Investigating the contrast avoidance model in a personal failure paradigm: an exploration of worry and rumination on both physiological and subjective responding

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Title

Investigating the contrast avoidance model in a personal failure paradigm: an exploration of worry and rumination on both physiological and subjective responding

Identifier

TSP2017Jamil

Type

["Text"]

Genre

["Theses"]

Format

["application/pdf"]

Rights

Access to this document has been permanently and indefinitely restricted by the author until or unless the author submits a written request to Special Collections & Archives to change the access restrictions and/or make it freely available. Only Albert S. Cook Library staff members may access this file for administrative purposes unless written permission from the author is presented to staff members of the Towson University Special Collections & Archives department. Copyright protected, all rights reserved.

General Notes

Thesis research directed by the Department of Psychology.

Extent

ix, 75 pages

Language

["English"]

File Size

882673 Bytes

Repository

["Towson University. Albert S. Cook Library. Special Collections and University Archives"]

Collection Name

["Towson University Graduate Theses and Dissertations"]

Author

Jamil, Nimra

Degree Date

2017

Department or Program

["Towson University. Department of Psychology"]

Abstract

The Contrast Avoidance Model originally described emotion regulation patterns in GAD, in that those with GAD engage in worry as an attempt to avoid strong shifts in emotional states. Recent theories suggest that rumination may function in a similar way in depression. Additionally, to date all experimental studies of the CA Model have relied on emotional film clips as a proxy for negative experiences. The current study aims to extend and improve the experimental methodology for testing the CA Model by creating a personally-relevant in vivo negative emotional exposure. Participants (N = 124) were randomly assigned to worry or rumination inductions, or to comparison relaxation or neutral inductions. All participants were then exposed to a challenging task followed by false negative feedback on their performance, while subjective and physiological responding were measured. Results showed that relative to the resting baseline, worry and rumination inductions led to a greater increase in negative emotionality and physiological activation as compared to relaxation and neutral inductions, which prevented a sharp increase in emotionality and physiological activation during the negative exposure. Furthermore, analyses showed those with greater GAD symptoms experienced prior worry as more helpful in coping with negative feedback, relative to relaxation and neutral inductions. Similarly, those with greater MDD symptoms reported prior rumination as more helpful with emotional coping. Overall, these findings support the proposition that CA represents a transdiagnostic emotion regulation strategy for both GAD and MDD, and that worry and rumination may function to avoid emotional contrasts by sustaining chronic intrapersonal negativity.

Thesis Committee Members

["Buckingham, Justin","McGinley, Jared J."]

Date Published

15 September 2017

Author (Controlled)

["Jamil, Nimra"]

Thesis Advisor

["Llera, Sandra J."]

Degree Note

(M.A.) -- Towson University, 2017.

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