Ryon C. McDermott

College men's intimate partner violence attitudes: contributions of adult attachment and gender role stress

Primary prevention of mens intimate partner violence (IPV) toward women in dating relationships is an important area of psychological inquiry and a significant concern for counselors working with college student populations. Previous research has identified that certain beliefs condoning or accepting physical, sexual, and psychological violence in relationships are key risk factors for IPV perpetration; however, comparatively few studies have examined the social and relational variables related to IPV acceptance attitudes. In the present study, we proposed and tested a structural model examining the combined contributions of adult attachment dimensions (i.e., attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) and masculine gender role stress in the prediction of IPV acceptance attitudes in a large sample of college men (N = 419). We hypothesized that the relationship between attachment insecurity and IPV acceptance attitudes would be partially mediated by mens gender role stress. A partially mediated model produced the best indices of model fit, accounting for 31% of the variance in an IPV acceptance attitudes latent variable. A bootstrapping procedure confirmed the significance of mediation effects. These results suggest that aspects of adult attachment insecurity are associated with tendencies to experience stress from violations of rigidly internalized traditional male role norms, which, in turn, are associated with acceptance of IPV. Findings are further discussed in relation to adult attachment theory (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007), gender role strain theory (Pleck, 1995), and their implications for IPV prevention in college student populations.

Mental Health, Self-Stigma, and Help-Seeking Intentions Among Emerging Adults: An Attachment Perspective

Many college students experience common mental health concerns, such as anxiety and depression, but do not seek psychological help. The present study proposed an attachment theory–driven model interrelating adult attachment, mental health concerns, and self-stigma in predicting intentions to seek counseling with a college student sample (N = 1,682). Structural equation modeling revealed that attachment anxiety, but not attachment avoidance, directly and positively predicted intentions to seek counseling. However, mediation analyses indicated that attachment anxiety was also indirectly and negatively linked to help-seeking intentions through self-stigma. Specifically, higher levels of attachment anxiety, or the combination of attachment anxiety and mental health concerns, predicted greater levels of self-stigma, which in turn predicted weaker intentions to seek counseling. The findings point to the importance of considering the combined contributions of individual differences in attachment dimensions, levels of mental health concerns, self-stigma, and help-seeking intentions in understanding the help-seeking process.

A Latent Class Analysis of Dyadic Perfectionism in a College Sample

A latent class analysis of dyadic perfectionism scores within a college sample (N = 369) identified four classes of participants. Controlling for gender and current dating status, class membership was associated with significant differences on several measures of relationship attitudes. Gender and class membership also significantly interacted in predicting gender role stress scores. Implications of the findings for the counseling of relationally perfectionistic college students are discussed.

Adult Attachment Dimensions and College Student Distress The Mediating Role of Hope

The present investigation examined dispositional hope as a psychological strength that mediates the associations between adult attachment dimensions and seven commonly assessed college student psychological symptoms, as measured by the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms–62 (CCAPS-62): depression, eating concerns, substance use, generalized anxiety, hostility, social anxiety, and academic distress. Structural equation modeling of data obtained from students at a large Midwestern university (N = 2,644) revealed that (a) adult attachment dimensions were positively associated with CCAPS-62 domains and negatively associated with hope, (b) hope was negatively associated with all seven CCAPS-62 domains with the exception of substance use, and (c) hope mediated the associations between attachment dimensions and all seven CCAPS-62 psychological symptoms, with the exception of substance use. Findings suggest that addressing adult attachment-driven automatic views of self and others may have important implications for hopeful thinking as well as for counseling intervention and prevention of college student psychological distress.

Dominance orientations and psychological aggression in college student relationships: A test of an attachment theory-guided model.

Objective: Adult attachment theory provides a unique framework for understanding psychological aggression in college student relationships; however, little is known about how attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) are connected to specific forms of psychological aggression. The present study tested a model connecting attachment dimensions to 4 distinct forms of psychological aggression: restrictive engulfment, hostile withdrawal, denigration, and dominance-intimidation. The study also examined the mediating role of dominance orientations in the attachment-aggression connections. Method: Nine hundred and 8 college students (366 male and 542 female) who reported they were currently in a relationship lasting at least 6 months completed self-report questionnaires online at a large Midwest university. Results: After controlling for socially desirable responding and current levels of psychological abuse victimization, structural equation modeling indicated that the model was an acceptable fit to the data for men and women separately. Adult attachment anxiety was associated positively with all 4 domains of psychological aggression in the female sample and with restrictive engulfment in the male sample. By contrast, adult attachment avoidance was positively associated with hostile withdrawal in both samples and with denigration in the male sample but was complexly related to restrictive engulfment. Bootstrap analyses indicated that dominance orientations significantly mediated the associations between attachment and all 4 forms of psychological aggression in both samples. Conclusions: Study findings highlight the importance of examining attachment-driven needs for relational control in mixed-gender samples and suggest that specific psychologically aggressive behaviors may have distinct attachment-related motivations.

Mental health treatment-related stigma and professional help seeking among student veterans.

Record numbers of military veterans are enrolling at colleges/universities across the United States. Although a substantive subset might suffer from mental health problems, the majority of these students might not be amenable to utilizing services. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of treatment-related stigma in intentions to seek professional help among undergraduate student veterans at a university on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Focusing on 251 veterans and a gender-matched comparison group of 251 nonveterans, student veterans endorsed higher probabilities of seeking care from physicians (d = .77) and psychologists or other professionals (d = .67). In addition, nonveteran students had greater self-stigma about seeking help (d = −.27) but veterans had more negative beliefs about treatment efficacy (d = 1.07). When compared with veterans who did not exceed clinical thresholds, those with a probable need for treatment had more stigma (ds = .63). Multivariate analyses also revealed an inverse main effect of self-stigma on intentions to seek help from both professional categories. However, military experience differentially moderated associations between treatment-related beliefs and intentions to seek mental health services. Finally, exploratory analyses identified that student veterans were most likely to engage in therapy/counseling at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center or Clinic, Vet Center, or other noninstitutionally sponsored settings in the community (e.g., private practices, faith-based organizations). Looking ahead, these findings will inform research and the provision of services for addressing the mental health needs of this substantive subpopulation of college students in the United States.

Development and evaluation of the Expressions of Moral Injury Scale-Military Version

There is consensus that military personnel can encounter a far more diverse set of challenges than researchers and clinicians have historically appreciated. Moral injury (MI) represents an emerging construct to capture behavioural, social, and spiritual suffering that may transcend and overlap with mental health diagnoses (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder). The Expressions of Moral Injury Scale-Military Version (EMIS-M) was developed to provide a reliable and valid means for assessing the warning signs of a MI in military populations. Drawing on independent samples of veterans who had served in a war-zone environment, factor analytic results revealed 2 distinct factors related to MI expressions directed at both self (9 items) and others (8 items). These subscales generated excellent internal consistency and temporal stability over a 6-month period. When compared to measures of post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and other theoretically relevant constructs (e.g., forgiveness, social support, moral emotions, and combat exposure), EMIS-M scores demonstrated strong convergent, divergent, and incremental validity. In addition, although structural equation modelling findings supported a possible general MI factor in Study 2, the patterns of associations for self- and other-directed expressions yielded evidence for differential validity with varying forms of forgiveness and combat exposure. As such, the EMIS-M provides a face valid, psychometrically validated tool for assessing expressions of apparent MI subtypes in research and clinical settings. Looking ahead, the EMIS-M will hopefully advance the scientific understanding of MI while supporting innovation for clinicians to tailor evidence-based treatments and/or develop novel approaches for addressing MI in their work.

Student veterans’ self-stigma of seeking help: Contributions of painful self-conscious emotions, traditional masculine norms, and war-zone service.

Despite established connections between traditional masculinity ideologies and self-stigma of seeking psychological help, few studies have examined relevant constructs in samples of veterans. The present study addressed this gap by testing a model specifying conformity to the masculine role norms of self-reliance and emotional control as mediating factors of the probable associations between painful self-conscious emotions (i.e., guilt and shame) and self-stigma of seeking help in a sample of student veterans (N = 349) with and without a history of war-zone deployment. After we controlled for gender, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and depression, multigroup structural equation modeling revealed that painful self-conscious emotions were associated with conformity to masculine role norms in only the war-zone deployment group. In addition, emotional control and self-reliance mediated the associations between painful self-conscious emotions and self-stigma solely in the war-zone deployment group. Tests of measurement invariance suggested that the moderation effects in the model were not due to measurement differences across deployment groups. Structural invariance testing suggested the observed differences in indirect effects were attributed to the different associations between guilt and shame and emotional control between the deployment groups. Tests of an alternative model, in which guilt and shame were specified separately, indicated that the significant mediation effect of conformity to traditional masculine role norms occurred only when the shared variance between guilt and shame was modeled in a single latent variable. These results suggest that war-zone deployments may solidify military-congruent masculine role norms in ways that exacerbate generalized guilt and shame emotions and promote self-stigma.

Profiling the Multiple Role Planning Attitudes of College Women

We conducted a latent profile analysis of scores on a measure of multiple role planning attitudes obtained from an ethnically diverse sample of undergraduate women (age range: 18–29 years) to determine whether clusters of participants with distinct profiles of these attitudes were identifiable and whether these groups differed with respect to their educational level, relationship commitment status, and in their responses to independent measures of their relationship dispositions and orientations. Findings yielded support for the presence of three groups representing varying patterns of attitudinal investment in multiple role planning. Relative to their peers in the other two classes, women in the “actively engaged” group demonstrated significantly lower levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance, higher scores on relational interdependence, and stronger dispositions toward healthy self-assertion. Implications of these findings for both future research and for interventions designed to promote adaptive multiple role planning attitudes are discussed.

Do student service members/veterans experience worse mental health stigma than their peers? A comparative study in a national sample

ABSTRACT Objectives: Examine differences in mental health treatment-related stigma in student service members and veterans (SSM/Vs) and peers from 57 post-secondary institutions across the United States. Methods: In total, 909 SSM/Vs and 1818 demographically- and institutionally-matched non-SSM/Vs completed assessments of stigma-related barriers to mental health service utilization as part of the Healthy Minds Study between 2011 and 2015. Results: When compared to non-SSM/V peers, SSM/Vs reported more mental health treatment-related stigma toward help-seekers and less confidence in the helpfulness of therapy/counseling and psychotropic medications. However, effect sizes were small in magnitude (ds = .10 to .16), and depressed students in both groups reported greater stigma. Conclusions: SSM/Vs experience greater treatment-related stigma than non-SSM/V peers, which may deter service use in many cases. However, differences in stigma were small and other under-studied barriers to help-seeking may apply to the substantive subset of SSM/Vs and non-SSM/Vs who may benefit from utilizing available services.