Exploring associations between positive and negative valanced parental comments about adolescents' bodies and eating and eating problems : a community study

Background: Adolescence is a time of rapid emotional and physical development when foundational self-concepts (including beliefs about one’s weight and shape) are established. Parents are key influencers of adolescent beliefs and behaviours. This study aimed to investigate associations between perceived positive and negative parental comments on weight/shape and eating, with sons’ and daughters’ psychological distress and eating disorder cognitions (EDCs). Methods: A representative mixed-sex sample of 2204 Australian adolescents (12–19 years) from the EveryBODY Study completed an online survey exploring eating behaviours, psychological wellbeing and experiences of parental comments regarding weight, shape and eating behaviours. Results: Correlation analyses revealed that adolescents’ reports of perceived positive parental comments on shape/ weight were significantly associated with lower psychological distress and EDCs only for daughters. All perceived negative parental comments on shape/weight or eating were associated with greater psychological distress and EDCs for both sons and daughters. In the final model of the regression analysis, only perceived parental negative shape/weight and maternal negative eating comments, adolescent stage and biological sex were significantly associated with EDCs. When known contributors such as BMI percentile and psychological distress were included in the regression model, adolescent stage and perceived negative paternal comments were no longer significantly associated with EDCs. Conclusions: Overall, results show perceived negative comments were associated with poorer adolescent mental health, both their specific EDCs and general distress. Findings highlight the importance of raising awareness of potential negative impacts within family systems of comments around weight/shape and eating in these key formative years

Associations Between Parent-daughter Relationships, Individual Adolescent Psychological Functioning, and Female Adolescent Self-defeating Behaviors

This study tested a mediation model by which daughters \u27 perceptions of poorer parent-adolescent relationship quality were expected to be directly associated with the individual psychological characteristics of low self-esteem and internalizing symptoms. In turn, individual psychological characteristics were hypothesized to predict self-defeating behavior, defined as deliberate self-harm and suicidal gestures, multiple sexual partners, and substance use. Additionally, the association between parent-adolescent relationship variables and self-defeating behaviors was posited to be largely indirect and mediated by symptoms of psychological distress . As predicted, perceived alienation from parents was directly associated with poor adolescent psychological functioning. Furthermore , individual psychological variables were found to partially mediate between parent alienation and deliberate self-harm /suicidal gestures. Full mediation was observed between mother alienation and risky sexual behaviors but not for fathers. No mediation effects were found between both mother and father alienation and daughters\u27 reported substance use. Research and clinical implications are also discussed

Dissociation and interpersonal autonomic physiology in psychotherapy research: an integrative view encompassing psychodynamic and neuroscience theoretical frameworks

Interpersonal autonomic physiology is an interdisciplinary research field, assessing the relational interdependence of two (or more) interacting individual both at the behavioral and psychophysiological levels. Despite its quite long tradition, only eight studies since 1955 have focused on the interaction of psychotherapy dyads, and none of them have focused on the shared processual level, assessing dynamic phenomena such as dissociation. We longitudinally observed two brief psychodynamic psychotherapies, entirely audio and video-recorded (16 sessions, weekly frequency, 45 min.). Autonomic nervous system measures were continuously collected during each session. Personality, empathy, dissociative features and clinical progress measures were collected prior and post therapy, and after each clinical session. Two-independent judges, trained psychotherapist, codified the interactions\u2019 micro-processes. Time-series based analyses were performed to assess interpersonal synchronization and de-synchronization in patient\u2019s and therapist\u2019s physiological activity. Psychophysiological synchrony revealed a clear association with empathic attunement, while desynchronization phases (range of length 30-150 sec.) showed a linkage with dissociative processes, usually associated to the patient\u2019s narrative core relational trauma. Our findings are discussed under the perspective of psychodynamic models of Stern (\u201cpresent moment\u201d), Sander, Beebe and Lachmann (dyad system model of interaction), Lanius (Trauma model), and the neuroscientific frameworks proposed by Thayer (neurovisceral integration model), and Porges (polyvagal theory). The collected data allows to attempt an integration of these theoretical approaches under the light of Complex Dynamic Systems. The rich theoretical work and the encouraging clinical results might represents a new fascinating frontier of research in psychotherapy

AN EXAMINATION OF THE SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE AND SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING SKILLS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS IN AN URBAN DISTRICT

A growing body of evidence has suggested that the factors determining academic success are not limited to the cognitive realm alone. Students bring to the classroom their natural talents, as well as all of their previous experiences, joys, sorrows, hopes and dreams. Obtaining the essential social and emotional learning skills to meet the challenges of life and persevere academically is a foundation pivotal to future success. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between spiritual intelligence and the level of students’ social and emotional learning skills in an effort to gain insight into the effect one may have upon the other. This mixed method study included 181 students aged 7 to 13 years old in an urban public school district. Data were collected using two instruments. Analysis of the data obtained from these instruments was used to examine the particular characteristics of two focus groups: one group consisting of students scoring at the higher scale of both instruments and another group consisting of students scoring at the lower scale of both instruments. Results of step-wise multiple regression indicate a significant (p \u3c .025) predictive relationship between students’ self-perceived level of Existential Well-Being and all five scales of the Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version (Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Adaptability, Stress Management, and General Mood). The strongest of those positive relationships existed between General Mood (r² = .265) and Adaptability (r² = .153). An examination of whether grade level made a difference in level of Social and Emotional Learning skills yielded insignificant result. Grade level was also compared to level of Spiritual Intelligence with limited results. Qualitative analysis of two focus groups indicated that students who scored highly on the two instruments utilized in this research were more inclined to display a positive outlook on life, a belief in free will, as well as acknowledge the influence of family and community upon their lives. Students scoring lower on the instruments reported a higher incidence of feelings of guilt, of being involved in ethical dilemmas, and of the way family members influence their lives

The development of psychiatric disorders and adverse behaviors : from context to prediction

Psychiatric disorders by definition cause significant impairment in an individual’s daily functioning. Certain disorders, such as borderline personality disorder (BPD) and eating disorders, have worse prognosis and high mortality rates compared to other psychiatric disorders. Similarly, adverse behaviors such as self-harm, suicide, and crime are often present in individuals with psychiatric disorders. It is of interest to further understand the etiology and associations of BPD and eating disorders to uncover potential avenues and opportunities for intervention. Moreover, prediction modeling has recently come of interest to psychiatric epidemiologists with the rise of large data sets. Prediction modeling may provide valuable information about the nature of risk factors and eventually aid clinical diagnostics and prognostics. Thus, the studies included in this thesis seek to examine the etiology, associations, and prediction approaches of psychiatric disorders and adverse behaviors. Study I examined the individual and familial association between type 1 diabetes (T1D) and eating disorder diagnoses. We used national health care records from Denmark (n = 1,825,920) and Sweden (n = 2,517,277) to calculate the association within individuals, full siblings, half siblings, full cousins, and half cousins. Individuals with T1D had twice the hazard rate ratio of being diagnosed with an eating disorder compared to the general population. There was conflicting evidence for the risk of an eating disorder in full siblings of T1D patients. However, there was no evidence to support a further familial relationship between the two conditions. Study II aimed to illuminate the nature of the correlates for BPD across time, sex, and for their full siblings. We examined 87 variables across psychiatric disorders, somatic illnesses, trauma, and adverse behaviors (such as self-harm). In a sample of 1,969,839 Swedes with 12,175 individuals diagnosed with BPD, we found that BPD was associated with nearly all of the examined variables. The associations were largely consistent across time and between the sexes. Finally, we found that having a sibling diagnosed with BPD was associated with psychiatric disorders, trauma, and adverse behaviors but not somatic illnesses. Study III created a prediction model that could predict who would have high or low psychiatric symptoms at age 15 based on data from parental reports and national health care registers collected at age 9 or 12. Additionally, we compared multiple types of machine learning algorithms to assess predictive performance. The sample included 7,638 twins from the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS). Our model was able to predict the outcome with reasonable performance but is not suitable for use in clinics. Each model performed similarly indicating that researchers with similar data and research questions do not need to forgo standard logistic regression. Study IV aimed to determine if an individual will exhibit suicidal behaviour (self-harm or suicidal thoughts), aggressive behaviour, both, or neither before adulthood with prediction modeling. Through variable importance scores we examined the usefulness of genetic variables within the model. A total of 5,974 participants from CATSS and 2,702 participants from the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) were included in the study. The model had adequate performance in both the CATSS and NTR datasets for all classes except for the suicidal behaviors class in the NTR, which did not perform better than chance. The included genetic data had higher variable importance scores than questionnaire data completed at age 9 or 12, indicating that genetic biomarkers can be useful when combined with other data types. In conclusion, the development of psychiatric disorders and symptoms are associated with many factors across somatic illnesses, other psychiatric disorders, trauma, and harmful behaviors. The results of this thesis demonstrates the limitations of prediction modeling in psychiatric clinics but highlights their use in research and on the path forward towards personalized medicine

Modeling risk for the development of child anxiety : the role of parent emotion socialization practices, children\u27s emotional competence, and physiological responsiveness.

The prevalence of child anxiety is high and anxiety disorders are often left untreated throughout childhood and adolescence. Many studies have focused on the role of parenting in understanding the development of anxiety during childhood. Given the importance of the parent-child relationship in a child\u27s development of emotional competence, the role of the parent in facilitating their child\u27s emotional development was proposed here to provide a more specific method of assessing the impact of parenting on risk for developing anxiety. Specifically, the current study hypothesized that parent emotion socialization would predict child emotional development. Further, the study sought to build upon the existing literature by examining the role of the child\u27s physiological responsiveness in the relationship between parent emotion socialization and child\u27s emotional competence. Finally, this study hypothesized that these constructs and the relationships among them would significantly predict symptoms of child anxiety. Children were recruited from schools and various local organizations. A total of 85 parent and child dyads participated in the study. Overall, hypotheses were partially supported. The broad constructs of emotion understanding and emotion regulation were not significantly associated with one another. The individual factors comprising emotion regulation were significantly positively associated with cardiac variability. In terms of parenting, parents who reported higher degrees of unsupportive parental responses to negative child emotions were more likely to have children with fever abilities in both emotion understanding and emotion regulation. Supportive parent responses failed to predict child emotion understanding or emotion regulation. Cardiac responsiveness was found to mediate the relationship between unsupportive emotion socialization and emotion regulation. Further, this model was marginally significant in predicting child anxiety symptoms. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical implications and suggestions for future work are made

A pilot study of the effects of mentoring on disordered eating behavior

Subclinical levels of disordered eating are problematic for both adolescent girls and young women. Not only could subclinical disordered eating lead to full threshold eating disorders without intervention, it is also associated with higher levels of psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide. Unfortunately, most current interventions for subclinical eating disorders demonstrate limited effectiveness in creating lasting changes in disordered eating thoughts and behaviors. This study contributes to the literature by investigating a novel intervention for addressing subclinical disordered eating in both adolescent girls and undergraduate women. Specifically, this study attempted to detect changes in measures of psychological distress, disordered eating behavior, objectified body-consciousness, feminist identity, and self-esteem in women and adolescent girls involved in a feminist mentoring program. It was hypothesized that participation in the mentoring program would decrease levels of psychological distress, disordered eating behavior, and objectified body-consciousness, in addition to raising levels of self-esteem and feminist identification for both women and adolescent girls. Further, it was hypothesized that participation in mentoring would decrease substance abuse for college women. Although not all of the hypotheses were confirmed, there were some significant findings that demonstrate beneficial effects of this program for both girls and women. Specifically, girls who participated in the program experienced a significant decline in disordered eating behavior. In addition, both girls and women who participated in the program showed a significant increase in feminist identity. The implications of these results, limitations of the present study, and directions for future research are discussed

Perceived Discrimination and Academic Achievement among Latino Adolescents: A Risk and Resiliency Model

Discrimination experiences can act as salient stressors for ethnic minority adolescents by impacting a variety of developmental outcomes in a negative manner. However, the majority of available research on adolescent discrimination experiences has been conducted with African American samples and a paucity of discrimination research exists with Latino adolescents. The current study examined associations among discrimination, self-regulated learning efficacy, and academic achievement for 399 Latino adolescents. Using a risk and resilience theoretical framework, this study examined the potential for discrimination from peers, authority figures, and teachers to function as risk factors for lower self-regulated learning efficacy and lower academic achievement. Self-regulated learning efficacy was examined as a potential generative mechanism, providing a partial explanation for why discrimination experiences might be associated with lower academic achievement. Parental support and monitoring were included as possible protective factors, and adolescent gender (being female) was included as a vulnerability factor

An Interpersonal and Cognitive-Behavioral Approach to Childhood Depression: A School-Based Primary Prevention Study

Depression represents a serious mental health problem that affects the lives of many children. Depression is frequently cited as the most recurrent emotional problem facing younger populations. Left untreated, depression can have several negative ramifications on later adjustment, including suicide, substance use, academic and social difficulties, low self-esteem, and an increased risk for other mental health problems. The search for effective treatments for depression has extended into several arenas. Schools play an important role in the lives of children and provide an ideal setting for early detection and remediation of depression at every stage. Schools are increasingly being encouraged to offer preventative mental health services to deal with emotional issues that may often go unnoticed until a crisis situation. However, there remain a small number of studies that have investigated the impact of school-based preventative interventions for depression. For this reason, a school-based, primary prevention study was conducted. The current study utilized an interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral model that was incorporated into the health education curriculum of the school. The sample included four fifth-grade classes in a rural school district. The study was conducted using a quasi-experimental design similar to a Solomon four-group design with two intervention and two control classes. The intervention was a total of eight 50-minute sessions. The subjects were assessed using a variety of self-report, sociometric, and rating-scale instruments. The results of the study suggest that social skills were statistically significantly impacted by the intervention, and moderate standardized mean difference effect sizes (ES) of .51 and .48 were found. Depressive symptom reduction was less pronounced. Additional findings indicate that the children did in fact learn the principles conveyed throughout the intervention, including methods of alleviating depressive symptomatology and social skills relevant for fifth-grade children. The results are discussed in the context of primary prevention models in other areas of mental health