The present study was designed to evaluate an instrumental hypothesis of depression proposed by Hokanson and his colleagues, according to which depressive behavior is viewed as an attempt to elicit desired social outcomes such as the minimization of interpersonal stress. Depressed and nondepressed subjects' performance expectations, self-evaluations, and causal attributions for success and failure were assessed on each of multiple trials of a social interaction task, in both a public and a private disclosure setting. Seligman's original formulation of the learned helplessness model predicts that depressed subjects in both disclosure conditions, relative to nondepressed subjects, would manifest less trial-to-trial variation in performance expectancy ratings in response to variable performance feedback across trials. Beck's model predicts that depressed subjects in both conditions, relative to nondepressed subjects, would evaluate their own task performance less favorably. The attributional reformulation of the learned helplessness model predicts that depressed subjects in both conditions, relative to nondepressed subjects, would make more internal, stable attributions for failure and more external, unstable attributions for success. On the basis of the instrumental hypothesis, it was predicted that each of the above depressed-nondepressed differences would be evident in the public disclosure condition only. / Results indicated support for the instrumental hypothesis from the self-evaluation data but not from the expectancy or attribution data. In the public condition, the self-evaluations of depressed subjects were significantly lower than those of the nondepressed group, whereas there was no such difference between the two groups in the private condition. No significant differences between the two subject groups emerged on the performancy expectancy measures, in either the public or private condition. One finding on the attributional measures supported the reformulated helplessness model: In both the public and private conditions, depressed subjects, relative to nondepressed subjects, made significantly lower attributions of success to an internal, stable factor (ability). No other significant group differences were found on attributional measures, in either the public or private condition. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-11, Section: B, page: 3631. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

The present study investigated the effects of non-sex-typed films on children's occupational stereotyping. In addition, the relationship between parental characteristics and children's occupational beliefs was explored. As background for the study, social learning theory was discussed in relation to sex role development as was research in the areas of sex differences in occupational stereotyping, interventions aimed at reducing occupational stereotyping, and parental influences on occupational beliefs. The purpose of this study was to determine whether films portraying male and females in both traditional and nontraditional roles would serve to reduce children's occupational stereotyping. Subjects were 24 male and 25 female first grade students who were randomly assigned to a traditional or nontraditional film condition. Subjects in the traditional condition were exposed to films in which males and females were depicted in sex-stereotyped roles. Subjects in the nontraditional condition were exposed to films portraying males and females in both sex-stereotyped and nonstereotyped roles. Subjects viewed the films for six consecutive days. Results indicated that short term exposure to role models in nontraditional roles was ineffective in reducing occupational stereotyping. A sex difference revealed that boys and girls differed in their self-perceived occupational abilities with boys being more stereotyped than girls. Sexual composition of same sex parent's occupation was found to relate to child's occupational stereotypes. Traditionality of mother's occupation was positively related to girls' self-perceived occupational abilities. In contrast, nontraditionality of father's occupation was positively related to boys' overall occupational stereotypes. The evidence did not support a relationship between parental sex role type, education level or income and child's level of occupational stereotyping. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: B, page: 1336. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.

In this study, the effectiveness of a self-directed form of stress inoculation training for flight phobia was examined. Thirty flight phobic volunteers were randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a delayed treatment group. Treatment effectiveness was assessed through (a) self-reported fear, (b) participation in a one hour flight, (c) in-flight measures of pulse rate and subjective anxiety and (d) participation in flights during a two month follow-up. Compliance with the treatment manual was high (79%) as compared to 30-50% reported in a recent review. The effectiveness of the treatment is discussed in terms of previous research and current theoretical conceptualizations of fear and anxiety. Future research recommendations are offered. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-10, Section: B, page: 4526. / Major Professor: Jack G. May. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

Treatment outcome studies of social phobia are equivocal relative to the superiority of two interventions, in vivo exposure and cognitive restructuring. Reasons include the condition that is studied, i.e., generalized (multiple fears) or simple (specific fear) phobia, methodological and practical constraints on treatments, the severity of the disorder, and the inherent efficacy of each intervention. In the current study, in vivo exposure and cognitive restructuring were contrasted in an applied investigation of an uncommon but debilitating social phobia, psychogenic urinary retention (PUR). The study was undertaken in a federal prison where random urinalysis is conducted under public scrutiny. Eight inmate volunteers who met criteria for PUR were treated with either in vivo exposure or cognitive restructuring. Employing a multiple baseline design across subjects, improvement was evaluated daily across behavioral indices (latency to onset of urination, duration of urination, urinating to desired volume), and subjective (SUDS) ratings of distress. Attitudinal change during the study and urges to urinate were also monitored. Follow-up probes after the project was terminated were also conducted. One subject improved during baseline prior to the implementation of his treatment. Of the remaining inmates, response to the cognitive intervention was poor. Three of six inmates demonstrated variable improvement with exposure, ranging from minor to total amelioration. Improvement was based on behavioral criteria, decreases in rated subjective distress, and changes in attitudinal measures, all with unchanged urges to urinate relative to baseline. Factors impeding greater improvement with exposure were infrequent and low attendance rates to treatment sessions due to environmental constraints, increased subject inattention to treatment guidelines, and anticipatory / distress. There were, however, suggestive data indicating that more severe manifestations of PUR may be unresponsive to either treatment. The use of a single-subject design is discussed, among other points, in terms of its value to the study of an unusual disorder. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: B, page: 6103. / Major Professor: Jon Bailey. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

A study was conducted to test the self-presentation hypotheses that depressives and nondepressives respond differently in public and private settings, and that these differences would be augmented when given a negative expectancy. Subjects were randomly assigned to either an inhibitory expectancy or control condition and placed in both public and private settings. Subjects performed two short-term memory tasks, administered self-reinforcement, and selected from lists of positive and negative questions with the expectancy of gaining feedback about themselves based on their selections. Depressives performed the recall tasks less efficiently than nondepressives independent of both setting and expectancy. However, depressives reinforced themselves significantly more in the private setting compared to the public setting. No effect of expectancy was observed. Depressives selected more negative and less positive feedback than nondepressives, irrespective of setting. The findings partially supported the self-presentational model of depressive behavior. Results are discussed in terms of various motivational models of depression and the need to be sensitive to the nature of the particular behaviors one chooses to examine. A new model of depression, which hypothesizes a functional role of depressive behavior in service of anxiety reduction, is offered, and clinical implications discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-01, Section: B, page: 0516. / Major Professor: Daniel R. Boroto. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

Measures of psychological distress were obtained from roommates of college students (targets) who had been categorized into experimental groups on the basis of diagnostic interviews using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Both initial diagnosis and any change in diagnosis evidenced during the study were established by these interviews. The target groups established were: unremitted depressives, remitted depressives, new case depressives, other psychopathology controls and normal controls. The psychological adjustment of roommates of target subjects was assessed at three time periods. We investigated whether the diagnostic status of the target was reflected in the roommate's endorsement on measures of psychological distress. During the early stages of the roommate relationship, roommates of persistently depressed subjects (unremitted depressives) were found to show a significant increase in distress on our psychological measures. In contrast to the roommates of unremitted depressives, roommates of other psychopathology controls and normal controls showed a decrease in distress. The psychological adjustment of roommates of individuals whose depression abated (remitted depressives) and roommates of individuals, who became depressed over the course of the study (new cases) did not reflect the diagnostic status of their live-in target roommate. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-09, Section: B, page: 4596. / Major Professor: Jack Eric Hokanson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

The goal of the present experiment was to identify individual differences that predict exactly which subjects drink more alcohol when faced with an acute social stressor. Forty-two male and 42 female social drinker undergraduates were participants in a two-session study employing a within-subjects design. During each session the subjects were given an opportunity to consume their preferred alcoholic beverage during a 30-minute ad lib drinking period. The first (Baseline) session was used to establish an index of routine alcohol consumption, while in the second (Experimental) session subjects drank while anticipating the required delivery of a self-disclosing speech that was to be videotaped and intensively evaluated. In connection with these sessions subjects completed a number of individual difference measures thought to be theoretically relevant to the prediction of changes in drinking occasioned by exposure to social stressors. Standard and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate the utility of the various individual difference measures in predicting changes in absolute alcohol consumption from Baseline to Experimental drinking session. Results indicated that a small but significant overall increase in drinking from session one to two was evident, thereby replicating the findings of previous research on drinking and social stress. More important, however, was the demonstration that these results for aggregate groups of subjects could be further refined by using a small number of the individual difference predictors. Specifically, it was found that subjects high in trait social anxiety and males who held strong expectations that alcohol would enhance their social assertiveness exhibited the greatest increase in drinking when exposed to social stress. Of all the other individual differences analyzed, none produced more than a / trivial increment in the portion of variance in drinking behavior explained. These findings considerably extend earlier work on stress-induced drinking and underscore the individual specificity of this phenomenon. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-09, Section: B, page: 4599. / Major Professor: Alan R. Lang. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

Brickman (1982) presented four models of helping and coping that encompass responsibility for a problem and for the solution to a problem. In the moral model, responsibility for the problem and responsibility for the solution to the problem belong to the client. In the medical model neither the responsibility for the problem or the solution to the problem belong to the client. Within the enlightenment model the client is responsible for the problem, but not for the solution. In the compensatory model the client is not responsible for the problem, but is responsible for the solution. / Eighty-three psychologists and psychiatrists read four intake summaries of four ficticious clients describing the clients' alcohol problems. Problem statements were drawn from symptoms of mild alcohol dependence as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Third Revised Edition). A panel of expert judges assured that problem statements were of equal weight for a diagnosis of mild alcohol dependence. Also in the summaries were statements of responsibility for the problem and for the solution to the problem. After reading each summary the subjects made a diagnosis and rated clients for severity on the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale. After the subjects completed all of the summaries, they filled out a professional background data sheet. / It was hypothesized that clients' attributions of responsibility would differentially affect clinicians' judgments about diagnosis and severity. / Results of 2 x 2 Analysis of Variance suggested that patient attributions had little effect on subjects' judgments. Regression results pointed to therapists' theoretical orientations as predicting diagnoses. A 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 analysis demonstrated a four way interaction between clients' and subjects' attributions for the cause and the solution to clients' problems affecting subjects' decisions about the severity of clients' problems. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: B, page: 2079. / Major Professor: E. Jane Burkhead. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

This study examined the predictors of post-combat violent behavior in Vietnam veterans. Phone interview and archival data were used to obtain information on the predictor variables of mental disorder, combat exposure, exposure to abusive violence, the demographic variables of education and race, and the criterion variables of post-combat violent legal history and self-report of recent violence. Subjects were 74 veterans. Eleven subjects had a sole diagnosis of PTSD, 30 had a comorbid mood disorder, 2 had a comorbid anxiety disorder, and 31 had both comorbid mood and anxiety disorders. Eighty-one percent of subjects had a diagnosis of alcohol abuse, whereas only 43% met criteria for substance abuse. Nineteen percent of subjects reported no exposure to abusive violence, 23% reported witnessing, and 58% reported participating. Responses regarding recent violence indicated most veterans avoid conflict. If they act out, they do so verbally rather than physically. Thirty-four percent of subjects had no legal history, 19% had a history of nonviolent crime, 9% had a history of threat, 8% had inflicted mild physical injury on another person, 11% had caused serious physical injury, and 19% had multiple charges involving physical injury. The variables predicting violent legal history were significant with exposure to abusive violence and combat exposure making significant independent contributions. Questions and speculation regarding social isolation, overcontrol, physical agility, and correlates of education were offered in accounting for the results. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-12, Section: B, page: 7053. / Major Professor: Joyce L. Carbonell. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

Causal relationships between teacher feedback and children's peer preferences and perceptions were examined. Kindergarten, first, and second grade children (N = 149) viewed a videotape analog of a classroom scene in which a child actor (target of teacher feedback) exhibited a pattern of behavior characteristic of children at risk for peer rejection. Teacher feedback (audio portion of tape) varied across 5 conditions while child behavior was held constant. Feedback conditions consisted of: (A) neutral content; (B) positive feedback; (C) negative (corrective feedback); (D) combination of positive and negative feedback; and (E) feedback of a derogatory nature. Measures of preference, moral judgment, and positive and negative behavioral descriptions were collected. / Multivariate analyses of variance (2 (Sex) x 5(Condition)) revealed main effects for Condition only. Planned comparison tests indicated that teacher feedback was causally related to peer preferences and perceptions. Positive feedback resulted in significantly higher preference and moral judgment scores, and higher rates of nominations for positive descriptors. Differences between the negative (C and E) and neutral conditions were limited to the condition in which content of teacher feedback was more derogatory in nature. Higher rates of nominations for negative descriptions were obtained for both negative feedback versus neutral conditions. Comparisons between the "combination" and other conditions suggested that the presence of positive feedback diminished the impact of negative teacher feedback. An argument is made for the inclusion of "teacher manipulation of peer preference" as a component of empirical evaluations of treatment for rejected children. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-06, Section: B, page: 2640. / Major Professor: Janet Kistner. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.