Mindfulness and compassion: measurement and mechanisms of interventions

In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in research exploring contemplative constructs, namely mindfulness and compassion, and their potential to enhance psychological functioning. A large body of evidence supports the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for improving mental health and wellbeing, and emerging evidence indicates benefits associated with cultivating compassion. However, significant gaps remain, which impede progress in mindfulness and compassion research. Understanding and empirical testing of the mechanisms underlying the effects of MBIs are limited. Research on MBIs also requires valid and reliable mindfulness measures and existing self-report scales need additional psychometric testing. Despite increasing research attention on self- and othercompassion, there is a lack of definitional clarity and psychometrically robust measures of these constructs. This thesis aims to address these omissions. Following an overview of mindfulness and compassion theory and research, Chapter 2 presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies which formally tested mechanisms of MBIs. Chapter 3 examines the specific effects and mechanisms of learning mindfulness, by comparing an online self-help MBI with a matched control condition. Much of effectiveness and mechanism research involves comparing mindfulness scores before and after MBIs, yet the factor structure of commonly used self-report measures before and after MBIs has not been tested; this is addressed in Chapter 4. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 focus on increasing clarity in defining and measuring compassion. Chapter 5 proposes a five-element definition of compassion and includes a systematic review and evaluation of existing compassion measures. Chapter 6 empirically tests the factor structure of the five-element definition using self-report items. Following theoretical and empirical support for the five-element conceptualisation, Chapter 7 uses this definition to develop and validate new self-report measures of self- and other-compassion. Chapter 8 presents a general discussion of the research undertaken, including strengths and limitations, future directions, and implications

The New Normal: Families, Caretakers, and Adults with Autism

Over the last several decades, the clinical prevalence of autism has increased considerably, as has the amount of popular and scientific attention directed towards the condition. However, discussions of autism tend to focus on children and finding a cause and a cure, while the growing numbers of adults diagnosed with autism have received relatively little attention. This dissertation begins with the argument that popular representations of autism are shaped by the idealism of modern medicine, and its overriding search to discover etiologies and treatments for all forms of biological difference that fall within its purview. And yet, for those responsible for adults with autism, management, care, and support are more relevant concerns to everyday experience than are cause and cure. In order to describe and analyze this everyday experience, this dissertation features a three-year ethnographic study of thirteen families with adult members with severe forms of autism. After reviewing pertinent historical and demographic information, the body of the manuscript explores: 1) the process by which caretakers negotiate between different definitions of problem behavior in the face of persistent situational complexity and ambiguity; 2) the contextual dynamics that make it possible for caretakers to perceive as innocent and/or humorous behaviors that are often viewed as atypical by others; and 3) the ways in which the experience of continued atypicality and dependency comes into conflict with popular representations of autism while at the same time highlighting the reality of the ever-looming future and the care and support required after primary caretakers are gone. At the end of the dissertation, I return to the argument that modern medical idealism discourages popular recognition that, in the case of autism, continued atypicality and dependency constitute the condition\u27s usual prognosis. I conclude with a short consideration of how the themes explored in this thesis resonate with the experiences of those living with or alongside other forms of biological difference (e.g. disability, mental illness, Alzehemier\u27s) that are currently incurable

Prevention priorities for online challenges and harms in adolescence and assessment of smartphone distraction: an emotive-cognitive perspective

Evidence suggests that problematic use of gaming, the internet and social media among adolescents is on the rise and developing into global growing issues affecting multiple cognitive, emotional and behavioural domains. How are these experienced and conceptualized among students, parents and teachers? The first part of this thesis comprised two systematic literature reviews on school-based interventions for internet addiction and excessive screen time. Findings indicated the need to focus prevention beyond time spent into harms and challenges faced in adolescence through mental health literacy and skill development and by incorporating parent and teacher media literacy training. Five qualitative studies followed as a qualitative needs assessment investigation. The frst analyzed key adolescent motivations for online engagement and highlighted control as a new motivational factor driving engagement. This study led to the development of the control model of social media engagement, proposing individual, social and environmental pathways from normative to potentially problematic online behaviours. Additionally, adolescent online harms were conceptualised by stakeholders as running on a severity continuum from benefits to harms beyond addiction. Parent and teacher perspectives informed key recommendations for media literacy education. The second part of the present thesis involved two quantitative studies, addressed smartphone distraction impacting students' academic performance through the design of the first psychometric instrument within smartphone use. The final study encompassed the assessment of a brief online randomized controlled trial to curb smartphone distraction and findings indicated the efficacy of the intervention and the reduction of potentially probematic smartphone-related psychological constructs. The present thesis addresses critical priorities and recommendations for online harm reduction in adolescence. Dissemination of findings are timely for media literacy in schools in the UK and other countries with policy intentions to safeguard for young people's emotional health. Assessing smartphone distraction contributes to the understanding of this emergent disruptive construct contributing to initiatives to enhance students' academic performance and well-being within higher education and work environments