Acute Exercise Thoughts, Coping, and Exercise Intention in Older Adults

Two purposes of this study were to identify the types of acute thoughts older adults experienced when making exercise decisions and the strategies used to cope with negative thoughts. The third purpose was to examine the relationships between acute thoughts, coping self-efficacy, and the outcomes of decisional struggle and exercise intention. Participants were 117 exercising older adults (M_age= 72 years). Acute thoughts, coping strategies and self-efficacy, decisional struggle, and intention measures were taken concurrently. Results indicate that older adults experienced both acute positive and negative thoughts. To cope with negative thoughts, participants used cognitive and behavioral strategies. Further, coping self-efficacy significantly predicted decisional struggle and intention.     

Acute Thoughts,Exercise Consistency,and Coping Self‐Efficacy1

One study purpose was to determine whether individuals classified with respect to consistency of exercise adherence and acute thinking tone differed on coping self‐efficacy, decisional struggle, exercise intention, and affect. A second study purpose was to examine whether coping self‐efficacy predicted struggle, intention, and affect. Participants were 160 healthy people (Mage = 25.6 years) exercising in fitness settings. Social cognitive, affect, and exercise consistency measures were obtained concurrently. A multivariate analysis indicated that positive thinkers experienced significantly lower decisional struggle and higher coping self‐efficacy compared to negative thinkers. Further, consistent exercisers experienced significantly lower decisional struggle and higher coping self‐efficacy, intention, and positive affect compared to inconsistent exercisers. Regression analyses indicated that coping self‐efficacy significantly predicted decisional struggle and intention.     

Creative Problem Solving and Problem Finding in Young Adults: Interconnections with Stress,Hassles, and Coping Abilities

This study examined the relationship among creative problem solving (PS) and problem generation (PG) abilities, stress and daily hassles, and coping skills in a sample of college undergraduates. Heirarchical regression analyses indicated that separate sets of both PS and PS task scores were predictive of scores on certain coping scales even after the variance accounted for by indices of stress and hassles was removed. Specifically, PG and PS abilities were negatively related to such coping processes as confrontation, distancing, escape-avoidance tendencies, and excessive acceptance of responsibility, and positively associated with more general adaptive qualities. The findings strongly suggest that PS and PG abilities are important components of an individual's overall capacity to cope with both major and minor stresses of life.     

Prospective Study of Major Loss Life Events and Risk for Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Adolescents and Young Adults

This prospective, naturalistic study examined the association between major loss life experiences, other psychiatric risk factors (depression, hopelessness, and anxiety), and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) among adolescents followed through young adulthood for up to 14 years. Major loss life events were related to subsequent increases in STBs. Major loss life events were primarily related to increases in suicide ideation in the presence of lower levels of other risk factors. There was a bidirectional relationship between major losses and other risk factors. Implications for the association between loss experiences, other risk factors, and future STBs are discussed.     

Adolescents and Young Adults Living with Congenital Heart Disease: Coping,Stress Reactivity,and Emotional Functioning

Living with congenital heart disease (CHD) presents survivors with numerous stressors, which may contribute to emotional problems. This study examined (a) whether coping with CHD-related stress predicts symptoms of depression and anxiety, and (b) whether associations between coping and emotional distress are moderated by involuntary stress reactivity. Adolescents and young adults diagnosed with CHD (M_age?=?26.4) were recruited from pediatric and adult outpatient cardiology clinics. Participants (N?=?168) completed online self-report measures. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that secondary control coping (e.g., cognitive restructuring, positive thinking) predicted lower depression and anxiety. Primary control coping (e.g., problem-solving) and stress reactivity (e.g., rumination, emotional numbing) interacted to predict depression and anxiety: the higher individuals were in involuntary stress reactivity, the stronger was the association between primary control coping and lower depression and anxiety. These results can inform clinical efforts to prevent or reduce emotional distress among CHD survivors.     

Loneliness in the Daily Lives of Young Adults: Testing a Socio‐cognitive Model

A socio‐cognitive model of loneliness states that lonely people are characterized by two characteristics, hypersensitivity to social threat and hyposensitivity to social reward. However, these characteristics have not yet been examined in the daily lives of young adults. Therefore, the main aim of the present study was to examine these two characteristics in young adults and whether relationship status, living situation, and type of company moderated the relationship between sensitivity to threat and reward and feelings of loneliness. The Experience Sampling Method was used, and data were collected among 219 first‐year college students (M age = 19.60, 91% female). Participants filled out questionnaires on their smartphone at five random time points per day, on 11 consecutive days. Multilevel analyses showed support for hypersensitivity to social threat, in that students high in loneliness were more negatively affected by negative perceptions of company. Results for hyposensitivity to social reward were in the opposite direction; students high in loneliness were more positively affected by positive perceptions of company than students low in loneliness. These relations were not moderated by relationship status or living situation. Our findings may indicate that loneliness serves as a motivational state that increases susceptibility to the environment in order to restore social relationships. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Believe What I Believe: Correspondence Between the Beliefs of Young Adults and the Perceived Beliefs of Their Caregivers

Little research has examined the mechanisms through which adult children adopt beliefs across a range of contexts. Through an online survey, the authors examined belief transmission via the correspondence between beliefs of 837 young adults and the perceived ideological beliefs of their caregivers as a function of attachment, parental behavior, and religious beliefs in four domains: moral, political, religious, and lifestyle. The strongest predictor of belief transmission across domains was the geographic location in which the participants were sampled, with individuals currently residing in the Southern region of the United States indicating greater belief transmission compared with those residing in the Midwestern region of the United States. Women also exhibited greater belief transmission compared with men. Controlling for these predictors, we also found that insecurity was negatively related to belief transmission, whereas authority, autonomy, and religious attachment were positively related to belief transmission in some contexts. Taken together, these results suggest that the relationships that young adults remembered having had with their primary caregivers were associated with the transmission of their caregivers’ beliefs.     

Prospective and Concurrent Affective Dynamics in Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors: An Examination in Young Adult Women

Affective dynamics, assessed using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), provide a nuanced understanding of within-person fluctuations of negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) in daily life. NA and PA dynamics have been associated with psychopathology and response to psychological treatments. NA and PA dynamics have been rarely studied concurrently in association with self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITB), transdiagnostic difficulties encountered regularly in clinical and community settings. Here we present EMA data from a large, diverse sample of young adult women with high rates of SITB to examine NA and PA dynamics (mean intensity, variability, and inertia). Specifically, we considered the prospective associations between past-year suicidal thoughts and past-year nonsuicidal self-injury and affective dynamics, as well as the concurrent associations between affective dynamics, EMA-reported suicidal thoughts, and EMA-reported urges for nonsuicidal self-injury. Results demonstrate that elevated mean NA and NA variability are robustly associated with all types of SITB assessed prospectively or concurrently. Interestingly, these associations were weakest for past-year nonsuicidal self-injurious behaviors, relative to past-year and concurrent suicidal or nonsuicidal self-injurious thoughts. Past-year suicidal thoughts further predicted increased NA inertia. Decreased PA inertia was associated with past-year nonsuicidal self-injury behavior, as well as concurrent EMA suicidal thoughts. We found no associations (prospective or concurrent) between SITB and mean PA intensity or PA variability. These results highlight the importance of understanding affective processes to develop real-world interventions to prevent nonsuicidal self-injury and suicidal behavior in daily life.     

Victim Blaming in Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults: Variations on the Severity Effect

It has been long known that people blame victims for the bad things that happen to them, and that people blame victims more when the victims experience severe difficulties than when they experience minor difficulties, even if the victims were not particularly irresponsible. Little previous research has examined victim blaming in middle-age and older adults. One hundred and forty-five adults in 3 age groups (18–34, 35–59, and 60–84) read 4 scenarios (2 accidents, 1 crime, and 1 fire) imbedded in other scenarios. The scenarios were varied so that the victim is either very irresponsible or not very irresponsible, and the outcome is mild or severe. The oldest group of participants blamed the victims more than the other groups. However, in contrast to the typical severity effect, the oldest group blamed the very irresponsible victim more when the outcome was mild than they did when the outcome was severe.     

Emerging Finnish Adults Coping with Cancer: Religious,Spiritual, and Secular Meanings of the Experience

The article presents empirical findings on religious, spiritual, and secular coping among emerging Finnish adults with cancer and seeks an understanding of the different meanings they constructed of their experience with cancer. Autobiographical interviews and life tree drawings of 16 emerging adults were analyzed utilizing a narrative approach. To gain a deeper understanding of the cancer-coping and meaning-making processes, the stories of Beth, Sophia, and Anna are explored in detail. An exploration of the meaning-making process of all the participants shows that over time many of the participants were able to find meaning in their cancer experience. Religious meaning was found when the disease was discovered as a calling from God, spiritual meaning was discovered within a buffered identity and important relationships, and secular meaning was found in the courage to make a career change. The theoretical discussion points out a gap between the disciplines of theology and psychology of religion. The gap is partly bridged by utilizing the concepts of lived religion and existentially oriented spirituality in the discussion of meaning-making theories.     

An Analysis of Thoughts,Behaviours, and Emotions in Daily Decision-Making

Cognitive theory and naturalistic decision-making models were utilized to examine the relationship between thoughts, behaviours, and emotions in daily decision-making. An experimental survey using vignettes examined the effects of investment of cognitive and behavioural effort in hypothetical vignettes on emotional responses to uncertain negative outcomes. For each vignette, this negative outcome was either surprising or distressing. Further, the type of uncertainty was an alteration, inclusion, or cancellation pertaining to the original vignette, yielding six conditions in the within-groups design. Participants (N = 335, 220 females) responded to each vignette by choosing a behavioural effort option (low or high), following which they elaborated the reason for their choice (high or low cognitive effort). They also responded to the predetermined negative outcome on an affective scale (emotional response). Results showed that (a) emotional responses to vignettes varied, based on the type of uncertainty in the scenario; (b) surprising outcomes elicited higher emotional distress; (c) behavioural effort positively predicted emotional distress when the type of uncertainty was alteration or inclusion; and (d) strategies involving high cognitive effort predicted investment of high behavioural effort in the vignette. Implications of examining behavioural, cognitive, and emotional processes leading to daily decisions are discussed in the context of coping with uncertainty.     

Gender,Gender Roles,and Personality: Gender Differences in the Prediction of Coping and Psychological Symptoms

Path models of the effects of gender, gender roles, and personality variables (achievement and affiliation orientation, locus of control, empathy) on coping and symptoms were tested to explore the risk and protective effects of gender roles and personality on psychological symptoms, and to test whether or not gender roles or personality accounted for gender differences in coping and symptoms. In a sample of university undergraduates (35% Asian American, 59% European American or Caucasian, 6% other ethnic/racial background), masculinity predicted lower depression but higher antisocial and substance use problems, whereas femininity predicted lower antisocial and substance use problems. Personality variables did not account for the effects of gender or gender roles on coping or symptoms, but rather gender roles and personality each predicted unique variance in those variables. Significant gender differences in the relations among gender roles and personality emerged; however, there were no gender differences in the relations between coping and symptoms. Findings highlight the importance of studying gender differences in the effects of gender roles and personality on coping and symptoms, because it appears that gender roles and personality operate differently for males and females.     

Memory Scanning Performance in Healthy Young Adults,Healthy Older Adults,and Individuals with Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

A memory scanning (Sternberg, 1966, 1975) task was administered to healthy young adults, older adults, and two groups of individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) to determine age- and disease-related changes in the retrieval of information from short-term memory. Healthy older adults, in comparison to healthy young adults, displayed increases in both slopes and intercepts in memory scanning. Individuals at various stages of DAT (very mild, mild, moderate) displayed increases in both slopes and intercepts compared to nondemented age-matched control individuals. There was also some evidence that DAT individuals are more likely to engage in a self-terminating search instead of an exhaustive search of short-term memory.     

Cigarette Smoking in Young Adults: Childhood and Adolescent Personality,Familial, and Peer Antecedents

Three models (independent, interdependent, and mediational) were hypothesized in this study, to examine the interrelation of personality, family, and peer determinants and their effects on tobacco use by young adults. Mothers were first interviewed about their children when they were between the ages of 1 and 10 years old. Three subsequent interviews were conducted with the children when they reached adolescence and young adulthood. Results show support for the mediational model. In accordance with family interactional framework conceptions, there was a sequence in patterning: from parenting during early adolescence; to personality and peer factors, extending to smoking in late adolescence; and culminating in smoking in adulthood. With a developmental approach, a number of psychosocial measures were related in both younger and older children. Nevertheless, some interesting developmental differences emerged. The findings suggest at least four possible targets for therapeutic or preventive intervention: the parent, the child, the adolescent, and the peer group.     

Spiritual,Religious, Nonspiritual,and Nonreligious Narratives in Marginalized Older Adults: A Typology of Coping Styles

SUMMARY

Narrative therapy is an important tool in the phenomenological framing of life events with older clients. Seventy-nine older adults who lived independently in four subsidized high-rise housing facilities in Chicago were interviewed in a research project about managing life challenges. Cases represent four types in a spiritual-religious typology: religious and spiritual, religious only, spiritual only, and neither religious nor spiritual (Zinnbauer, 1997). This article explores how older adults managed adversity and maintained a sense of self-efficacy. Findings indicate that older adults use many references to religion and spirituality in their narratives, either embracing these domains or defining themselves in contrast to them. Narrative therapy suggests that the implications of religious and spiritual resources addressed in client stories may reinforce coping capacity and promote aging well.     

Giving Back and Growing in Service: Investigating Spirituality,Religiosity, and Generativity in Young Adults

Generativity investigations have explored the manner by which adults derive meaning and fulfillment from their life activities (e.g., Erikson in Identity, youth, and crisis W.W. Norton & Company Inc.,NY, 1968; McAdams and Logan in American Psychological Association, 15–31, 2004). Faith and religious practice have often been central features of adult meaning making, yet the relationship between one’s spiritual identity and one’s generative concern or activities has received only limited investigation. Lesser still has been investigated examining the degree to which young adults demonstrate generative concern. The current study examined the relationship between aspects of faith (religiosity and spirituality) and generativity (concern and action). A sample of 94 undergraduates from a religiously affiliated college were recruited through door-to-door invitation and were surveyed using a new measure of religiosity (Steger and Frazier in Journal of Counseling Psychology 52(4):574–582, 2005) and two measures of generativity (Loyola Generativity Scale and Generative Behavior Checklist, McAdams et al. 1992). Support was found for a relationship between spirituality and generative concern. These findings are discussed in relation to recent demographic shifts and are compared with earlier work investigating secular spiritual trends on generativity (e.g., Dillon and Wink in The generative society American Psychological Association Press, Washington, DC, 153–174, 2004).     

Spirituality: A Coping Mechanism in the Lives of Adults With Congenital Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the perspective of individuals with congenital disabilities about spirituality as a coping mechanism during crucial times in their lives. Qualitative analysis of interviews assessing turning points in the lives of 15 adults (6 women and 9 men; M = 37 years) with spina bifida, cerebral palsy, or attention deficit disorder was performed to determine how spirituality assisted them at these crucial times. Four recurring themes were identified: God as a guiding force, inner strength, meaning in life, and appropriateness of the use of spirituality in counseling. The authors discuss their findings and the use of spirituality in counseling adults with congenital disabilities.     

Ego Development and the Internalization of Conflict in Young Adults

The theory and measurement of ego development (Loevinger in Ego development: Conceptions and theories. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1976) have enjoyed success in the empirical literature as a means of conceptualizing psychological maturity. One unresolved issue concerns the uncertain relationship between ego development and positive adjustment or well-being. The current study tests the hypothesis that ego development in the transition to young adulthood entails an increase in internalizing symptoms and a decrease in externalizing symptoms of psychopathology. Two samples of college students (total n = 263, age range 18–22 years) completed a measure of ego development, the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT; Hy and Loevinger in Measuring ego development. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, 1996), and either the Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI; Ihilevich and Gleser in Defense mechanisms: Their classification, correlates, and measurement with the Defense Mechanisms Inventory. Psychological Assessment Resources, Odessa, 1993) or select scales from the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey in Personality Assessment Inventory professional manual 2. Psychological Assessment Resources, Lutz, 2007). Results indicate that WUSCT scores are positively correlated with internalizing defense preferences, anxiety-related disorders, unstable mood and identity, and sense of stress. WUSCT scores are negatively correlated with externalizing defense preferences and alcohol problems, and with aggression in males. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that ego development is related to the specific type, rather than overall level, of psychopathology experienced by young adults.