Leora Trub

Instagram #Instasad?: exploring associations among Instagram use, depressive symptoms, negative social comparison, and strangers followed

As the use and influence of social networking continues to grow, researchers have begun to explore its consequences for psychological well-being. Some research suggests that Facebook use can have negative consequences for well-being. Instagram, a photo-sharing social network created in 2010, has particular characteristics that may make users susceptible to negative consequences. This study tested a theoretically grounded moderated meditation model of the association between Instagram use and depressive symptoms through the mechanism of negative social comparison, and moderation by amount of strangers one follows. One hundred and seventeen 18-29 year olds completed online questionnaires containing demographics, frequency of Instagram use, amount of strangers followed on Instagram, the Center for Epidemiological Resources Scale for Depression, and the Social Comparison Rating Scale. Instagram use was marginally positively associated with depressive symptoms, and positive social comparison was significantly negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Amount of strangers followed moderated the associations of Instagram use with social comparison (significantly) and depressive symptoms (marginally), and further significantly moderated the indirect association of Instagram use with depressive symptoms through social comparison. Findings generally suggest that more frequent Instagram use has negative associations for people who follow more strangers, but positive associations for people who follow fewer strangers, with social comparison and depressive symptoms. Implications of negative associations of social networking for people who follow strangers and the need for more research on Instagram use given its increasing popularity are explored.

Insecure attachments

Associations have been found among sexting, attachment insecurity, emotional dysregulation, and sexual and risky sexual behavior in young adults. In a sample of 92 young adult women in romantic relationships, this study aimed to examine whether emotional regulation might constitute an indirect pathway linking attachment and sexting, and the potential implications for engaging in condomless sex. Findings revealed that in young adult women in romantic relationships, attachment anxiety was associated with sexting through difficulty controlling impulses during moments of emotional distress. Also, sexting directly predicted condomless sex. Attachment avoidance and anxiety were both associated with sexting in the bivariate correlations. Findings highlight the role of digital technology in understanding how peoples negotiation of needs for attachment and emotional regulation might lead to risky sexual behavior. Interventions targeting the interplay of attachment, emotional regulation and technology use may positively impact relational and behavioral health outcomes. Difficulty controlling impulses mediated the association between attachment anxiety and sexting.Sexting was associated with condomless sex.Attachment anxiety and avoidance were associated with sexting in bivariate correlations.Interventions targeting attachment and sexting might influence risky sexual behavior.

Getting close from far away

Attachment is a meaningful construct for understanding blogging behavior.Attachment anxiety is positively related to blogging intensity.Attachment anxiety predicts being motivated to blog by personal and interpersonal needs.Avoidant attachment is negatively related to blogging intensity.Attachment avoidance is related to the tendency to maintain an anonymous blog. Since their inception in the 1990s, blogs continue to play a major role in online culture, having increased fivefold in the last six years. Blogs may serve unique functions for individuals with higher levels of attachment avoidance and anxiety. The study tests a theoretically grounded mediational model of the associations between attachment anxiety and avoidance with the outcome variable of blogging intensity. Desired anonymity and motivations for blogging are proposed to mediate that relationship. One hundred and forty-three adult bloggers completed online questionnaires that contained standard measures of attachment anxiety and avoidance (ECR; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998) and measures of blogging behavior developed for the study. Path analysis was used to test the meditational model. The meditational hypotheses were partially supported. Attachment anxiety was related to greater blogging intensity, and personal and interpersonal motivational factors mediated this relationship. Attachment avoidance was associated with lower levels of blogging intensity and higher levels of anonymity, but anonymity did not mediate the relationship between attachment avoidance and blogging intensity. The findings suggest that attachment offers a useful lens for understanding online behavior and how it meets interpersonal needs.

The paradox of phone attachment

Accurate evaluation of peoples attachment to phones is crucial to understanding the impact of phone use in everyday life. The Young Adult Attachment to Phone Scale (YAPS) is a concise instrument, representing the first multi-dimensional measure of phone attachment. After item development involving focus groups with young adults and content validity analysis from attachment experts, a preliminary version of the YAPS was administered to 955 participants ages 1829. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a 2-dimension structure: Refuge, characterized by feeling safe with the phone and uncomfortable upon separation; and Burden, characterized by relief upon separation from the phone and the perception that it diminishes enjoyment of a given moment. Findings reflect the strong psychometric properties of the YAPS, including reliability, factorial validity and criterion validity with relevant constructs. The YAPS appears promising for future research aimed at understanding the nature of attachment to phones in human behavior. Paradoxical attachment to phones might manifest as attachment anxiety and avoidance.Attachment to Phone Scale (APS) is proposed as a short, concise instrument.Refuge factor corresponds to attachment anxiety, Burden to attachment avoidance.Refuge involves feeling safe with the phone and uncomfortable upon separation.Burden involves feeling pressured by phone and relief upon separation from it.

A portrait of the self in the digital age: Attachment, splitting, and self-concealment in online and offline self-presentation.

This study explores the role of adult attachment dynamics in people’s self-presentation and self-concealment in online and offline spaces. A total of 145 bloggers took the Experiences of Close Relationships Scale (Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998) and answered questions about their blog persona and their offline persona. A mixed-methods approach combined qualitative content analysis with quantitative analyses to examine and compare adjective lists describing online and offline personas. In comparison to securely attached individuals, individuals with high levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance presented themselves in more discrepant, contradictory ways online versus offline. Specifically, blog personas were more self-revealing and included more negative traits in individuals with high attachment anxiety and avoidance, whereas offline personas were described as more actively self-concealing and included fewer negative traits. Also, the offline self-presentations of securely attached individuals were more focused on caregiving of others, whereas blog personas were limited to traits of the self. Findings underscore the utility of attachment theory and theories of the self that emphasize multiplicity in examining people’s use of virtual spaces to cultivate and share themselves with others.

Discrimination, Internalized Homonegativity, and Attitudes Toward Children of Same-Sex Parents: Can Secure Attachment Buffer Against Stigma Internalization?

With increasing numbers of same-sex couples raising children in the United States, discriminatory attitudes toward children of same-sex parents (ACSSP) are of increasing concern. As with other forms of stigma and discrimination, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals are at risk for internalizing these societal attitudes, which can negatively affect parenting-related decisions and behaviors and the mental and physical health of their children. Secure attachment is characterized by positive views of the self as loveable and worthy of care that are understood to develop in early relationships with caregivers. Secure attachment has been associated with positive mental and physical health, including among LGB individuals and couples. This study aimed to test the potential buffering role of secure attachment against stigma internalization by examining associations among secure attachment, discrimination, internalized homonegativity (IH), and ACSSP in an online survey study of 209 U.S. adults in same-sex relationships. Bootstrap analyses supported our hypothesized moderated mediation model, with secure attachment being a buffer. Greater discrimination was indirectly associated with more negative ACSSP through greater IH for individuals with mean or lower levels, but not for individuals with higher than average levels of secure attachment, specifically because among those with higher levels of secure attachment, discrimination was not associated with IH. These findings build on and extend past research, with important implications for future research and clinical work with LGB individuals, same-sex couples, and their families, including potential implementation of interventions targeting attachment security.

(What) do you believe?: Therapist spiritual/religious/non-religious self-disclosure

Abstract Objective: Spiritual/religious/non-religious (S/R/N) identity development is often neglected in psychotherapy training and represents an area where psychotherapists feel they lack competence. Such feelings can become even more pronounced when it comes to S/R/N self-disclosure. This study explores the decisions therapists make regarding self-disclosure, which impacts the psychotherapy process. Method: This grounded theory study explores psychotherapists’ S/R/N self-disclosure based on qualitative interviews with 21 psychotherapists representing varied theoretical orientations and spiritual, religious, atheist, and agnostic backgrounds. Results: Findings reveal that while some self-disclosure happens on an explicit level, more often psychotherapists find implicit ways to share S/R/N aspects of the self for purposes of enhancing the therapeutic alliance and to convey openness. Psychotherapists also attempt to avoid the topic altogether, either to protect the therapeutic relationship or because of unresolved S/R/N identity in the therapist. Conclusions: Developing skills related to S/R/N self-disclosure represents an important aspect of multicultural competence, which can impact clients’ feelings of safety and comfort discussing their own S/R/N identity. This capacity is strongly influenced by the therapist’s self-awareness regarding S/R/N identity. Suggestions for engaging S/R/N identity and disclosure in supervisory experiences and academic preparation are discussed.

“I am here for a reason”: minority teachers bridging many divides in urban education

Abstract Minority teachers are overwhelmingly employed in urban schools in underserved, low-income communities with large minority student populations. They receive little in the way of multicultural preparation, mentorship, and professional induction to meet the demands of teaching diverse student populations. This grounded theory study explores the experiences of novice teachers from various minority backgrounds working in urban classrooms. A tentative grounded theory, ‘I am here for a reason’ emerged, suggesting that minority teachers rely on their personal backgrounds and experiences to help them take an insider’s perspective with minority students in light of poor multicultural preparation and limited support in schools. The shared cultural perspective with students enables teachers to connect with and advocate for students, which represents both a strength and challenge for minority teachers. Finally, minority teachers are motivated by a strong desire for social justice as they work to bridge many divides, and are intentional in their work despite facing significant obstacles in training and teaching.

In the rooms and on the couch: Psychoanalytic work with patients in AA.

This article aims to help psychoanalytically oriented clinicians address and manage the needs of patients in Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs, who represent an understudied population in our field. Drawing upon clinical experiences, it focuses on four challenges that arise for psychoanalytic clinicians, including conflicts between psychoanalytic considerations and the disease model, transference/countertransference dynamics that may emerge when a patient addresses a major problem of living in a separate context that is inaccessible to the analyst; considerations impacting the appropriate stance and level of neutrality clinicians might adopt in regards to AA participation; and factors that may prevent useful exploration of the spiritual components of AA. For each challenge, implications are discussed and considerations are offered for addressing these dynamics in treatment.

The “Good Enough” Parent: Perfectionism and Relationship Satisfaction Among Parents and Nonparents:

Relationship satisfaction has profound implications for psychological and physical well-being, yet it significantly decreases while couples are raising children. Perfectionism—the tendency to expect perfection from oneself, others, and/or to perceive expectations of perfection as coming from others—has generally been associated with lower relationship satisfaction. In a sample of 382 married and/or cohabitating U.S. adults, this study found that the interpersonal dimensions of perfectionism (partner-oriented perfectionism and partner-prescribed perfectionism) were negatively associated with relationship satisfaction, while self-oriented perfectionism was positively associated with relationship satisfaction. Raising children was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction, and moderated the association between partner-prescribed perfectionism and relationship satisfaction; the negative association was significant for both groups, but stronger for those raising children than those not raising children. This study highlights the importance of addressing perfectionism in intimate relationships, particularly for couples raising children, and informs possible interventions with couples and families.