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Publications (113) View all
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Article: Quality of social relationships and the development of depression in parentally-bereaved youth.
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ABSTRACT: Fear of abandonment has been found to be associated with mental health problems for youth who have experienced a parent's death. This article examines how youth's fears of abandonment following the death of a parent lead to later depressive symptoms by influencing relationships with caregivers, peers, and romantic partners. Participants were 109 youth ages 7-16 (50% male), assessed 4 times over a 6-year period. The ethnic composition of the sample was non-Hispanic Caucasian (67%), Hispanic (16%), African American (7%), Native American (3%), Asian (1%), and Other (6%). Youth's fears of abandonment by their surviving caregiver during the first year of data collection were related to their anxiety in romantic relationships 6 years later, which, in turn, was associated with depressive symptoms measured at 6 years. Youth's caregiver, peer, and romantic relationships at the 6-year follow-up were related to their concurrent depressive symptoms. The relationship between youth's attachment to their surviving caregiver and their depressive symptoms was stronger for younger participants. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of mental health problems following parental bereavement are discussed.Journal of Youth and Adolescence 01/2011; 40(1):85-96. · 2.72 Impact Factor -
Article: The effect of marriage on young adult heavy drinking and its mediators: results from two methods of adjusting for selection into marriage.
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ABSTRACT: This study tested the effect of marriage on young adult heavy drinking and tested whether this effect was mediated by involvement in social activities, religiosity, and self-control reasons for limiting drinking. The sample of 508 young adults was taken from an ongoing longitudinal study of familial alcoholism that over-sampled children of alcoholics (Chassin, Rogosch, & Barrera, 1991). In order to distinguish role socialization effects of marriage from confounding effects of role selection into marriage, analyses used both the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) method and the change score method of adjusting for pre-marriage levels of heavy drinking and the mediators. Results showed role socialization effects of marriage on post-marriage declines in heavy drinking. This effect was mediated by involvement in social activities such that marriage predicted decreased involvement in social activities, which in turn predicted decreased heavy drinking. There were no statistically significant mediated effects of religiosity. The mediated effect of self-control reasons for limiting drinking was supported by the ANCOVA method only, and further investigation suggested that this result was detected erroneously due to violation of an assumption of the ANCOVA method that is not shared by the change score method. Findings from this study offer an explanation for the maturing out of heavy drinking that takes place for some individuals over the course of young adulthood. Methodologically, results suggest that the ANCOVA method should be employed with caution, and that the change score method is a viable approach to confirming results from the ANCOVA method.Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 12/2010; 24(4):712-8. · 2.09 Impact Factor -
Article: The IGNITE (investigation to guide new insight into translational effectiveness) trial: Protocol for a translational study of an evidenced-based wellness program in fire departments
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ABSTRACT: Abstract Background Worksites are important locations for interventions to promote health. However, occupational programs with documented efficacy often are not used, and those being implemented have not been studied. The research in this report was funded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act Challenge Topic 'Pathways for Translational Research,' to define and prioritize determinants that enable and hinder translation of evidenced-based health interventions in well-defined settings. Methods The IGNITE (investigation to guide new insights for translational effectiveness) trial is a prospective cohort study of a worksite wellness and injury reduction program from adoption to final outcomes among 12 fire departments. It will employ a mixed methods strategy to define a translational model. We will assess decision to adopt, installation, use, and outcomes (reach, individual outcomes, and economic effects) using onsite measurements, surveys, focus groups, and key informant interviews. Quantitative data will be used to define the model and conduct mediation analysis of each translational phase. Qualitative data will expand on, challenge, and confirm survey findings and allow a more thorough understanding and convergent validity by overcoming biases in qualitative and quantitative methods used alone. Discussion Findings will inform worksite wellness in fire departments. The resultant prioritized influences and model of effective translation can be validated and manipulated in these and other settings to more efficiently move science to service.Implementation Science. 01/2010; -
Article: Cognitive Mediation of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy Outcomes for Anxiety-Based School Refusal.
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ABSTRACT: Background: Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) has proven to be effective for anxiety-based school refusal, but it is still unknown how CBT for school refusal works, or through which mechanisms. Aims: Innovative statistical approaches for analyzing small uncontrolled samples were used to investigate the role of self-efficacy in mediating CBT outcomes for anxiety-based school refusal. Method: Participants were 19 adolescents (12 to 17 years) who completed a manual-based cognitive-behavioural treatment. Primary outcomes (school attendance; school-related fear; anxiety) and secondary outcomes (depression; internalizing problems) were assessed at post-treatment and 2-month follow-up. Results: Post-treatment increases in school attendance and decreases in fear about attending school the next day were found to be mediated by self-efficacy. Mediating effects were not observed at 2-month follow-up. Conclusions: These findings provide partial support for the role of self-efficacy in mediating the outcome of CBT for school refusal. They contribute to a small body of literature suggesting that cognitive change enhances CBT outcomes for young people with internalizing problems. Regarding methodology, the product of coefficient test appears to be a valuable way to study mediation in outcome studies involving small samples.Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 09/2012; · 1.69 Impact Factor -
Article: Mechanisms in Psychosocial Interventions for Adults Living With Cancer: Opportunity for Integration of Theory, Research, and Practice.
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ABSTRACT: Objective: The diagnosis and treatment of cancer are highly stressful experiences that can profoundly affect emotional and physical well-being. Hundreds of longitudinal investigations that identify risk and protective factors for psychological and physical adjustment in adults living with cancer and numerous randomized controlled psychosocial intervention trials constitute the relevant knowledge base on factors that promote quality of life and health in this group. A critical step for the development of maximally effective interventions is to attend to the mechanisms by which interventions achieve their effects. Our goals in this article are to provide a rationale for theoretical and empirical consideration of mediating processes in intervention research, review existing randomized psychosocial intervention trials for adults diagnosed with cancer that include evaluation of mediators, and offer recommendations for research. Method: We draw from the existing conceptual and empirical literature regarding examination of mediating processes and review 16 randomized controlled trials that include evaluations of mediators. Results: The current conceptual and empirical literature on evaluating mediators of interventions provides robust rationales and procedures for testing mediators of psychosocial interventions for adults diagnosed with cancer. Promising classes of mediators include alterations in cognitions (i.e., expectancies, illness representations), self-efficacy for using coping strategies and other skills targeted by the intervention, psychological and physical symptoms related to cancer (e.g., mood disturbance, pain), and psychosocial resources (e.g., self-esteem). Conclusions: Focused attention to mechanisms underlying the efficacy of interventions can help integrate theory, research, and practice to promote the well-being and health of individuals with cancer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 06/2012; · 4.85 Impact Factor
