Suchergebnisse

This study examined the affect of social support intervention on decreasing psychological and physiological stress. Fifty-seven college students, who scored below the median on functional, structural, and satisfaction measures of social support, were recruited. They were randomly assigned to a social support intervention group or a wait-list control group. The social support treatment condition consisted of 1-hour sessions designed to increase levels of structural and functional support. Participants completed self-report inventories measuring daily stress, physical symptoms, depression, anxiety, and social support both prior to and after treatment. After, participants participated in a laboratory-based psychophysiological assessment that measured their cardiovascular reactivity to a social stressor. Results did not suggest the beneficial effects of a social support intervention on physiological and psychological stress. Both groups showed improvement on most measures. The possible reasons for this are length and content of the intervention, the selection criteria of participants, and group process variables.

Objective: The authors evaluated relationships among group process and treatment outcomes in a stress management intervention. Method: A group-based stress management intervention was provided to a sample of self-referred adults. After each therapy session, group members completed a process measure. Before and after the intervention, group members underwent a psychophysiological assessment of negative moods, daily stress, physical symptoms, and cardiovascular reactivity to stress. Results: Group process was comprised of three dimensions: positive process, satisfaction, and negative process. Ratings of positive process and satisfaction significantly increased across sessions. In addition, satisfaction ratings were inversely correlated with cardiovascular reactivity, whereas negative process ratings were positively correlated with cardiovascular reactivity. Conclusion: The finding of increasing positive process and satisfaction may be related to the structure of the intervention, which allowed for more frequent and diverse interaction during later sessions. Correlations between negative process and cardiovascular reactivity may reflect the influence of hostile traits.

AbstractTo what extent do people perceive the election of President Trump as the work of evil forces, a violation of the sacred, or the will of God? Demonization and desecration are negative spiritual appraisals associated with psychological maladjustment across political and relational contexts. Sanctification refers to the imbuing of persons, objects, or events with sacred qualities or as manifestations of a higher power. The authors examined the prevalence and role of spiritual appraisals related to the 2016 U.S. presidential election result on psychological adjustment and behaviors using a cross‐sectional online sample of 252 American voters. Approximately one‐fifth of participants sanctified the election of President Trump to some degree. Conversely, approximately one‐third of participants endorsed some level of negative spiritual appraisals. Desecration and demonization also uniquely predicted maladjustment. Moreover, the interactive effect between vote and negative spiritual appraisals accounted for unique variance in maladjustment. At higher levels of demonization and desecration, those who voted for President Trump reported greater difficulties with emotion regulation than those who voted against President Trump. Negative spiritual appraisals also moderated the relations between vote and thought suppression, in addition to vote and information seeking behavior. For the small fraction of Trump voters with negative spiritual appraisals, their efforts to suppress misgivings, struggle with emotions, and seek information may be understood as attempts to reduce cognitive dissonance.