OBJECTIVES: Religiousness and spirituality have been shown to be beneficially associated with substance abuse, yet little is known regarding specific aspects thereof. Forgiveness has been shown to be associated with alcohol-related outcomes largely through better mental health. The indirect role of social support, broadly defined, has also been examined but little if any association has been detected. METHODS: Through cross-sectional multiple mediation analyses we examined 2 dimensions of social support, constructive social support and social undermining, as possible mediators of the forgiveness-alcohol outcome relationship. RESULTS: Among college students identified as likely to be hazardous or harmful drinkers (n=126; ♀=60%; white=85%), we found social undermining but not constructive social support, to play a role in the relationship between forgiveness and overall problems with alcohol, consumption, dependence symptoms, negative consequences of use, and risk for relapse. Further, such relationships were observed for forgiveness of self and feeling forgiven by God, but not forgiveness of others. CONCLUSIONS: Both forgiveness of self and feeling forgiven by God were individually associated with less perceived social undermining, which in turn was associated with fewer alcohol-related problems. In addition, in certain instances, direct associations between forgiveness and fewer alcohol-related problems remained. In sum, examining multidimensional social support provides clarity to its role in the forgiveness-addiction association and reinforces the importance of understanding the multidimensional nature of all variables under consideration when conducting forgiveness-based research.

This dissertation addresses both the terminological diversity problem raised in the workplace aggression literature and the mechanism by which workplace aggression may impact job performance in a series of studies. In addressing the first question, the factor structure of incivility, interpersonal conflict, bullying, abusive supervision, and social undermining was investigated using a single factor model and a second order model. . Data was collected across two studies consisting of samples of 410 students and 247 working adults, respectively. The results indicated relatively better fit for the second order model, showing all of the workplace aggression constructs items loading on their original construct. The unique variance contributed by workplace aggression constructs was also tested in study two using self-rated performance ratings and the experience of flow-states. The results indicated that there were no tangible differences in the variance explained between the five aggression construct. Together, these findings suggest that there is a terminological diversity problem in the workplace aggression literature as each construct may be tapping into the same latent workplace aggression variable. Further, the indirect effect of workplace aggression through the experience of flow states was supported using multi-wave data. This dissertation highlight the current state of the literature, supporting our understanding that the experience of workplace aggression is both detrimental to work related performance and impacts the mechanisms individuals use in engaging with the world around them.

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Relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Illness Perceptions among Individuals with Fibromyalgia by Susan D. Fay MS, Drexel University, 1994 BS, Metropolitan State University of Denver, 1983 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Psychology Walden University February 2015 Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including abuse and neglect, are a significant social health problem. Exposure to ACEs can place a child at a high risk for developing different diseases or illnesses in adulthood, including fibromyalgia. The purpose of this study was to determine if exposure to ACEs, moderated by perceived social support and/or social undermining, would result in more negative illness perceptions of personal control and/or treatment control. A survey research design was used in this quantitative study. Purposive convenience sampling methods were used to solicit 231 participants to complete an online survey. Moderated multiple regression analysis was used to assess the moderating roles of perceived social support and social undermining on the relationship between ACEs with personal control and treatment control facets of illness perceptions among individuals with fibromyalgia. Developmental traumatology, allostatic load, social support, social undermining, and illness perceptions served as the theoretical and empirical foundation for this study. Social undermining was found to be a significant moderator of the relationship between sexual abuse, perceived social support, and personal control perceptions, F(7, 174) = 1.28, p <.001, but only when levels of social undermining were moderate to high. The relationship was not significant for treatment control perceptions as the criterion variable, or for physical or emotional abuse as predictor variables. Positive social change implications include an expanded knowledge of important social and psychological factors that influence the health of fibromyalgia patients, especially those exposed to sexual abuse. Such information can assist health care providers develop more effective therapies, treatments, and screening protocols.