Pathogenic Beliefs Mediate the Relationship Between Perceived Negative Parenting and Psychopathology Symptoms

Negative parenting style, such as abuse, neglect, and intrusiveness, is significantly related to subsequent development of psychopathology. Here we sought to examine pathogenic beliefs as a potential mechanism of change. We explored whether pathogenic beliefs help explain the relationship between perceived negative parenting style and common psychopathology symptoms. This study assessed the psychometric properties of the self-report Pathogenic Beliefs Scale and tested its mediating effect on the relationship between negative parenting and psychopathology. A community sample of 732 adults completed an online survey that included measures of perceived negative parenting style (MOPS), pathogenic beliefs (PBS), and a transdiagnostic measure of common indicators of psychopathology (anxiety, low self-esteem, emotional instability, pessimistic attitude, and depression). Results showed that pathogenic beliefs were significantly associated with negative parenting experiences in childhood and adult psychopathology symptoms. Moreover, pathogenic beliefs mediated the relationship between negative parenting style and psychopathology. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.     

Big men feeling small: Childhood bullying experience, muscle dysmorphia and other mental health problems in bodybuilders

ObjectivesMuscle dysmorphia (MD) is a preoccupation with the idea that one's body is insufficiently lean and muscular and considered as a body image disorder in men. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of MD with childhood bullying victimization experiences and mental health problems in a nonclinical sample of male bodybuilders.DesignA cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 100 male bodybuilders.MethodsParticipants completed a questionnaire battery consisting of the muscle dysmorphic inventory (MDI), and scales on childhood bullying victimization, self-esteem, and psychological problems including depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms.ResultsHigh scores on the MDI and bullying victimization in childhood predicted global psychopathology and low self-esteem. Psychological functioning and self-esteem were most strongly adversely affected if the men were victims of bullying and scored high on the MDI (significant moderation effect). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses furthermore found an indirect linkage of victimization with global psychopathology and self-esteem via MDI (mediation effect).ConclusionsChildhood bullying victimization and MD are strongly associated with concurrent anxiety, depressive and obsessive-compulsive symptoms and low self-esteem.     

A MEDIATIONAL MODEL OF AUTONOMY, SELF-ESTEEM, AND EATING DISORDERED ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS

This study expands upon existing literature by examining how the relationship between autonomy deficits and low self-esteem may create a psychological environment conducive to the development of eating disordered behaviors. Findings supported a mediational model to account for eating disordered behaviors in 71 college women. In this model, lack of autonomy was related to decreased global self-esteem, which in turn was associated with bulimia, body dissatisfaction, and drive for thinness. Although only tentative and cross-sectional in nature, this study is of particular importance because it links autonomy and self-esteem in a coherent model predictive of eating disordered behaviors in college women. Developmental aspects of eating disorders and treatment implications are discussed.     

Low self-esteem prospectively predicts depression in adolescence and young adulthood

Low self-esteem and depression are strongly correlated in cross-sectional studies, yet little is known about their prospective effects on each other. The vulnerability model hypothesizes that low self-esteem serves as a risk factor for depression, whereas the scar model hypothesizes that low self-esteem is an outcome, not a cause, of depression. To test these models, the authors used 2 large longitudinal data sets, each with 4 repeated assessments between the ages of 15 and 21 years and 18 and 21 years, respectively. Cross-lagged regression analyses indicated that low self-esteem predicted subsequent levels of depression, but depression did not predict subsequent levels of self-esteem. These findings held for both men and women and after controlling for content overlap between the self-esteem and depression scales. Thus, the results supported the vulnerability model, but not the scar model, of self-esteem and depression.     

Predicting premature termination within a randomized controlled trial for binge-eating patients

Understanding the dropout rates of efficacious forms of psychotherapy for patients with binge eating disorder (BED) is an unsolved problem within this increasing population. Up until now the role of psychotherapy process characteristics as predictors of premature termination has not been investigated in the BED literature. Within a randomized controlled trial (N=78) we investigated the degree to which early psychological process characteristics, such as components of the therapeutic relationship and the experiences of mastery and motivational clarification, predicted premature termination of treatment. We statistically controlled for the influences of covariates such as rapid response of treatment, treatment group, body mass index, Axis II disorder, and patients' preexisting generalized self-efficacy at baseline. Patients' postsession reports from Sessions 1 to 5 indicated that low self-esteem in-session experiences was a stable predictor of premature termination. Its predictive value persisted after controlling for the above-mentioned covariates. Exploratory analyses further revealed low self-esteem experiences, low global alliance, and low mastery and clarification experiences as predictors in those patients who explicitly specified discontentment with therapy as reason for premature termination. These results indicate that patients' self-esteem experiences may not be an epiphenomenon of their specific psychopathology but may represent general mechanisms on which remaining or withdrawing from psychotherapeutic treatment depends. Early psychotherapy process characteristics should therefore be considered in training and evaluation of psychotherapists carrying through BED treatments.     

The effects of individual differences and goal origin on goal setting and performance

The purpose of this study is to clarify the roles played by individual differences and goal origin in the goal setting process. In order to accomplish this objective this study (a) briefly reviews the existing empirical evidence on individual differences in the goal setting literature, (b) develops a model of the goal-setting process that specifies different roles for individual differences depending upon goal origin, and (c) tests hypotheses generated by this model in a laboratory setting. The results indicate that under self-set conditions variables associated with self-perceptions of task-specific ability, but not generalized self-esteem, are related to the difficulty of the goals selected, with more difficult goals being set by individuals high in task-specific ability perceptions. Furthermore, when goals are self-set, regardless of individual differences, the expectancy and valence of goal attainment tends to be high and invariant relative to assigned conditions (i.e., the motivation to pursue the goal is high), and a strong goal difficulty-performance relationship is in evidence for all subjects. Under assigned goal conditions, individual differences determine the reaction to the assigned goal. Individuals high in task-specific self-esteem have stronger expectancies for attaining the goal relative to those low in this trait; and, individuals high in generalized self-esteem exhibit higher valence for goal attainment than those low in generalized self-esteem. In assigned conditions, there was a positive goal difficulty-performance relationship only for individuals high in generalized self-esteem. Some evidence actually suggested that for subjects low in generalized self-esteem, it is better to assign low goals. Low goals seem to increase the self-perceived task-specific ability of these subjects which relates positively with performance.     

青少年早期自尊与抑郁的交叉滞后分析：检验易感模型和创伤模型

本研究以初一年级598名青少年为研究对象,采用三年追踪设计,运用交叉滞后回归分析,控制变量的先前水平,旨在揭示青少年早期自尊与抑郁的相互影响,检验易感模型和创伤模型。结果发现,对于青少年样本总体来说,第一、二学年抑郁各自能显著负向预测第二、三学年自尊,支持创伤模型;同时第二学年自尊又能显著负向预测第三学年抑郁,支持易感模型。对于女生而言,其自尊与抑郁之间的关系与样本总体相同,既支持易感模型,又支持创伤模型;对于男生而言,仅发现其第二学年抑郁能显著负向预测第三学年自尊,支持创伤模型。这些结果表明青少年早期的自尊与抑郁存在双向的相互影响,易感模型和创伤模型同时起作用,而且这种影响存在显著的性别差异。     

The Role of Children��s Appraisals on Adjustment Following Psychological Maltreatment: A Pilot Study

Little is known about the cognitive mechanisms involved in the development of psychopathology following psychological maltreatment in children. This study therefore examined the role of thinking styles on children's outcomes following this subtype of maltreatment. Children who had experienced past maltreatment (n?=?24) and a control group (n?=?26) were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Maltreatment history, cognitive styles and psychological outcomes, such as depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and self-esteem were assessed. Parents/caregivers also completed a measure of child internalizing and externalizing behaviours. Psychological maltreatment made a significant contribution to children's self-reported depression and low self-esteem, and parent reported internalizing and externalizing problems, even after controlling for other abusive experiences. This was not the case for PTSD symptoms. Further, children's cognitive styles were associated with self-reported depression, self-esteem and PTSD. They did not, however, predict parent-rated emotional and behavioural problems. This study provides preliminary support for a cognitive model of adjustment following psychological maltreatment. The results indicate the need for enhanced community awareness about the impact of psychological maltreatment, and suggest a direction for therapeutic intervention.     

Temperamental emotionality in preschoolers and parental mood disorders

A number of models developed in the adult psychopathology literature (i.e., L. A. Clark & D. Watson, 1991) have asserted that low levels of positive emotionality (PE) are predisposing factors or precursors for depression and represent a form of temperamental risk for depression. Further support for this claim would derive from evidence linking low PE to known indicators of risk for depression. The authors examined the association between temperamental emotionality in young children and parental mood disorders. One hundred unselected preschool-aged children completed a battery of emotion-eliciting tasks tapping aspects of PE, negative emotionality (NE), and behavioral inhibition (BI). Parental psychopathology was assessed with semistructured diagnostic interviews. Low PE in children was associated with maternal, but not paternal, mood disorder. The low PE-maternal depression link was relatively specific, as there were few associations between low PE and other forms of parental psychopathology or between NE and BI and parental mood disorders.     

The Puzzle of High Self-esteem Among Ethnic Minorities: Comparing Explicit and Implicit Self-esteem

This paper examines the puzzle of high self-esteem among ethnic minorities by making a distinction between the personal self and the collective self and between explicit and implicit self-esteem. The study was conducted among three groups of early adolescents: Dutch, Turkish-Dutch (of Turkish origin and living in the Netherlands), and Turkish participants living in Turkey. It was found that the Turkish-Dutch had scores similar to the Turks in Turkey except for measures of implicit collective self-esteem. Furthermore, the percentage of participants with high explicit and low implicit collective self-esteem was significantly greater among the Turkish-Dutch than among the other two samples. Additionally, for the Turkish-Dutch, perceived discrimination was negatively related to implicit collective self-esteem but not to other self-esteem measures. It is concluded that the distinctions between the personal and the collective self and between explicit and implicit self-esteem can improve our understanding of the psychological development of disadvantaged ethnic minority groups, and assist in making sense of otherwise puzzling findings in the literature.     

SELF-ESTEEM AND JOB PERFORMANCE: THE MODERATING ROLE OF SELF-ESTEEM CONTINGENCIES

Although theoretical perspectives suggest self-esteem level (i.e., high/low) should have main and moderating effects on job performance, empirical and narrative reviews of the literature suggest such effects are either nonexistent or highly variable. To account for these mixed findings, we hypothesized that self-esteem level should only have main and moderating effects on job performance when one's self-esteem is not contingent upon workplace performance. Using multisource ratings across 2 samples of working adults, we found that the importance of performance to self-esteem (IPSE) moderated the effect of self-esteem level on job performance and moderated the buffering interaction between self-esteem level and role conflict in the prediction of job performance. Our results thus support IPSE as an important moderator of both main and moderating effects of self-esteem level.     

“Sinking Into the Ground”: The Development and Consequences of Shame in Adolescence

Although in recent years the developmental antecedents and clinical consequences of shame have received increased theoretical and research attention, little is yet known about shame's development after early childhood or its role in developmental psychopathology. This article reviews the literature on shame and on adolescence and suggests that attention to the role of shame in adolescent development is warranted for several reasons. Social-cognitive, physical, and interpersonal changes associated with adolescence may each be associated with normative increases in shame during adolescence. In addition, several lines of evidence converge to suggest that shame may be implicated in some of the important gender-related shifts in self-esteem and developmental psychopathology that occur over the adolescent years.     

Creativity and Self-esteem in Adolescence: A Study of Their Domain-Specific,Multivariate Relationships

Although empirical investigations on the Creative Self have historically started with a focus on self-esteem, the literature on its relationship with creative performance remains thin and inconsistent, with estimated relationships ranging from moderate and negative, to strongly positive. Discrepancies may be explained by the domain-specificity of both creativity and self-esteem that have been widely overlooked in this line of work. Therefore, this study explores the multivariate relationships between creativity in three domains (Music, Literary-Verbal, Graphic) and self-esteem in seven domains (e.g., Academic, Emotional) among 170 adolescents. Creative productions were scored by four raters, and latent consensus in each domain captured using a multi-informant latent-consensus model in SEM. This model was further extended in a structural model reveling that (a) creativity is mainly domain-specific, and (b) the contribution of domain-specific self-esteem on domain-specific creativity greatly varies according to both the domains of creativity and self-esteem. Up to 30% of the variance in creative performance was explained by “domain-relevant” self-esteem facets, and a moderate contribution of creative self-esteem across creativity domains. Results are discussed in light of several important methodological directions for this line of work, as well as its implications for creativity-based interventions designed to support positive self-esteem development in adolescence.     

Investing in the ideal: Does objectified body consciousness mediate the association between appearance contingent self-worth and appearance self-esteem in women?

Appearance contingent self-worth has been shown to be associated with low appearance self-esteem but little is known about the role that objectified body consciousness may play in this relationship. The purpose of the present study with 465 female undergraduates was to examine whether objectified body consciousness mediates the association between appearance contingent self-worth and low levels of appearance self-esteem. This was accomplished using a multiple mediation model to examine whether components of objectified body consciousness (i.e., body surveillance, body shame, and control beliefs) play unique roles in the connection between appearance contingent self-worth and appearance self-esteem. Results showed that body surveillance and body shame were significant mediators of the connection between appearance contingent self-worth and low levels of appearance self-esteem. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for the ways in which appearance contingent self-worth may promote heightened body consciousness and possibly contribute to low levels of appearance self-esteem.     

Fragile self-esteem and affective instability in posttraumatic stress disorder

Temporal fluctuations in self-esteem and affect are prominent features of several clinical conditions (e.g., depression), but there is an absence of empirical work examining their role in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Individuals who experience large fluctuations in self-evaluations and affect are considered more vulnerable to psychopathology than individuals able to adequately modulate their self-image and emotional responses. We examined the relevance of self-esteem and affective instability to PTSD. Veterans with and without PTSD completed 14 daily ratings of self-esteem, positive affect, negative affect, and gratitude. Compared to veterans without PTSD, veterans with PTSD exhibited more temporal fluctuations in self-esteem, negative affect, and gratitude, with a smaller effect for positive affect. For all veterans, self-esteem and negative affective instability was associated with diminished well-being. Except for self-esteem instability, most findings were substantially reduced after accounting for variance attributable to PTSD diagnoses and mean intensity levels over the 14-day monitoring period. These data suggest self-esteem instability is important in understanding the lives of veterans with and without PTSD.     

Body weight and bulimia as discriminators of psychological characteristics among anorexic, bulimic, and obese women

Bulimic women from underweight (n = 20), normal-weight (n = 31), and overweight (n = 22) categories were compared with restrictor anorexics (n = 20), normal controls (n = 31), and obese subjects (n = 22). Each subject was administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Semantic Differential Potency Scale. Bulimic women in all 3 weight categories exhibited greater psychopathology, more external locus of control, lower self-esteem, and lower sense of personal effectiveness than nonbulimic women at similar weight levels. The highest psychopathology, lowest self-esteem, and most external locus of control were found among the underweight bulimic women. Significant differences between bulimic women of different weight levels suggest the need for some modification of treatment approaches depending on the bulimic women's weight level.     

The relationship of social approval contingency to trait self-esteem: Cause,consequence, or moderator?

This longitudinal study tested three theoretical models of the relationship between contingency of self-worth on social approval and trait self-esteem. These included (1) a selective-determinants model positing that self-reports of social approval contingency moderate effects of perceived regard from others on trait self-esteem; (2) an autonomy model positing that approval contingency is a cause of low self-esteem; and (3) a sociometer model positing that approval contingency is a consequence of self-esteem. Perceived regard from others predicted concurrent trait self-esteem and longitudinal change in self-esteem, irrespective of social approval contingency. Approval contingency did not predict longitudinal change in self-esteem, although self-esteem predicted longitudinal change in approval contingency. These results, which support the sociometer model, were consistent across two somewhat different measures of social approval contingency and four indices of perceived regard and social inclusion.     

Self-esteem and institutionalized delinquent offenders: the role of background characteristics.

Some of the delinquency literature sustains the assumption that inept persons doing unworthy things is the self-view held by youth offenders, "Disadvantaged" or "adverse" background characteristics are often assumed to account for low self-esteem among delinquent offenders. However, the implications of control theory suggest that youths having few bonds to people and institutions are relatively "free" to drift into delinquency without serious damage to self-esteem. The hypothesis we examined was derived from the work of control theorists: that self-esteem would be higher for offenders "removed" from conventional ties, lower for those who maintained conventional attachments. Data from 75 male delinquent offenders incarcerated at a correctional youth institution are used in testing this relationship. Our hypothesis received strong support. The implication drawn from these results is that the impact of the correctional process on self-esteem may be far less important than the myriad relationships previously established with people and institutions. These results pertaining to a special category of youth are in keeping with the reported findings on the link between deprivation and self-esteem of general youth populations.     

青少年网络利他行为与主观幸福感的关系——一个有中介的调节模型

对1376名青少年进行问卷调查,在控制人口统计学变量后,考察青少年网络利他行为、自尊、自我效能感和主观幸福感之间的关系。结果发现:(1)青少年的网络利他行为对主观幸福感有显著的正向预测作用;(2)自尊调节了网络利他行为与主观幸福感之间的关系;(3)自我效能感在自尊对网络利他行为和主观幸福感关系的调节效应中起完全中介作用。     

自尊的记忆效应的实验研究

本实验研究证实了自尊的记忆效应的存在,即自尊水平与词性的交互作用对特质形容诃的回忆量有显著影响。具体而言,对于正向词的回忆量,高自尊组显著高于低自尊组。对于负向诃的回忆量,高自尊组与低自尊组无显著差异;而在高自尊组,正向词的回忆量显著高于负向诃的回忆量。在低自尊组,正向词的回忆量与负向诃的回忆量无显著差异。实验结果支持自尊对记忆影响的忽视——不一致模型。