Elizabeth Taylor

Oakland University · Department of Psychology

Although many psychosocial strengths have been explored, there remains a need to identify under-appreciated strengths that help people overcome trauma. The objective of this study was to explore the resilience potential of 16 psychosocial strengths—including 4 understudied strengths (positive emotion regulation, self-reliance, relational motivation...

This paper explores the role that gender plays in moderating the relationship between protective factors and rule violating behavior among adolescents and young adults. We explore the relationship between rule violating behavior, protective factors, and gender for regulatory strengths, meaning making strengths, and interpersonal strengths. The Resi...

Accumulating evidence indicates the multifaceted nature of social support. Although support seekers may receive help, they may also encounter upsetting responses. It remains unclear how seeking and receiving social support, when differentiated, are associated with individuals’ strengths and well-being. This study collected survey data from 357 adul...

Objective: The negative biopsychosocial outcomes associated with exposure to victimization are well-known, however, limited research has examined the protective factors that can enhance well-being and growth following polyvictimization from in-person and digital sources. This study examines the contribution of adversities and a range of psychologic...

Background: Identifying factors that support healthy psychological functioning after experiencing violence or other adversities in youth can lead to better prevention and intervention efforts. This is particularly important among communities with disproportionately high rates of adversity resulting from legacies of social and political injustices,...

Identifying psychosocial strengths that support physical health can lead to better pathways to prevention and intervention. Relying on the resilience portfolio model as a conceptual framework, this study explores strengths in three domains (regulation, meaning making, and interpersonal) to identify promising protective factors to support physical h...

Prior research on social support tends to focus solely on support received, although accumulating evidence has indicated the multifaceted nature of social support. Support seekers may encounter unsupportive or upsetting responses. It remains unclear how seeking and receiving social support, when taken together, are associated with individuals’ stre...

Objective: Experiencing traumatic events may invoke posttraumatic symptoms (PTS) or growth (PTG). Using a dual-factor approach inspired by the dual-factor model of mental health, we explore the intersections of posttraumatic symptoms and growth with 21 strengths and indicators of psychological, physical, and spiritual well-being. Method: A surve...

Research on cyber-victimization has primarily focused on cyberbullying conducted in urban and suburban (metropolitan) settings. We explore a range of cyber-victimizations, including financially motivated offenses and cyberbullying, and their associations with current psychological and health status in a nonmetropolitan sample from southern Appalach...

Objectifs : Cette étude utilise une approche à double facteur pour examiner l’association entre la recherche de soutien social et le soutien reçu avec six indicateurs de fonctionnement global et 14 indicateurs de forces psychosociales. Méthodologie : Un questionnaire mesurant les forces, le fonctionnement et la victimisation a été rempli par 440 pa...

Objectives: This study adopts a dual-factor approach to examine the association of seeking and receiving social support with 6 indicators of current functioning and 14 psychosocial strengths. Methods: A survey completed by 440 youth ages 10 to 21 (M = 16.38, SD = 3.04) assessed strengths, functioning, and victimization. Youth were classified into f...

Guided by the dual factor model of mental health and the resilience portfolio model, this study sought to identify protective factors that distinguish adolescents who exhibit different patterns of psychological symptoms and well-being. Participants were 466 twelve- to 17-year-old adolescents recruited from the Appalachian region of 3 Southern state...

Although it is well known that victimization is associated with higher trauma symptoms, there is still limited information on the protective factors that can help people thrive after adversity. Using the Resilience Portfolio Model as a framework, this study explores a range of psychological and social strengths in a community sample of youth from t...

Purpose: Most children are exposed to violence (e.g., peer, family, or community violence), which makes children's exposure to violence one of our most urgent social problems. The objective of this project was to examine health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a vulnerable community sample and identify promising psychological and social protecti...

Objective: This project used mixed methods to expand the understanding of social ecological constructs important to youth and develop measures to assess these constructs. Methods: Eight focus groups and 24 cognitive interviews were conducted with adolescents and caregivers. These were followed by a survey completed by 440 youth ages 10-21 (avera...

This report presents measures of strengths in our resilience portfolio domains (regulatory, meaning making, and interpersonal), adversities, and outcomes that have been developed for youth ages 10 to 21 using a mixed-methods approach including 8 focus groups, 24 cognitive interviews, and a survey of 440 youth. The following scales are included: Re...

There has been a recent push toward preventing interpersonal victimization by educating bystanders to actively intervene in risky situations. However, victims of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, or stalking may incur feelings of vulnerability in situations calling for intervention, leading to a lower likelihood of engaging in active bysta...

Research on technology has burgeoned along with advances in technology. However, much research has relied primarily upon urban and suburban samples that are primarily recruited via technology (online or phone). The experiences of rural, low-income residents are less well understood, and participants who cannot be easily recruited online are largely...

Many forms of victimization, including bullying and property crime, are increasingly moving online, but most studies of poly-victimization still primarily focus on in-person crime and violence. Few studies have examined the importance of incorporating technology-based victimizations for assessing the true burden of violence. The purpose of this stu...

For many years, an overly “siloed” approach has hampered efforts to understand violence and minimize the societal burden of violence and victimization. This article discusses the limitations of an overly specialized approach to youth violence research, which has focused too much on violence in particular contexts, such as the family or the school....

Existing research on technology in rural, low-income communities has focused primarily on financial obstacles and lack of infrastructure. We use a sociocultural framework for understanding technology in rural Appalachia, using a mixed-methods study of focus groups and interviews. Eight focus groups were held with a total of 65 people (58% female) f...

People derive meaning in life from a wide variety of sources, but little is known about how patterns of meaning making vary across individuals. The current study examined age and gender patterns in seven measures of meaning: sense of purpose, optimism, religious or spiritual involvement, family care, morals and ethical standards, self-oriented, and...

Interpersonal strengths, such as family well-being and community support, are important protective factors and help individuals cope with adversity (Grych et al., 2015). Previous research primarily focuses on physical and psychological victimization in the “offline world,” though more recently, the literature has expanded to include cyberbullying a...

Interpersonal relationships are key sources of support and other resources during childhood (Feeney & Collins, 2014; Grych et al., 2015; Turner et al., 2015). Many measures of social support and other aspects of interpersonal relationships exist, but few have been carefully adapted for youth and even less guidance is available about how to talk abo...

This 20x20 assesses the current state of knowledge about elder abuse and mistreatment, focusing on the lack of incorporation of all forms of elder victimization and the benefits of a poly-victimization framework. This review also includes existing knowledge on risk factors and calls for a greater focus on protective factors and a greater inclusion...

Most studies of third-party perceptions of intimate partner violence focus on heterosexual relationships and report that male-to-female aggression is perceived more negatively than female-to-male. Since gender of aggressor and gender of victim are consistently confounded in these portrayals, it is not clear whether the gender of the aggressor or th...

Attachment to parental figures, romantic partners, and friends is important when considering interpersonal strengths and what makes an individual resilient. During adolescence and young adulthood, individuals display attachment behaviors to their parents or caregivers, such as seeking their parental figure when upset or threatened. As a child ages,...

Objective: Little attention has been directed toward how rural populations experience online victimizations. This study explores the range of online victimizations, including online-theft and cyberbullying, and how these experiences affect participants in rural Appalachia. Method: Our sample included 478 individuals (57.1% female), with an average...

Objective: During tough times, many individuals seek comfort by “venting” or disclosing their narrative to others as a way of emotional processing (Lutgendorf & Antoni; 1999). A narrative is a written or spoken account that can be used to describe important life events and beliefs conceptualized as central to the sense of self (Adler, 2012; Burton...

Three trends in violence research hold promise for advancing to the second wave of violence scholarship and practice. The first is the recognition of the web of violence, or the interconnectedness among all forms of violence and abuse. We should focus on the cumulative burden of violence exposure, not just specific types of violence. The second is...

It is often said that intimate partner violence (IPV) happens “behind closed doors”; however, research on IPV and other crimes suggests that witnesses are sometimes present. This suggests that bystanders may be in a position to help victims or potential victims of violence. Bystander behavior has been studied primarily in school settings, and conse...

Purpose: With increased social media use, families face novel challenges around maintaining interpersonal digital privacy. Previous research on digital victimization has focused mainly on bullying, concerns of “stranger danger,” and identity theft. This study examines concerns of family members regarding other forms of interpersonal digital privacy...

Victims of crimes (and fraud especially) are not just passive observers of crime. This phenomenon, called victim facilitation, implies that there are specific personality traits that predict becoming a victim, and hence, in the present context, scam compliance. We used the five-factor model of personality, a brief self-control scale and the UPPS im...

Purpose: Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence are pervasive issues. Some depict IPV as a “behind closed doors” phenomenon, inferring it occurs outside of public awareness. Yet, previous studies indicate one-third of reported IPV cases were witnessed by a third party. Research often focuses on bystander action in school settings; few...

Objective: In a fluid society, mobility is more relevant than ever. Past research, while neglecting mediating factors, shows that mobility is associated with poor health, lower well-being and mental health issues. We studied the impact of religion and social support on well-being and mental health of mobile individuals. Method: 1331 rural Southeast...

Objective: In recent years, Internet scamming has become a major digital problem. Current research on scam compliance focuses on personal attributes of victims, yet is limited in its representation of factors that aid in scam compliance. Our study explores this limitation by examining challenges and features of legitimate solicitations versus malic...

Objective: Many narrative interventions require participants to write about trauma and adverse experiences, but some research suggests that open-ended topic prompts can also be effective. In this study, we investigated the topics participants chose to write about in a values-narrative program that offered wide discretion in topic and theme, and ex...

Objective: The purpose of this commentary is to summarize potential benefits and issues in the use of narrative writing exercises with adolescents. Tips for implementing narratives as a health promotion and prevention strategy in schools and other types of therapeutic settings are also presented. Key Points: Narrative writing exercises have consist...

People have been seeking ways to strengthen character and promote thriving for millennia. In recent years, two avenues have shown promise for these goals: narrative writing and positive psychology. One of the first narrative programs, the Laws of Life Essay, was developed by Sir John Templeton in 1987. For over 25 years, it has been helping middle-...

In 1987, Sir John Templeton held the first Laws of Life Essay Program in Winchester, Tennessee. The Laws of Life Essay Program is a “values narrative” program that helps youth identify their core virtues and improve their character. To our knowledge, this is the first time that narrative (also known as expressive writing) was used in a school-based...

Objective: Interpersonal strengths are characteristics that nurture the development and sustainment of close relationships, which provide sources of happiness and meaning for many people in addition to being an important source of support during times of stress and adversity. The purpose of this study is to examine developmental patterns in several...

Objective: To examine the impact topic choice has on participants’ perceived experiences and to determine who is more likely to write a values narrative on an adverse topic rather than a neutral or impersonal topic. Method: 717 participants (66% female) were recruited from rural communities to complete a computer survey. Participants responded to a...

Objective: To examine the impact topic choice has on participants’ perceived experiences and to determine who is more likely to write a values narrative on an adverse topic rather than a neutral or impersonal topic. Method: 717 participants (66% female) were recruited from rural communities to complete a computer survey. Participants responded to a...

Determine if third-parties perceive perpetrator motivations differently when gender of the perpetrator and of victim are unconfounded.

We examined the impact of sex of perpetrator and sex of victim on perceptions of characteristics of combatants in psychological and physical intimate partner violence. Perpetrators of physical aggression were evaluated more negatively than perpetrators of psychological aggression; male perpetrators and male victims were evaluated more negatively th...

This presentation examines third-party perception across same-sex and cross-sex couples.