Emotional responding in NSSI: examinations of appraisals of positive and negative emotional stimuli,with and without acute stress

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is commonly used by young adults to regulate emotional responses. Yet, experimental examination of how people who self-injure appraise and respond to emotional stimuli is limited. We examined appraisals of, and responses to, emotive images in young adults who did and did not self-injure, and assessed whether these were impacted by exposure to a stressor. Study 1 (N?=?51) examined whether participants differed in their appraisals of emotional images. Study 2 (N?=?78) assessed whether appraisals of images changed after exposure to the Trier Social Stress Test. Ratings of emotional valence and arousal were collected in both studies; skin conductance was measured as an indicator of physiological arousal in Study 2. In Study 1 participants reporting NSSI rated positively valenced images as less pleasant than participants not reporting NSSI. In Study 2, after acute stress, participants reporting NSSI displayed dampened physiological reactions to positive images whereas participants who did not self-injure displayed heightened physiological reactions to these and rated them as more pleasant. Individuals who self-injure seem less able to engage in strategic mood repair after exposure to stress compared to people who do not self-injure.     

Metaperceptions of bias in intimate relationships

Meta-awareness of bias in intimate partner judgments was investigated in 3 studies. In Study 1, participants rated fictional partners in happier relationships as more positively biased in their partner perceptions. In Study 2, participants thought their judgments of their own current partners were positively biased and that they were judged by their partners in a positively biased fashion. Using a sample of couples, Study 3 showed that metaperceptions of bias were anchored to actual levels of bias at the individual and relationship levels. In addition, positive bias was accentuated for traits that were more relevant to mate evaluation. These findings (as expected) suggest that positive bias in partner judgments can be a normative and consciously accessible feature of intimate relationships.     

DIStance-from-the PROtotype (DISPRO) personality assessment for children

We examined a children's version of Broughton's (1990) DISPRO (DIStance-From-the-PROtotype), a multidimensional scaling approach to personality assessment. In this system, a score on a given trait dimension is derived from a subject's judgment about his or her similarity to or distance from a prototype - a hypothetical character who acts in trait-consistent or prototypical ways. The DISPRO assessment model employs eight equidistant trait categories from Wiggins's (1979) interpersonal circumplex. In this study, 74 children (M age = 7.3 years) were told stories about four same-sex characters who performed prototypical acts from a single trait category randomly selected from the circumplex. Results show the structure of children's ratings is remarkably similar to that obtained from adults, but children's ratings show a developmental trend. A sample of younger children (M age = 6) provided a unidimensional solution along a "good-bad" or nurturance continuum. Analysis of an older sample (M age = 8.5) revealed use of the two dimensions of dominance and nurturance commonly found in adult solutions. Significant validity coefficients for parent and teacher criterion measures (average r = .40) and adequate test-retest reliability (average r(tt)= .78) were found. Benefits unique to DISPRO, such as its ease of use and standardization of trait stimuli, are discussed.     

Sleep as a mediator of the relationship between social class and health in higher education students

A substantial body of research indicates that higher education students from lower social class backgrounds tend to have poorer health than those from higher social class backgrounds. To investigate sleep as a potential mediator of this relationship, online survey responses of students from five large Australian universities, one Irish university and one large Australian technical college were analysed in three studies (Study 1 N = 628; Study 2 N = 376; Study 3 N = 446). The results revealed that sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep disturbances, pre-sleep worries and sleep schedule variability mediated the relationship between social class and physical and mental health. Sleep remained a significant mediator when controlling for related variables and other mediators. Thus, the findings suggest that sleep partly explains social class differences in health. We discuss the importance of addressing sleep issues among students from lower social class backgrounds.     

Development and Validation of a Measure of Self-Efficacy to Resist Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment - Research into nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has primarily focussed on the experience and regulation of emotion. Recently, NSSI-specific...     

A 10-day developmental voyage: converging evidence from three studies showing that self-esteem may be elevated and maintained without negative outcomes

Empirical evidence shows that educational experiences in the context of the outdoors lead to elevated self-esteem. Although elevated self-esteem is widely assumed to promote beneficial outcomes, recent evidence suggests that elevated self-esteem may also facilitate a variety of negative outcomes (i.e., increased prejudice, aggression, drug and alcohol abuse). The current research was conducted in order to examine whether one type of outdoor educational experience—a 10-day developmental voyage—could elevate adolescents’ self-esteem without also elevating negative outcomes. The data from three separate studies are reported. Study one revealed that adolescents who undertook the voyage manifested elevated self-esteem and decreased gender prejudice (i.e., less negative ratings of opposite sex outgroup members). Study two replicated these findings and further demonstrated that these effects were maintained 4–5 months following the voyage. In study three, in addition to self-esteem, risky attitudes (i.e., towards drug and alcohol use), physical aggression, verbal aggression, racial and gender bias were also examined. Adolescents again showed elevated self-esteem that was maintained 4–5 months following the voyage. There were no changes in risky attitudes, aggression, or racial and gender bias. Taken together these results indicate that taking part in a 10-day developmental voyage—can lead to an elevation in self-esteem, that is maintained over time and which does not facilitate a variety of negative outcomes.     

Male and female body image and dieting in the context of intimate relationships.

The influence of family and peers on dieting and body image is well known, but, despite the centrality of romantic partnerships in the lives of adults, little research has investigated dieting and body image in the context of intimate relationships. This study investigated unhealthy dieting (e.g., skipping meals, vomiting), healthy dieting (e.g., reducing calories, reducing or eliminating snacks), and body satisfaction in intimate relationships in 57 predominantly unmarried couples, who were recruited in a college setting. The within-participant findings replicated prior research showing that women with higher self-esteem and lower depressive symptoms were more satisfied with their own bodies and dieted less. Controlling for body mass index and the relevant self-perceptions of each partner, the across-partner associations showed that men who had more depressive symptoms and were less satisfied with their relationships had female partners who dieted more and were less satisfied with their bodies. In contrast, men dieted more when their female partners had higher self-esteem and fewer depressive symptoms. These results suggest that psychological processes in intimate relationships are linked with dieting and body satisfaction but that these links are different for men and for women.