APS 2018

*Presentations authored/co-authored by student mentees.

Depression and Anxiety (Internalizing) Disorders

*Agarwal, A., Jaworski, K., Oravec, K., & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). The interaction of social support and sex moderating the effects of anxiety on depression. Poster presented at the 30th annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Fransisco, CA.

• Introduction. Social support is one means by which people manage stress in their daily life. Indeed, social support has been found to reduce negative affect, which accompanies depression and anxiety. Conversly, low levels of social support may exacerbate distress among those with elevated anxiety symptoms, which often precede the onset of depressive disorders. Social support it not a unitary construct, and may reflect either the quantity of potential sources of support and/or their quality. While many studies examine the role of social support with respect to depression risk, relatively little is known about the relative contribution of percieved quality versus quantity  to such risk. Furthermore, little is known about gender differences in the relationship between social support, anxiety, and depression. This study aims to test the moderation of social support quantity and quality on the relationship between anxiety and depression, and whether these relationships differ as a function of gender.
• Methods. Forty-seven participants (n=47, 53% male, Mage= 23.81, SD= 6.824) were recruited through the SONA system at Cleveland State University. They completed measures of social anxiety (Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, SIAS), social support (Social Support Questionnaire, SSQ), and depression (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, CES-D). The SSQ measured the number of people that the participant identified as dependable depend, and the level of satisfaction that the participant feels about these supports.
• Results: Multiple regression analyses revealed that a model that included  sex, age, social support, quality, and quantity, and anxiety predicted significantly predicted depression symptoms, F(3,41)= 5.884, p<.05, R² = .30. Of the predictors, only anxiety evidenced a unique association with depression, (β= .36, p<.001). Neither quantity of social support, nor its quality, moderated the effect of anxiety on depression symptoms.
• Conclusion: Our findings suggested that anxiety is a robust predicator of depression symptoms, and that social support does not mitigate its adverse effects. Clinical implications will be discussed.

*Bolla, P., Basting, E., Oravec., & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). Depression symptoms maintain state rumination, but not thought suppression. Poster presented at the 30^th annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction. Depression is a disorder marked by emotion regulation deficits. In particular, the frequent use of ER responses that paradoxically maintain or exacerbate distress (maladaptive ER) has received increased attention as a mechanism for depression risk. Rumination and emotional suppression are two maladaptive ER responses that have been strongly linked to dysphoric affects, depression symptoms, and risk for depressive episodes. However, most studies that examine the relationship between these ER responses and depression outcomes employ self-report methods, or instruct participants to engage in these responses. Therefore, it remains unclear how spontaneous use of these responses affects mood that is linked to depression. Further, most laboratory studies that examine the effects of rumination and suppression on emotional states measure immediate affective outcomes only; thus, the chronicity of spontaneous rumination and suppression following distress, and their consequences on affect, are not known. The current study sought to examine the link between depressive symptoms and spontaneous rumination and suppression following a sad mood induction task and subsequent rest periods.
• Method. Thirty-six community dwelling adults (Females=63%; M_age= 34.08 SD= 16.62) completed a measure of depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), watched a sad film clip (21 Grams), then rested for a one-minute period. Participants rated their level of sadness and spontaneous uses of rumination and suppression immediately following the film clip and rest period.  
• Results. Repeated measures analyses revealed significant effects of depression symptoms for rumination, (F(1, 64)=7.40, p < .01.) Planned contrasts revealed that elevated depression symptoms predicted low rumination levels immediately following the sad film clip (b= -.11, p< .05), but elevated and maintained rumination levels over the subsequent one minute rest period (b=.10, p< .05). Depression symptoms also predicted spontaneous use of suppression following the sad film (b=.06, p<.05). Independent of depression symptoms, spontaneous rumination following the sad film clip and at the one minute rest period predicted and maintained concurrent feelings of sadness (b= .20 -.42, ps< .05). Suppression was unrelated to affective outcomes.  
• Conclusion. Results demonstrate that those with elevated depressive symptoms engage in a pattern of spontaneous suppression followed immediately by rumination; this increase in rumination results in increased negative affect over time. These findings suggest that maladaptive ER responses may lead to other maladaptive responses, and in turn, provide worse mood outcomes. This is clinically relevant, as it reinforces common intervention strategies that encourage healthy expression of emotion rather than suppression.

*Bush, A., Scamaldo, K., & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). Maladaptive emotion regulation mediates the relationship between abuse histories and adverse effects of stress on depression symptoms. Poster presented at the 30th Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction: Many studies show that sexual and physical abuse during early development is a risk factor for a number of adjustment problems in adulthood, including depression. Such abuse has been shown to increase sensitivity to life event stress, whereby those with abuse histories experience the adverse emotional effects of stressors more keenly than their non-abused peers.  Therefore, abuse may reflect a diathesis by which stress increases depression risk. A growing body of work also suggests that abuse may be linked to emotion regulation (ER) deficits in the form of reduced access to adaptive responses that downregulate distress (adaptive ER), and overabundant repertoires of responses that exacerbate it (maladaptive ER). In turn, ER deficits have been shown to exacerbate the effects of stress on affective outcomes. However, it remains unclear whether ER deficits are one mechanism by which those with abuse histories experience more adverse effects of stress than their peers. The present study examines these associations in a sample of adults with various histories of physical and sexual abuse.   We hypothesized that ER deficits in the form of low adaptive ER repertoires and large maladaptive ER repertoires will mediate the iatrogenic effect of abuse histories on the association between stress and depression symptoms. 
• Methods: Participants were 151 undergraduate students and community dwelling adults (65.6% female, M_age 26.88, SD = 11.545) who completed ER, perceived stress, and depression measures, as well as a psychosocial interview during which physical and sexual abuse histories were ascertained.
• Results: Abuse histories moderated the effect of stress on depression (b=2.91, p<.05): stress predicted depression severity at higher levels for those with abuse histories. This effect was mediated by maladaptive ER whereby abuse histories were associated with higher levels of maladaptive ER (b=5.31, p<.01), which, in turn, exacerbated the adverse effects of stress (b=5.66, p <.05).  While abuse predicted lower levels of adaptive ER, adaptive ER was unrelated to the experience of stress.
• Discussion: Our findings suggest that maladaptive ER is a key mechanism by which abuse histories exude their adverse effects. Implications of these findings include that the presence of maladaptive ER responses should be assessed as part of early prevention efforts among those with abuse histories, and that reducing maladaptive ER repertoires should be considered a key target of treatment.  Notably, our findings also suggest that adaptive ER repertoires may be less important treatment targets than maladaptive ER responses for those with abuse histories.

*Jaworski, K., Agarwal, A., Bolla, P. R., Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). The Relationship between Emotional Inertia and Depression in Respect to Social Anxiety Disorder. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Convention of Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction. Depression is characterized by consistent states of negative affect such as low mood, sadness and lack of interest in pleasurable activities. A growing literature suggests that Emotional Inertia (EI), characterized as high temporal consistency of emotional states and mood, is a key characteristic of depression. Interestingly, while EI has been found to prognosticate enduring negative states within laboratory settings and the onset of first depressive episodes, relatively little is known about the relationship between EI and anxiety. In particular, Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), which is characterized by functionally impairing apprehension in the context of social situations, commonly co-occurs with depression, and is associated with greater levels of distress when observed in such pairing. Given its contextual nature, it is feasible that EI is reduced among those with co-occurring SAD and depression. This study examined the effect of co-occurring elevated SAD and depression symptoms on negative affect inertia in the daily lives of community dwelling adults.
• Methods. Seventy-two community-dwelling participants (33% male, M age= 28.49, SD= 10.81) completed measures of depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale), and social anxiety (Social Interaction Anxiety Scale) in the laboratory. They then completed a 7-day Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) follow-up, during which time current and hourly peak negative affect (NA) ratings (sad, nervous, upset, angry, frustrated, stressed affects) were collected up to 5 times daily (1952 of 2625 prompts completed, 74% response rate). EI was estimated using dynamic structural equation modeling, wherein autoregressive effects were allowed vary within and between persons.
• Results. Consistent with prior findings, elevated depression predicted higher NA at EMA prompt and at peak distress periods (bs= .13, p < .001). Further, depression symptoms predicted greater variability in NA across current EMA (b=.05, p <.001) and at trend level at peak times of distress (b=.01, p = .056). In contrast to expectation, depression symptoms did predict inertia in current NA (b= .01, p = .15) nor peak times of NA (b= .01, p = .12). Social anxiety and its interaction with depression symptoms failed to reach levels of significance in all models. It is noteworthy that there was significant variability in EI metrics, which suggests that some participants evidenced context-enduring states of distress (EI variance = .07, p <.001).
• Conclusion. Our findings suggest that while EI may be present in community dwelling adults, such phenomena may not be solely tied to depression and anxiety. Alternately, confounding variables in the form of unmeasured personality pathology may have attenuated the association between depression and EI. Future works should examine such potential confounds in the relationship between internalizing problems and EI in daily life.

 

*Lee, H., & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). Disengagement of attention from sad facial expression & rumination in depression: An eye-tracking study. Poster presented at the 30^th Annual Convention of Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction. Biased information processing of negative information is a hallmark of depressive disorders. While a large literature suggests depressed persons allocate their attention quickly towards negative information, growing conceptual work points to difficulty disengaging attention away from such information as an important risk factor for depression. One conceptual model posits that such attention shifting difficulties undermine efforts to regulate distress (emotion regulation) through effective means, and predispose those affected to dwell about their negative situations and emotional states (rumination), which is known to worsen depression symptoms. While there is some support for this "disengagement hypothesis" by means of eye-tracking studies that link longer disengagement times from sad to neutral faces (as compared to disengagement from angry, disgusted or happy valenced faces) are associated with elevated depression symptoms. However, the published literature does not address whether delayed attentional shifts from sad faces are associated with rumination. Further, it remains unclear whether such disengagement difficulties are solely linked to sad faces, as compared to those of other negative valences. The current study tested whether ruminative responses following a negative mood induction (state rumination) are specifically linked to delayed disengagement from sad faces (as compared to happy, disgusted, or neutrally valenced faces), and whether such responses mediated the effects of disengagement delays on emotional reactivity to the mood induction.  
• Methods. Participants (N = 37, 60% female, Mage = 34.16 years, SD =14.47) were presented completed an attention disengagement task that involved shifting their visual attention between two faces (one neutral and one valenced) in response to visual cues (either circle or square) that framed the target face. Visual attention was measured using the Tobii X3-120 eye tracking. Participants then underwent a negative mood induction by viewing a sad film clip ("The Champ"). Participants rated their affect before the film, and then completed a measure of state rumination and rated their affect following the film clip.
• Results. Slower disengagement times from sad face, but not happy, disgust, or neutral faces, was associated with elevated state rumination levels, β= .055, p < .05, that, in turn,  significantly predicted affective reactivity to the sad film, β= .46, p < .01. The indirect effect of disengagement on affect reactivity was significantly mediated by state rumination, indirect effect b = .81, SE = .28, 95% CI = 0.00174, .0.0646.   
• Conclusion. Notable finding is that among sad, happy, disgusted and neutral faces, ruminative responses following a negative mood induction (state rumination) are specifically linked to delayed disengagement from sad faces, and such responses mediated the effects of disengagement delays on emotional reactivity to the mood induction.

*Lee, H., & Yaroslavsky I. (2018, May). Relationship between self-compassion, emotion dysregulation, and depression among Southeast Asian and Caucasian participants. Poster presented at the 30^th Annual Convention of Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction. Dysregulated emotional states are a known risk factor for depressive disorders.  Such difficulties manifest as failures to maintain goal-directed behaviors, poor impulse control, emotional non-acceptance, and failure to deploy emotion regulation responses that are appropriate to context when faced with dysphoric affect. A growing literature shows that self-compassion is a strong protective factor for depression, which may act by reducing emotion dysregulation. Self-compassion is an emotion regulation process of mindfully accepting one-self by reducing self-criticism and examining one's experience from a broader perspective. The values behind self-compassion are based on Southeast Asian cultural teachings, which while novel in the US, are the cultural norm for many Southeast Asian cultural groups. A small but growing body of work suggest that self-compassion outcomes may differ across those of Southeast Asian and US backgrounds, given that self-criticism is a key factor among those who lack self-compassion. In Asian cultural contexts, it is an accepted and often pursued cultural norm that self-criticism is an opportunity in terms of social self-improvement to work harmoniously with others. However, the effect of cultural background on the relationship between self-compassion, emotion dysregulation, and depression remains largely unknown. The current study tested whether the relationship between self-compassion, difficulties in emotion regulation and depression differ among those of Southeast Asian and Caucasian backgrounds.
• Methods. Participants (N= 267 students; n= 177 Caucasian; 71% female, Mage = 21.40 years, SD = 5.07) were presented with a letter of consent and completed a series of questionnaires that included those measuring self-compassion (Self-Compassion Scale, SCS), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CESD), and emotion dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, DERS).
• Results. Anlyses revealed that self-compassion and race explained a significant amount of variance in depression, F(2, 271)=44.72, p < 0.001, R² =0.24), whereby those of Southeast Asian background reported higher levels of depression symptoms (β= 0.12, p < 0.05), and self-compassion predicted low levels of depression (β= -0.49, p < 0.001). Importantly, low self-compassion levels predicted higher depression symptoms among Southeast Asians relative to their Caucaisan peers (β= -0.23, p < 0.05). While self-compassion predicted emotion dysregulation (β= -0.63, p < 0.001), which in turn predicted depression symptoms (β= 0.49, p < .001), culture did not moderate either association.   
• Conclusion. The strong adverse effects of low self-compassion levels for those of Southeast Asian backgrounds suggests that diverging from one's culture-based emotion regulation norms may be a pernicious risk factor for depression. Notably, emotion dysregulation appears to be a common pathway for elevated depression risk across cultures. Limitations and future research directions will be discussed.

*Oravec, K., Bush, A., Scamaldo, K., Tokar, Z., & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). Sex moderates the relationship between excessive reassurance seeking and depression symptoms. Poster presented at the 30^th Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction: A growing body of research supports a link between depressive symptoms and the utilization of excessive reassurance seeking. Excessive reassurance seeking is the tendency to repeatedly seek assurance from others about the quality of their relationship and regard. Individuals with depression may engage in excessive reassurance seeking in order to assess whether or not their friends and family truly care about them, as well as to ease negative thoughts they have about themselves. Unfortunately, excessive reassurance seeking behavior can deteriorate interpersonal relationships by leading both parties to experience distress, and for those from whom assurance is sought to distance themselves from the depressed individual. The resulting interpersonal rejection can exacerbate depressive symptoms and reduce access to social support. However, research suggests that sex effects the relationship between excessive reassurance seeking and depression outcomes. For example, some have shown that men who engage in excessive reassurance seeking behavior experience more severe depressive symptoms relative to women who engage in similar behaviors. This may be because excessive reassurance seeking is in opposition to men's gender norm. While a small body of work has examined such sex differences, most results were based on cross-sectional designs that do not examine the effects of sex on the relationship between excessive reassurance seeking and depression over time. This study investigates the effects of sex on the relationship between excessive reassurance seeking and depression symptoms over a five-month period.
•  Method: Participants included 75 undergraduate students and community dwelling adults (75% female, Mage=20.59, SD=5.02), that participated in an experimental protocol, clinical interview, and self-report surveys. Depression scores were obtained by utilizing the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale, and reassurance seeking behaviors were measured by the Depressive Interpersonal Reactivity Scale (DIRI) reassurance subscale. Participants were then followed up approximately five months after their initial lab visit (M months = 4.86, SD = 2.83) to assess change in depression symptomology.
• Results: Relative to their peers, those who engaged in high levels of excessive reassurance seeking reported higher levels of depression symptoms at intake (β=0.41, p < .05). This finding was qualified by an interaction with sex that was significant at a trend level (β=0.77, p= 0.06). Surprisingly, men who frequently engaged in excessive reassurance seeking evidenced low depression levels as compared to women, for whom such behaviors were minimally related to depression levels. While excessive reassurance seeking showed a trend for predicting elevated depression symptoms over the follow-up period (β=0.27, p=0.06), this relationship was not qualified by sex.
• Conclusion: Finding protective effects of ERS for men is notable, as it stands in contrast to prior results. This effect may reflect changes in gender norms. Whereas male gender roles disallowed emotional vulnerability, as would be exposed through ERS, such vulnerability may now be acceptable and advantageous by garnering social support. While the present study examined sex differences in the effect of ERS, it did not sufficiently capture gender, which is fluid and dimensional. Future work should whether gender clarifies the effect of ERS on depression.

 

Borderline Personality Disorder

*Oravec, K., Napolitano, S., Tokar, Z., & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). Depressive rumination and attention disengagement deficits maintain distress in daily life among those with elevated borderline personality disorder symptoms. Poster presented at the 30^th Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is linked to protracted negative affect, which may be explained, in part, by emotion regulation responses that maintaining negative information in conscious awareness. Rumination is one process that maintains such information through moody pondering about one's sadness (depressive rumination) and about interpersonal sleights (anger rumination) that is associated with elevated BPD features. A growing literature suggests that rumination is linked to difficulties disengaging from negative information, although much of this work is theoretical. Further, it remains unclear whether the relationship between attention disengagement and rumination varies as a function of rumination's content, as sadness is an emotion that is linked to avoidance motivations, while anger is associated with approach motivations.  The present study examined the relationship between the capacity to behaviorally disengage from negative stimuli, dispositional anger and depressive rumination, and distress in daily lives of those with various levels of BPD symptoms. 
• Method: Community dwelling adults (N=33, 70% female, Mage=32, SD=15.75) completed measures of trait depressive and anger rumination (Ruminative Response Scale & Anger Rumination Scale), an attention disengagement task that involved participants viewing and shifting between pairs of neutral and negatively valanced faces. Participants then completed a seven-day ecological momentary assessment protocol (EMA) during which momentary and peak-hourly negative affect ratings (that included sad, upset, nervous, angry, frustrated, and stress affects) were ascertained up to 5 times daily.
• Results: Elevated BPD symptoms were linked to faster attentional shifts away from the negatively valanced faces at a trend level (b=-1.44, p = .09), and predicted high levels of trait anger (b=.51, p < .01) and depressive rumination (b=.59, p< .01). Depressive rumination then, in turn, predicted more enduring negative affect in participants daily lives (b=.07, p < .05). Longer disengaging times from negative information also predicted protracted negative affect (b=.009, p < .05).
• Conclusion: Our results suggest that difficulty disengaging from negative information and depressive rumination, rather than anger rumination, maintained distress for those with elevated BPD features. These findings implicate that dysregulated attention processes, particularly those linked to sadness, are key mechanisms in emotional disturbances experienced by those with BPD.  

*Oravec, K., Bolla, P., Tokar, Z., & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). Can't look away: Autonomic nervous system dysregulation mediates effects of borderline personality disorder on distress attention disengagement. Poster presented at the 30^th Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by emotion dysregulation in the form of strong emotional reactions that are slow to return to baseline levels. Theory and empirical evidence point to autonomic nervous system processes, particularly those of the sympathetic branch, are involved in emotion dysregulation. However, the mechanism by which sympathetic activity is associated with emotion dysregulation is not known. Inflexible attention may be one means by which sympathetic hyper-arousal leads to emotion dysregulated. Indeed, empirical works tie sympathetic activity to attention processes, although this association has yet to be studies among those with BPD features. Further, studies that examine SNS activity in BPD often employ negative mood induction procedures using stimuli that are not personally-meaningful, thereby attenuating the expected physiological responses. The present study examined whether sympathetic hyper arousal and attention inflexibility mediate the effects of BPD symptom on emotion dysregulation in the form of negative affectivity in response to an autobiographical interpersonal stressor.
• Method: Community dwelling adults (N=37, 62% female, Mage=34.11, SD=16.39) completed clinical and life event stress interviews, measures of BPD symptoms, and an experimental protocol that induced negative mood by recalling neutral and stressful autobiographical memories. Participants also completed a visual attention-switching task that involved flexibly allocating attention towards and away neutral and negative valanced faces. Sympathetic arousal was indexed via changes in maximum pupillary responses while recalling the neutral and stressful autobiographical memory.  
• Results: Elevated BPD symptoms predicted a strong sympathetic response as indexed via increased maximum pupil dilation in response to the stressful memory (b=0.01, p < .05). Further, an elevated pupillary response evidenced a curvilinear relationship with attention flexibility (b= 42.16, p < .01) and distress following the stressful autobiographical memory task (b=9.63, p <.05): low and high pupillary responses were associated with longer disengagement times from sad to neutral faces, as well as high levels of distress following the stressful memory recall procedure.
• Conclusion: Our findings highlight the role the sympathetic nervous system in attention processes and emotion dysregulation among those with elevated BPD symptoms. These findings are significant because they point to optimal physiological arousal as key state that is impaired in BPD. The downstream effects of aberrant sympathetic arousal on key processes that support emotion regulation suggests that future studies should consider physiological dysregulation as a mechanism of BPD risk.

 

Emotion Processing & Emotion Regulation

*Agarwal, A., Oravec, K., & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). The Relationship between Self-Compassion and Stress Affect Rating from Baseline Level to after Counting. Poster presented at the 30th annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction. Self-compassion reflects the tendency to treat oneself with kindness and acceptance when facing difficulties. Evidence shows that high levels of self-compassion protect against the adverse effects of life stressors. However, it remains unclear whether self-compassion attenuates the immediate affective experience of stress, or whether its salubrious effects are brought about by reducing the timecourse of those affective experiences.  We sought to clarify whether self-compassion attenutes the immediate or sustained effects of stress in a laboratory setting.
• Methods. Fifty nine participants (53% male, M age= 23.81 years, SD= 6.82) completed a measure of self-compassion (Self-Compassion Scale), and an experimental protocol that included a rest period (baseline) and an interpersonal stressor (Trier Social Stress Test, TSST) that was followed by a 2 minute resting period. Subjective ratings of stress were collected at baseline, following the TSST, and the resting period.  
• Results. Analyses revealed that, independent of baseline levels (b= .73, p < .05), self-compassion reduced and stress immediately after the TSST (b= -1.75, p < .05). In a similar vein, self-compassion predicted reduced levels of stress following the post-TSST rest period, independent of TSST stress levels and demographic covariates.  
• Conclusion. Our results suggest that self-compassion may be an important protective factor against the adverse effects of stress in two way: it attenuates the immediate experience of stress and shortens its time-course. Clinical implications will be discussed.

*Bolla, P., Basting, E., Oravec., & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). State Rumination Maintains Distress in Daily Life Only For Trait. Poster presented at the 30^th annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction. Rumination has been identified as a maladaptive emotion regulation response that is a transdiagnostic risk factor for various disorders (Ebner-Priemer & Trull, 2009). Rumination can reflect dispositional tendencies to moodily about one's emotional states, or spontaneous cognitive responses in response to life event stressors (state). Both state and trait rumination are linked to increased distress in response to stressors across laboratory studies and daily life (Ciesla & Roberts, 2007; Moberly & Watkins, 2008; Papageorgiou & Wells, 2004; Ebner-Priemer & Trull, 2009). However, there is a lack of literature regarding the link between rumination observed in the laboratory setting and its effect in everyday life. The present study examined the effects of spontaneous ER ascertained in the laboratory on affective outcomes in the daily lives of adults with and without histories of depressive disorders.
• Method. Twenty-eight (63% Females) community dwelling adults completed a measure of trait rumination (Rumination Response Scale) and spontaneous ruminative responses following a negative mood induction via a sad film clip (21 Grams), and a 7-day Ecological Momentary Assessment protocol. During this protocol, current and hourly peak negative affect (NA) (sad, nervous, upset, angry, frustrated, stressed affects) was collected 5 times daily.
• Results. Dispositional rumination and high average levels of NA predicted slow recovery in transient NA levels across peak and current assessment time, b=.07 and b=.50, respectively (ps<.001 ). Tendencies to ruminate after the sad film clip were associated with faster reductions in NA levels across the peak and current assessments time points (b=-.20, p<.01). However, this effect was moderated by a three-way interaction with trait rumination and participants' average levels of NA across the measurement period (b=.003, p<.01). Specifically, the use of spontaneous ruminative responses following the film clip predicted faster recovery from peak levels of NA among those with low dispositional ruminative tendencies when they experienced high average levels of NA.
• Conclusions. Our findings suggest that state rumination predicts more enduring distress as a function of an individual's disposition to ruminate and average distress in daily life. This suggests that maladaptive nature of ruminating on ones emotions is contextual. This finding is consistent with results showing that rumination can be adaptive in the form of reflection as opposed to maladaptive in the form of brooding. Clinical implications are discussed. 

*Bolla, P., Napolitano, S., & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). The effects of parasympathetic activity on visual attention in adolescents. Poster  presented at the 30th annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction. There is increasing conceptual and empirical evidence Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) activity support flexible attention allocation. This capacity to flexibly shift attention, particular from emotional stimuli, is believed to undergird emotion regulation, and is deficient among those who are at risk for depression. In a similar vein, low PNS activity at rest and its responses that are incongruent to context are also associated with emotion regulation deficits and depression. Growing evidence also shows that patterns of PNS activity may be more informative for predicting depression risk than either index alone. However, the relationship between PNS and attention flexibility is unknown.  This study examines this relationship in a sample of youth and high- and low-risk for familial depression.
• Method. Thirty-two adolescents (n=32; 59% girls, Mage = 14.13, SD = 1.74) at various depression risk levels completed an laboratory protocol consisting of a 3-minute paced breathing baseline, a sad mood induction via a film clip (The Champ) during which electrocardiogram was collected to calculate respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a measure of PNS activity. They also completed an eye-tracking attention disengagement task. Indices of attention flexibility reflect speed in milliseconds with which participants switched attention from valenced to neutral faces (disengagement), neutral to valenced faces (engagement), and neutral to neutral faces of the same actor. Valenced faces reflect those depicting sadness (negative) or happy (positive) affective states. Time to switch from neutral to neutral faces reflects basal attention switching abilities that are free of valence effects (valence-free attention switching).
• Results. Independent of the effects of age (β = .37, p < .05), valence-free attention switching (β = .47, p < .001), and risk status (b = 27.92, p < .05), RSA reactivity in the form of increased RSA levels in response to the negative mood induction predicted delayed disengagement from sad faces (β = .25, p < .05). High resting RSA levels also predicted delayed disengagement at a trend level (β = .33, p = .07). These effects were qualified by a trend interaction between resting RSA and RSA reactivity (RSA patterns) (β = -1.67, p = .09). With regards to disengagement from positive faces, only valence-free attention predicted switching significantly, β = .60, p < .001, and high baseline RSA levels at a trend level predicted delayed disengagement, β = .38, p = .051. The effect of baseline RSA was qualified by the significant effects of RSA patterns, β = -2.86, p < .05. Simple slopes analyses found that RSA withdrawal predicted notable delays, b=30.68, p < .001, while RSA augmentation predicted minimal delays, b=1.10, p = .055. RSA reactivity and RSA patterns failed to predict engagement to either positive or negative faces, nor valance-free attention switching.
• Conclusion. These findings provide preliminary evidence that links PNS activity to flexible attention allocation in children. It is noteworthy that purportedly beneficial RSA patterns in the form of by high baseline RSA levels and RSA withdrawal to the sad film were associated with slower disengagement from negative and positive valenced faces.

*Bush, A., Oravec, K. & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). The Role of Rejection Sensitivity and Excessive Reassurance Seeking in Relationship Outcomes for those with a History of Abuse. Poster presented at the 30^th annual convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction: Various studies have shown that sexual and physical abuse are risk factors for a multitude of difficulties in adulthood. In addition to psychopathology, both forms of abuse have been known to undermine survivor's ability to form stable, healthy interpersonal relationships. Indeed, abuse is commonly associated with relationship problems that span familial, friendship, and intimate relational domains. While abuse leads to more negative relationships, the mechanisms by which it exudes these negative effects are unclear. However a body of work points to rejection sensitivity (RS) and excessive reassurance seeking as promising candidates. Rejection sensitivity reflects a dispositional tendency to misperceive social cues as indicative of imminent rejection by others, and is  linked to  jealousy, controlling, and hostile behaviors that erode relationship quality. In a similar vein, excessive reassurance seeking of others' regard paradoxically erodes relationship quality, and may reflect a maladaptive effort to regulate distress. While preliminary evidence points to unique mediating effect of RS, excessive reassurance seeking between abuse in childhood and depression outcomes during emerging adulthood years (independent mediation), it is also feasible that abuse fosters rejection sensitivity, which, in turn, increases the likelihood of excessive reassurance seeking and subsequent depression (multiple mediation).  The present study examines whether an independent-mediation or multiple-mediation model best explains the association between abuse histories, rejection sensitivity, excessive reassurance seeking, and the tendency to have relationship problems.
• Methods: Participants were 87 community dwelling adults (65.6% female, Mage= 31.23, SD=12.83) who completed the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (RSQ), the Depressive Interpersonal Relationships Inventory-Reassurance Seeking Subscale (DIRI) and the PAI-Borderline (PAIBOR) negative relationships subscale, as well as a psychosocial interview during which physical and sexual abuse histories were ascertained.
• Results: In support of a single mediation model, both RS (b=.35, p<.001) and excessive reassurance seeking (b=.24, p<.001) independently mediated the relationship between abuse history and negative relationships. Specifically, those with abuse histories reported greater RS (indirect effect= 1.29, 95% CI .35-2.61) and engaged in more excessive reassurance seeking behaviors (indirect effect=.15, 95% CI, -.33-.95) which in turn negatively impacts their relationship quality. These effects were subsumed by the multiple-mediation wherein effects of abuse histories on negative relationships were fully and sequentially mediated via rejection sensitivity (b=.26, p<.01) and excessive reassurance seeking (b= .16, p<.05) (indirect effect= .29, 95% CI .06-.88).  Indeed, RS uniquely accounted for effects of abuse histories on excessive reassurance seeking behaviors (b=.59, p<.001).
• Discussion: Our findings suggest that although those with abuse histories are more likely to be sensitive to rejection and engage in reassurance seeking, their tendency to seek reassurance is driven by their rejection sensitivity. As interpersonal relationships are important for emotional well-being, findings from this study suggest that rejection sensitivity should be a key target for early detection and intervention efforts among those with abuse histories.

*Bush, A., Scamaldo, K., Oravec K. & Yaroslavsky, I. (2018, May). Substance use as a maladaptive coping strategy for individuals who have experienced abuse. Poster to be preseted at the 30th annual meeting of the Association of Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

• Introduction: A large literature suggests that sexual and physical abuse are risk factors for many adjustment problems in adulthood. In particular, there is growing evidence that abuse during early years of life is associated with later substance use problems. While this association may be motivated by multiple factors that include biological vulnerabilities and familial factors, a body of work points to substance use motivations, for some, as guided by a desire to reduce distress. Therefore, substance use may be considered a maladaptive coping strategy that those with abuse histories have greater tendencies to deploy. However, the use of substances as a coping response among those with abuse histories has been largely confined to cross-sectional studies. Therefore, the influence of abuse histories on substance use in response to distress in daily life remains unclear.  The current study is one step to bridge this gap. 
• Methods: Participants were 87 community dwelling adults, (65.6% female, Mage=31.23, SD=12.83), who completed a psychosocial interview during which abuse histories were ascertained. Participants also completed a 7-day ecological momentary assessment protocol during which hourly peak negative affect ("sad", "nervous", "upset", "angry", "frustrated", & "stressed" affects) were collected 5 times daily, as were their coping response at those times, that included their use of substances in response to distress.
• Results: As hypothesized, those with a history of abuse were found to use an increased amount of substances in response to when they were at peak negative affect (b=1.32, p=.01 , OR = 3.74). Interestingly, age was also a significant predictor of increased substance use (b=-0.05, p=.01) which supports the idea that younger individuals are more likely to engage in substance use when they have negative emotions.
• Discussion: Our findings suggest that substance use may be a key coping response to distress among those with abuse histories in daily life. Those with abuse histories are likely engaging in substance use as a maladaptive coping strategy in order to manage peak distress in daily life. These findings suggest that among those with a history of abuse, there are substantial emotion regulation deficits in the form of inadequate adaptive emotion regulation repertoires, which in turn may elucidate their increased substance use in daily life. The implementation of more adaptive coping skills should be a key target for treatment for these individuals in order to combat their engagement in substance use as a mechanism of dealing with negative feelings. Additionally, early intervention can be crucial for these individuals due to these risky behaviors being more likely to be present in younger individuals.