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1.
PLoS One ; 17(5): e0267810, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35500012

ABSTRACT

Minority stress is hypothesized to interfere with sexual orientation disclosure and sexual minority wellbeing. In this study, we investigated whether minority stress is causally linked to reduced disclosure in sexual minorities, and whether emotion regulation, a potentially adaptive form of stigma coping, can intervene to promote disclosure even following exposure to minority stress. Sexual minority adults in the US (N = 168) were recruited online and randomized to a 2 x 2 between-subjects experimental design, where they: 1) received either emotion regulation instructions that asked them to either distance themselves from an emotionally evocative film clip or immerse themselves in the clip, and then 2) viewed either an affirming or a minority stress film clip. Following the film clip, participants completed a written reflection task in which they reflected on the film clip they viewed, which allowed research assistants to subsequently code for participants' spontaneous disclosures of sexual orientation. Participants who viewed the minority stress clip were significantly less likely to spontaneously disclose their sexual orientation in the written task compared to those who viewed the affirming film clip, OR = 3.21, 95% CI [1.14, 9.05], p = .03. Although the emotion regulation manipulation was successful, there was no effect on sexual orientation disclosure. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate a causal link between minority stress and disclosure in sexual minorities, and thus highlights an important mechanism underlying minority stress's effects on sexual minority wellbeing. Results demonstrate the importance of interventions that affirm marginalized identities and promote safe sexual orientation disclosure. Future research is needed to determine the circumstances under which effective emotion regulation can buffer against the negative emotional effects of minority stress to promote healthy approach behaviors like disclosure in safe contexts.


Subject(s)
Emotional Regulation , Sexual and Gender Minorities , Adult , Disclosure , Female , Humans , Male , Minority Groups/psychology , Sexual Behavior/psychology
2.
Front Neurosci ; 15: 612566, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34054402

ABSTRACT

Vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV), a measure of the parasympathetic nervous system's control over the heart, is often negatively related to maladaptive emotional outcomes. Recent work suggests that quadratic relationships involving these factors may be present; however, research has not investigated gender differences in these nonlinear functions. To address this gap, the current study tested for quadratic relationships between resting vmHRV and depression and positive affect while investigating gender differences in these relationships. Significant quadratic effects were found between resting vmHRV and reports of both depression symptoms and positive affect in women but not men. Specifically, the lowest levels of depression and the highest levels of positive affect were found at moderate vmHRV in women. These results suggest that examinations of vmHRV's nonlinear associations require the consideration of gender. Our findings are interpreted based on proposed differential neuropsychological mechanisms of vmHRV in men versus women.

3.
Am Psychol ; 76(3): 409-426, 2021 04.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32772538

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 presents significant social, economic, and medical challenges. Because COVID-19 has already begun to precipitate huge increases in mental health problems, clinical psychological science must assert a leadership role in guiding a national response to this secondary crisis. In this article, COVID-19 is conceptualized as a unique, compounding, multidimensional stressor that will create a vast need for intervention and necessitate new paradigms for mental health service delivery and training. Urgent challenge areas across developmental periods are discussed, followed by a review of psychological symptoms that likely will increase in prevalence and require innovative solutions in both science and practice. Implications for new research directions, clinical approaches, and policy issues are discussed to highlight the opportunities for clinical psychological science to emerge as an updated, contemporary field capable of addressing the burden of mental illness and distress in the wake of COVID-19 and beyond. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).


Subject(s)
Behavioral Symptoms , COVID-19 , Delivery of Health Care , Mental Disorders , Mental Health Services , Psychology, Clinical , Suicide , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Behavioral Symptoms/etiology , Behavioral Symptoms/psychology , Behavioral Symptoms/therapy , Child , Delivery of Health Care/organization & administration , Delivery of Health Care/standards , Delivery of Health Care/trends , Humans , Mental Disorders/etiology , Mental Disorders/psychology , Mental Disorders/therapy , Mental Health Services/organization & administration , Mental Health Services/standards , Mental Health Services/trends , Middle Aged , Suicide/psychology , Young Adult
4.
J Psychopathol Behav Assess ; 41(4): 699-715, 2019.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33311850

ABSTRACT

Compared to childhood and adulthood, adolescence is a time of greater risk-taking behavior, potentially resulting in serious consequences. Theories of adolescent brain development highlight the imbalance between neural circuitry for reward vs. regulation. Although this imbalance may make adolescents more vulnerable to impaired decision-making in the context of heightened arousal, not all adolescents exhibit problematic risk behavior, suggesting other factors are involved. Relatedly, parent-adolescent conflict increases in mid-adolescence, and is linked to negative outcomes like substance use related risk-taking. However, the mechanism by which parent-adolescent conflict and risk-taking are linked is still unknown. Therefore, we investigated this association using a multi-method experimental design. Parent-adolescent dyads were randomly assigned to complete a discussion task together on the topic of either the adolescent's dream vacation or an adolescent-identified conflict topic. During the task, adolescent peripheral psychophysiology was measured for later calculation of heart rate variability (HRV), an index of self-regulation. Immediately after the discussion task, adolescents completed a performance-based measure of risk-taking propensity that indexes real-world risk behaviors. We hypothesized that parent-adolescent conflict would predict greater adolescent risk-taking propensity, and that increased behavioral arousal in the context of conflict, coupled with impaired self-regulation, would explain this link. Results indicated no direct effect of parent-adolescent conflict on adolescent risk-taking propensity. However, there was a significant conditional indirect effect: lower HRV, indexing worse regulatory ability, mediated the relation between conflict and risk-taking propensity but only for adolescents exhibiting behavioral arousal during the discussion task. We discuss implications for understanding adolescent risk-taking behavior.

5.
J Clin Psychol ; 74(9): 1583-1593, 2018 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29528504

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: A large body of work suggests that cognitive reappraisal is an effective strategy for modifying emotional intensity. In addition, its habitual use has been linked to adaptive psychological functioning, operationalized as low levels of symptoms of psychopathology. However, little is known about the impact of cognitive reappraisal on behavioral aspects of mental disorders. For example, the experience of fear is often accompanied by the behavioral urge to avoid the feared stimuli. Although there is evidence to suggest that cognitive reappraisal reduces fear in the moment, there is less information about the impact on behavioral correlates. METHOD: To that end, we recruited 90 participants who experienced substantial contamination concerns (i.e., obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms) and asked them to participate in exposure tasks that consisted of gradually coming into contact with contaminated objects (i.e., approach behavior). We randomly assigned participants to one of three conditions: (1) reappraise the emotion-eliciting stimulus, (2) reappraise their emotional response, or (3) no specific emotion regulation instructions. RESULTS: Reappraising the stimulus, but not reappraising the emotional response, led to significantly greater behavioral approach (p = .02) than the no-instruction condition during exposure. There were no significant differences in subjective state anxiety between any of the conditions. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that certain types of reappraisal may lead to greater approach behavior during exposure even in the absence of subjective emotional changes. More broadly, they underscore the importance of examining the role of emotion regulation strategies (including different types of reappraisal) on the behavioral aspects of mental disorders.


Subject(s)
Emotions , Fear/psychology , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/therapy , Adolescent , Anxiety , Anxiety Disorders , Cognition/physiology , Female , Humans , Male , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/physiopathology , Self Report , Young Adult
6.
Behav Ther ; 49(1): 84-98, 2018 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29405924

ABSTRACT

Adolescent social anxiety (SA) assessments often include adolescent and parent reports, and low reporting correspondence results in uncertainties in clinical decision-making. Adolescents display SA within non-home contexts such as peer interactions. Yet, current methods for collecting peer reports raise confidentiality concerns, though adolescent SA assessments nonetheless would benefit from context-specific reports relevant to adolescent SA (i.e., interactions with unfamiliar peers). In a sample of 89 adolescents (30 Evaluation-Seeking; 59 Community Control), we collected SA reports from adolescents and their parents, and SA reports from unfamiliar peer confederates who interacted with adolescents during 20-minute mock social interactions. Adolescents and parents completed reports on trait measures of adolescent SA and related concerns (e.g., depressive symptoms), and adolescents completed self-reports of state arousal within mock social interactions. Adolescents' SA reports correlated with reports on parallel measures from parents in the .30s and with peer confederates in the .40s to .50s, whereas reports from parent-confederate dyads correlated in the .07 to .22 range. Adolescent, parent, and peer confederate SA reports related to reports on trait measures of adolescent SA and depressive symptoms, and distinguished Evaluation-Seeking from Community Control Adolescents. Confederates' SA reports incrementally predicted adolescents' self-reported SA over and above parent reports, and vice versa, with combined Rs ranging from .51 to .60. These combined Rs approximate typical correspondence levels between informants who observe adolescents in the same context (e.g., mother-father). Adolescent and peer confederate (but not parent) SA reports predicted adolescents' state arousal in social interactions. These findings have implications for clarifying patterns of reporting correspondence in clinical assessments of adolescent SA.


Subject(s)
Anxiety/diagnosis , Interpersonal Relations , Parents , Peer Group , Self Report , Adolescent , Female , Humans , Male
7.
J Child Fam Stud ; 26(12): 3288-3302, 2017 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29249892

ABSTRACT

Parent-adolescent conflict poses risk for youth maladjustment. One potential mechanism of this risk is that stress in the form of increased arousal during conflict interactions results in adolescents' impaired decision-making. However, eliciting consistent adolescent stress responses within laboratory-based tasks of parent-adolescent conflict (i.e., conflict discussion tasks) is hindered by task design. This limitation may stem from how conflict topics are assessed and selected for discussion. Within a sample of 47 adolescents (ages 14-17) and parents, we investigated whether a modified version of a conflict discussion task could elicit physiological (i.e., arousal) and behavioral (i.e., hostility) displays of adolescents' conflict-related stress responses. We assessed parent-adolescent conflict via structured interview to identify topics for dyads to discuss during the task. We randomly assigned dyads to complete a 5-minute task to discuss either a putatively benign topic (i.e., control condition) or a conflict topic while undergoing direct assessments of continuous arousal. Trained raters coded dyad members' hostile behavior during the task. Adolescents in the conflict condition exhibited significantly greater levels of arousal than adolescents in the control condition. We observed an interaction between discussion condition and baseline conflict. Specifically, higher baseline conflict predicted greater hostile behavior for adolescents in the conflict condition, yet we observed the inverse relation for adolescents in the control condition. Our modified laboratory discussion task successfully elicited both physiological and behavioral displays of adolescent conflict-related stress. These findings have important implications for leveraging experimental paradigms to understand causal links between parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent psychopathology, and their underlying mechanisms.

8.
Front Psychol ; 8: 1881, 2017.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29118731

ABSTRACT

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals report higher levels of problematic alcohol and substance use than their heterosexual peers. This disparity is linked to the experience of LGB-specific stressors, termed minority stress. Additionally, bisexual individuals show increased rates of psychopathology, including problematic alcohol and substance use, above and beyond lesbian and gay individuals. However, not everyone experiencing minority stress reports increased rates of alcohol and substance misuse. Emotion regulation (ER), which plays a critical role in psychopathology in general, is theorized to modulate the link between minority stress and psychopathology. However, it remains largely unknown whether ER plays a role in linking instances of minority stress with substance and alcohol use outcomes. To address the gap, the current study assessed 305 LGB individuals' instances of minority stress, ER, and substance and alcohol use outcomes. We assessed the role of ER in problematic alcohol and substance use among LGB individuals using moderated mediation, where sexual minority status was entered as the moderator, and ER difficulties was entered as the mediator. The results indicated significant indirect effects of minority stress, through ER difficulties, on both problematic alcohol and substance use. However, there was no significant interaction with sexual orientation status, suggesting that ER may be important for all LGB individuals in predicting problematic alcohol and substance use. These results highlight the important role that ER plays between instances of minority stress and substance and alcohol use in LGB individuals, suggesting that ER skills may serve as a novel target for intervention.

9.
Aging Ment Health ; 21(1): 77-87, 2017 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26537859

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Research shows that dispositional mindfulness is associated with metrics of overall well-being, with enhanced emotion regulation potentially underlying these salutary effects. However, the role of regulation strategy use remains poorly understood. In this study, we examined age-variant associations between dispositional mindfulness, emotion regulation strategies, and emotion dysregulation. METHOD: Self-report data were collected from 50 older and 50 young adults on mindfulness, emotion dysregulation, and recent strategy use. For the current study, we examined if cognitive reappraisal, experiential suppression, and thought avoidance use mediated the association between mindfulness and emotion dysregulation. RESULTS: Thought avoidance, but not reappraisal or suppression strategies, partially mediated the association between mindfulness and emotion dysregulation. Age group moderated the observed mediation, such that for young adults, lower mindfulness was associated with greater use of thought avoidance, and in turn with greater emotion dysregulation (e.g., difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior in the face of strong emotions). CONCLUSION: The current cross-sectional study suggests that reduced avoidance of thoughts may partially explain the relationship between trait mindfulness and enhanced emotion regulation, with this mediational pathway being stronger for young compared with older adults.


Subject(s)
Emotions , Mindfulness , Self-Control/psychology , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Models, Psychological , Self Report , Young Adult
10.
Psychol Assess ; 29(4): 422-434, 2017 04.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27427942

ABSTRACT

Low-cost methods exist for measuring physiology when clinically assessing adolescent social anxiety. Two barriers to widespread use involve lack of (a) physiological expertise among mental health professionals, and (b) techniques for modeling individual-level physiological profiles. We require a "bridge approach" for interpreting physiology that does not require users to have a physiological background to make judgments, and is amenable to developing individual-level physiological profiles. One method-Chernoff Faces-involves graphically representing data using human facial features (eyes, nose, mouth, face shape), thus capitalizing on humans' abilities to detect even subtle variations among facial features. We examined 327 adolescents from the Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS) study who completed baseline social anxiety self-reports and physiological assessments within the social scenarios of the Groningen Social Stressor Task (GSST). Using heart rate (HR) norms and Chernoff Faces, 2 naïve coders made judgments about graphically represented HR data and HR norms. For each adolescent, coders made 4 judgments about the features of 2 Chernoff Faces: (a) HR within the GSST and (b) aged-matched HR norms. Coders' judgments reliably and accurately identified elevated HR relative to norms. Using latent class analyses, we identified 3 profiles of Chernoff Face judgments: (a) consistently below HR norms across scenarios (n = 193); (b) above HR norms mainly when speech making (n = 35); or (c) consistently above HR norms across scenarios (n = 99). Chernoff Face judgments displayed validity evidence in relation to self-reported social anxiety and resting HR variability. This study has important implications for implementing physiology within adolescent social anxiety assessments. (PsycINFO Database Record


Subject(s)
Facial Recognition/physiology , Heart Rate/physiology , Neuropsychological Tests/standards , Phobia, Social/diagnosis , Psychometrics/instrumentation , Stress, Psychological/diagnosis , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Reproducibility of Results , Young Adult
11.
Cogn Emot ; 31(2): 384-394, 2017 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26654477

ABSTRACT

Although the emotion regulation strategy of reappraisal has been associated with adaptive outcomes, there is a growing evidence that it may not be adaptive in all contexts. In the present study, adolescents reported their use of habitual reappraisal and their experiences with peer victimisation, a chronic stressor that is associated with reduced well-being in this population. We examined how these variables predicted physiological reactivity (vagal withdrawal and changes in pre-ejection period) during a social stressor (i.e., Trier Social Stress Task). In line with previous research, at high levels of victimisation, habitual reappraisal predicted adaptive physiological reactivity (i.e., greater vagal withdrawal). Conversely, at low levels of victimisation, habitual reappraisal predicted maladaptive physiological reactivity (i.e., blunted vagal withdrawal). These findings were specific to parasympathetic reactivity. They suggest that habitual reappraisal may exert different effects on parasympathetic reactivity depending on the presence of stressors, and highlight the importance of examining the role of contextual factors in determining the adaptiveness of emotion regulation strategies.


Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Crime Victims/psychology , Parasympathetic Nervous System/physiology , Stress, Psychological/psychology , Sympathetic Nervous System/physiology , Adolescent , Adolescent Behavior/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Peer Group , Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia/physiology
12.
Dev Psychopathol ; 28(4pt1): 927-946, 2016 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27739387

ABSTRACT

In response to rapidly growing rates of comorbidity among psychiatric disorders, clinical scientists have become interested in identifying transdiagnostic processes that can help explain dysfunction across diagnostic categories (e.g., Kring & Sloan, 2009). One factor that has received a great deal of attention is that of emotion regulation, namely, the ability to modulate the intensity and/or duration of emotional states (e.g., Cicchetti, Ackerman, & Izard, 1995; Gross, 1998). Recent theoretical and empirical work has begun to emphasize the role that emotion regulation plays in the temporal comorbidity between internalizing and externalizing conditions (e.g., Aldao & De Los Reyes, 2015; De Los Reyes & Aldao, 2015; Drabick & Kendall, 2010; Jarrett & Ollendick, 2008; Patrick & Hajcak, 2016). However, close inspection of this work reveals two very pertinent areas of growth: (a) this literature is characterized by mixed findings that are likely explained, in part, by methodological heterogeneity; and (b) emotion regulation tends to be studied in relatively narrow terms. To address these issues, we provide a series of recommendations for facilitating cross-study comparisons and leveraging multifaceted approaches to studying emotion regulation processes within a developmental psychopathology framework. We hope that our perspective can enhance the organization and growth of this very important area of inquiry, and ultimately result in more effective prevention and treatment programs.


Subject(s)
Defense Mechanisms , Emotions , Mental Disorders/diagnosis , Attention , Humans , Mental Disorders/psychology
13.
Cognit Ther Res ; 40(30): 290-303, 2016 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27660375

ABSTRACT

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and unipolar depressive disorders (UDD) have been shown to differ from each other in dimensions of affective functioning despite their high rates of comorbidity. We showed emotional film clips to a community sample (n = 170) with GAD, GAD with secondary UDD, or no diagnosis. Groups had comparable subjective responses to the clips, but the GAD group had significantly lower heart rate variability (HRV) during fear and after sadness, compared to controls. While HRV in the GAD and control groups rose in response to the sadness and happiness clips, it returned to baseline levels afterwards in the GAD group, potentially indicating lesser ability to sustain attention on emotional stimuli. HRV in the GAD + UDD group changed only in response to sadness, but was otherwise unvarying between timepoints. Though preliminary, these findings suggest comorbid UDD as a potential moderator of emotional responding in GAD.

14.
Dev Psychol ; 52(9): 1370-80, 2016 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27570980

ABSTRACT

Increasing age is characterized by greater positive affective states. However, there is mixed evidence on the implementation of emotion regulation strategies across the life span. To clarify the discrepancies in the literature, we examined the modulating influence of contextual factors in understanding emotion regulation strategy use in older and young adults. Forty-eight older adults and forty-nine young adults completed a retrospective survey inquiring about the use of emotion regulation strategies in emotion-eliciting situations experienced over the preceding 2 weeks. We used factor analysis to establish clusters of emotion regulation strategies, resulting in cognitive strategies, acceptance, and maladaptive strategies. Overall, we found context-dependent age-related differences in emotion regulation strategy use. Specifically, older adults reported greater use of acceptance than young adults in situations of moderate intensity and in situations that evoke anxiety and sadness. In addition, older adults reported using maladaptive strategies to a lesser extent in high- and moderate-intensity situations and in situations that elicit anxiety and sadness when compared with young adults. There were no age-related differences in the use of cognitive strategies across contexts. Older adults, compared to young adults, reported less use of maladaptive strategies and greater use of acceptance than young adults, which suggests that the enhanced emotional functioning observed later in life may be due to a shift in strategy implementation. (PsycINFO Database Record


Subject(s)
Aging/psychology , Emotional Intelligence , Emotions , Executive Function , Adaptation, Psychological , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Cognition , Factor Analysis, Statistical , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult
15.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities ; 3(4): 646-657, 2016 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27294754

ABSTRACT

The present investigation examined the interactive effects of rumination and negative affectivity in relation to anxiety and depressive symptoms and psychopathology among 245 Latino adults (M age = 39.7, SD = 11.4; 86.9 % female; 97.6 % reported Spanish as their first language) attending a community-based primary healthcare clinic. As expected, there was a significant interaction between rumination and negative affectivity for depressive, suicidal, social anxiety, anxious arousal symptoms, number of mood and anxiety disorders, and disability among the primary care Latino sample. Inspection of the interaction forms indicated a high degree of conceptual similarity. Specifically, rumination was related to greater levels of suicidal symptoms, social anxiety, anxious arousal, number of mood and anxiety disorders, and disability among individuals with higher, but not lower, levels of negative affectivity. The form of the interaction for depressive symptoms was in line with this pattern, but more extreme; rumination was related to greater levels of depressive symptoms among individuals with both higher and lower levels of negative affectivity. Together, these data provide novel empirical evidence suggesting that there is clinically relevant interplay between rumination and negative affectivity in regard to a relatively wide array of anxiety and depressive variables among Latinos in a primary care medical setting.


Subject(s)
Hispanic or Latino , Mental Health/ethnology , Primary Health Care , Rumination, Cognitive , Adult , Anxiety , Depression , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged
16.
Cogn Emot ; 30(5): 985-98, 2016 08.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26147365

ABSTRACT

People often regulate their emotions by resorting to avoidance, a putatively maladaptive strategy. Prior work suggests that increased psychopathology symptoms predict greater spontaneous utilisation of this strategy. Extending this work, we examined whether heightened resting cardiac vagal tone (which reflects a general ability to regulate emotions in line with contextual demands) predicts decreased spontaneous avoidance. In Study 1, greater resting vagal tone was associated with reduced spontaneous avoidance in response to disgust-eliciting pictures, beyond anxiety and depression symptoms and emotional reactivity. In Study 2, resting vagal tone interacted with anxiety and depression symptoms to predict spontaneous avoidance in response to disgust-eliciting film clips. The positive association between symptoms and spontaneous avoidance was more pronounced among participants with reduced resting vagal tone. Thus, increased resting vagal tone might protect against the use of avoidance. Our findings highlight the importance of assessing both subjective and biological processes when studying individual differences in emotion regulation.


Subject(s)
Avoidance Learning/physiology , Emotions/physiology , Individuality , Vagus Nerve/physiology , Adult , Anxiety/physiopathology , Anxiety/psychology , Depression/physiopathology , Depression/psychology , Female , Heart Rate/physiology , Humans , Male , Photic Stimulation/methods , Students/psychology , Young Adult
17.
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol ; 44(2): 221-37, 2015.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25664767

ABSTRACT

The National Institute of Mental Health recently launched the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC). The RDoC is an initiative to improve classification of mental health concerns by promoting research on the brain mechanisms underlying these concerns, with the ultimate goal of developing interventions that target these brain mechanisms. A key focus of RDoC involves opening new lines of research examining patients' responses on biological measures. The RDoC presents unique challenges to mental health professionals who work with children and adolescents. Indeed, mental health professionals rarely integrate biological measures into clinical assessments. Thus, RDoC's ability to improve patient care rests, in part, on the development of strategies for implementing biological measures within mental health assessments. Further, mental health professionals already carry out comprehensive assessments that frequently yield inconsistent findings. These inconsistencies have historically posed challenges to interpreting research findings as well as assessment outcomes in practice settings. In this introductory article, we review key issues that informed the development of a special issue of articles demonstrating methods for implementing low-cost measures of physiological functioning in clinical child and adolescent assessments. We also outline a conceptual framework, informed by theoretical work on using and interpreting multiple informants' clinical reports (De Los Reyes, Thomas, Goodman, & Kundey, 2013 ), to guide hypothesis testing when using physiological measures within clinical child and adolescent assessments. This special issue and the conceptual model described in this article may open up new lines of research testing paradigms for implementing clinically feasible physiological measures in clinical child and adolescent assessments.


Subject(s)
Mental Health/classification , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Adolescent , Child , Humans , National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) , United States
18.
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol ; 44(2): 341-51, 2015.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25664768

ABSTRACT

The National Institute of Mental Health recently launched the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC). RDoC is a framework that facilitates the dimensional assessment and classification of processes relevant to mental health (e.g., affect, regulation, cognition, social affiliation), as reflected in measurements across multiple units of analysis (e.g., physiology, circuitry, genes, self-reports). A key focus of RDoC involves opening new lines of research examining patients' responses on biological measures, with the key goal of developing new therapeutic techniques that effectively target mechanisms of mental disorders. Yet applied researchers and practitioners rarely use biological measures within mental health assessments, which may present challenges in translating RDoC-guided research into improvements in patient care. Thus, if RDoC is to result in research that yields clinical tools that reduce the burden of mental illness and improve public health, we ought to develop strategies for effectively implementing biological measures in the context of clinical assessments. In this special issue, we sought to provide an initial step in this direction by assembling a collection of articles from leading research teams carrying out pioneering work on implementing multimodal assessments (biological, subjective, behavioral) of affective processes in applied settings. In this commentary, we expand upon the work presented in this special issue by making a series of suggestions for how to most parsimoniously conduct multimodal assessments of affective processes in applied research and clinical settings. We hope that this approach will facilitate translations of the RDoC framework into applied research and clinic settings.


Subject(s)
Mental Disorders , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Translational Research, Biomedical , Adolescent , Child , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Humans , Mental Disorders/classification , Mental Disorders/diagnosis , National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) , Patient Care , Psychology, Adolescent , Psychology, Child , Research , United States
19.
Cogn Emot ; 29(7): 1314-25, 2015.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25435338

ABSTRACT

Despite growing research on emotion regulation (ER) strategies and psychopathology, research has primarily focused on identifying one-to-one associations between ER strategies and symptoms. Thus, little is known about how patterns in the repertoires of ER strategies are associated with different mental disorders. We utilised latent class analysis to identify distinct repertoires of ER strategies, and their links with various psychopathology domains (i.e., anxiety, depression, disordered eating, borderline personality). Participants (N = 531) reported on their use of seven ER strategies in six recalled stressful contexts, as well as on their symptoms of psychopathology. We identified five classes of ER strategies: Low Regulators (n = 168), High Regulators (n = 140), Adaptive Regulators (n = 99), Worriers/Ruminators (n = 96) and Avoiders (n = 28). Generally, High Regulators and Worriers/Ruminators endorsed greater levels of psychopathology, relative to Low and Adaptive Regulators. Our findings underscore the importance of characterising the dynamics of ER repertoires when seeking to understand links between ER strategies and psychopathology.


Subject(s)
Affective Symptoms/psychology , Emotional Adjustment , Emotional Intelligence , Mental Disorders/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Affective Symptoms/diagnosis , Anhedonia , Arousal , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/diagnosis , Psychopathology , Statistics as Topic , Students/psychology , Young Adult
20.
Cogn Emot ; 29(8): 1486-95, 2015.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25506808

ABSTRACT

Rumination, a cognitive process that involves passively and repetitively focusing on negative feelings and their consequences, has been linked to negative emotional outcomes. Previous research suggests that rumination may lead to deleterious outcomes through prolonging emotional reactivity; however, evidence supporting the link between rumination and reactivity has been mixed. In the present study, we examined the relationship between state and trait rumination and multi-modal emotional reactivity (i.e., hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, autonomic nervous system, subjective experience). Fifty undergraduates participated in a social evaluative laboratory stressor. They also reported on their general tendency to ruminate and their use of rumination in response to this particular laboratory stressor. State, but not trait, rumination was associated with increases in cortisol and negative affect. Findings underscore the importance of multi-modal assessment of emotional reactivity and suggest important implications for rumination following a stressor.


Subject(s)
Depression/metabolism , Depression/psychology , Emotions/physiology , Adolescent , Female , Humans , Hydrocortisone/metabolism , Male , Saliva/metabolism , Stress, Psychological/metabolism , Stress, Psychological/psychology , Young Adult
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