Examining the Moderating Effect of Self-Compassion Between Rumination and Alcohol Use

Abundant research suggests alcohol use among college students as a public health concern (SAMHSA, 2014). Previous studies support rumination, a manner of responding to emotional distress which involves repetitively and passively focusing on the distress, is linked to problematic alcohol use among college students (Oswalt et al., 2020). On the other hand, not all college students who experience rumination engage in problematic alcohol use which suggests the presence of a moderating variable. Due to its emotion regulating abilities and positive associations to well-being, self-compassion may be on factor that affects the relationship between rumination and alcohol use (Diedrich et al., 2014; Neff, 2003). Although self-compassion interventions have positive outcomes, prior studies have not explored the influence self-compassion has on the relationship between these two key variables. Thus, the current study aimed to add valuable insight in the literature by exploring the relationship between rumination and alcohol use and how dimensions of self-compassion may moderate this relationship. A college sample completed self-report measures of these constructs. As hypothesized, results indicated rumination was significantly positively correlated to alcohol use. Further, self-compassion was significantly inversely related to rumination and alcohol use. Moderation analyses revealed two dimensions of self-compassion (i.e., self-kindness and common humanity) did significantly moderate the relationship between rumination and alcohol use. The third dimension (i.e., mindfulness) did not moderate the relationship between rumination and alcohol use. Between group differences based on rurality and race/ethnicity were further explored and discussed. Other clinical implications and future directions are discussed

Ego Depletion: Buffering Through Touch

Ego depletion theory states that self-control is tied to a limited resource and diminishes after repeated exertions; consequently, the current study sought to examine how to replenish self-control through touch. Due to the positive outcomes of touch, we expected touch to allow participants to persist longer on a geometric tracing puzzle task after becoming ego depleted. The current study implemented measures widely used in the ego depletion literature, and the experimenter implemented two brief touches to examine the effects of touch in the domain of self-control. We found that participants who received touch persisted significantly longer on the geometric tracing puzzle task than participants who did not receive a touch. As such, the current study supports touch as an effective buffer against ego depletion. The mechanism for buffering may tie with expressive touch used by the experimenter, which likely motivated participants to persist in the subsequent self-control task

Primary vs. Secondary Violence Exposure and Mental Health Outcomes in Youth Who Engage in Sexually Abusive Behaviors

According to the U.S Department of Health and Human services, each year approximately 826,000 children were the victims of abuse, and/ or neglect, which does not include other types of victimization like parental substance abuse and domestic violence within the home. Primary violence exposure (e.g., physical and sexual abuse) in childhood can result in anxiety, depression, and difficulty forming attachments. Secondary violence exposure (e.g., neglect, parental substance abuse, and domestic violence) can cause chronic stress in children and negatively impact physical, cognitive, and emotional growth. Unfortunately, examining the impact of primary and secondary victimization is complicated by the interrelatedness. This current study aims to examine the unique impact of primary and secondary violence on mental health outcomes in a sample of youths receiving residential sex offender treatment. We hypothesize that primary violence exposure will be highly associated with the number of mental health diagnoses, and use of psychotropic medications, while controlling for the impact of 2017 Appalachian Student Research Forum Page 177 secondary exposure. The sample includes male adolescents (N=245: 84.1% Caucasian) who have engaged in sexually abusive behaviors and received residential treatment. Data were collected from archival records. Participants\u27 mean age is 14.77 (SD=14.77) at time of first admission in the facility. Additionally, participants seeking mental health treatment were, on average, 10.22 years of age (SD= 4.187) at the time of first mental health diagnosis. Variables include exposure to physical or sexual abuse, experience of neglect, the presence of domestic violence and substance abuse in the home of origin, the types of mental health diagnosis, use of psychotropic medications, and the age of onset of earliest diagnosis. First, we used partial correlations to find associations between type of violence exposure and mental health diagnoses, age of first diagnosis, and use of psychotropic medications, while extracting the influence of the alternate type of exposure. Correlations between primary violence exposure and diagnoses of mental health concerns, yielded significant associations between primary exposure and mood disorder (r=.133, p=.041) diagnoses. Also, a significant association was found between primary exposure and anxiety/trauma- related disorders (r=.160, p=. 013). Significant associations were found for both mood disorder (r=.162, p=.012) and behavioral disorder (r=.212, p=.001). Age of onset of first mental health diagnosis was not significantly correlated with primary violence exposure or secondary violence exposure. While partialing out secondary violence exposure, primary violence was associated with use of mood stabilizers (r=.127, p=.05) and antipsychotic medications (r=.146, p=.024). Secondary violence exposure was exclusively related to use of any psychotropic drugs (r=.127, p=.004), mood stabilizers or antidepressants (r=.127, p=.05), and antipsychotic medications (r=.180, p=.05). Chi-square analyses will be conducted to further differentiate these outcomes following primary and secondary violence exposure

Differences in Experiences of Childhood Abuse Between Clinical and Nonclinical Samples

Child abuse is highly prevalent in the United States, as prior research has shown that 21% of the child population reports experiences of sexual abuse, 28% experience physical abuse, and 11% are emotionally abused. Many studies have assessed the prevalence and consequences of child abuse, but fewer have considered the differences between individual experiences of childhood abuse. The current study investigates possible differences between nonclinical and clinical samples, specifically with regard to victim-perpetrator relationships. We hypothesize that clinical inpatient samples experience greater rates of abuse than a nonclinical sample, and also that participants from clinical samples experience more abuse by family members than those in a nonclinical setting. Our sample (N=521; 53% female; 78% Caucasian) Page 60 2016 Appalachian Student Research Forum consists of participants who report a history of childhood emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse in samples of university students (n=342), randomly-selected forensic adult inpatients from a maximum- and intermediate-security psychiatric facility (n=90), and youth males receiving treatment for sexual misconduct in residential care (n=89). Data were self-reported in the study of university students and retrieved from archival records in the latter two samples. Within the subsample, 69% experienced emotional abuse, 54% had been physically abused, and 45% were sexually abused during childhood. Chisquare analyses were conducted to examine the occurrence of familial versus nonfamilial perpetrators of physical and sexual abuse between two subsamples (clinical inpatient samples versus nonclinical university sample). Individuals with a history of sexual abuse in the clinical sample were more likely than those in the nonclinical sample to be sexually abused by family members, 2 (1, N=230)=11.67, p = .001. Additionally, individuals who were physically abused in the clinical sample were more likely to have been physically abused by relatives than those in the nonclinical sample, 2 (1, N=235)=7.94, p = .005. In contrast, physically abused participants in the nonclinical sample were significantly more likely than those in the clinical sample to be physically abused by nonfamily members, 2 (1, N=235)=19.10, p = .000. There was no significant difference in the likelihood of experiencing extrafamilial sexual abuse between the clinical and nonclinical samples, 2 (1, N=230)=1.96, p = .162. Our results suggest that there are significant differences between the experiences across the subsamples in this study. Additional analyses will include further investigation of the various types of perpetrators (e.g., mother, father, acquaintance, etc.) between the subsamples. Future directions and limitations will be included

College Students’ Experiences of Childhood Adversity and Adult Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Perpetration: Prevalence and Implications for Intervention

Early adverse experiences in childhood (e.g., abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction) have been linked to negative long-term effects on physical and mental health. Kaiser Permanente and the CDC surveyed adults in the community in the mid-1990s and found a strong and cumulative relationship between the degree of exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and risk factors for negative outcomes in adulthood including higher risk for substance abuse and intimate partner violence. Also, criminal populations, particularly sexual offenders, report much higher rates of adversities than the general public. College students have a disproportionately high risk of intimate partner violence, rape, and other forms of sexual assault, and there is limited research on the characteristics of perpetrators and victims of sexual and intimate partner violence on campus, which could inform prevention efforts and our understanding of repeated victimization and the effects of cumulative experiences of victimization. Our sample consists of university students (N = 995; 69.2% female; M = 20 years old) who are predominantly Caucasian (84%) in the Southeastern US. An ACE total score between 0 and 10 was calculated for each participant by summing the number of Yes responses indicating experiences of childhood adversities. Regarding the prevalence of childhood adversities, 71% of the sample experienced at least one, and approximately 19% fell within the “high-risk” range of 4 or more ACEs, which is higher than the 13% of adults from the community who reported 4 or more ACEs in the original study conducted by the CDC. Thus, it appears that childhood adversities are widespread among college students in this sample. Regarding outcomes since turning 18 years of age, 2% of the sample admitted to engaging in coercive sexual behavior, 1% admitted to having sexual contact with someone who was not fully consenting, 1% had been arrested for a sexual offense, and 0.1% reported being a registered sexual offender. These behaviors were collectively considered sexual misconduct for the purpose of analyses. A logistic regression analysis yielded a significant model ( 2 = 29.51, R 2 = 0.11, p = 0.000) and indicates ACE Total Score (β = 0.34, 2 = 26.73, p = .00) and gender (β = - .85, 2 = 5.80, p = .02) predict sexual misconduct in adulthood. A second logistic regression analysis significantly predicted physical violence towards a partner as an adult ( 2 = 55.52, R 2 = 0.13, p = 0.000) Page 122 2016 Appalachian Student Research Forum with significant effects from ACE total score (β = 0.32, 2 = 42.41, p = .000) and gender (β = 1.16, 2 = 11.62, p = .001). Our findings thus far support further investigation of how adverse experiences relate to violent or sexual perpetration among college students. Additional analyses will include the relationships between these outcomes involving perpetration in adulthood and different types of early experiences of adversity, length of victimization and substance abuse

A Multisite Preregistered Paradigmatic Test of the Ego-Depletion Effect

We conducted a preregistered multilaboratory project (k = 36; N = 3,531) to assess the size and robustness of ego-depletion effects using a novel replication method, termed the paradigmatic replication approach. Each laboratory implemented one of two procedures that was intended to manipulate self-control and tested performance on a subsequent measure of self-control. Confirmatory tests found a nonsignificant result (d = 0.06). Confirmatory Bayesian meta-analyses using an informed-prior hypothesis (delta = 0.30, SD = 0.15) found that the data were 4 times more likely under the null than the alternative hypothesis. Hence, preregistered analyses did not find evidence for a depletion effect. Exploratory analyses on the full sample (i.e., ignoring exclusion criteria) found a statistically significant effect (d = 0.08); Bayesian analyses showed that the data were about equally likely under the null and informed-prior hypotheses. Exploratory moderator tests suggested that the depletion effect was larger for participants who reported more fatigue but was not moderated by trait self-control, willpower beliefs, or action orientation