Major Depression (MD) currently affects over 17 million individuals in North America (Greenberg et al., 2003). Identifying factors predictive of MD treatment response is important for developing more efficacious treatments and better understanding MD vulnerability. The goal of the present study was to examine the main and interactive effects of personality and stressful life events as predictors of MD treatment response. One hundred and thirty-one clinically depressed participants were randomly assigned to either 16-weeks of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), or pharmacotherapy (PT). Personality in the form of trait self-criticism, neediness, and connectedness was assessed at pre and post-treatment using the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ; Blatt et al., 1976). Stressful life events experienced during treatment were assessed using the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (LEDS; Bifulco et al., 1989). Results revealed that amongst individuals scoring lower in pre-treatment self-criticism, higher pre-treatment connectedness predicted superior treatment response. As well, amongst individuals scoring lower in pre-treatment neediness, higher pre-treatment connectedness predicted superior treatment response. In terms of personality change, both a reduction in neediness and a reduction in self-criticism over the course of treatment predicted superior treatment response. A personality × stressful life event interaction was also found such that amongst those experiencing a stressful life event during treatment, higher scores on pre-treatment self-criticism predicted poor treatment response. These results suggest that personality and stressful life events play an important role in the treatment of MD. Limitations and clinical implications are discussed. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-28 12:08:15.84

Purpose: The purpose of this study was three-fold. Firstly, it examined whether there was a positive relationship between the two burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, for career women in particular. Secondly, this relationship was further examined by considering whether stressful life events and racial differences moderated the association between emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Thirdly, racial differences in depersonalisation were assessed. Motivation for study: In the fast paced environment of the 21st century, individuals are faced with increased demands which they need to address at an ever-increasing rate. This can translate into burnout, which is quickly becoming an epidemic. Existing theories on burnout postulate that burnout and its dimensions develop in a specific order, in that depersonalisation develops from increased levels of emotional exhaustion. Although several studies have tested this theory, limited research exists on how the relationship between emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation may be influenced by negative factors outside of the work environment (i.e., stressful life events). In addition, the relationship between the burnout dimensions has not been assessed in relation to racial differences in the unique cultural context of South Africa. Studies have shown that burnout is detrimental both on an individual and collective level, and can result in extensive cost implications for organisations. Therefore, this research could assist organisations, perhaps including South African organisations, to understand which factors may accelerate the occurrence and development of burnout and its dimensions. Subsequently, organisations may be advised to introduce tailored interventions to reduce or prevent burnout from occurring. Research design, approach, and method: A post-positivistic quantitative research strategy was used with a sample of 31 female participants, aged between 25 and 60 years of age. Participants were employed at a higher education institution in South Africa. Data were obtained through the use of an online questionnaire consisting of three measurement scales: the emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation scales from the Maslach Burnout Inventory General survey, and a stressful life events checklist. Data were analysed through the use of hierarchical multiple regression analysis and a one-way ANOVA. Main Findings: The results contradicted previous studies on burnout dimensions as the relationship between emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation was not significant. Furthermore, both stressful life events and race did not have a significant impact on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Finally, the different racial groups assessed in this study did not differ significantly in terms of levels of depersonalisation. Practical Implications: Based on the findings of this study, organisations should not gear burnout interventions toward specific groups of women, that is, women experiencing greater stressful life events or women from specific racial groups, as these factors do not appear to have an influence on the occurrence of burnout or its dimensions. In addition, the occurrence of depersonalisation does not seem to be avoided by addressing levels of emotional exhaustion in women. Contribution/value-add: The study makes a knowledge contribution to the existing gap in burnout research regarding the development of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, and the impact that stressful life events and race can have on this relationship. Even though the hypotheses were not supported, it adds value by equipping organisations with additional information regarding which factors to include or exclude when designing interventions to address burnout. / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

No description available.

<p>The main aim of the current study is to examine the relationship between community violence exposure and the development of psychopathology and examine the relationship between community violence exposure and other types of trauma, that is, childhood trauma and stressful life events. It was hypothesised that exposure to community violence will have a high correlation with development of psychological disorders such as mood and anxiety and psychotic disorders. The main study employed a quantitative research design in order to determine the relationship between PTSD in children and adolescents. The current study used secondary data to measure the correlation between exposure to community violence and the development of psychopathology. The data for this study was collected from 132 consecutive referrals between the ages of 13 to 19 (mean age = 15.4, SD = 1.6) from a youth stress clinic at a university in the Western Cape. Findings indicated that community violence prevalence was higher than previous South African studies but lower compared to American studies. There was generally a high prevalence of PTSD and major depressive disorder (MDD) in this sample compared to previous South African studies. An unexpected outcome was that even though there was a high prevalence of PTSD, there was no relationship between community violence exposure and PTSD in this sample, rather, community violence exposure was related to MDD. Furthermore, MDD and not PTSD was related to experiences of childhood trauma. Stressful life events were related to acute stress disorder (ASD).</p>

This study examined the frequency of university students with self-esteem level at first. Moreover, the difference between male and female and the difference between achiever and non-achiever students were examined with respect to self-esteem. Also the relationship between self-esteem score of university students and stressful life events was examined. Three hundred thirty one university students from different grades and departments of Middle East Technical University have been participated in this study. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES), Life Events Inventory for University Students (LEIU) and four-question demographic information form were used for this study. Factor analysis for LEIU was made for this study. At the end of the factor-analysis, three factors were identified. These were called as self-related anxiety/problems / environmental, adjustment, family events/problems / and academic events/problems. To examine the percentage of students with high and low self-esteem, frequency of the participant was calculated. In addition, independent samples t-test was applied to investigate the difference between male-female and achiever-non-achiever students on self-esteem, while Pearson product moment correlation was applied to examine the relationship between self-esteem and stressful life events. It was found that there were 302 students (88.6 %) with high self-esteem level, while there were 39 students (11.4 %) with low self-esteem level. According to independent samples t-test results, it was found that achiever students&amp / #8217 / self-esteem score was higher than non-achiever students whereas there is no significant difference between male and female on the self-esteem score. Finally, it was found that there is a significant relationship between self-related anxiety/problems, environmental, adjustment, family problems and academic events/problems and self-esteem.

En förutsättning för att undvika depression och istället uppleva posttraumatiskt växande (PTG), efter att ha upplevt belastande livshändelser, kan vara känslan av sammanhang (KASAM). Denna studie syftar till att undersöka om det finns en skillnad mellan belastande livshändelser avseende negativa utfallet depression samt undersöka om en stark KASAM kan vara avgörande för att individen istället utvecklar PTG. I studien undersöks 150 studerande vid Örebro universitet. Av resultatet framgår det att studenterna med högt värde av belastande livshändelser är mer deprimerade än studenterna med lågt värde, oberoende av KASAM. Dock hittades ingen signifikant skillnad mellan belastande livshändelser och KASAM avseende PTG.Huruvida belastande händelser utvecklar en positiv eller negativ förändring hos individen kan istället avgöras av personens tolkning, hantering av situationen. / A basis to avoid depression and instead experience posttraumatic growth (PTG), after stressful life events, may be a sense of coherence (SOC). This study investigates whether there is a difference between stressful life events regarding the negative outcome depression and to examine whether a strong sense of coherence can be essential to develop PTG instead. 150 students at Örebro University were examined. The result showed that students with high value of stressful life events are more depressed than students with low value, independent of SOC. However, no significant difference was found between stressful life events and SOC regarding to PTG.Whether a stressful event develops a positive or negative change in the individual may instead be determined by how the person interprets and handles the situation.

<p>The main aim of the current study is to examine the relationship between community violence exposure and the development of psychopathology and examine the relationship between community violence exposure and other types of trauma, that is, childhood trauma and stressful life events. It was hypothesised that exposure to community violence will have a high correlation with development of psychological disorders such as mood and anxiety and psychotic disorders. The main study employed a quantitative research design in order to determine the relationship between PTSD in children and adolescents. The current study used secondary data to measure the correlation between exposure to community violence and the development of psychopathology. The data for this study was collected from 132 consecutive referrals between the ages of 13 to 19 (mean age = 15.4, SD = 1.6) from a youth stress clinic at a university in the Western Cape. Findings indicated that community violence prevalence was higher than previous South African studies but lower compared to American studies. There was generally a high prevalence of PTSD and major depressive disorder (MDD) in this sample compared to previous South African studies. An unexpected outcome was that even though there was a high prevalence of PTSD, there was no relationship between community violence exposure and PTSD in this sample, rather, community violence exposure was related to MDD. Furthermore, MDD and not PTSD was related to experiences of childhood trauma. Stressful life events were related to acute stress disorder (ASD).</p>

abstract: Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) was used to study the role of child individual, parental, and environmental predictors of anxiety across childhood and adolescence. Longitudinal growth modeling was used to examine the influence of behavioral inhibition, parental control, parental anxiety and stressful life events on the developmental progression of anxiety from 4 to 15 years of age. Based on these data, it appears that there are significant developmental differences between the role of child individual, parental and environmental risk factors. These results highlight the importance of considering developmental factors when assessing and targeting risk for anxiety. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Psychology 2012

There has been an abundance of studies that have adopted positivist approaches, employing quantitative methods, to research OCD 'symptoms' and their underlying neurobiology and neurochemistry. There appears to be a lack of research investigating how OCD is experienced by those living with the diagnosis, and in particular the experiences of young people diagnosed with OCD. Ten young people, aged 14-17 years old, with a diagnosis of OCD were recruited from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The young people were interviewed and a Thematic Analysis (TA) was used to analyse data. Four themes were developed through the analysis. The first theme 'Traumatic and stressful life events' found that 9 out of the 10 participants experienced at least one of the following three life events just prior to the development of their OCD: 'Hostility in the family', 'Illness and death', 'Bullying and friendlessness'. Four subthemes, 'Lack of understanding of the behaviour', 'Being secretive', 'I thought I was going crazy', and 'Feeling different', provided a richer understanding to the theme 'Responses to signs of OCD'. The four subthemes 'Feeling "right"', 'I was taking on all the responsibility', 'It's ruined everything', 'Everyday life is now in my bedroom' explored the third theme 'The battle of living with OCD'. The last theme 'Ambivalent relationship to help' described the conflict that most participants had over exposure therapy and accommodation of their OCD. Lastly, most participants felt the long waiting time for help was frustrating. The theme is fully explored by the following three subthemes: 'Conflicts of exposure therapy', 'Conflicts about accommodation of the OCD', and 'Frustrations of long waiting lists'. The themes that emerged may provide important information for clinicians and the implications of the research findings are discussed. The strengths and limitations of the study are noted and there are suggestions for future research.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The main aim of the current study is to examine the relationship between community violence exposure and the development of psychopathology and examine the relationship between community violence exposure and other types of trauma, that is, childhood trauma and stressful life events. It was hypothesised that exposure to community violence will have a high correlation with development of psychological disorders such as mood and anxiety and psychotic disorders. The main study employed a quantitative research design in order to determine the relationship between PTSD in children and adolescents. The current study used secondary data to measure the correlation between exposure to community violence and the development of psychopathology. The data for this study was collected from 132 consecutive referrals between the ages of 13 to 19 (mean age = 15.4, SD = 1.6) from a youth stress clinic at a university in the Western Cape. Findings indicated that community violence prevalence was higher than previous South African studies but lower compared to American studies. There was generally a high prevalence of PTSD and major depressive disorder (MDD) in this sample compared to previous South African studies. An unexpected outcome was that even though there was a high prevalence of PTSD, there was no relationship between community violence exposure and PTSD in this sample, rather, community violence exposure was related to MDD. Furthermore, MDD and not PTSD was related to experiences of childhood trauma. Stressful life events were related to acute stress disorder (ASD). / South Africa