Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2006, Educational Policy and Leadership

The purpose of this study was to design, develop, and validate an indigenous Chinese personality assessment inventory. The inventory is intended for use with university students in Chinese societies, to help them understand their personality traits and how their unique sets of energies influence and are influenced by others. The assessment instrument is based upon the Chinese philosophy of the five elements and their yin and yang qualities. The behavioral traits representing this cosmological model are derived from an ancient Chinese work titled Jen Wu Chih, which is regarded as one of the earliest references to personality theory in Chinese literature. A two hundred item bank was generated and pilot tested with 267 Taiwanese university students. With application of the statistical tools of Cronbach's alpha, homogeneity analysis, and exploratory factor analysis, the item bank was reduced to 80 and administered to 715 Taiwanese university students. The strength of the psychometric standards of the inventory was demonstrated with reliability and validity measures. Four hypotheses were tested showing that 1) yin and yang can be clearly differentiated; 2) yin and yang show complementary and bipolar relationships; 3) there are gender differences consistent with cultural conditioning; and 4) there are no substantial academic area differences. The inventory consisted of thirty scales (two for each yin and each yang of each of the five elements). The researcher concluded that forty scales may offer more in depth perspective in future studies and that there may be merit in exploring further the complex dynamic of how the elements act upon each other, in addition to their properties, as suggested in Chinese philosophy.

Committee: Ayres D'Costa (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2007, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2005, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Psychology

Parenting in the child's early years is a critical influence on children's development (Frosch et al., 2021). One key component of high-quality parenting in infancy is sensitive, warm, and engaged parent behavior. A parent's ability to exhibit high-quality parenting is influenced by many factors, including their developmental history and personality, their marital relations, and work experiences (Belsky, 1984). Temperament is a biologically based component of a child's characteristics that can influence parenting behavior (Belsky, 1984). When a parent has a child with greater negative emotionality or poorer regulatory capacity, it may be harder to maintain high-quality parenting (Crockenberg & Leerkes, 2003). This then can impact a child's development. However, some parents may be better able to maintain high parenting quality regardless of the child's temperament. Parental empathy is characterized as a parent's ability to recognize, take the perspective of, and appropriately react to children's emotions (Boorman et al. 2019). Mothers with greater dispositional empathy are more sensitive and responsive to their infants, although relatively little research has considered the role of dispositional empathy in fathers' parenting quality. Therefore, this study examined the associations of infant negative emotionality and regulatory capacity with the parenting quality of new mothers and fathers, and whether these associations were moderated by parent empathy. Participants were drawn from a longitudinal study of 182 dual-earner U.S. couples, primarily White and of moderate to high SES, who had their first child in 2008-2009. During pregnancy, expectant mothers and fathers each completed the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1980) to assess their empathic concern, perspective-taking, and personal distress. At 3 months postpartum, mothers and fathers each reported their infant's negative affectivity and regulatory capacity on the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-VSF (Put (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan (Advisor); Xin Feng (Committee Member); Laura Wagner (Committee Member) Subjects: Developmental Psychology; Families and Family Life; Psychology

Master of Arts in Psychology, Cleveland State University, 2023, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Researchers have demonstrated that unacquainted observers can reliably rate children's personality traits based on initial impressions, called the thin slice (TS) method (Tackett et al., 2016). Temperament describes characteristics a child is born with and consists of a child's ability to cope with emotion, activity level, ability to focus, and mood; temperament has been shown to map onto personality traits in reliable ways (Rothbart & Bates 1998). Although TS personality has been correlated with temperament traits in a clinical sample of youth (Brandes et al., 2020), it is unclear whether the TS approach can be applied to temperament traits in adolescents. Because temperament can be reliably detected early in life (Rothbart & Goldsmith, 1985), the application of TS methods to temperament may serve as a cost-efficient and reliable tool for the early detection of youth at risk for problem behaviors. In addition to serving as a first investigation of TS methods of temperament traits in a community sample of youth, this study aimed to examine the convergent validity of TS temperament with parent-reported personality traits and child psychopathology. Convergence of child psychopathology with TS temperament was tested by examining the relationship between Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity (ADHD) attention problems and temperament traits. In this study, research participants served as judges. The judges were asked to watch short archival video clips of youth ages 11-17 (targets) performing tasks, and then fill out a questionnaire about the characteristics (personality and temperament) of that youth (four judges per target). Temperament traits largely converged with TS personality traits in expected ways, but associations with parent-report personality and attention problems were not detected. This may be due to TS measures demonstrating limited reliability in the present study. Future work should investigate whether TS temperament reliability can be i (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kathleen Reardon (Advisor); Blair Baker (Committee Member); Elizabeth Goncy (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Developmental Psychology; Personality; Personality Psychology

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2022, Psychology

Child inhibited temperament is influenced by parenting behaviors, and vice versa (Coplan et al., 2009; Saudino & Micalizzi, 2015). Though the link between parenting behaviors and child inhibited temperament has been extensively studied, the literature has largely focused on mothers, ignoring the important contribution of fathers' parenting. Thus, the current study explicitly focuses on fathers, using a three-point longitudinal design assessing inhibited temperament using both parent report and laboratory observation. Participants were 116 father-child dyads (43.1% female; 88.7% white). Children participated in lab procedures at ages 1, 2, and 3 in which they completed a battery of episodes. Fathers completed the Child Rearing Practices Report (Block, 1965) to assess parenting behaviors and the Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (Carter & Briggs-Gowan, 2000) to assess perceptions of child temperament at each time point. Path models and Fisher's r to z transformations were analyzed to assess both concurrent and longitudinal relations. Results indicated that paternal nurturance, restrictiveness, and encouragement of independence, but not protectiveness, are associated with observed inhibited temperament. Furthermore, there was a greater number of intervariable relations, both predictive and concurrent, at later stages of toddlerhood.

Committee: Elizabeth Kiel Dr. (Committee Chair); Vaishali Raval Dr. (Committee Member); Aaron Luebbe Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Psychology

Internalizing disorders, such as anxiety and depression, are some of the most common disorders of childhood (Baxter et al., 2012; Bernstein & Borchardt, 1991; Kessler et al., 2005). A major factor in the development of internalizing problems in childhood is likely the family environment, especially parenting behavior (Chorpita & Barlow, 1998; Hudson & Rapee, 2001). However, most research on parenting behavior focuses on the role of the mother, not considering the direct and indirect effects fathers have on their children's development. Fathers have unique contributions to children's development through activating play, as they tend to spend more of their total time with children interacting through play that is physically active, challenging, or stimulating, rather than caretaking activities (Kotila et al., 2013). To better understand the roles of fathers' and mothers' activating play in children's internalizing symptoms, this study examined these associations using two existing longitudinal datasets that included information from mothers, fathers, and a target child (approximately 4 or 7.5 years old, respectively) and further tested child negative affect, parental warmth, and child gender as potential moderators of these associations. This study found a significant difference between fathers and mothers in one aspect of activating play, rough and tumble play, but not challenging/exciting parenting behavior. In one dataset, fathers' engagement in rough and tumble play was significantly associated with children's internalizing symptoms. Furthermore, the addition of children's negative affect significantly improved the fit of regression models between parental activating play and child internalizing symptoms, but negative affect was not a significant moderator. Parental warmth and child gender were not also significant moderators between parental activating play and children's internalizing. This knowledge contributes to the understanding the development and possi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sarah J. Schoppe-Sullivan PhD (Advisor); Stephen Petrill PhD (Committee Member); Xin Feng PhD (Committee Member); Jennifer Cheavens PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Developmental Psychology; Psychology

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2021, Psychology

Protective parenting (i.e., excessively comforting parenting that reduces child autonomy) predicts child anxiety. Child temperament and maternal physiology relate to protective parenting and predict parenting behavior broadly. The mechanism by which this relation occurs remains unknown. Social information and emotion processing theory and work based in this theory suggest that cognition may be one mechanism in this relation. This study investigated maternal beliefs about child anxiety as a mechanism by which maternal physiology and child temperament predict maternal protective parenting. Participants were 189 mother-child dyads who participated when children were 1-, 2-, and 3-years-old. Maternal anxiety beliefs and mother-perceived child inhibited temperament were measured via questionnaires. Maternal physiology was measured via ambulatory ECG. Observed child inhibited temperament and observed maternal protective parenting were measured via standardized laboratory episodes. Results indicated that maternal beliefs were not a mechanism in the longitudinal relations between child temperament and maternal parenting and maternal physiology and maternal parenting. Correlations among child temperament, maternal beliefs, and maternal parenting suggest that child temperament and maternal cognitions are important to consider in respect to anxiogenic parenting.

Committee: Elizabeth Kiel (Advisor); Aaron Luebbe (Committee Member); Jennifer Green (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2020, Psychology

An enhanced (i.e., more negative) neurological error signal called error-related negativity (ERN) is robustly associated with anxiety risk, particularly performance monitoring and social-evaluation concerns in early childhood. Specific parenting behaviors are linked to neurological development and anxiety risk, though more work is needed to understand how anxiety-relevant parenting behaviors relate to increased or decreased risk of enhanced ERN in early childhood. Further, vulnerability-stress and differential susceptibility theories suggest that the influence of parenting on child neurological development should only be considered in the context of the child's reactivity, or a marker of the child's sensitivity and susceptibility to environmental influence. The current study examined how physiological and behavioral indicators of reactivity (i.e., cortisol reactivity, inhibited temperament, separately) in toddlerhood moderate the association between early parenting behaviors (i.e., control, appropriate support, separately) and ERN in kindergarten-age children. Mother-toddler dyads participated in laboratory visits designed to elicit individual differences in toddlerhood reactivity when the toddler was 12- and/or 24-months-old. At the 24-month laboratory visit, maternal report and observational measures of controlling and appropriately supporting maternal parenting behaviors were collected. Fifty-three dyads participated in a longitudinal follow-up when children were 4- to 6-years-old, during which time child ERN was assessed using a flanker paradigm. Results suggest that observations of maternal control in toddlerhood related to larger ERN (i.e., more negative) in kindergarten only for those children displaying low cortisol reactivity and moderate to high degrees of inhibited temperament. This finding was specific to observations of maternal control. Additionally, the proposed adaptive influence of appropriately supportive parenting behaviors (both observations and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Kiel (Committee Chair); Aaron Luebbe (Committee Member); Robin Thomas (Committee Member); Amity Noltemeyer (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2020, Psychology

Empathy is generally considered to be an adaptive ability. Recent research, however, suggests heightened empathy may be a risk factor for internalizing symptoms, particularly in certain contexts. Affective empathy (the experience of feeling and sharing emotions) and cognitive empathy (the experience of understanding another's viewpoint or internal state) have also been found to relate differently to different outcomes Children with heightened empathy and an inhibited temperament, which is associated with heightened physiological arousal, may have a particularly difficult time regulating emotions when faced with another individual in distress. Further, if exposed to frequent negative emotion from parents, these children may feel more negative emotions and have fewer adaptive models of how to regulate emotions. In the current study, a three-way moderation among empathy, inhibited temperament, and maternal negative emotionality was examined. A significant interaction would suggest that maternal negative emotionality moderates the extent to which inhibited temperament interacts with empathy to predict anxiety. Mothers and their children participated in two phases of assessment to test these relations. No interactions were significant, however, maternal-reports of affective and cognitive empathy were found to relate to generalized and social anxiety symptoms as main effects. Children with high levels of cognitive empathy, as reported by mothers, were reported to have high levels of generalized anxiety. Children with high affective, and low cognitive empathy, as reported by mothers, were reported to have high levels of social anxiety. In addition, post-hoc analyses supported an interaction between maternal-report of affective and cognitive empathy in predicting social anxiety. Results suggest that components of child empathy are differentially related to different types of anxiety. Further research is needed to understand other potential moderators and mechanisms of this (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Kiel Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Aaron Luebbe Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jennifer Green Ph.D. (Committee Member); Amity Noltemeyer Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Psychology/Clinical

The present study used longitudinal data to examine the relationship between sanctification of pregnancy and depressive symptoms in new parents during the Transition to Parenthood (TtP), which covers the third trimester of pregnancy to the infant's first year of life, and how this relationship could be moderated by the infant's temperament. This study used a sample of 164 married, heterosexual couples to separately examine whether each mother and father reports of higher sanctification of pregnancy or reports of more difficult infant temperament at 3 and 6 months predicted less parental depression over a child's first year of life after controlling for the given parent's depression during pregnancy. Sanctification is defined as a psychological process through which aspects of life are perceived as having divine character and significance. Sanctification can involve the perception that a specific aspect life reflects a manifestation of God (i.e., theistic sanctification) and/or sacred qualities (i.e., nontheistic sanctification). In this study, sanctification of pregnancy was measured by asking expecting mothers and fathers about how they viewed their pregnancy as a manifestation of God or as sacred. Child temperament refers to a child's distinctive patterns of emotions and behaviors that are biologically based and begin developing early in life. Using hierarchical regression analyses, sanctification of pregnancy was not found to be a significant predictor of parental depression and there was no significant interaction with child temperament. Post hoc analyses revealed parent gender was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms. Mothers reported a decrease in depressive symptoms from pregnancy to their child's first year of life, whereas fathers reported an increase in depressive symptoms across these time points. While there were no significant findings regarding sanctification of pregnancy, the TtP remains an important time period to examine and continued rese (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Annette Mahoney PhD (Advisor); Anne Gordon PhD (Committee Member); Kenneth Pargament PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2020, Psychology

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a chronic disorder associated with functional impairments in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Although externalizing behavior problems are the most common reason children are referred for ADHD diagnosis, disparities exist in when parents seek treatment. Differences between children who are referred for psychological evaluations in early childhood versus adolescence are not well understood. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences between children and adolescents that are referred for ADHD diagnosis and determine whether protective factors emerge for individuals referred at later ages. Participants included 1,331 youth referred for psychological evaluation at the ADHD Center for Evaluation and Treatment at Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital. Prior to evaluation, parents completed questionnaires about the child's history (medical history, developmental history, family history), temperament, behavior problems and assets, and previous mental health services. In addition, parents and teachers completed rating scales on ADHD symptoms, stress, and impairment. Also in-person diagnostic assessment and intellectual assessment was completed. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to explore predictors of Age of ADHD diagnosis, including number of ADHD symptoms, parent and teacher ratings of impairment, and compensatory factors related to IQ, temperament, and behavioral assets. Severe behavioral problems at school, higher numbers of referrals concerns, and lower family and caregiver quality of life contributed to younger age of ADHD diagnosis. Older age of diagnosis was predicted by parents who rated low support in their relationships with their spouse. Examination of developmental assets revealed that easy temperament, better social functioning, and greater compliance at school predicted older age of ADHD diagnosis, whereas younger age of diagnosis predicted more positive attitudes toward scho (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Short PhD (Committee Chair); Sandra Russ PhD (Committee Member); Michael Manos PhD (Committee Member); Christopher Burant PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, 2019, Psychology, Clinical

The use of corporal punishment (CP) as a disciplinary strategy is a highly controversial topic among the scientific community and general public alike. Although there is extensive research suggesting that CP is ineffective and potentially harmful, many individuals are hesitant to make definitive claims about the outcomes of CP, citing limitations in past methodology. Notably, past studies have not examined the outcomes of CP within the context of individual differences among children. The purpose of this study was to understand if temperament, that is, early appearing, stable individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation (Rothbart & Bates, 1998) moderates the outcomes of CP. This study utilized data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Child and Young Adult cohort (CNLSY) to examine: (1) if children who receive CP exhibit higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, depressive symptoms, delinquent behavior compared to children who do not receive CP; (2) if, among children who receive CP, those with moderate temperaments exhibit lower levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, depressive symptoms, and delinquent behavior compared to biological siblings with difficult temperaments; and (3) if children with difficult temperaments will differentially benefit from high levels of maternal responsiveness. Using structural equation modeling, we found that children who received higher levels of CP were significantly more likely to exhibit externalizing behavior problems compared to biological siblings who received CP less frequently. In addition, when mothers reported higher scores of maternal responsiveness, their children were significantly less likely to develop depressive symptoms in adolescence compared to biological siblings who experienced lower levels of maternal responsiveness. However, children with difficult temperaments were no more likely to be susceptible to the negative outcomes of CP or to benefit (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jackson Goodnight Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Mary Fuhs Ph.D. (Committee Member); Catherine Lutz-Zois Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Developmental Psychology; Psychology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2018, College-Conservatory of Music: Theory

This dissertation provides analytical and theoretical models for the understanding of music in microtonal equal temperaments, specifically focusing on nineteen-tone and thirty-one-tone equal temperaments. It provides a conceptual basis for the study of these equal temperaments and displays the applicability of tonal, atonal, and serial constructs in non-twelve-tone contexts. The first two chapters provide a conceptual, structural, and historical background for the dissertation. Chapter I draws a distinction in microtonal practice between composers using just intonation and those using equal temperaments. This chapter indicates some correspondences between these schools of thought and provides a structural basis for the equal temperaments examined in the rest of the dissertation. Chapter II offers a conceptual history of microtonal equal temperaments, specifically focusing on precursors to this practice in extended meantone temperaments. This history outlines two tuning lineages, one from quarter-comma meantone temperament to thirty-one-tone equal temperament and the other from third-comma meantone temperament to nineteen-tone equal temperament. The final three chapters examine modern applications of microtonal equal temperaments. Chapter III considers Joseph Yasser's concept of the supra-diatonic scale, which contains twelve regular scale degrees and seven auxiliary scale degrees, and applies his theories to the analysis of nineteen-tone music. The chapter introduces a modified version of Steven Rings's tonal generalized interval system to model intervallic relations in nineteen-tone equal temperament, using Yasser's scale-degree functions as guides. This supra-tonal GIS is then used to analyze a piece by Easley Blackwood written in nineteen-tone equal temperament. Chapter IV provides a gestural/transformational model for the generalized thirty-one-tone keyboard and its music. This model coordinates physical performance gestures and musical transformations usi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Cristina Losada Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Samuel Ng Ph.D. (Committee Member); Christopher Segall Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2017, Psychology

To help determine who is at heightened risk for anxiety development, research has investigated behaviorally and biologically-based temperament predictors of subsequent disorder. The current study focuses on toddler dysregulated fear (DF) as the outcome variable of interest. Although DF may be the strongest predictor of anxiety development, it is unclear how DF develops. Maternal biological indices of reactivity (i.e., cortisol) have been associated with intergenerational transmission of anxiety risk, but have not been investigated in association with DF. Neural markers of regulation (i.e., delta-beta coupling: “coupling”) were also investigated to better understand how intergenerational transmission might be occurring. The current study investigated cortisol reactivity and coupling as predictors of toddlers' DF, as mediated by maternal protective parenting. Study aims tested whether protective parenting mediated the relations between maternal reactivity/regulation and child age 3 DF above and beyond age 2 DF. Results suggested that maternal cortisol reactivity and coupling do not significantly predict change in toddler DF through maternal protective parenting behaviors. Furthermore, cortisol reactivity and delta-beta coupling did not additively predict toddlers' DF through maternal protective parenting behaviors. Future directions include investigating toddler DF's influence on maternal protective parenting behaviors in the context of indices of regulation and reactivity.

Committee: Elizabeth Kiel Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Aaron Luebbe Ph.D. (Committee Member); Robin Thomas Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Developmental Psychology; Psychobiology; Psychology

MA, Kent State University, 2018, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

Research on parenting has placed an increasing emphasis on bidirectional processes of parent-child interactions to more fully describe the quality of the parent-child relationship. A frequently examined bidirectional process is dyadic synchrony; an interactional style characterized by harmonious and mutually responsive behavioral and emotional exchanges. Despite the positive implications of dyadic synchrony, few studies have examined how both maternal behaviors and child characteristics contribute to this interactional style. Moreover, a majority of the research examining correlates of dyadic synchrony has been done with European American and low-risk families. Latina adolescent mothers are of particular interest, because they face higher levels of cumulative risk (e.g., low socioeconomic status, lack of knowledge about parenting and child development), yet are underrepresented in the literature. The current study tested how maternal sensitivity and child characteristics together contribute to dyadic synchrony displayed by young Latina mothers and their toddlers. Results indicated that although there were no gender differences in the level of dyadic synchrony, this interaction style likely has different precursors and correlates for girls and boys. Specifically, maternal sensitivity appears to be important for the sample as whole, child temperament appeared to be important for mother-daughter interaction quality. Implications for future research and parent-child interventions are discussed.

Committee: Josefina Grau (Advisor); Manfred van Dulmen (Committee Member); Karla Anhalt (Committee Member); Beth Wildman (Committee Member) Subjects: Developmental Psychology; Ethnic Studies; Families and Family Life; Gender; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, 2016, Psychology, Clinical

Previous research suggests that the presence of externalizing behaviors, such as hyperactivity and aggression, may impact the risk of childhood injury (Barton & Schwebel, 2007; Schwebel et al., 2007). However, studies have not examined these factors for preschool-aged children in a home environment. The present study examined the relationship between externalizing behaviors and injury risk behaviors of preschool children in a simulated living room that contained mock hazard items. Temperamental factors (e.g. inhibitory control, anger, activity, high intensity pleasure, and impulsivity) in relation to injury risk were also explored. Data collected from 89 preschool-aged children (43 girls, 46 boys) and their caregivers who participated in a larger faculty-led study (Safety Involving Brothers and Sisters; Brown Kirschman & Dodds) were included in this study. All videos were previously coded for a number of risk behaviors including the child placing their hand on a hazardous item and how long they touched the hazardous item. For this current study, videos were coded for acts of aggression and hyperactivity of the child. Results revealed a positive relationship between aggressive acts in the simulated hazard room and amount of mock hazard items the child touched in the room. Additionally, a negative relationship between inhibitory control and amount of hazards the child touched in the simulated hazard room was found. These results help in identifying child attributes that may increase risk of home injury, which is an important first step in targeting prevention efforts.

Committee: Keri Brown Kirschman Ph.D. (Advisor); Lee Dixon Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jackson Goodnight Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Psychology

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2016, Psychology

Empathy is a critical ability in developing relationships, and deficits in empathy have been associated with various maladaptive social outcomes. Although specific parenting behaviors (including warmth, reasoning, overprotection, and critical control) are expected to be related to the development of child empathy, these may function differently for children with an insecure attachment or inhibited temperament. Children with an insecure attachment may have deficits in empathy when compared with securely attached children. Children with an inhibited temperament, who are also at risk for developing an anxiety disorder, may also struggle with expressing empathic behaviors. These relations were tested in a longitudinal study including mothers and their toddlers. Attachment did not relate to empathy directly or serve as a moderator between parenting behaviors and empathy. Although no moderating effects were found for overprotection or critical control in relation to empathy, moderating effects were found for parental warmth and reasoning. Maternal warmth and reasoning predicted more empathic behaviors only for children with low levels of inhibited temperament. Thus, the effects of maternal warmth and reasoning may be attenuated for children with inhibited temperament, in terms of their empathy development.

Committee: Elizabeth Kiel (Advisor); Aaron Luebbe (Committee Member); Jennifer Green (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Psychology

Temperamental factors, specifically negative and positive affectivity (NA and PA) and effortful control (EC), have clear associations with brain structure and function and have demonstrated associations with mood and anxiety symptoms in children. In general, research supports that high NA, low PA, and low EC are associated with greater depressive severity. Further work has also demonstrated significant two-way and three-way interactions among these constructs on depressive severity. Work in adults exists to support the notion that temperament may be influenced by pharmaceutical interventions as well as cognitive therapy. To date, no studies examining the impact of biological or behavioral interventions on temperament constructs have been conducted in youth with mood disorders. The purpose of the present study was to examine the impacts of omega-3 supplementation and family-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), alone and in combination, on the temperamental constructs of NA, PA, and EC in a sample of youth with mood disorders. Data are from a larger 12 week randomized, placebo controlled trial examining these same interventions on depressive and manic severity. 178 youth aged seven to 14 years were recruited and screened from community advertisement and clinician referral. 95 of these youth met enrollment criteria and were randomized to one of four treatment cells: omega-3 monotherapy, CBT monotherapy with pill placebo, combined omega-3 and CBT intervention, and pill placebo only. Youth and their caregivers completed the Positive and Negative Affectivity Schedule (PANAS) to measure youth's levels of affectivity throughout the study. Youth also completed the Effortful Control Scale (ECS) to measure EC throughout the study. These report forms were given at screening assessment, at baseline (time of randomization), and at two, four, six, nine, and 12 weeks post-randomization (i.e., total of seven time points of data). Families randomized to a CBT condition partic (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mary Fristad (Advisor); Michael Vasey (Committee Member); Theodore Beauchaine (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy