Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation investigated the role of mental habits in well-being. There has been extensive research on how people form behavioural habits related to their physical health (e.g., diet and exercise), but there have been fewer theoretical and empirical attempts to understand how the same habitual processes might underlie mental health. By better understanding the role of habits in mental health, particularly habitual thinking, clinicians and researchers might be able to improve the treatments offered for mental health concerns (e.g., depression and anxiety). In the three studies presented in this dissertation, I aimed to integrate habit research with the study of mental health by examining the extent to which thoughts can be considered habitual. In Study 1, we conducted a scoping review to describe and summarize the existing literature on mental habits (as they relate to mental health). We screened 2817 articles and included 20 in the review. Of these 20 articles, we examined 24 separate studies and 4 commentaries on mental habits. When defining habits, researchers emphasized the importance of automaticity (described in 80% of articles) as a key factor in differentiating mental habits from other thinking processes. Most research studies used correlational research designs (71%) with university student samples (75%) measuring various constructs including negative self-thinking, worry, self-critical thinking, self-stigma, negative body image thinking, and emotion regulation. We found no articles that measured positive mental habits. Lastly, the concept of mental habits has been poorly integrated with related psychological constructs (e.g., automatic thinking, repetitive negative thinking). In Study 2, we developed two new measures of mental habits, the Positive Thought Automaticity Index (PTAI) and Negative Thought Automaticity Index (NTAI), that integrated the strengths of existing mental habit and automatic thought questionnaires. We then used these two measures to tease apart the roles of automaticity and frequency in predicting well-being outcomes. Based on two samples of participants from the United Kingdom and Canada, these new measures demonstrated predictive and concurrent validity, internal consistency reliability, and test-retest reliability. Positive and negative thought automaticity predicted well-being outcomes over and above thought frequency. Thought automaticity partially mediated the relationship between thought frequency and how much participants believe thoughts to be true. Overall, the results of Study 2 provided evidence of the utility of automaticity as a distinct thinking process compared to frequency. In Study 3, we examined a key component of mental habits that has been under-explored in the literature: the cues that precede automatic thoughts. Participants from the United Kingdom completed a questionnaire about the recent and past cues that have preceded their automatic thoughts. We analyzed the results using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Using thematic analysis, we coded participants responses using the PERMA (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Achievement) framework. We coded 92% of situations preceding negative thoughts and 97% of situations preceding positive thoughts as fitting within the PERMA framework. Participants described multiple cues preceding the same thought, with a median of five cues reported for both positive and negative thoughts. Participants also endorsed experiencing internal (e.g., emotions) and external (e.g., situations) cues as preceding thoughts in similar proportions. The results from Study 3 contribute to the mental habit literature by providing important information about the nature of the events preceding automatic thinking. Overall, this program of research connects several disparate areas of study (e.g., mental habits, automatic thinking) and provides new insights about how the conceptual framework of mental habits may be useful to both clinicians and researchers. By summarizing the existing research on mental habits (Study 1), distinguishing automatic from frequent thinking (Study 2), and better understanding the cues that precede automatic thoughts (Study 3), this dissertation attempts to clarify the role of habitual thinking in mental health. My intention is that the ideas in this dissertation will stimulate further discussions amongst habit researchers and clinicians, which will improve our understanding of mental health problems and how we treat them.

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LD2668 .T4 1966 B619 / Master of Science

Interrelationships among attitudes toward and practice of nutrition and health were determined from results of 335 responses to a survey mailed to members of a prepaid health plan in Portland, Oregon, in the Spring of 1981. The scales used to test attitudes included Subjective Index of General Well-Being, Health Locus of Control and the attitude "nutrition is important". Nutrition practices were determined from a one-day food record analyzed using Pennington's index nutrients. Health practices, including smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, hours of sleep, body weight in relation to standards and meal frequency, were analyzed to form a health practice score. Demographic characteristics of the population, including sex, age, marital status, employment status, education and income, were determined and correlated with all attitudes and practices. Interrelationships were tested using Pearson r and Chi-square correlations and multiple regression analysis. The population studied was characterized as married, employed, well educated and middle income. They felt well and in control of their health. Approximately 52 percent practiced several desirable health practices, about 90 percent had a positive attitude toward nutrition and only 22 percent scored above at least 66 percent of Dietary Nutrient Score considered adequate for adults while 33 percent had diets which did not meet 50 percent of this score. This study using members of a prepaid health plan supports the existing literature. Nutrition attitude, "nutrition is important," is correlated to nutrient intake. Health attitudes, general well-being and health locus of control, were correlated to health practices. In this study correlations among general well-being, health locus of control, nutrition attitude, health practices and nutrition practices were noted, however the correlations were not large enough to be predictive. Further study is recommended to define and develop these relationships. / Graduation date: 1982

Group-living, within the Hymenoptera, is restricted to taxa in which females return to their nests repeatedly with food for their offspring (multiple provisioning), increasing the opportunities for helping (e.g. by guarding the nest). Some solitary wasps provide only one large prey item per cell (single provisioning). <i>Ammophila sabulosa</i> (Sphecidae) females provision half of their cells singly and half multiply. The costs and benefits of these two alternatives are compared in terms of : a. Total weight of prey (caterpillars) provided. b. Time taken to capture and transport prey. c. The probability of intraspecific theft of prey from cells. d. The incidence of parasitism by miltogrammine flies. There is no evidence that either strategy is more successful than the other. An advantage of flexible provisioning is suggested by a study of <i>Anoplius viaticus</i> (Pompilidae), females of which provision all cells singly with spiders. Despite provisioning prey of a smaller size range than does <i>Ammophila</i>, total prey weight in <i>Anoplius</i> cells is more variable and dependent upon seasonal changes in prey availability. <i>Ammophila</i> females steal caterpillars from each others' nests, and both they and <i>Anoplius</i> females brood-parasitize cells of conspecifics. Intraspecific parasitism as an alternative nesting strategy is discussed and compared with work on other solitary wasps. Patterns of resource utilization are documented for the guild of spider-hunting pompilid wasps at one site. Data were collected on : a. Microhabitat utilization. b. Seasonal occurrence. c. Female size distributions. d. Prey species and sizes. Observed patterns of utilization and overlap are compared with 'neutral' models of guild structure in which various aspects of the species x resources utilized matrix are randomized. Some of the results are consistent with the idea that interspecific competition has partly determined pompilid guild structure, but problems of methodology and interpretation are discussed.

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