.</p>

<p> There is limited understanding of the variables that impact trainee performance in clinical settings. As such, investigating the tools used to assess performance was warranted. In the first part of the present research study, I investigated the independent factors that comprised the FPEF using 294 archival forms completed by clinical supervisors at the California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, San Francisco. The five conceptually derived domains of clinical competency of the FPEF included: psychological intake, evaluation and assessment; clinical interventions; professional roles and behaviors; self-examination and development; and supervision. A principal factor analysis was conducted to determine whether the items of the FPEF comprised performance factors that were based on these FPEF domains. Results yielded a four-factor solution based on how the items clustered together. Thus, subscales were retitled as follows: Clinical Development, Professional Roles and Behaviors, Psychological Conceptualization and Intervention, and Psychological Assessment Skills. The second part of the present study included trainee self-ratings and supervisor ratings on the FPEFs for 47 school-based mental health trainees. This part of the study focused on whether the internal psychological variables of role conflict, role ambiguity, and self-efficacy (domain specific), and the external variables of both organizational support and supervisory support were associated with performance ratings on the FPEF. Findings indicated that the internal and external variables were both associated with trainees' performances across various domains. However, some of these relationships were contrary to what was expected. Organizational support and supervisory support were found to have negative associations with specific performance domains, which may have been due to limitations of the instruments or moderating variables that were not measured in this study.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: B, page: 4834. Adviser: R. Chris Fraley. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-78) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: B, page: 4893. Adviser: Lizanne DeStefano. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-116) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

This study examined how emotion and discipline differed in response to children's relational and physical aggression in African American and European American women. Affective (e.g., concern) and discipline responses of adults toward physical aggression have been linked with children's behavior problems. However, these reactions have not been explored as a function of ethnicity and only little examined as a function of gender. Even less is known about reactions toward relational aggression. Better knowledge about adult perceptions of children's aggressive behaviors could improve theoretical understanding of the development of these problems, and guide efforts at improving treatments. In the present study, hypothetical vignettes depicting a boy or a girl engaging in physical and relational aggression were used to assess how participants report they would respond to such behaviors in their own children. Consistent with initial hypotheses, adults were more concerned and embarrassed about physical aggressive behavior among children than relationally aggressive behaviors. Additionally, adults were more lax for relational aggression and more overreactive toward physical aggression. Adult behavioral responses toward relational aggression were more likely to include discussion and they were more likely to provide a consequence for physical aggression (i.e., adults displayed more reparation and reprimands for physical aggression). With respect to ethnicity, African Americans generally reacted more strongly to aggression, though European Americans made more reparation responses than African Americans for physical aggression. With regard to gender, participants were more overreactive to boys being relationally aggressive than girls and less overreactive to boys being physically aggressive than girls, and this finding appeared to be largely accounted for by African American participants. Results point to the need for psychoeducation regarding the seriousness of relational aggression.