Thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and depression among asian americans: A longitudinal study of interpersonal shame as a mediator and perfectionistic family discrepancy as a moderator.

This short-term longitudinal study applied Joiner's (2005) Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide to Asian Americans' experiences with depression. Interpersonal shame (i.e., the experience of inadequacy arising from interpersonal concerns) was hypothesized to mediate the effects of (a) thwarted belongingness and (b) perceived burdensomeness on future depression. Furthermore, the positive associations between (a) thwarted belongingness and (b) perceived burdensomeness on future depression were hypothesized to vary depending on students' experiences with perfectionistic family discrepancy (PFD; their perceived gap between their actual performance and what their parents expect of them). A total of 605 Asian Americans attending predominantly White, Midwestern universities completed 3 online surveys. Conditional process modeling via Hayes's (2013) PROCESS was used to analyze the data. Results demonstrated that (a) thwarted belongingness and (b) perceived burdensomeness contributed to higher interpersonal shame, which influenced students' future depression. Furthermore, the effect of thwarted belongingness on future depression was significantly positive for those with PFD levels greater than the 12th percentile, after taking into account students' initial level of depression. The effect of perceived burdensomeness on future depression was not significant for those with PFD levels greater than the 3.5th percentile. This study identified that students with perfectionistic family discrepancy may be at higher risk for depression while experiencing thwarted belongingness. Overall, findings supported using Joiner's (2005) theory to understand Asian American students' risk for future depression. Future studies may gather data across Asian American students' years in college. Counselors can apply these findings to increase students' awareness about possible risk factors for depression. (PsycINFO Database Record

Managing hindering self-focused attention in counseling sessions.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the moderation effects of management strategies on the association between hindering self-focused attention and counseling self-efficacy. METHOD: Participants were 160 counselor trainees. A hierarchical regression was used to analyze the data, and a simple effect analysis was used to explore the nature of the interaction. RESULTS: Results indicated that, for trainees who used more basic counseling techniques, counseling self-efficacy remained the same no matter their hindering self-focused attention experiences. However, for those who used less basic counseling techniques, their counseling self-efficacy dropped when they had more experiences of hindering self-focused attention. Similarly, for trainees who used more self-awareness to understand clients, these trainees reported a similar level of counseling self-efficacy no matter their hindering self-focused attention experiences. Conversely, for those who used less self-awareness as a tool to understand their clients during their sessions, their counseling self-efficacy decreased when they had more experiences of hindering self-focused attention. CONCLUSION: This is the first study that extends the literature on direct, linear relationships between hindering self-focused attention and counseling self-efficacy. Results suggested two strategies (i.e., use of basic counseling techniques and use of self-awareness to understand clients) significantly moderate the above association.

Bicultural competence, acculturative family distancing, and future depression in Latino/a college students: a moderated mediation model.

In his acculturative family distancing (AFD) theory, Hwang (2006b) argued that acculturation gaps among parents and youth may lead to psychological and emotional distancing. AFD includes 2 dimensions: incongruent cultural values and breakdowns in communication. This study examined whether bicultural competence (BC) served as a mediator and moderator for the relationship between AFD and depression using structural equation modeling. Two hundred and forty-one Latino/a college students attending predominantly White, midwestern universities completed an online survey at 2 time points. For mediation, results indicated that BC at Time 2 (T2) mediated the relationship between AFD at Time 1 (T1) and depression at T2 above and beyond the effects of depression, acculturation, and enculturation at T1. A bootstrap method estimated the significance of the indirect effect. Moreover, 16% of the variance in BC at T2 was explained by acculturation, enculturation, and AFD at T1; 30% of the variance in depression at T2 was explained by BC at T2 and depression at T1. Post hoc analyses of the AFD and BC dimensions suggested that (a) positive attitudes toward both groups, communication ability, and social groundedness were significant mediators for the incongruent cultural values-depression link and (b) communication ability and social groundedness were significant mediators for the communication breakdown-depression link. For moderation, the AFD × BC interaction did not significantly predict depression at T2. Limitations, future research directions, and counseling implications are discussed.