Eating disorders are debilitating psychiatric conditions which often result in severe impairment in many life domains. The sociocultural model specifies mechanisms through which sociocultural pressure leads to eating pathology among young women (Stice, 1994) and posits that exposure to the Western cultural thin ideal, internalization of the ideal and experience of a difference between self and ideal leads to body dissatisfaction, which is a well validated precursor to eating pathology. The current research examined whether the relationships between awareness of Western appearance ideals, internalization of such ideals, and body dissatisfaction were moderated by family food-related experiences and self-compassion. The current paper also investigated whether the strength of relationships between awareness of Western appearance ideals, internalization of such ideals, and body dissatisfaction are affected by certain types of family food-related experiences. Female university students (N = 106) completed self-report questionnaires. Results indicated that mindfulness, a constituent of self-compassion, moderated the relationship between internalization of cultural thinness standards and body dissatisfaction. In addition, self-compassion, each component of self-compassion and women’s perception of negative maternal family food-related experiences predicted internalization of Western societal norms of thinness, as well as body dissatisfaction. Moreover, women’s perception of negative paternal family food-related experiences predicted body dissatisfaction. Women’s perception of negative maternal commentary predicted internalization of Western beauty standards and body dissatisfaction. Finally, women’s perception of negative paternal commentary and paternal modelling of eating difficulties and body image concerns predicted internalization of those values. Future research should attempt to clarify causal relationships among self-compassion and family food-related experiences within the sociocultural model of eating disorders.

Tjugo procent av alla människor är högkänsliga (HSP = Highly Sensitive Person), vilket innebär att de är födda med ett känsligt nervsystem. Många HSP upplever negativa konsekvenser i sin vardag som påverkar livskvaliteten. Eftersom gruppen HSP är så stor och kopplingen HSP, livskvalitet och självmedkänsla inte specifikt har undersökts, var det relevant att göra den här enkätundersökningen. De undersökta frågeställningar är: Finns det inom gruppen HSP angående variablerna: Livskvalitet, Självmedkänsla, Högkänslighet, BIS, BAS, Extraversion och Neuroticism (a) signifikanta samband mellan samtliga variablerna? (b) Till vilken grad förklarar variablerna Livskvalitet och Högkänslighet? (c) Finns det könsskillnader angående samtliga variablerna? (d) Finns det ett positivt samband mellan Högkänslighet och Ålder? De 111 deltagare var medlemmar i Sveriges Förening för Högkänsliga och samtliga var enligt självskattning HSP, som bekräftades av insamlade data. Deltagargruppen bestod av 93 kvinnor (84%) och 18 män (16%) och genomsnittsålder var 50 år, där lägsta åldern var 35 år och högsta 70. Samtliga frågeställningar har besvarats genom analysmetoderna: Pearsons korrelationsanalys, Standard Multipel Linjär Regression och T-test. Det viktigaste resultatet var att kopplingen mellan HSP och självmedkänsla bidrog med ny kunskap, där slutsatsen blev att utövandet av självmedkänsla kan bidra till att aktivt öka graden av livskvalitet för HSP. Det starkaste sambandet i studien förelåg mellan BIS och neuroticism, vilket betyder att vid en ökning av BIS, ökar graden av negativ affekt och vice versa; resultatet låg i linje med tidigare forskning. Två oväntade resultat var att (a) drivkraften (BASDrive) predicerade högkänslighet mest till skillnad från litteraturen som pekar åt BIS och neuroticism som skulle ha starkast koppling och (b) att graden av högkänslighet sjönk vid ökad ålder; vilket talar emot tidigare forskning. Uppsatsen är en relevant informationskälla för HSP och alla andra som interagerar med HSP. / Twenty percent of all people are highly sensitive (HSP = Highly Sensitive Person) which means that they are born with a sensitive nervous system. Many HSP's are experiencing negative consequences in their everyday lives that affect their quality of life. As the group HSP is large and the correlation between HSP, quality of life and self-compassion is not specifically is investigated, the present study was relevant. The examined questions are: Is there within the group of HSP regarding Quality of Life, Self-compassion, High sensitivity, BIS, BAS, Extraversion and Neuroticism (a) significant correlations between the variables? (b) To what extend do the variables explain Quality of Life and High Sensitivity? (c) Are there gender differences regarding the variables? (d) Is there a positive correlation between High Sensitivity and Age? The 111 participants were members of the Sveriges Förening för Högkänsliga and all were HSP according to self-assessment, which also was confirmed by the data collected. The group of participants consisted of 93 women (84%) and 18 men (16%) and the average age was 50, where the lowest age was 35 years and the highest 70. All questions were answered by these analytical methods: Pearson's correlation analysis, Standard Multiple Linear Regression and T-test. The main outcome was that the link between HSP and self-compassion contributed to new knowledge, which concluded that the practice of Self-compassion can help to actively increase the level of quality of life for HSP's. The strongest correlation in the study was between BIS and neuroticism, which means that at an increase of BIS, the degree of negative affect also increased and vice versa; the result was in line with previous research. Two unexpected results were that (a) the driving force (BASDrive) predicted high sensitivity most, unlike the literature suggesting that BIS and neuroticism would have the strongest connection and (b) the degree of high sensitivity decreased with increase in age; which contradicts earlier research. The essay is a relevant source of information for the HSP and all others who are interacting with HSP.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), as defined by the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000), is a multifaceted mental illness characterized by pervasive instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, affect and behavior. Despite a growing consensus that the etiological basis of BPD stems from a combination of biological vulnerability and an early developmental history characterized by invalidation, abuse and/or neglect (e.g., Clarkin, Marziali, & Munroe-Blum, 1991; Linehan, 1993), the reasons for the diversity of troubling symptoms (e.g., self-injury, suicidality, mood reactivity, relationship difficulties) remain unclear. Psychopathology theorists differ in their conceptualization of the fundamental problems (e.g., impulsivity vs. identity disturbance vs. emotion dysregulation) underlying BPD and further research is needed to clarify which features are central to the maintenance of the difficulties associated with the disorder. In the current research, the some of the tenets of Linehan’s (1993) biosocial theory of BPD and the core constructs implicated in her conceptualization of the disorder were explored empirically in several samples of undergraduate university students. According to the biosocial theory, difficulties regulating emotions represent the core pathology in the disorder and contribute causally to the development and expression of all other BPD features. The emotional dysregulation is proposed to emerge from transactional interactions between individuals with biological vulnerabilities (i.e., a highly arousable temperament, sensitive to both positive and negative emotional stimuli) and specific environmental influences (i.e., a childhood environment that invalidates their emotional experience). The theory asserts that the dysregulation affects all aspects of emotional responding, resulting in (i) heightened emotional sensitivity, (ii) intense and more frequent responses to emotional stimuli, and (iii) slow return to emotional baseline. Furthermore, Linehan proposed that individuals with BPD lack clarity with respect to their emotions, have difficulties tolerating intense affect, and engage in maladaptive and inadequate emotion modulation strategies. As a result of their dysfunctional response patterns during emotionally challenging events , individuals with BPD fail to learn how to solve the problems contributing to these emotional reactions. In accordance with this theory, a number of hypotheses were tested. First, it was hypothesized that the interaction between temperamental sensitivity and an adverse childhood environment would predict BPD features over and above that predicted by either construct independently. Second, it was hypothesized that BPD traits would be predicted by high levels of emotional dysregulation (affect lability), problems across different aspects of emotional experience (e.g., intensity, awareness, clarity), and deficits in emotion regulation skills (e.g., poor distress tolerance, self-soothing). Based on the initial findings of the research, a series of competing hypotheses were tested that addressed the nature of the emotional, cognitive and motivational mechanisms that may underlie maladaptive behavior in BPD more directly. Prior to testing these hypotheses, it was important to select a set of measures that would best represent these constructs within an undergraduate population. The purpose of Studies 1a and 1b (N = 147 and N = 56, respectively) was to determine the reliability and validity of a series of self-report measures that assess BPD features and to select one questionnaire with high sensitivity (percentage of cases correctly identified) and high specificity (percentage of noncases correctly identified) as a screener for BPD within undergraduate students by comparing the results of the questionnaires against a “gold standard” criterion diagnosis of BPD (as assessed by two semi-structured interviews: DIB-R and IPDE-I). The second goal of these studies was to conduct a preliminary exploratory analysis of the association of scores on the BPD measures and constructs that have been hypothesized to be relevant to the development and maintenance of BPD symptoms (e.g., “Big Five” personality factors, emotional experience, impulsivity). Overall, the findings of Studies 1a and 1b indicated that screening for BPD in an undergraduate population is feasible and there are several questionnaires that may help in the identification of participants for future studies. Specifically, the McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-BPD; Zanarini et al., 2003), International Personality Disorder Examination DSM-IV Screening Questionnaire (IPDE-S; Loranger, 1999) and Borderline Personality Questionnaire (BPQ; Poreh et al., 2006) were all found to be internally consistent and valid screening measures. Furthermore, the results of correlation and regression analyses between dimensions of the “Big Five” and scores on the BPD measures were consistent with previous findings in the literature that BPD is associated with higher scores on neuroticism, lower scores on agreeableness, and to a lesser degree, lower scores on conscientiousness and extraversion. The similarity in results between the current and past studies suggested that individuals in the present samples showed characteristics consistent with that seen in both clinical and nonclinical populations with BPD traits. The results also provided support for the notion that individuals with BPD have a lower threshold (i.e., greater sensitivity) for both sensory and affective stimuli, as well as higher amplitude of emotional response (i.e., greater reactivity) to such stimuli. Furthermore, the findings suggested that those with BPD traits may lack understanding of their emotional state, may be unable to effectively regulate their emotional state, and that their impulsive behavior may be driven by negative affect. The purpose of Study 2 (N = 225) was to test some of the specific tenets of Linehan’s (1993) biosocial theory. The results suggested that BPD traits are associated with numerous dimensions of temperament [e.g., higher levels of negative affect; lower levels of positive affect; lower levels of effortful control; low sensory threshold (i.e., greater sensitivity) for both sensory and affective stimuli; ease of excitation (i.e., greater reactivity to sensory and affective stimuli)] and childhood environment (e.g., authoritarian parenting style, invalidating parenting, neglect, abuse). An examination of the interactions between dimensions of temperament and childhood environment suggested that interactions between (i) ease of excitation (greater reactivity to sensory and affective stimuli) and environment and (ii) trait negative affect and environment, predicted BPD symptoms over and above the temperament and environment variables alone. The results also suggested that a number of other factors are associated with BPD symptoms, including: increased attention to (or absorption in) emotional states, poor emotional clarity, affect lability (particularly anger), poor distress tolerance, and negative urgency (impulsive behavior in the context of negative affect). The association between BPD symptoms and difficulties identifying feelings seemed to be mediated by affect lability and negative urgency. Self-soothing and self-attacking did not predict BPD traits over and above the other variables. Wagner and Linehan (1999) also proposed that the intense emotions (and emotional dysregulation) experienced by those with BPD interferes with cognitive functioning and effective problem solving, resulting in poor decisions and the observed harmful behaviors. Other researchers have suggested that the repetitive, self-damaging behavior occurring in the context of BPD may reflect impairments in planning and failure to consider future consequences (e.g., van Reekum et al., 1994). Proponents of this view suggest that individuals with BPD show greater intensity and lability in their emotional response to their environment because they are unable to inhibit or moderate their emotional urges (i.e., impulsivity is at the core of the disorder). The purpose of Study 3 (N = 220) was to characterize decision making in an undergraduate sample of individuals with BPD traits and to ascertain the relative contribution of individual differences in the following areas to any deficits identified in decision making: emotional experience (e.g., increased affective reactivity or lability); reinforcement sensitivity (e.g., sensitivity to reward and/or punishment); impulsivity; executive functioning (measured by an analogue version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test); and reversal learning. Decision making was assessed using modified versions of two Iowa Gambling Tasks (IGT-ABCD and IGT-EFGH; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994; Bechara, Tranel, & Damasio, 2000) that included reversal learning components (i.e., Turnbull et al., 2006). The results of Study 3 showed that participants in the BPD group demonstrated deficits in decision-making as measured by the IGT-ABCD but not on the IGT-EFGH. The results [interpreted in the context of reinforcement sensitivity models, the somatic marker hypothesis (Damasio, 1994) and the “frequency of gain” model e.g., Chiu et al. 2008)] suggested that decision making under uncertainty may be guided by gain-loss frequency rather than long-term outcome for individuals with BPD traits. The results failed to show consistent associations between BPD symptoms and performance on either version of the IGT. Individual differences in emotional experience, executive functioning or reversal learning did not account for the decision-making problems of the BPD group on the IGT-ABCD.

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a serious disorder with severe consequences for the individual, the family and for society. Comorbidity is common in the SUD population and the diversity of the disorder calls for a multiplicity of treatment options. The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the role of affects in psychotherapy for SUD. Further aims were to investigate affect-focused therapeutic orientations, demonstrate the importance of common factors and evaluate a measure of affect phobia. In Study I a naturalistic design was employed to examine how the discrepancy between patients' expectations and experience of psychotherapy related to alliance in 41 patients: 24 in individual therapy and 17 in group. An additional analysis concerned whether different dimensions of role expectations predicted retention in psychotherapy. Study II was the first psychometric evaluation of the Affect phobia test – a test developed to screen the ability to experience, express and regulate emotions. Data were collected from two samples: A clinical sample of 82 patients with depression and/or anxiety participating in a randomized controlled trial of Internet-based affect-focused treatment, and a university student sample of 197 students. Data analysed included internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor analysis and calculation of an empirical cut-off. Study III focused on the feasibility of individual 10 week Affect Phobia Therapy (APT) for patients diagnosed with mild to moderate alcohol use disorder (AUD) and problematic affective avoidance in a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design. Study IV comprised an evaluation of the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of APT adapted to a structured group format for patients (n=22) with comorbid substance use disorder and ADHD with core features of affective avoidance/emotion dysregulation in an open design. In Study I an overall discrepancy between role expectations and experiences was significantly related to a lower level of therapeutic alliance in group therapy. This relationship was not found in individual therapy. Expectations prior to psychotherapy characterized by defensiveness correlated negatively with therapy retention, even when controlling for waiting time for therapy. In Study II the internal consistency for the total score on the Affect phobia test was satisfactory but it was not for the affective domains, Anger/Assertion, Sadness/Grief, and Attachment/Closeness. Test retest reliability was satisfactory. The exploratory factor analysis resulted in a six-factor solution and only moderately matched the test´s original affective domains. An empirical cut-off between the clinical and the university student sample were calculated and yielded a cut-off of 72 points. In Study III patients reported no adverse events due to the treatment and finished the whole study period. The patients had different trajectories of alcohol consumption and craving and the hypothesis that heavy episodic drinking would subside during the time in therapy did not hold true. In Study IV patients reported significant pre-to post changes in increased self-compassion and decreased affect phobia but no change in psychological distress or emotion dysregulation. Craving fluctuated throughout the study period and patients’ drinking pattern changed in the direction of more social drinking. Main conclusions are the following: The Affect Phobia Test is a useful screening instrument for detecting emotional difficulties related to psychological malfunction. APT in both group and individual format are feasible treatments for the SUD population and has the potential to broaden the treatment options for some patients with SUD. Investigating expectations and fears prior to therapy may be means to prevent attrition. / Substansberoende är en allvarlig störning och samsjuklighet ofta förekommande Den stora variationen av svårigheter kräver olika behandlingsalternativ. Syftet med avhandlingen var att undersöka affekters roll i psykoterapi för populationen. Ytterligare syften var att undersöka betydelsen av gemensamma faktorer i psykoterapi samt normera ett självskattningsformulär för affektfobi. I studie I undersöktes skillnaden mellan patienters förväntningar, erfarenheter av terapi och allians. I studie II utvärderades de psykometriska egenskaperna hos affektfobitestet. I studie III och IV undersöktes genomförbarheten av affektfobiterapi individuellt och i grupp. Resultaten av studierna visade att större skillnad mellan rollförväntningar inför- och erfarenheter av terapi var signifikant korrelerade med lägre allians i gruppterapi. Affektfobitestets psykometriska egenskaper var tillfredsställande avseende skalan som helhet. Affektfobiterapi visade sig öka adaptiv affektiv förmåga och självmedkänsla, men behandlingen gav inget säkert stöd för påverkan på substansbruket. Slutsatserna är att fokus på affekter i terapi för substansberoende har betydelse och att affektfobiterapi är en genomförbar behandling för populationen. Genom att undersöka förväntningar och rädslor inför terapi kan avhopp förhindras. / <p>Information om opponent saknas Information about opponent is missing</p>

This thesis focuses on the topic self-acceptance in order to describe the contemporary place of this phenomenon in the context of well-being. The aim is to extent the knowledge of accepting relationship to the self thanks to comparison with other, relevant concepts. The theoretical part of this work introduces the actual conception of positive psychology, the latest aproaches to well- being and is also about the topic self-system. There are also describe concepts as self-acceptance, self-copassion, internalized shame a dispositional optimism. In the empirical part, there is examined the research hypotheses about existence the relationships between unconditional self- acceptance and other concepts, which are measured by czech translations of these questionnaire methods: Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire (USAQ), Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-CZ), Internalized Shame Scale (ISS) a Life Orientation Test - Revised (LOT-R). It was conducted on the sample of 215 respondents od czech population. Results show the statistically significant relationship between unconditional self-acceptance and all the other concepts. There was further found high correlation between self-compassion and internalized shame and middle correlation between self-compassion and dispositional optimism. Also statistically...

Self-compassion is a characteristic composed of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness that promotes adaptive cognitive, behavioral, and emotional processing. A self-compassionate mindset in the face of difficulties can lead to less anxiety and more self-forgiveness, and because of these benefits, some evidence suggests self-compassionate individuals tend to persist longer on a task after an initial failure. This study focuses on the extent to which self-compassion can improve task performance and persistence under pressure. Participants first completed the Self-Compassion Scale (Neff, 2003a) to measure trait levels of self-compassion. Self-compassion was then induced by leading participants to think about a mistake in terms of the components of self-compassion. Pressure was manipulated by stating that task performance on a series of logic problems was indicative of intelligence. Multiple regressions were conducted to explore the potential effects of both trait and induced self-compassion, as well as task pressure, as predictors of objective and subjective measures of performance and persistence. Analyses revealed that for controls, performance and persistence were highly contingent on pressure, while self-compassionately primed individuals tended to perform and persist more consistently across pressure scenarios. Additionally, self-compassionate individuals were more accurate with regard to subjective ratings of their objective performances. The realistic self-appraisals that self-compassionate individuals harbor offer a potential explanation for these unusual findings. Furthermore, it is recommended that future research focus on the connections between self-compassion and self-esteem during task performance, as well as strengthening the pressure and self-compassion manipulations.

Self-compassion is defined as the ability to treat oneself kindly following perceived failures and/or painful events; this construct is characterized by three components: self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness (Neff, 2003). Although some people may naturally be more self-compassionate than others, previous self-compassion manipulations have shown that self-compassion is a mindset that can be taught. Several short-term self-compassion inductions have been published (Adams & Leary, 2007; Breines & Chen, 2012; Leary, Tate, Adams, Allen, & Hancock, 2007) showing that such inductions lead to more positive emotional and behavioral outcomes. The purpose of this research study was to determine whether a short self-compassion induction would impact people’s responses to an imagined sexual assault scenario. Female undergraduates (N = 141) were randomly assigned to a self-compassion condition or a control. All participants imagined a vivid sexual assault scenario and rated how they anticipated they would feel following the scenario (i., e emotion, less identity, fault, state self-compassion, formal and informal disclosure, and future behavioral intentions). Women who received the self-compassion induction experienced less negative effects following the scenario than participants in the control condition. Some of these effects (e.g., negative emotion, negative identity, formal and informal disclosure) were moderated by past sexual assault experiences showing that the self-compassion induction was more effective for women with no previous sexual assault experience. Comparing groups based on sexual assault history revealed the benefits of a short self-compassion induction may be limited to those with no previous experience. If applied to domestic violence programs, we recommend using a longer self-compassion intervention.

<div> <div> <div> <p>The current study examines the relationships between frequency of yoga practice and outcomes of self-compassion, couple satisfaction, and family functioning. Yoga and other forms of Eastern medicine have become increasingly popular in Western culture. Not only has yoga become more appealing to the general population, it has also become more widely accepted and has been more frequently integrated into various mental health treatments. Using a cross-sectional design, this study analyzed data from an online questionnaire regarding systemic outcomes of yoga participants (N = 115). A three-step hierarchical regression analysis was completed to test significance between predictor and outcome variables. The results showed a significant relationship between social reason for practicing yoga and family functioning. This study indicates that families who practice yoga together may have healthier family functioning. The results highlight the potential of yoga as a therapeutic intervention for clinicians working with families.<br> </p> </div> </div> </div>

Objective: Self-stigma in overweight and obese individuals has strong associations with impairment in mental and global health. This study sought to explore self-compassion as a psychological resource in the self-stigma process. Methods: In a 2012 representative German population survey of N = 1,158 overweight and obese individuals, self-compassion was examined as a mediator between self-stigma and mental and physical health outcomes, including BMI (kg/m 2 ), using structural equation modeling and controlling for sociodemographic factors. Results: Psychological variables were assessed using validated self-report questionnaires. Self-compassion partially mediated the relationships between self-stigma and depression, somatic symptoms, and health status / quality of life, lowering the predictive effect of self-stigma on the outcomes by approximately one-third. In contrast, self-compassion, because it was unrelated to BMI, did not mediate the association between self-stigma and BMI. Conclusion: Self-compassion has the potential to act as a buffer against the mental and global health detriments of self-stigma in overweight and obesity and could thus represent a target for interventions to reduce self-stigma and prevent these health impairments. In order to influence the association between self-stigma and BMI, self-compassion should conceptually be linked to weight management.

Stress, especially the chronic one, plays an essential role in the quality of human health, work, relationships and life in general. In recent years, scientific research in areas such as medicine, psychology or neuroscience has become increasingly interested in the effects of mindfulness training on the human psyche and health. In this context, clinical mindfulness-based training programs are usually examined. The aim of this work was to map the effect of the clinical program Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), which is widely used abroad, on the level of stress. The theoretical part focuses on the existing knowledge about the effects of the MBSR program on health and personal well-being and the proposed mechanisms of action. The research part, in turn, on the knowledge of the effects of this program on stress and quality of life of participants in this program through quantitative research aimed at measuring changes in stress levels and qualitative research, analyzing interviews with program participants. The main result of the research part is the finding that the effect of the MBSR program on stress is an important part of the effects of this intervention and its completion may lead to a reduction of perceived stress (N = 190, p < .001, d = 0.81). Qualitative research found that the...