Kristel Thomassin

The Emotion Dysregulation Model of Anxiety: A preliminary path analytic examination

Both temperamental (e.g., behavioral inhibition) and environmental (e.g., family emotional environment) factors are associated with etiology and maintenance of anxiety; however, few studies have explored mechanisms through which these risk factors operate. The present study investigation of a developmental model of anxiety (i.e., the Emotion Dysregulation Model of Anxiety; EDMA) that hypothesizes that emotion dysregulation is the mechanism through which temperamental and emotion parenting variables relate to anxiety. Emerging adults (N=676, M age=19.5) retrospectively reported on behavioral inhibition and emotion parenting factors in childhood, and current emotion regulation skills and symptoms of anxiety. Results of path analyses provide initial support for the EDMA. Emotion dysregulation fully mediated the relationship between behavioral inhibition and anxiety and partially mediated the relationship between family emotional environment and anxiety.

Shrinking the Gap Between Research and Practice: Tailoring and Testing Youth Psychotherapies in Clinical Care Contexts

Most youth psychotherapy research involves conditions quite unlike the clinical practice it is designed to strengthen. Most studies have not tested interventions with clinically referred youths and practicing clinicians in clinical care settings, nor have they tested whether new treatments produce better outcomes than usual practice. Limited exposure to real-world conditions and questions may partially explain why empirically supported treatments show such modest effects when tested under more representative conditions, against usual care. Our deployment-focused model calls for intervention development and testing with the kinds of participants (e.g., clients and clinicians) and in the contexts (e.g., clinics) for which the interventions are ultimately intended, and for randomized comparisons to usual clinical care. Research with the Child STEPs (system and treatment enhancement projects) treatment approach illustrates the methods and potential benefits of the deployment-focused model. Findings supporting Child STEPs are but one part of a rich research matrix needed to shrink the gap between intervention research and clinical practice.

Exposure to Maternal- and Paternal-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence, Emotion Regulation, and Child Outcomes

The current study examined the relationship of maternal- and paternal-perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) to children’s internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Mother-child dyads (N = 53; child ages 8–11) reported maternal- and paternal-perpetrated IPV exposure and measures of child symptomatology. Results demonstrated that: (a) maternal- and paternal-perpetrated IPV have similar but not identical relations with child outcomes, (b) mothers’ and children’s reports of paternal-perpetrated IPV were positively related, (c) mother and child report of maternal- and paternal-perpetrated IPV related to child emotional and behavior problems, and (d) emotion dysregulation mediated the link between IPV exposure and child outcomes. Notably, findings differed by reporters. Results support emotion dysregulation as one mechanism through which IPV exposure may lead to child behavior problems, with implications for clinical intervention.

Understanding the medically unexplained: emotional and familial influences on children's somatic functioning

BACKGROUND Many youth experience impairing, unexplained somatic complaints. Psychosocial models of child somatization have primarily focused on parent somatic functioning. Although helpful in understanding child somatization, this narrow focus on parental factors leaves a large proportion of the variance unaccounted for when explaining childrens general somatic functioning. The goal of this investigation is to extend current models of child somatization by collectively examining the influence of parent somatization and child emotional functioning. METHODS Forty-two children (50% male; M age = 9.11) reported on their somatic symptoms, emotion awareness skills, and negative affect. Parents reported on their own somatic symptoms and their childs somatic symptoms and emotion regulation skills. RESULTS Regression analyses indicated that poor awareness of emotional experiences and frequency of negative effect predicted child-reported somatic symptoms. Parental somatic symptoms and parent reports of childrens emotion regulation difficulties predicted mother-reported child somatic symptoms. Only parental somatic symptoms significantly predicted father-reported child somatic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that models of child somatization should consider both family - (e.g. parent somatization) and child-level (e.g. emotional functioning) variables. The discrepancies between parent and child report of youth somatic symptoms underscore the importance of including multiple reporters on symptomatology in research and clinical settings. Suggestions for future research are provided.

Reciprocal Positive Affect and Well-Regulated, Adjusted Children: A Unique Contribution of Fathers

SYNOPSIS Objective. The study investigated real-time, sequential exchanges of affect in both mother–child and father–child dyads within a triadic framework. Child emotion dysregulation was examined as a mechanism by which parent–child reciprocal positive and negative affect are associated with child psychopathology symptoms. Design. Fifty-one mother–father–child (aged 7–12 years) triads participated in an emotion discussion task, and behavioral observations were coded for negative and positive affect. Parents completed measures of child psychopathology symptoms and emotion regulation skills. Results. Although mothers exhibited greater levels of positive emotional reciprocity than fathers, father–child reciprocal positive affect was uniquely associated with child symptoms of psychopathology. Child emotion dysregulation mediated the relation between paternal reciprocal positive affect and child symptoms; mediational models did not hold for mothers. Conclusions. Fathers play a unique role in boys’ and girls’ development of symptoms of psychopathology through child emotion dysregulation.

Emotion Regulation in Childhood Anxiety

The field of psychology is in the midst of an “emotion revolution,” reflecting the emerging role of emotion theory in clinical research and practice (Samoilov & Goldfried, 2000; Southam-Gerow & Kendall, 2002). Although many researchers have commended this trend, there is also an ongoing call for more clinical research that is founded on emotion theory and expands our understanding of the relations between the development of psychopathology, including anxiety disorders (ADs), and various emotional constructs (Hannesdottir & Ollendick, 2007; Suveg, Southam-Gerow, Goodman, & Kendall, 2007). Emotion regulation is one such construct.

Specificity of childhood maltreatment and emotion deficit in nonsuicidal self-injury in an inpatient sample of youth

The present study investigated the function of two specific emotion-related skills, emotion expressivity and emotion coping, as potential mediators in the relations between childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and NSSI. A robust body of work supports the role of emotion regulation in nonsuicidal self-injury, but additional research is warranted to tease apart the role of specific emotion regulation deficits as predictors of NSSI. Participants included 95 youth (Mage=14.22, SDage=1.67; 58% female) hospitalized on one of two acute care psychiatric inpatient units. Participants completed self-report questionnaires related to childhood experiences of trauma, current emotion expressivity and coping, and lifetime frequency of NSSI. Path analytic models indicated that only child emotional abuse was directly associated with NSSI when all abuse subtypes were examined simultaneously. Results also indicated that poor emotion expressivity, but not emotion coping, mediated the relation between childhood experiences of emotional abuse and NSSI.

Simulated Dyslexia in Postsecondary Students: Description and Detection Using Embedded Validity Indicators

The current investigation identified characteristics that discriminated authentic dyslexia from its simulation using measures common to postsecondary learning disability evaluations. Analyses revealed accurate simulation on most achievement measures but inaccurate feigning on neurolinguistic processing measures, speed on timed tasks, and error quantity. The largest group separations were on rapid naming, speeded orthographic, and reading fluency tasks. Simulators accurately feigned dyslexia profiles on cut-score and discrepancy diagnostic models but not on the more complex aspects of the clinical judgment model. Regarding simulation detection, a multivariate rule exhibited the greatest classification accuracy, followed by univariate indices developed from rapid naming tasks. The findings of the current study suggest that aspects of a comprehensive evaluation may aid in the detection of simulated dyslexia.

Specific coping strategies moderate the link between emotion expression deficits and nonsuicidal self-injury in an inpatient sample of adolescents

BackgroundNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a behavior of increasing prevalence in adolescents with links to various negative mental health and adjustment outcomes. Poor emotion expression has been linked with NSSI use, whereas the use of adaptive coping strategies has been identified as a protective factor against NSSI. The current study examined whether specific coping strategies moderate the relation between poor emotion expression and NSSI, and whether moderation is conditional on adolescent gender.MethodsNinety-five adolescents hospitalized on an acute care inpatient psychiatric unit completed questionnaires measuring NSSI, emotion expression and use of specific coping strategies (i.e., problem-focused coping, positive reframing coping, support seeking, avoidance, and distraction).ResultsResults indicated that poor emotion expression was positively associated with NSSI. Positive reframing and support seeking emerged as significant moderators of the poor emotion expression—NSSI link. This result was not conditional upon adolescent gender. Problem-focused coping, avoidance, and distraction did not emerge as significant moderators.ConclusionsEncouraging youth to use particular coping strategies might protect against the negative impact of emotion expression deficits for both boys and girls.

Parental Autonomy Support Moderates the Link between ADHD Symptomatology and Task Perseverance.

The current study investigated the moderating role of mother and father autonomy support in the link between youth Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms and task perseverance. ADHD symptomatology was assessed using a multi-informant composite of mother, father, and teacher ratings, and youth perseverance and parental support of autonomy were examined using a behavioral observation paradigm (i.e., difficult puzzle task). Results indicated that youth who were rated as exhibiting more symptoms of ADHD persevered less on a difficult puzzle task and that this relationship was moderated by parental level of autonomy support. In the context of high parental autonomy support, the negative relation between ADHD and perseverance became nonsignificant. Findings indicate that supporting youth autonomy may have significant implications for their development and that it would be valuable to aid parents in developing the appropriate skills necessary for them to successfully support their child’s autonomy.