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Psi Chi Psychological Journal of Research SUMMER 2020 | VOLUME 25 | ISSUE 2

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ABOUT PSI CHI PSI CHI JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH Psi Chi is the International Honor Society in Psychology, founded in 1929. Its mission: "recognizing and promoting excellence in the science and application of psychology." Mem SUMMER 2020 | VOLUME 25, NUMBER 2 bership is open to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and alumni making the study of psychology one of their major interests and who meet Psi Chi’s minimum qualifi ca tions. EDITOR Psi Chi is a member of the Asso cia tion of College Honor Soci et ies (ACHS), and is an affiliate DEBI BRANNAN, PhD of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Psychological Western Oregon University Science (APS). Psi Chi’s sister honor society is Psi Beta, the national honor society in Telephone: (503) 751-4200 psychology for commu nity and junior colleges. E-mail: [email protected] Psi Chi functions as a federation of chapters located at over 1,180 senior colleges and universities around the world. The Psi Chi Central Office is located in Chattanooga, ASSOCIATE EDITORS Tennessee. A Board of Directors, composed of psychol o gy faculty who are Psi Chi members ERIN AYALA, PhD and who are elected by the chapters, guides the affairs of the Organi za tion and sets policy St. Mary's University of Minnesota with the approv al of the chapters. Psi Chi membership provides two major opportunities. The first of these is academ ic rec JENNIFER L. HUGHES, PhD ogni tion to all inductees by the mere fact of membership. The second is the opportunity of Agnes Scott College each of the Society’s local chapters to nourish and stimu late the profes sion al growth of all members through fellowship and activities designed to augment and enhance the regu lar TAMMY LOWERY ZACCHILLI, PhD curric u lum. In addition, the Organi za tion provides programs to help achieve these goals Saint Leo University including conventions, research awards and grants competitions, and publication STEVEN V. ROUSE, PhD opportunities. Pepperdine University JOURNAL PURPOSE STATEMENT ROBERT R. WRIGHT, PhD The twofold purpose of the Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research is to foster and reward the Brigham Young University-Idaho scholarly efforts of Psi Chi members, whether students or faculty, as well as to provide them with a valuable learning experience. The articles published in the Journal represent the EDITOR EMERITUS work of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty; the Journal is dedicated to increas MELANIE M. DOMENECH RODRIGUEZ, PhD ing its scope and relevance by accepting and involving diverse people of varied racial, Utah State University ethnic, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious, and social class backgrounds, among many others. To further support authors and enhance Journal visibility, articles are now MANAGING EDITOR available in the PsycINFO®, EBSCO®, Crossref®, and Google Scholar databases. In 2016, BRADLEY CANNON the Journal also became open access (i.e., free online to all readers and authors) to broad en the dissemination of research across the psychological science community. DESIGNER TAYLOR BROWN-STONE JOURNAL INFORMATION The Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research (ISSN 2325-7342) is published quarterly in one EDITORIAL ASSISTANT volume per year by Psi Chi, Inc., The International Honor Society in Psychology. REBECCA STEMPEL For more information, contact Psi Chi Central Offce, Publication and Subscriptions, 651 East 4th Street, Suite 600, Chattanooga, TN 37403, (423) 756-2044. www.psichi.org; ADVISORY EDITORIAL BOARD [email protected]. GLENA ANDREWS, PhD Statements of fact or opinion are the respon si bil ity of the authors alone and do not imply an George Fox University opinion on the part of the officers or members of Psi Chi. AZENETT A. GARZA CABALLERO, PhD Advertisements that appear in Psi Chi Journal do not represent endorsement by Psi Chi of the Weber State University advertiser or the product. Psi Chi neither endorses nor is responsible for the content of MARTIN DOWNING, PhD third-party promotions. Learn about advertising with Psi Chi at http://www.psichi.org/ NDRI Advertise

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90 Does Life Satisfaction Mediate the 151 Addictive Technology: Prevalence and Relationship Between Mood and Potential Implications of Problematic Daydreaming Frequency? Social Media Use Ryan F. Tudino, Nicole L. Mowry, and Chloe Tanega and Andrew Downs* William A. Jellison* University of Portland Quinnipiac University 162 Context Effects on Recognition 98 The Effect of Competitive, Cooperative, Memory for Words and Solo Play on Subjective Vitality Abhilasha Vishwanath and Joshua Shive* and Negative Affect Tennessee State University Doug Maynard* , Leah J. Mancini, 172 Predicting Student-Athlete Mental Health: and Vania Rolón Coach–Athlete Relationship State University of New York at New Paltz Megan Powers , Jana Fogaca , 110 Disentangling the Effects of Study Time Regan A. R. Gurung* , and Callan M. Jackman and Study Strategy on Undergraduate Oregon State University Test Performance 181 Do Hugs and Their Constituent Zachary J. Cole and Darrell L. Butler* Ball State University Components Reduce Self-Reported Anxiety, Stress, and Negative Affect? 121 An Examination of the Influence of Preman Koshar and Megan L. Knowles* Serial Position on False Memory Franklin & Marshall College and Recognition 192 Who Am I? Identity Development During Josephine Audiffred and the First Year of College Carissa L. Broadbridge* Saint Xavier University Madelynn D. Shell* , David Shears, and Zoe Millard 130 Puberty, Parents, and Depression: The University of Virginia’s College at Wise An EMA Study in Adolescent Girls 203 Planning to Practice: Action and Danielle Apple and Stefanie Sequiera Coping Plans Increase Days of University of Pittsburgh Meditation Practiced 142 Relationships Between Self-Leadership, Jonathan N. Cloughesy , Alissa J. Mrazek* , Psychological Symptoms, and Michael D. Mrazek*, and Jonathan W. Schooler* Self-Related Thought in an University of California Santa Barbara Undergraduate Sample Sarah A. Myers , Carissa L. Philippi* , Leah Reyna, and Gregory Dahl University of Missouri–St. Louis SUMMER 2020 PSI CHI JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Does Life Satisfaction Mediate the Relationship Between Mood and Daydreaming Frequency? Ryan F. Tudino, Nicole L. Mowry, and William A. Jellison* Quinnipiac University

ABSTRACT. The current study tested to see if life satisfaction mediates the relationship between positive mood and daydreaming frequency. Two nonexperimental studies were conducted in which participants completed a questionnaire that assessed their positive mood, life satisfaction, and frequency of daydreaming. In Study 1, including 170 collegiate students, statistically significant results supported our correlational hypotheses between positive mood and life satisfaction (r = .67, p < .001), life satisfaction and daydreaming frequency (r = -.22, p = .002), and positive mood and daydreaming frequency (r = -.27, p < .001). However, the proposed mediational model, that life satisfaction mediated the relationship between positive mood and daydreaming frequency, was not supported because the negative relationship between positive mood and daydreaming frequency remained statistically signifcant when life satisfaction was added to the regression equation (ß = -.22, SE = .07; 95% CI [-.30, -.01]; p = .033). Study 2, including 102 adults, aimed to increase the reliability and generalizability of Study 1. Results from Study 2 also did not support the mediational role of life satisfaction. However, the results of Study 2 also demonstrated a negative relationship between positive mood and daydreaming frequency (r = -.35, p < .001), even when life satisfaction was included in the regression equation (ß = -.39, SE = .08; 95% CI [-.45, -.13]; p < .001). We discuss possible age and gender effects, and future directions of research. Keywords: positive mood, life satisfaction, daydreaming frequency

ecent research has highlighted the and daydreaming frequency by assessing whether signifcance of daydreaming, a temporary life satisfaction may serve as a mediator. Rseparation from reality that focuses on an Although daydreaming and mind-wandering individual’s thoughts (e.g., Giambra & Traynor, may be considered two different constructs, the 1978; Golding & Singer, 1983; Mar, Mason, & Litvak, current literature has often used these terms inter 2012). Killingsworth and Gilbert (2010) found that changeably. For instance, theorists have defned people’s minds wander 46.9% of the time. However, daydreaming in three predominant ways—as the potential relationship between daydreaming fanciful desired wishes, as thinking unrelated frequency, life satisfaction, and mood has received to an ongoing activity (mind-wandering), or as little attention in the literature. Although some unintended mental content that comes to mind researchers have suggested that daydreaming effortlessly (Klinger, 2009). Rather than defning precedes a negative affect (Killingsworth & Gilbert, daydreaming as a unitary construct that either 2010), others have demonstrated that one’s mood includes or excludes mind-wandering, Klinger SUMMER 2020 leads the mind to wander (Smallwood, Fitzgerald, (2009) suggested that daydreaming be defned as Miles, & Phillips, 2009). The current study further nonworking thought that is spontaneous or fanciful. PSI CHI JOURNAL OF explored the relationship between positive mood In this way, daydreaming includes mind-wandering. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

90 COPYRIGHT 2020 BY PSI CHI, THE INTERNATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY IN PSYCHOLOGY (VOL. 25, NO. 2/ISSN 2325-7342) *Faculty mentor Tudino, Mowry, and Jellison | Mood, Life Satisfaction, and Daydreaming Frequency

This appears to be the rule of thumb, as several operationally defned as one’s general daily affect. studies such as Killingsworth and Gilbert (2010) That is, one’s emotion in a given moment. This use the terms daydreaming and mind-wandering contrasts with life satisfaction, which is defined conversely. Therefore, for the purpose of this as the subjective well-being associated with the article, the two constructs may be used interchange assessment of one’s life. People may be satisfed ably as well. with their lives, but unhappy in a given moment or The relationship between daydreaming fre situation. For instance, successful students may be quency, life satisfaction, and mood may be seen in satisfed with their overall ability to graduate college the rationale for why daydreams occur. Although and fnd a job but may be unhappy because of an some researchers have found daydreaming to be argument they had with a friend earlier in the day. an effective way for people to think about and Conversely, other students may be dissatisfed with solve situations that concern them in everyday their lives for not being able to graduate on time life (Giambra & Traynor, 1978), others have high but may be happy because they received a monetary lighted the negative impact that daydreams may loan for another semester. Thus, given that these have on an individual. For instance, Singer (1975) two constructs are distinct from one another, described how daydreaming may be character both mood and life satisfaction may be related to ized by obsessive negative ruminations and the daydreaming in different ways. inability to concentrate on an external task. This Enhancing one’s mood, or general daily affect, description of daydreaming can then be translated may decrease one’s frequency of daydreams. to people’s emotions (Marchetti, Van de Putte, & Klinger, Murphy, Ostrem, and Stark-Wroblewski Koster, 2014). Furthermore, Stawarczyk, Majerus, (2005) found that individuals with high positive and D’Argembeau (2013) found that negative emotionality disclosed fewer daydreams and more affect was associated with higher daydreaming real-life experiences. Different studies have found frequency when participants were concerned about that the more depressive, or negative, mood an giving a speech in the near future, compared to a individual experienced, the more daydreams they control group in which no speech had to be given. had (e.g., Giambra & Traynor, 1978; Golding & Therefore, daydreaming may provide a way to Singer, 1983). Therefore, these fndings suggest ruminate about past or future events that cause sig that the more individuals are concerned and nifcant distress and negative affect in individuals. anxious about their current situation, the more Another plausible explanation is that day daydreams they will experience. Together, these dreaming may act as an escape for people with studies suggest that mood is negatively correlated problems concerning them in everyday life (Singer, with daydreaming frequency, and, hence, by 1975). For example, one form of daydreaming, maladaptive daydreaming, is characterized by enhancing an individual’s mood, one can decrease absorption into fantasy that involves far-fetched the number of daydreams. dreams such as having relationships with celebri Additional research has suggested that an ties and having an idealized version of self (e.g., individual’s life satisfaction may also decrease Abu-Rayya, Somer, & Meari-Amir, 2019; Bigelsen, the person’s frequency of daydreams (Mar et al., Lehrfeld, Jopp, & Somer, 2016). This ability to 2012). Brannigan, Schaller, and McGarva (1993) daydream about exotic situations has been found determined that high life satisfaction, in regard to be involved in a negative reinforcement loop, in to one’s current status of “ftting in” with others, which emotionally distressed individuals alleviate was negatively correlated with the frequency their anguish by participating in compensatory of daydreams. Furthermore, Killingsworth and fantasies (Somer, Somer, & Jopp, 2016). Therefore, Gilbert (2010) proposed that mind-wandering an individual’s current daily affect and life situation reflects one’s happiness in surrounding situations, may influence the frequency with which a person suggesting that life satisfaction is not only deter engages in daydreaming. Hence, the present study mined by the acceptance of others, but also with explored whether life satisfaction mediates, or one’s physical surroundings. Additionally, Ruby, explains, the relationship between positive mood Smallwood, Engen, and Singer (2013) proposed and daydreaming frequency. that daydreaming happens because unfulfilled Although mood and life satisfaction are similar goals are more important to individuals than their SUMMER 2020 constructs, there is a key difference between the current surroundings. Therefore, these fndings PSI CHI two. For the purpose of this article, mood is suggest that the more individuals are concerned JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

and anxious about life goals, the more daydreams Study 1 they will experience. Taken together, these stud Method ies suggest that, as life satisfaction increases, Participants. One hundred seventy college students daydreaming decreases. participated in this study.1 Participants were selected In addition to fnding a relationship between through cluster sampling of students enrolled in life satisfaction and daydreaming frequency, several an introductory psychology class.2 Although par studies have found a correlation between mood ticipation was voluntary, participants received class and life satisfaction. Golding and Singer (1983) credit for participating. Alternatives to research found that individuals who had a positive outlook participation for credit (e.g., completing an article had an increased satisfaction with life. Additionally, summary) were also available. other studies have found that individuals who had Procedure. Approval was gained from the a positive mood about themselves had greater life institutional review board, and participants were satisfaction (e.g., Flynn & MacLeod, 2015; Mar et selected through the cluster sample. Participants al., 2012). Furthermore, Greenwald and Harder gave informed consent before beginning the (1997) found a negative correlation between an study. Next, each participant completed a series individual’s self-derogation and mood such that, as of measures (see Measures section below)3, which mood decreased, self-derogation increased. These included filler and distractor items from the studies suggest that mood not only influences life Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965; 10 satisfaction, but also influences an individual’s items) and Locus of Control Scale (Rotter, 1966; self-image. However, the fndings of Giambra and 7 items) that were not used for these analyses. Traynor (1978) suggest that mood and daydream Each participant took roughly 15–20 minutes to ing frequency are negatively related. Moreover, complete the survey either in a private workspace Golding and Singer (1983), taken together with in the psychology research lab (n = 45) or online Brannigan and colleagues (1993), suggest that (n = 125) during the middle of the academic life satisfaction may impact the frequency of semester. After completing the survey, participants daydreams. Therefore, because mood tends to were given more information about the study and influence life satisfaction, an individual’s satisfac thanked for their participation. tion with life may mediate the negative relationship Measures. between mood and daydreaming frequency. Positive mood. An individual’s general daily In the current nonexperimental study, we affect was assessed using the PANAS (Watson, Clark, tested the following hypotheses. First, we expected & Tellegen, 1988), with a positive affect section that mood would be positively correlated with life (α = .85; 10 items; e.g., “Interested” and satisfaction such that, as positive mood increased, “Enthusiastic”) and a negative affect section life satisfaction would increase. Second, it was (α = .86; 10 items; e.g., “Scared” and “Distressed”). expected that mood would negatively correlate Participants responded to each item, or word in with daydreaming frequency such that, as positive this instance, on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 mood increased, daydreaming frequency would (very slightly) to 5 (extremely). Items were scored such decrease. Third, we expected that life satisfaction that, on the positive affect scale, greater positive would negatively correlate with daydreaming values reflect more positive mood, whereas on the negative affect scale, greater positive values reflect frequency such that, as life satisfaction increased, 1Data were collected over two separate academic semesters daydreaming frequency would decrease. Finally, (Time 1: 45 participants; Time 2: 125 participants). The two we also anticipated that life satisfaction would samples did not signifcantly differ in their level of positive mediate the relationship between mood and mood, F(1, 168) = 0.73, p = .39, d = .14, life satisfaction, F(1, 168) = 1.47, p = .23, d = .21, or daydreaming frequency, daydreaming frequency. To test our hypotheses, F(1, 168) = 0.03, p = .85, d = .03. participants completed the Positive and Negative 2Although demographic data were not collected on this Affect Schedule (PANAS), which measures overall sample, the population from which the sample was drawn consisted of predominantly traditional frst- and second-year positive mood by subtracting the negative affect students (age 18–19), European American, and majority score mean from the positive affect score mean, women (70%). The total number of students enrolled in the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), which PS101 courses in which the samples were drawn were 555 at SUMMER 2020 Time 1 and 465 at Time 2. measures life satisfaction, and a shortened version 3Measures for all participants were completed in the PSI CHI of the Imaginal Processes Inventory (IPI), which following order: (a) daydreaming frequency, (b) locus of control fller, (c) satisfaction with life, (d) self-worth fller, JOURNAL OF measures daydreaming frequency. PSYCHOLOGICAL and (e) mood. RESEARCH

more negative mood. The total PANAS score was Discussion calculated by subtracting the mean negative score Results of Study 1 failed to fully support the from the mean positive score, such that greater proposed mediational model that life satisfac positive values reflect more positive, compared to tion mediates the relationship between positive negative, mood. mood and daydreaming frequency. Nevertheless, Life satisfaction. How satisfed participants were our first three hypotheses were supported, with their life was assessed using the SWLS (Diener, which demonstrated clear links between mood, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffn, 1985; α = .82; 5 items; life satisfaction, and daydreaming frequency e.g., “If I could live my life over, I would change (observed power = .98; Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner, almost nothing.”). Participants responded to each & Lang, 2009; Faul, Erdfelder, Lang, & Buchner, item on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly 2007). However, emotional intelligence, defned as disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Items were scored the capability to regulate the emotions of oneself such that greater positive values reflected greater and others and to distinguish one’s own emotions satisfaction with life. from others in order to think and act, is greater in Daydreaming frequency. The amount an indi older adults compared to younger adults (Chen, vidual daydreams was assessed using a shortened Peng, & Fang, 2016). This increase was especially version of the IPI (Singer & Antrobus, 1970; present in older adults for the components of α = .92; 12 items; e.g., “I daydream…”). Participants understanding and regulating emotions, a key responded to each item on a scale from 1 (never or aspect needed to reliably report one’s own emotions rarely) to 5 (always or most of the time). Items were (Tsaousis & Kazi, 2013). Given that the population scored such that greater positive values reflected a of participants included in Study 1 were young adults aged 18–19, Study 2 aimed to generalize greater frequency of daydreams. the findings outside of the collegiate student population in order to obtain a more reliable and Results representative sample. Correlations. A series of bivariate correlations were conducted to explore the relationship between mood, life satisfaction, and daydreaming frequency. TABLE 1 Descriptive statistics and all bivariate correlations Descriptive Statistics and Zero Order are displayed in Table 1. Correlations Between Positive Mood, Life As displayed in Table 1, a positive correlation Satisfaction, and Daydreaming Frequency was found between mood and life satisfaction such Among College Students for Study 1 that, as positive mood increased, life satisfaction also increased. Additionally, a negative correla Measures M SD 1 2 tion was found between mood and daydreaming 1. Positive Mood 1.44 1.08 frequency such that, as positive mood increased, 2. Life Satisfaction 5.04 1.10 .67** daydreaming frequency decreased. Similarly, a 3. Daydreaming Frequency 2.73 0.78 -.27** -.22** negative correlation was found between life satis Note. N = 170. Larger positive values on all scales reflect stronger or more positive endorse- faction and daydreaming frequency such that, as ments of those constructs. life satisfaction increased, daydreaming frequency **p < .01. decreased. Thus, our frst three hypotheses were supported. FIGURE 1 Multiple regression. A multiple regression * was conducted with mood as the antecedent vari β = -.22 able, life satisfaction as the mediator variable, and Positive Mood Daydreaming Frequency daydreaming frequency as the outcome variable. As displayed in Figure 1, once an individual’s satisfaction with life was included in the regression β = .67** β = -.08 equation, the relationship between positive mood and daydreaming frequency remained statistically Life Satisfaction signifcant. However, the relationship between life Figure 1. Life satisfaction does not mediate the relationship between positive mood and satisfaction and daydreaming frequency was no daydreaming frequency among college students. SUMMER 2020 longer statistically signifcant. Thus, the proposed N = 170. Larger positive values on all scales reflect stronger or more positive endorsements of mediational model with life satisfaction as the those constructs. PSI CHI *p < .05. **p < .01. JOURNAL OF mediator variable was not supported. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Study 2 Multiple regression. A multiple regression was Method conducted with positive mood as the antecedent Participants. One hundred two participants variable, life satisfaction as the mediator variable, 4 and daydreaming frequency as the outcome vari (Mage = 36.0, SD = 12.3) were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). MTurk samples able. As displayed in Figure 2, when life satisfaction are a reliable and demographically diverse sample was included in the regression equation, the of the population (Buhrmester, Kwang, & Gosling, relationship between positive mood and daydream 2011; Huff & Tingley, 2015; Kees, Berry, Burton, & ing frequency remained statistically significant. Sheehan, 2017). Participants consisted of 37 women In addition, because the correlation between life and 63 men (two participants did not report their satisfaction and daydreaming frequency was not gender); racial/ethnic breakdown consisted of statistically signifcant, the proposed mediational 82 European American, 7 African American, 5 model with life satisfaction as the mediator variable Asian, 3 multiracial, and 5 not reporting their race was not supported. or ethnicity. Procedure. Approval for the revised follow-up Discussion study was gained from the institutional review The results of Study 2 did not support the proposed board. Participants completed the survey online mediational model or replicate the results found using SurveyMonkey as in Study 1. The measures in Study 1, given that life satisfaction was not cor (see below) were identical to those used in Study 1. related with daydreaming frequency. However, Measures. positive mood was positively correlated with Positive mood. The total PANAS (Watson et al., life satisfaction. In addition, positive mood was 1988) score was calculated by subtracting the mean negatively correlated with daydreaming frequency. negative score (α = .92) from the mean positive These results suggest that the link between life score (α = .95). Therefore, greater positive values satisfaction and daydreaming frequency may not reflect more positive, compared to negative, mood. be as strong for a general sample as with college Life satisfaction. The SWLS (Diener et al., 1985; students (observed power = .97; Faul et al., 2009; α= .92) was used. Items were scored such that higher Faul et al., 2007). positive values reflected greater satisfaction with life. General Discussion Daydreaming frequency. The IPI (Singer & Antrobus, 1970; α = .95) was used. Items were Based on prior research regarding the individual scored such that greater positive values reflected a relationships between positive mood, life satisfac greater frequency of daydreams. tion, and daydreaming frequency (e.g., Brannigan, Schaller, & McGarva, 1993; Flynn & MacLeod, Results 2015; Giambra & Traynor, 1978; Golding & Singer, Correlations. A series of bivariate correlations were 1983; Klinger et al., 2005; Mar et al., 2012), we conducted to explore the relationship between hypothesized that there would be a positive correla mood, life satisfaction, and daydreaming frequency. tion between positive mood and life satisfaction, Descriptive statistics and all bivariate correlations a negative correlation between positive mood are displayed in Table 2. and daydreaming frequency, and a negative cor As displayed in Table 2, a statistically sig relation between life satisfaction and daydreaming nifcant positive correlation was found between frequency. In addition, we hypothesized that life mood and life satisfaction such that, as positive satisfaction would mediate the relationship between mood increased, life satisfaction also increased. positive mood and daydreaming frequency. The two Additionally, a statistically signifcant negative cor studies conducted did not support this mediational relation was found between mood and daydreaming model. frequency such that, as positive mood increased, The results of Study 1 supported our cor daydreaming frequency decreased. However, no sta relational hypotheses but did not support life tistically signifcant correlation was found between satisfaction as the mediator variable. Although life satisfaction and daydreaming frequency. all three pairs of variables were significantly correlated, positive mood remained statistically SUMMER 2020 4M age and SD were calculated based on the available signifcant when life satisfaction was included in PSI CHI data through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Participant ages the regression equation. Given that post-collegiate JOURNAL OF included those in their 20s (27%), 30s (41%), 40s (16%), 50s adults score higher on emotional intelligence scales PSYCHOLOGICAL (8%), 60s (5%) and 70s (2%). RESEARCH

for understanding and regulating (Tsaousis & Kazi, Although the current studies focused on 2013), Study 2, then, aimed to test the hypothesized daydreaming as a method to escape from negative model using a more representative sample. The scenarios in one’s life or to ruminate about them, results of Study 2 only partially supported our the results of Study 2 may indicate a change in correlational hypotheses and did not support life the use of daydreaming as individuals age. In fact, satisfaction as the mediator variable. Specifcally, several studies have found that postcollegiate adults Study 2 found a positive correlation between posi show a preference toward positive information tive mood and life satisfaction as well as a negative compared to negative information. This may be correlation between positive mood and daydream due to greater emotional regulation in postcol ing frequency. However, no statistically signifcant legiate adults that utilize cognitive mechanisms relationship was found between life satisfaction that enhance positive information and decrease and daydreaming frequency. Additionally, when negative information (e.g., Mather & Carstensen, life satisfaction was included in the regression 2005; Reed & Chan, 2014). Thus, generalizing equation, the relationship between positive mood outside of the collegiate population may introduce and daydreaming frequency remained statistically the positivity bias of postcollegiate adults into the significant. Taken together, these two studies mediational model. suggest that life satisfaction does not mediate the Moreover, the potential for age effects is fur relationship between positive mood and daydream ther supported by Zhiyan and Singer (1997), who ing frequency, and that the relationship between found that positive constructive daydreaming was life satisfaction and daydreaming frequency may positively correlated with the Big Five personality vary across samples. dimension of openness to experience, guilty-dys The pattern of results of Study 1 and Study 2, phoric daydreaming was positively associated with although not defnitive, may suggest an alternative neuroticism and negative emotionality, and poor purpose to daydreaming for collegiate students attentional-control-associated daydreaming was and postcollegiate adults. Although the media negatively correlated with conscientiousness and tional model remained unsupported for both a collegiate and general sample, there was a slight TABLE 2 positive trend in the relationship for postcol legiate adults in Study 2 once life satisfaction was Descriptive Statistics and Zero Order added to the regression equation. This contrasts Correlations Between Positive Mood, Life with the slight negative trend in the relationship Satisfaction, and Daydreaming Frequency for collegiate students in Study 1. As a result, Among General Sample of Adults for Study 2 this may suggest that the association between life Measures M SD 1 2 satisfaction and daydreaming frequency may be 1. Positive Mood 1.24 1.15 affected by cohort or age. Specifcally, this may 2. Life Satisfaction 4.01 1.63 .46** indicate that collegiate students daydream in 3. Daydreaming Frequency 2.61 0.87 -.35** -.09** order to ruminate about a past or future event Note. N = 170. Larger positive values on all scales reflect stronger or more positive endorse- (Stawarczyk et al., 2013) or escape from the ments of those constructs. present situation (Bigelsen et al., 2016) and that **p < .01. postcollegiate adults daydream to proactively solve problems and plan for the future (e.g., FIGURE 2 Giambra & Traynor, 1978; Ruby et al., 2013). The frst explanation for collegiate students is β = -.39** consistent with the guilty-dysphoric daydream Positive Mood Daydreaming Frequency ing theory whereas the second explanation for postcollegiate adults is consistent with the positive constructive daydreaming theory, both proposed β = .46** β = .09 by Singer (1975). The latter of these two theories takes on a more positive perspective, whereas the Life Satisfaction frst theory is from a more negative perspective. Figure 2. Life satisfaction does not mediate the relationship between positive mood and SUMMER 2020 Thus, the relationship between life satisfaction daydreaming frequency among general sample of adults. and daydreaming frequency may become more N = 102. Larger positive values on all scales reflect stronger or more positive endorsements of those constructs. PSI CHI positive as individuals age. **p < .01. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

positive emotionality. Other researchers have found studies also utilized two vastly different samples. that conscientiousness and openness to experience The frst study included individuals from a predomi generally increases with age and that neuroticism nantly female participant pool (~70%) who were decreases (e.g., Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, college-aged, whereas the second study included 2006; Soto, John, Gosling, & Potter, 2011). Thus, it a majority of male participants (~63%) who were is possible that the postcollegiate adults, who were adults. Future studies may want to further explore included in the participant pool for Study 2, may how age and gender influence the effects of mood alter the mediational model due to their increase and life satisfaction on daydreaming frequency. in positive constructive daydreaming rather than For example, future research should explore guilty-dysphoric daydreaming. Future studies may whether gender may moderate the relationships want to control for age in order to determine among our variables. Recent research has found whether these age effects exist. a relationship between gender and daydreaming Although the results found no support for frequency (e.g., Golding & Singer, 1983; Mar et al., the proposed mediational model, several limita 2012) and even gender and life satisfaction (e.g., tions in the study should be discussed. First, the Mar et al., 2012; Matud, Bethencourt, & Ibáñez, operational defnitions provided in the literature 2014). For instance, Mar et al. (2012) found that regarding daydreaming and mind-wandering are men tended to daydream about the past more than vague. It is possible that these related terms are women did. Additionally, Matud et al. (2014) found actually two different constructs that are diffcult that social support was positively correlated with to measure separately. Additionally, some research life satisfaction among women and self-esteem was has suggested that mind-wandering may not be a positively correlated with life satisfaction among unitary construct, but rather a construct comprised men. Future studies should explore whether these of intentional and unintentional daydreaming variables play a role in explaining daydreaming (Seli, Risko, & Smilek, 2016). Therefore, the two frequency differently for men and women. aspects of the construct may have different effects. Although the results of these studies are not Intentional daydreaming may be used when definitive, given the strong association between attempting to problem solve (positive constructive positive mood and daydreaming frequency found daydreaming) and unintentional daydreaming may in both studies and the trend in life satisfaction, be used to escape a situation or ruminate (guilty- several implications regarding the phenomenon of dysphoric daydreaming). Given that the measure daydreaming frequency have the potential to arise. used in this study to assess daydreaming frequency For instance, if certain types of daydreaming (inten did not distinguish between intentional and unin tional or unintentional) are related to positive and tentional daydreaming, future studies may want to negative outcomes, psychiatrists or therapists may be explore the qualitative difference between the two. able to use daydreaming frequency as an additional Another limitation of the present study involves method to aid in the treatment of mental disorders the study design. Mood was only assessed at one such as depression. For example, collegiate students instance. Future studies may want to explore other may be able to alter their daydreaming style from ways to induce daydreaming, or mind-wandering, guilty-dysphoric to positive and constructive. In fact, so that mood could be assessed before and after Ernst, Blanc, De Seze, and Manning (2015) found the daydreaming episode. If one’s general daily that induction of positive mental images increased affect is negative after a daydreaming episode, this autobiographical memory and episodic future may suggest that the individual was ruminating thinking, factors that are dampened in individuals about a negative stressor. On the other hand, if who are depressed or experience negative mood. the daily affect of the individual is more positive Similarly, Linke and Wessa (2017) found that posi or unchanged after the daydreaming episode, this tive mental imagery training was positively associated may suggest that the daydreaming episode was with reward sensitivity and behavioral activation. used to proactively solve problems (Killingsworth & Therefore, if the trends in these studies are found Gilbert, 2010). Second, given the direct relationship to be valid, clinicians may be able to implement a between positive mood and daydreaming frequency form of daydreaming manipulation in order to help in both studies, it is possible that positive mood may patients to realistically strive and achieve a satisfac mediate the relationship between life satisfaction tory life. These hypotheses need to be examined SUMMER 2020 and daydreaming frequency. Future studies may further, but if they hold true, then this study might PSI CHI want to explore whether this new mediational provide clinicians with new treatment options to JOURNAL OF model is better supported. Moreover, the present better enhance the quality of life of their patients. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

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The Effect of Competitive, Cooperative, and Solo Play on Subjective Vitality and Negative Affect Doug Maynard* , Leah J. Mancini, and Vania Rolón State University of New York at New Paltz

ABSTRACT. In the current investigation, we examined the impact of game mode upon changes in subjective vitality, an indicator of well-being marked by feelings of aliveness and energy, as well as negative affect. In Study 1, college students (N = 106) in pairs were randomly assigned to play a dexterity- based card game in either a competitive or a cooperative mode. In Study 2, 54 college students played the same game

alone in a solo mode. Participants in all 3 conditions Open Data badge earned experienced a significant increase in subjective vitality for transparent research practices. Data available (d = .73, .59, and .47 for the competitive, cooperative, and at https://osf.io/xh3es/ solo conditions, respectively) and a signifcant decrease in negative affect (d = .59, .26, and .34, respectively) after playing the game. In Study 1, there was no signifcant difference in changes to emotional state between the competitive and cooperative modes of play. Finally, contrary to expectations, more competitive participants did not beneft more than less competitive participants from playing in the competitive mode. Keywords: play, subjective vitality, negative affect, competitive play, cooperative play, solo play

ith the advent of positive psychology at the determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & turn of the 21st century, greater attention Deci, 2017)—namely autonomy, competence and W has been paid to the different ways in relatedness (Rigby & Ryan, 2011)—more research which adults might flourish and experience greater examining the impact of game play upon the well-being. Researchers in the past two decades have positive emotional states and well-being of adults is demonstrated the benefts of engaging in a variety called for. The primary goal of the current study was of positive intra- and interpersonal activities such to establish whether a brief game play experience as generosity (e.g., Dunn, Aknin & Norton, 2008), increases a particular aspect of well-being: the gratitude (e.g., Emmons & McCullough, 2003), feeling of being alive and full of energy, known and mindfulness (e.g., Brown & Ryan, 2003). It as subjective vitality (Ryan & Frederick, 1997). We is somewhat surprising, then, that play in adults also explored whether this experience produces a has been understudied as a possibly important decrease in negative affect. facet of a life well-lived. As Van Vleet and Feeney As interactive media, games can be exception (2015) noted, although many scholars have ally diverse in their content, medium, structure and investigated the varieties and functions of play in length. One of the features of a game session that SUMMER 2020 children and nonhuman animals, they have paid has the potential to strongly affect the play experi much less attention to adult play and its effects. ence is whether one is playing competitively against PSI CHI Because playing games is a particularly good way an opponent (as in chess and individual sports such JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL to satisfy the basic human needs identifed by self- as golf or tennis), together with others cooperatively RESEARCH

against the challenges of the game (as in Dungeons often associated with freedom of choice, mastery, and Dragons or massively multiplayer online and/or social connection. For example, a chess roleplaying games [MMORPGs] such as World of player not only decides to play, but makes many Warcraft), or by oneself (as in solitaire or many strategic decisions during each game, can see single-player video games). Although researchers improvement with practice, and may connect have compared cooperative versus competitive play, with opponents and members of the broader play no consistent pattern of results has emerged. The community. Ryan and colleagues (Rigby & Ryan, literature on this topic is also currently limited to 2011; Ryan, Rigby, & Przybylski, 2006), through video games, where people frequently play together their Player Experience of Need Satisfaction model, remotely, rather than in the same space. Given the demonstrated how self-determination theory growing popularity of modern board and card applies specifcally to video game play. Specifcally, games (e.g., Wingfeld, 2014) and other forms of satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relat nondigital play (e.g., tabletop roleplaying games, edness needs through play resulted in increased escape rooms), there is a need to extend existing enjoyment and motivation to play again in the research to incorporate these types of colocated future. Moreover, satisfaction of competence needs play experiences. Therefore, the second goal of the in particular was associated with positive changes current study was to explore possible differences in in mood and state self-esteem. subjective vitality and negative affect across the two Subjective vitality. Constructs such as positive modes of social play (competitive and cooperative). emotion, life satisfaction, and self-esteem have been heavily researched as indicators of well-being. Adult Play and Well-Being Subjective vitality, defined as “one’s conscious The vast majority of scholarly attention on the experience of possessing energy and aliveness” role of play in development and functioning (Ryan & Frederick, p. 530), has received relatively has focused on animals (e.g., Burghardt, 2005) less attention. Ryan and Frederick argued that and children (e.g., Smith & Roopnarine, 2019). subjective vitality has both somatic and psychologi However, there is evidence that play is important for cal origins. For example, although the experience well-being in adults. For example, Csikszentmihalyi of pain or illness will tend to reduce one’s feeling (2000) described an early study where he asked of vitality, two individuals with the same physical individuals to refrain from “doing anything that condition may experience that condition differ is ‘play’ or non-instrumental” (p. 162). After 48 ently (e.g., as a temporary challenge or a constant hours, 80% of participants reported an increase burden), resulting in differing perceived energy in physical symptoms such as tiredness, irritability, levels. More broadly, they argued that a feeling of and headaches, as well as decreases in creativity energy and vitality can spring from any activity that and reasonableness. Van Vleet and Feeney (2015) satisfes autonomy, competence, and relatedness reviewed evidence that play among partners in needs. For example, Nix, Ryan, Manly, and Deci romantic relationships is associated with feelings (1999) experimentally varied whether participants of trust and intimacy toward one’s partner as well engaged in a card-sorting activity in an autonomous as reductions in conflict. In addition, Russoniello, or controlled fashion, and found that those in O’Brien, and Parks (2009) showed that playing the former condition reported greater feelings of casual video games can improve mood, increase vitality. relaxation, and reduce anxiety. Ryan and Frederick (1997) argued that the Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000; experience of subjective vitality has the potential to Ryan & Deci, 2017) provides a model for under spur personal agency and growth, foster resilience, standing why play may be vital to adult well-being. and lead to behavioral choices that support physi According to self-determination theory, all humans cal health. Little research thus far has examined have three basic needs: autonomy (the need to the role of vitality as a precursor to behavior, well- freely choose one’s own actions), competence (the being, or physical health, however. Instead, most need for challenge and to demonstrate the skills studies have focused upon subjective vitality as an to meet those challenges), and relatedness (the outcome of positive and negative physical experi need to meaningfully and securely connect with ences and activities (e.g., Niemiec, Ryan, Patrick, SUMMER 2020 others). People tend to be intrinsically motivated Deci, & Williams, 2010). Ryan and Frederick to engage in activities that satisfy these needs, (1997) found that individuals experiencing more PSI CHI JOURNAL OF and doing so fosters well-being. Game play is very severe physical symptoms and more disabling pain PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

reported lower vitality, whereas physical self-esteem that the brief play session would energize rather and adherence to an exercise regimen were both than drain participants. Therefore, Hypothesis 1 associated with greater subjective vitality. Others was that, regardless of the mode of play, participants have shown that, for physical activities such as play would experience an increase in subjective vitality ing soccer (Ommundsen, Lemyre, Abrahamsen from pregame to postgame. & Roberts, 2010) and taking walks during work Negative affect. Whereas our focus in the cur breaks (Kinnaflick, Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Duda, rent investigation was on the impact of play upon & Taylor, 2014), perceived autonomy within the vitality as a marker of a state of well-being, play also activity is associated with greater subjective vitality. has the potential to reduce negative emotions and Play and vitality. We chose to focus on the stress. For example, Wang, Rouse, and Mancuso effects of play upon subjective vitality for several (2017) found that participants who played the video reasons. The experience of subjective vitality is an game The Sims 2 for 25 minutes experienced no indicator of flourishing (Ryan & Deci, 2001) and is change in positive affect, but a signifcant decrease positively associated with other aspects of well-being in negative affect. Therefore, we also examined such as self-actualization and self-esteem (Ryan & changes in negative affect as a function of competi Frederick, 1997) and life satisfaction (Uysal, Satici, tive, cooperative, and solo play. Satici, & Akin, 2014). As noted above, games in particular can satisfy the human needs of autonomy, Competitive Versus Cooperative Play competence, and relatedness. In turn, satisfaction Until the rise of video games in the latter part of of these needs is expected to promote vitality (Deci the 20th century, most games were both social & Ryan, 2000). Therefore, if play can be shown to (rather than solitary) and competitive in nature foster a sense of aliveness in adults, it suggests that (either one vs. one, one vs. many, or team vs. play might serve as a pleasurable form of “wellness team). An increase in the availability of cooperative exercise.” game experiences began with tabletop roleplaying Another reason to expect game play to pro games such as Dungeons and Dragons, followed by mote subjective vitality is that games provide the many modern video games, and more recently opportunity to experience fiero, an Italian word cooperative tabletop games (e.g., Pandemic) and for pride in success, which game designers have escape rooms (Nicholson, 2015). Whether one is adopted to refer to the emotional thrill of triumph playing competitively or cooperatively may provide ing over adversity (McGonigal, 2011). The rush different experiences in terms of need satisfaction of fero from victory or a particularly well-played and effects on feelings of energy and aliveness. moment within a game (even if one ultimately Competitive and cooperative play are both social in nature, but they do differ in several loses the game) is likely to increase one’s sense of respects. The former (usually) has a goal structure being alive and full of energy—that is, it is likely to where progress toward victory for one player tends increase subjective vitality. to impede progress toward victory for other players, Research on the effect of play upon feelings of whereas in the latter, players’ goals are aligned, energy and vitality is mostly limited to sports and and they succeed or fail together (Bonta, 1997). exercise games with a clear emphasis on physical Working together toward a game goal could either activity (e.g., Mackintosh, Standage, Staiano, Lester, promote or inhibit a state of well-being. On the one & McNarry, 2016; Ommundsen et al., 2010). In the hand, cooperation can lead to increased feelings of only two published experimental studies on video relatedness as the two (or more) players coordinate game play and vitality, Ryan et al. (2006) found their actions to achieve a game goal together and that vitality actually dropped after playing a 3D hopefully enjoy a shared victory. Standage, Duda, adventure video game for 40 minutes, although and Pensgaard (2005) found that participants the change in vitality was more positive for par playing a dancing video game experienced greater ticipants whose competence need was satisfied need satisfaction, positive affect, and subjective through play. Researchers have yet to examine the vitality when playing together against another effects of playing a game that is neither physically team, as opposed to playing against each other demanding nor digital in nature upon subjective (1 vs. 1). Iizuka (1994) found that participants play vitality. Because participants in our study played ing a video bowling game cooperatively spent more for a shorter period of time than in Ryan et al.’s SUMMER 2020 time looking at and talking to play partners than research (15–20 minutes), and had the opportunity others who played the same game competitively. PSI CHI to improve their performance through multiple Finally, cooperative play can also create moments JOURNAL OF plays (thereby fostering competence), we expected of camaraderie and mutual storytelling even in the PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

face of failure (Maynard & Herron, 2016). needs as one makes in-game choices and develops On the other hand, the direct competition their skills, it provides no inherent opportunity to against another human opponent might promote relate to others or experience a sense of belong physiological arousal and greater opportunities for ingness during the game. In contrast, multiplayer fero, both of which could lead to feelings of vitality. games can provide opportunities to meet new Kivikangas, Kätsyri, Järvelä, & Ravaja (2014) found people and establish or strengthen friendships that men (and, in one of two experiments, women) while playing the game (e.g., Williams et al., experienced greater positive emotion and arousal 2006). Further, sharing an activity can enhance in response to competitive over cooperative video the experience relative to when it is undertaken game play. Schmierbach, Xu, Oeldorf-Hirsch, and alone (Boothby, Clark, & Bargh, 2014). Kaye and Dardis (2012) found that participants enjoyed play Bryce (2014) found that, in recalling solitary and ing a video game of football more against another social video game sessions, participants reported player than cooperatively or against a computer greater positive emotion as a result of social play. opponent, and suggested that the interdependence We followed up our investigation of social play inherent in cooperative play may create frustration in Study 1 with a second study utilizing the same and detract from the enjoyment of the activity. research protocol but examining a solo play mode. In sum, there is not a consistent pattern We hypothesized that, although the benefits of of results on the effects of cooperative versus solo play may be somewhat smaller as compared competitive play on outcomes such as enjoyment to competitive or cooperative play, it would still or emotional state. Therefore, we did not make result in increased subjective vitality (Hypothesis specifc predictions regarding the relative effect of 1) because it could still satisfy a player’s need for competitive versus cooperative play upon subjec autonomy and competence. tive vitality. However, we examined this possible effect in order to contribute to the literature on Study 1 potential differences in the experience of playing Method cooperatively versus competitively. Participants. Participants were 108 college students Finally, individuals differ in the kinds of play who received psychology subject pool credit in they prefer, and some enjoy competitive situa exchange for their participation. We recruited tions more than others. For example, Yee (2006) participants by posting information about our study surveyed 3,000 MMORPG players and identifed on the department’s online subject pool system 10 separate player motivations, two of which account (Sona Systems, www.sona-systems.com), were competition and teamwork. A strong match where participants can view available studies and between one’s play preferences and the play experi reserve a time slot to participate. Two participants ence may promote particularly positive outcomes. were excluded from analyses for skipping whole Therefore, in the present study, we included a mea pages of the pre- or postgame questionnaire, result sure of trait competitiveness to test the hypothesis ing in a fnal sample of 106 participants (53 play that a player’s inclination (or disinclination) for pairs). Participants had a mean age of 20.64 years competition would interact with the game mode. (SD = 1.69 years). There were 81 female participants With Hypothesis 2, we expected that trait competi (76.4%), 24 male participants (22.6%), and one tiveness would moderate the relationship between participant who marked “other” as their gender. game mode and subjective vitality, such that the Because of diffculties associated with schedul increase in vitality from pregame to postgame ing two participants to play together (namely, when would be stronger for competitive participants in only one participant signed up or two signed up but the competitive condition. one did not show), we adjusted the recruitment procedure so that the participant who signed up Solo Play was asked to bring someone to play the game with Video games on computers and consoles in the them (such as a friend, classmate, or roommate). As 1980s and beyond greatly increased the opportunity a result, of the 106 participants, 34 participants were to play games alone, and in the past decade there assigned to their partners (17 play pairs) and 72 has been a notable increase in board games that played with a partner they had brought with them provide modes for solo play (Leorke, 2018). The to the study (36 play pairs). Because participating SUMMER 2020 key feature of solitary play is the lack of human play with an assigned versus chosen partner may affect partners. In terms of need satisfaction, although the play experience, we included this variable in all PSI CHI solo play can satisfy autonomy and competence analyses, as described below. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Design. Rhino Hero (Frisco & Strumpf, 2011), Enjoyment of Competition subscale of the Revised a dexterity card-stacking game, was chosen for this Competitiveness Index (Houston, Harris, McIntire, study because it is simple (making it easy to learn & Francis, 2002), which contains 9 items (e.g., “I quickly), quick (playtime is roughly 5 minutes), get satisfaction from competing with others.”). and relatively unknown in the United States (as it Respondents indicated agreement with each item is produced in Germany). The original Rhino Hero on a 5-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 game is competitive, where players take turns plac (strongly agree). Houston et al. reported a coeffcient ing cards to form levels of an apartment building. alpha of .90 for this subscale, and in Study 1, inter Some cards have particular abilities, such as forcing nal reliability was very good (a = .92). one’s opponent to move a wooden rhino fgure up Win percentage. In the postgame questionnaire, the building. A player wins by being the frst to get we asked participants to record the number of rid of their hand of seven cards without knocking games that they played and how many of those they the tower over. We created a cooperative version won (either against their opponent or together of the game by giving each player a smaller hand with their teammate, depending on the condition). of fve cards. Their goal in this mode was to build We then calculated a win percentage by dividing the tower together, attempting to win by getting rid the number of wins by the total number of games of both of their hands without knocking the tower played. over. Prior to their arrival, pairs of participants were Open-ended responses. In addition to the quanti randomly assigned to play either the competitive tative measures above, we asked participants three (30 pairs, n = 60) or cooperative (23 pairs, n = 46) open-ended questions in the postgame question version of the game based upon the results of a naire: “What was your favorite part about playing die roll. the game?”, “What was your least favorite part about Measures. playing the game?”, and “Is there anything else Subjective vitality. We measured participants’ you would like to comment about in terms of your current feeling of being full of energy and life with experience playing the game today?” Responses to the Ryan and Frederick (1997) subjective vitality these questions were not the primary focus of this measure both before and after play. Based upon study, but we will note some themes as they pertain the results of validation work by Bostic, Rubio, and to the quantitative fndings in the Discussion. Hood (2000), we used the six-item version of the Procedure. Prior to beginning data collection, scale that omitted the single reverse-scored item we received approval to conduct this study from from the original scale. A sample item is, “I feel the State University of New York at New Paltz energized right now.” For each item, respondents Human Research Ethics Board. After completing chose a response from 1 (not at all true) to 7 (very an informed consent form, participants completed true). Bostic et al. reported coeffcient alpha values a pregame questionnaire including state measures above .80 across two samples for this scale. In Study of subjective vitality and negative affect. They were 1, coeffcient alpha values were very good (.89 and introduced to the game by a research assistant, who .93 for before and after play, respectively). explained the rules of Rhino Hero for the mode they Negative affect. The Negative Affect subscale had been randomly assigned to and noted that of the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS; they would have roughly 20 minutes to play while Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) was included in the assistant sat outside the room within earshot in both the pregame and postgame questionnaire. It case of any questions. The research assistant also contains 10 single-word items (e.g., “distressed,” mentioned that, because Rhino Hero is a short game, “irritable”). Items represent emotional states, and there would be time for at least two full plays of the respondents indicated the extent to which they felt game, and that participants should keep track of each of those states at the present moment on a how many times they played on a card provided to Likert-type scale from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to them. A single page “cheat sheet” was also provided 5 (extremely). Watson et al. (1988) reported a coeff to participants as a reminder of the rules of the game. The assistant then left the participants in cient alpha of .85 when using the “present moment” the room to play. After 15 minutes had elapsed, the version of the scale instructions. Coeffcient alpha assistant knocked on the door and indicated that values for Study 1 before play (a = .81) and after the participants should complete the in-progress SUMMER 2020 play (a = .73) were fair to good. game. Finally, participants were given a postgame Competitiveness. Trait competitiveness was PSI CHI questionnaire to complete that included measures JOURNAL OF measured in the postgame questionnaire with the PSYCHOLOGICAL of subjective vitality, negative affect, and trait RESEARCH

competitiveness, as well as game results (how many subjective vitality scores are presented in Table won and lost), the three open-ended questions, 2, along with effect sizes (Cohen’s d). As shown, and demographic questions (i.e., gender and age). participants in both conditions reported higher average levels of subjective vitality postgame as Results compared to pregame. All participants reported that they had never played We began by testing a random intercept model Rhino Hero prior to their participation in the study. that predicted subjective vitality scores as a function They played between one and fve games in the of time (before versus after play), play mode, trait time allotted, with nearly all pairs playing three competitiveness, and recruitment method, while (50.9%), two (21.7%), or four (21.7%) games. The accounting for variance between participants (i.e., percent of games participants won ranged from 0 individual differences) and play pairs. As shown to 100%; 79.7% of participants won at least once. in Table 3, the increase in subjective vitality from Descriptive statistics, correlations, and coeffcient pregame to postgame across both conditions was alpha values are displayed in Table 1. Subjective 0.64 on a 7-point scale, which was significant, vitality and negative affect were negatively related t(106) = 6.92, p < .001, d = 0.66. There was also at pregame (r = -.40, p < .001), but not at postgame a signifcant effect of play mode upon subjective (r = -.18, p = .059). Interestingly, win percentage was vitality, t(54.61) = -2.75, p = .008, with participants not related to postgame vitality or negative affect in the cooperative condition experiencing lower (both ps above .50). Women scored lower on trait competitiveness (r = -.34, p < .001) than men did. TABLE 1 Because participants played the game in pairs, their scores on dependent variables may Means, Standard Deviations, and be influenced by their play partner. We tested for Correlations Among Study 1 Variables this potential nonindependence by calculating Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 a partial intraclass correlation on the data from Pregame Measures the complete pairs across these two conditions, 1. Subjective Vitatlity 4.20 1.24 – controlling for condition, and with a liberal alpha ** level of .20, as recommended by Kenny, Kashy, and 2. Negative Affect 1.51 0.55 -.40 – Cook (2006). The partial intraclass correlation Postgame Measures was signifcant at this alpha level, r = .23, F(33,35) 3. Win Percentage 0.43 0.33 -.03 -.11 – = 1.59, p = .091. This result suggests that subjective 4. Subjective Vitality 4.84 1.28 .71** -.31** -.06 – vitality scores from play partners are indeed more 5. Negative Affect 1.33 0.38 -.14 .57 .04 -.18 – similar than scores from two participants who did 6. Competitiveness 3.49 0.82 .19 -.08 .12 .22* .01 – not play together, beyond the effect of the condi tion they were assigned to. Therefore, in testing 7. Age 20.64 1.69 .16 -.09 .09 .13 -.16 .11 – our hypotheses, we utilized linear mixed effects 8. Gender (men = 0; – – -.18 .05 -.12 -.12 .05 -.34** -.31** women = 1) (sometimes called mixed modeling; e.g., Baayen, Note. N = 106. Davidson, & Bates, 2008) using the lme4 function **p < .05. ** p < .01. (Bates, Maechler, & Bolker, 2012) in the R statistical package (R Core Team, 2012). This approach is TABLE 2 similar to standard multiple regression but allowed us to account for nonindependence by modeling Means, Standard Deviations, and Effect Sizes random effects such as the idiosyncratic differences for Pregame-Postgame Measures in pregame and postgame measures from play pair Subjective Vitality Negative Affect to play pair. Pregame Postgame Pregame Postgame Pregame vs. postgame subjective vitality. In Condition n M (SD) M (SD) Cohen's d M (SD) M (SD) Cohen's d Hypothesis 1, we predicted that participants would experience an increase in subjective vitality after Study 1 playing the game, regardless of whether they played Competitive 60 4.45(1.27) 5.18(1.19) 0.73 1.48(0.47) 1.28(0.32) 0.59 competitively or cooperatively. We also wished Cooperative 46 3.87(1.11) 4.38(1.26) 0.59 1.54(0.64) 1.39(0.44) 0.26 to examine whether the play mode (cooperative Total 106 4.20(1.24) 4.83(1.28) 0.66 1.51(0.55) 1.33(0.38) 0.39 or competitive) affected the degree of change in Study 2 vitality scores from pregame to postgame. Means and standard deviations for pregame and postgame Solo 54 4.40(1.40) 4.79(1.39) 0.47 1.43(0.48) 1.31(0.38) 0.34

subjective vitality than those in the competitive assigned to. In Hypothesis 2, we predicted that condition independent of time. trait competitiveness would moderate the effect of To test for a possible effect of play mode play mode, such that increases in subjective vitality upon the amount of change in subjective vital would be strongest for competitive participants in ity, we ran a second model that was identical to the competitive play mode condition. To test this the first model, except for the inclusion of an hypothesis, we compared two models, which both interaction term between time and play mode. used change scores in subjective vitality as the out Based on a comparison between this model and come variable. The frst included the fxed effects the base model, the estimate for the interaction of play mode, competitiveness (which was mean was not signifcant and did not improve model ft, centered prior to this analysis), and recruitment χ(1) = 1.47, p = .225. Figure 1 shows that, despite method, while accounting for the random effect of random assignment, participants in the coop play pair. The second model was identical except erative condition had lower pregame subjective that it also included a term for the interaction vitality scores than participants in the competitive between play mode and trait competitiveness. None condition. However, the nonsignificant interac of the variables in the model signifcantly predicted tion suggests that participants in both conditions change in subjective vitality, and the inclusion of experienced a similar increase in vitality after the interaction term did not improve model ft, playing the game. χ(1) = 0.03, p = .867. Therefore, Hypothesis 2 was The role of competitiveness. The results of not supported. the frst model indicate that trait competitiveness Changes in negative affect. Table 2 shows predicted vitality after accounting for time, play that, in both conditions, participants reported a mode, and recruitment method, t(101.91) = 2.23, mean decrease in negative affect from pregame to p = .028; that is, overall, participants with higher postgame. To examine changes in negative affect, competitiveness scores reported higher levels of we ran a linear mixed-effects model with negative vitality, independent of which condition they were affect as the outcome variable, participant and play pair as random effects to be accounted for, TABLE 3 and time, play mode, trait competitiveness, and recruitment method as the predictors (see Table Linear Mixed Effects Model for 4). Time was the only signifcant predictor, with a Subjective Vitality (Study 1) mean decrease of -0.20 points (on a 5-point scale) Fixed Effect Estimate SE df t p from pregame to postgame, t(106) = -3.32, p = .001. Intercept 4.71 0.22 58.87 21.21 <.001 An interaction term between time and play mode added to a second model was not signifcant (esti Time 0.64 0.09 106.00 6.92 <.001 mate = 0.05, t(106) = 0.50, p = .615), suggesting that Play Mode -0.63 0.23 54.61 -2.75 .008 the decrease in negative affect did not depend on Trait Competitiveness 0.28 0.12 101.91 2.23 .028 whether participants were playing the cooperative Recruitment Method -0.35 0.25 54.22 -1.42 .162 or competitive version of the game. Note. N = 106 (53 pairs). Random effects (participant and play pair) are not displayed for Study 1 summary. Across the board, partici simpilicity. pants reported an increase in subjective vitality and a decrease in negative affect after playing Rhino FIGURE 1 Hero. The amount of change in either emotional state did not depend upon which mode of the game 6.00 Play Mode they were playing (cooperative versus competitive). Competitive Cooperative In addition, contrary to expectations, participants 5.00 Solo higher in trait competitiveness did not experience a greater increase in subjective vitality when playing 4.00 the competitive mode. One thing that participants had in common Subjective Vitality 3.00 regardless of play mode was that they played the game together with a partner. We do not know

2.00 whether players would experience similar changes SUMMER 2020 Pregame Postgame in emotional state if they played the game by them Time selves. Therefore, in Study 2, we examined pre- and PSI CHI Figure 1. Mean pre- and postgame subjective vitality scores for participants in the competitive postgame subjective vitality and negative affect in a JOURNAL OF and cooperative conditions in Study 1. PSYCHOLOGICAL solo play mode of the same game. RESEARCH

Study 2 subjective vitality from pre- to postgame. Consistent Method with this hypothesis, a paired-samples t test Participants. Participants were 56 college students revealed a signifcant increase in subjective vitality, who received psychology subject pool credit t(53) = 3.45, p = .001, d = 0.47, 95% CI [0.16, 0.62]. in exchange for their participation, recruited We also examined whether there were changes in through the department’s online subject pool negative affect. Participants playing alone expe system account as in Study 1. Individuals who par rienced a signifcant decrease in negative affect ticipated in Study 1 did not have the opportunity from pregame to postgame, t(53) = -2.48, p = .016, to participate in Study 2. Two participants were d = 0.34, 95% CI [-.02, -.22]. Means and standard excluded from analyses for a lack of understanding deviations for these measures are shown in the of study instructions, resulting in a fnal sample of bottom row of Table 2. 54 participants. Participants had an average age of Discussion 22.31 years (SD = 4.81 years); there were 40 women (74.1%), 12 men (22.2%), and two reporting either The purpose of the present research was to investi nonbinary or “other” gender (3.8%). gate the effect of a brief session of nondigital play Design, measures, and procedures. Participants upon feelings of energy and liveliness in adults. in this study played a solo version of Rhino Hero cre We modifed a published dexterity card game in ated for the purposes of the study. The solo version order to examine the effects of competitive and of the game was identical to the cooperative version cooperative play (Study 1) and solo play (Study 2) described in Study 1, except that the participant was given all 10 cards and played alone; if they were TABLE 4 able to use all 10 cards without knocking the tower Linear Mixed Effects Model for over, they won. We calculated win percentage as the Negative Affect (Study 1) percentage of games they played in which they were Fixed Effect Estimate SE df t p able to use all 10 of their cards without knocking Intercept 1.40 0.08 55.05 16.65 <.001 over the tower. All other measures in Study 2 were Time -0.18 0.04 106 -3.96 <.001 identical to those in Study 1. Coefficient alpha values for Study 2 were similar to those in Study 1 Play Mode 0.08 0.09 48.47 0.92 .363 (a = .91 and .92 for subjective vitality before and Trait Competitiveness -0.03 0.05 102.19 -0.70 .488 after play, respectively, a = .83 and .69 for nega Recruitment Method 0.10 0.09 48.08 1.08 .285 tive affect before and after play, respectively, and Note. N = 106 (53 pairs). Random effects (participant and play pair) are not displayed for a = .91 for trait competitiveness) and were good simpilicity. to very good with the exception of negative affect measured after play, which was fair. We obtained State University of New York at New Paltz Human TABLE 5 Ethics Review Board approval prior to data collec Means, Standard Deviations, and tion, and the procedure was otherwise identical to Correlations Among Study 2 Variables that in Study 1. Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pregame Measures Results 1. Subjective Vitatlity 4.40 1.40 – Participants played between one and fve games in the time allotted, with most playing three (38.9%) 2. Negative Affect 1.43 0.48 -.18 – or four (29.6%) games. The percent of games par Postgame Measures ticipants won ranged from 0 to 100%, and 79.2% 3. Win Percentage 0.43 0.31 .06 -.20 – of participants in each condition won at least once. 4. Subjective Vitality 4.79 1.39 .82** -.15 -.02 – Descriptive statistics, correlations, and coeffcient 5. Negative Affect 1.31 0.38 -.15 .68** -.40** -.05 – alpha values are displayed in Table 5. Win percent 6. Competitiveness 3.66 0.78 -.10 -.10 -.05 .05 -.07 – age was not related to postgame vitality (r = .02, p = .889), but a higher percentage of games won 7. Age 22.31 4.81 .05 -.22 .14 .08 -.24 -.15 – was associated with lower levels of postgame nega 8. Gender (men = 0; – – -.08 .07 .00 .08 .12 -.26 -.27 tive affect (r = -.40, p = .003). women = 1) We expected that participants playing the Note. N = 106. **p < .05. ** p < .01. game alone would experience an increase in

on subjective vitality and negative affect. All partici First, in our experiment, participants played for pants across both studies played with the identical 15–20 minutes as compared to the 40 minutes in game components, for roughly the same amount Ryan et al.’s studies. It is possible that the impact of of time, and had the same ultimate goal (i.e., don’t play upon vitality is nonlinear, initially energizing knock the tower over). Consistent with Hypothesis 1, players but eventually draining them if the play participants in all three play modes experienced an continues for too long. Second, playing a video increase in vitality (as well as a decrease in negative game may be more taxing physiologically than a affect) from pregame to postgame. There was no card game in terms of visual fatigue and repetitive signifcant difference in the amount of change from motor actions. pregame to postgame for the competitive versus the Because our investigation of solo play was in cooperative condition. a separate study from the other two conditions, A number of open-ended responses provided we could not directly compare the emotional by participants in the two studies corroborated the effects of play between social play versus solitary observed changes in the quantitative measures. For play. However, two tentative clues from the cur example, 16 participants (10% of all participants) rent research suggest that people may experience volunteered that the related emotions of excite greater subjective vitality as a result of social as ment, suspense, anticipation, and uncertainty compared to nonsocial play, at least with regards comprised their favorite part of playing the game to a nondigital game such as the one we used (e.g., “It was exciting and any little move could in our research. First, the size of the increase in make it fall;” “[My favorite part was] Seeing how subjective vitality from pregame to postgame was high we could build up the cards and the suspense somewhat stronger in Study 1 (d = 0.66 across of trying not to have it fall.”). More broadly, 17 the two conditions) than in Study 2 (d = 0.47). (11%) participants mentioned a positive change Second, in the open-ended postgame responses in their mental or physical state after having had from Study 1, nearly half of participants in the the play experience, and not a single participant competitive (45%) and cooperative (48%) condi mentioned a negative change due to play. The tions mentioned their partner or interactions most common changes cited were an improve with them as their favorite part of playing the ment in mood (e.g., “I was a bit cranky before the game. This was even true of participants who were game & it lifted my spirits.”), stress reduction or assigned a play partner; over a third (n = 9; 36%) increased relaxation (e.g., “[I] left more relaxed mentioned enjoying the opportunity to meet than when I came in.”), and increased alertness or make a connection with someone new (e.g., and energy (e.g., “I felt awake and energized and “I feel I built a relationship with the other par forgot my concerns.”). Relatedly, 15 participants ticipant by talking and strategizing.”) or had (9%) described being able to forget daily concerns positive things to say about their partner (e.g., such as school or work (e.g., “It was a fairly simple “[My partner] was very engaged and talkative, which game but it kept my attention and allowed me to made our interactions meaningful and genuine.”). escape the world for a little while.”). The increases Another intriguing fnding is that win percentage in vitality and decreases in negative affect, both of was related to post-game negative affect for solo which appeared in some participants’ postgame play (r = -.40, p = .003) but not for social play comments, suggest that a brief session of play (r = .04, p = .713); it is possible that without the can simultaneously boost feelings of energy while social component of the game, the player’s perfor reducing negative emotions. Future researchers mance has a greater impact upon their emotional should therefore explore the possibilities for brief state after play. Taken together, these clues indicate play interventions for well-being, perhaps within that future research directly comparing the emo the context of workplaces, schools, or care facilities. tional effects of social to solitary play may be fruitful. The increase in vitality across all conditions Contrary to Hypothesis 2, participants did in this experiment is consistent with the notion not experience a greater boost in vitality when that games are intrinsically motivating and can their preference (or lack thereof) for competitive foster individual well-being. However, the results situations matched the mode of game they played. contradicted those of Ryan et al. (2006), who found One possibility for this lack of fnding is that the SUMMER 2020 an overall decrease in vitality in two experiments of participants in the cooperative condition were still PSI CHI video game play. There are at least two explanations competing, just against the game itself rather than JOURNAL OF for this discrepancy that merit further investigation. against each other. There was also evidence from PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

the open-ended responses that at least a couple of playing actually shape how people feel and act for participants in the cooperative condition added a the remainder of the day, or do these states quickly competitive layer (e.g., “[My favorite part was] the recede as people move on to the next activity on fact that it wasn’t competitive but we still sort of their schedule? More broadly, does meeting one’s made it that way.”), whereas some in the competitive need for play support long-term well-being? There condition described having a collaborative side-goal are hypothesized but as-yet untested positive out (e.g., “My partner and I were really focused on try comes of feeling a sense of energy and vitality, such ing to move Rhino hero up the tower. We wanted to as engaging in behavior that promotes personal get him as high as possible.”). These comments are growth and health (Ryan & Frederick, 1997). If a helpful reminder that players do not always limit these relationships can be established, subjective the way they play to the stated rules and objectives. vitality may emerge as an important mediator that They often come to a play experience with their helps explain how play in adults leads to positive own social, cognitive, and emotional goals, which outcomes. can affect their experience of the game (Yee, 2006). Third, most definitions of play note that it is, at its heart, a voluntary activity (Huizinga, Study Limitations and Future Directions 1938/2016; Suits, 1978). In this experiment (as in There were several limitations to the current most game-based research), although participants research that should be considered. First, because did volunteer to be in a study where they would play all participants completed the subjective vitality and a game, they did not get to choose the game, the negative affect measures before and after their play game mode, or the length of play (indeed, some session, it is possible that some participants formed noted that they wished they could have played demand characteristics about the purpose of the longer). It could be argued that having the freedom research. Although the open-ended feedback cor to choose how and when to play would increase roborates the quantitative fndings regarding the satisfaction of one’s need for autonomy, and thus benefts of play on one’s emotional state, follow-up enhance the benefts of play (such as boosting feel research with distractor measures to obscure the ings of vitality) to an even greater degree. goals and hypotheses of the study would be helpful. Finally, it should be noted that the competitive Second, there are several important limits to mode was the original mode of the game design, the generalizability of the results. All participants whereas the cooperative and solo modes were were college students, and they all played different modifications we made for the purposes of the modes of a simple card-stacking dexterity game. study in order to standardize the play experience in The tactile (holding and moving the cards and the other ways (e.g., game theme, components, goals). wooden rhino fgure), and colocated (both players As a result, there might be inherent differences in in the same physical location, for Study 1) nature excitement level across the conditions. of the game means that the current fndings may not apply to games with limited physical actions Conclusion or video games where social interaction occurs These two studies represent a first attempt to online. The emotions that a certain style of game examine changes in subjective vitality as a result tends to elicit may also matter. For example, a of a brief play experience with the same game but game with escalating tension and the possibility of under three different styles of play (competitive, a collapsing tower of cards like Rhino Hero might cooperative, and solo). All three ways of playing be expected to produce greater feelings of energy resulted in an increased sense of vitality or aliveness, than more pensive, cerebral games (e.g., chess). and a decrease in negative emotion. This suggests Future research with different gaming experiences that even a brief play session with an assigned, is crucial to test the boundary conditions of the unfamiliar game can boost experienced wellness, current fndings, given the great diversity of games at least temporarily. Future research is needed to and ways of playing them. determine whether the encouraging results found Another area for future research relates to in the current study persist for a longer period of the duration and potential benefts of a boost in time (e.g., for the remainder of the day), as well as subjective vitality. Because the postgame measures to explore how features of the game (such as the were administered soon after the play session, it is actions involved in play) or situation (such as the SUMMER 2020 unclear how long the immediate emotional ben number of players) impact a player’s emotional PSI CHI efts might endure. For example, does time spent state. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

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Wingfield, N. (2014, May 5). High-tech push has board games rolling again. We wish to thank Egamaria Alacam, Ariel Barter, Kian New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/ Betancourt, Joanna Herron, Alessandra Moss, Steven Yee, N. (2006). Motivations for play in online games. CyberPsychology & O’Rourke, Andrew Perry, Usman Shakil, Sydney Shepard, Behavior, 9, 772–774. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2006.9.772 and Allison Vaughn for their assistance with different phases of this research. Special thanks to Psi Chi Journal reviewers for Author Note. Doug Maynard, https://orcid.org/0000-0002- their support. 4128-9985, Leah J. Mancini, and Vania Rolón, Psychology Correspondence concerning this article should be Department, State University of New York at New Paltz. Leah J. Mancini is now at New York State Department of addressed to Doug Maynard, Psychology Department, State Labor - Division of Research and Statistics. Vania Rolón is University of New York at New Paltz, 1 Hawk Drive, New Paltz, now at Brunel University London. NY, 12561, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

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Disentangling the Effects of Study Time and Study Strategy on Undergraduate Test Performance Zachary J. Cole and Darrell L. Butler* Ball State University

ABSTRACT. Increased study time is associated with improved memory. Students tend to use study time as a benchmark for gauging how prepared they are for a test. While studying, students tend to rely on rote memorization. This has led to students using judgments of processing fluency to determine their level of understanding for the study material. Elaboration, or active learning, is also associated with improved memory. The effects of elaboration appear to be confounded with study time. Two experiments were conducted to disentangle the effects of study time and study strategy on test performance. For both experiments, participants read an article, were randomly assigned to study elaboration or memorization flashcards, and took a test. In Experiment 1, study time was not controlled. Experiment 2 followed the same procedure as Experiment 1 except participants were randomly assigned to study for 7.5 or 15 minutes. For Experiment 1, the elaboration group studied longer (they had more to study), but were actually more effcient than the memorization group. The elaboration and memorization groups scored better on the test than the control group. For Experiment 2, the extended study condition scored better than the brief study condition, and the elaboration condition scored better than the memorization condition. There was no interaction between the study time and study strategy conditions. These fndings suggest that study time and study strategy act independently to affect test performance. Keywords: study time, processing time, elaboration, memorization, test performance

tudy time is frequently positively associated in study time was attributed to an increase in the with memory performance (e.g., d’Ydewalle, workload demands of classwork at higher grade SSwerts, & Corte, 1983), a principle known levels (Christopoulos et al., 1987). Alternatively, as the total time hypothesis (first reported by in a similar set of studies, Curley, Estrin, Thomas, Ebbinghaus, 1885). When provided with a fnite & Rohwer (1983) and Thomas, Iventosch, and amount of study material, students who study longer Rohwer (1987) suggested that changes in study score better on tests (Cooper & Pantle, 1967). As a time can be attributed to the demands and char result, study time and academic success are often acteristics of the coursework. considered complementary (Karpicke, Butler, & In an effort to explore the effects of coursework Roediger, 2009; Kornell & Bjork, 2007; Landrum, on study time, d’Ydewalle et al. (1983) found that Turrisi, & Brandel, 2006). students who were anticipating a more difficult In a series of studies observing junior high, test studied longer, and might have used more high school, and undergraduate students, elaborative study strategies. Additionally, the SUMMER 2020 Christopoulos, Rohwer, and Thomas (1987) and students expecting a more diffcult test performed PSI CHI Dellucchi, Rohwer, and Thomas (1987) found that better, regardless of the actual difficulty of the JOURNAL OF study time increased with grade level. This increase test (d’Ydewalle et al., 1983). These fndings, in PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

conjunction with the understanding that more materials is inherently lacking effciency, and can elaborate study methods take longer to carry out lead to longer total study times and worse perfor (Entwistle & McCune, 2004; Hilgard, Irvine, & mance than studying to achieve a more meaningful Whipple, 1953), have led to the belief that students understanding of the material (e.g., Bower, Clark, who study longer must be achieving a more mean Lesgold, & Wiznenz, 1969). ingful understanding of the studied material (i.e., Karpicke et al. (2009) has suggested that d’Ydewalle et al., 1983). the misplaced sense of effcacy in unproductive A meaningful understanding for the studied study strategies is supported by judgments of material is characterized by a holistic conceptual preparedness that are based on processing fluency, knowledge for the newly learned material (Ausubel, rather than actual indicators of preparedness 2012; Mayer, 2002), which has been integrated with (e.g., ability to retrieve studied information). In previously understood concepts (Ausubel, 2012; other words, students believe they have a strong Baddeley, 2000) and is likely well-organized (Bower, understanding of the study material when it 1970). One form of meaningful learning is known becomes easier to read. as elaboration (Mayer, 2002; Novak, 2002), typi There is no objective threshold that can be cally defned as thinking about the material rather used to identify whether a concept is understood than just repeating the information over and over. meaningfully (Bradshaw & Anderson, 1982). Similarly, some have argued that active reading is According to Karpicke et al. (2009), the lack of fundamental to meaningful learning. Adler and understanding among college students of what Van Doren (1972) originated and defined the constitutes effective learning has led to a culture concept of active learning as applying specifc strate of students largely dependent on the use of study gies, such as summarizing, criticizing, or developing strategies that contribute to an overwhelming and using study guides or other artifacts in an effort “illusion of competence” (p. 478). to comprehend, memorize, and synthesize informa Purpose tion. Since then, a number of frameworks have Contrary to the evidence described above, the been offered to help learners develop good active prevailing zeitgeist appears to presume that reading approaches (e.g., Artis, 2008; Carlston, increased study times lead to a more meaningful 2011; Pugh, 1978; Zhang et al., 2002). understanding of the studied material (Karpicke et Compared to elaborate study methods, al., 2009). Although increased study time is associ memorization results in an atomistic conceptual ated with better academic performance (Cooper understanding by solidifying memory for the stud & Pantle, 1967; Keith, 1982), this effect appears to ied material (Ausubel, 2012; Mayer, 2002; Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). The atomistic nature of memo be confounded with study strategy selection (e.g., rization results in relatively isolated memories for Bower et al., 1969, Karpicke & Roediger, 2008). the studied information (Novak, 2002) that are The goal of the experiments reported below was comparatively less robust than memories created to disentangle the effects of study time and study using elaboration (Craik & Lockhart, 1972). strategy by demonstrating their respective influence The belief that meaningful learning methods on test performance. require more study time (e.g., Entwistle & McCune, Experiment 1 2004; Hilgard et al., 1953) is at odds with more recent evidence suggesting that elaboration is actu Participants read a research article then studied ally more effcient than memorization (Karpicke elaboration or memorization flashcards in prepara et al., 2009; Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). Claims tion for a test. The amount of study material might of elaborative efficiency are supported on two not have been equivalent for elaboration and theoretical fronts: (a) The association between memorization groups, thus confounding study time study time and performance can be attributed to and type of study. For example, students studying more material being studied, but not elaborated to memorize concepts and their defnitions might (Christopoulos et al., 1987, Dunlosky et al., 2013); have read fewer words than students studying and (b) elaboration requires less repetitive mainte materials designed to encourage elaboration. For nance than memorization (Bobrow & Bower, 1969; this reason, Experiment 1 was designed to measure Dunlonsky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan, & Willingham, processing time per word (effciency) in addition SUMMER 2020 2013; Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). The redundant to total study time. Study time was not controlled PSI CHI nature of reading and rereading notes or other in this experiment. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

We hypothesized that: (H1) Students would to demonstrate a suffcient level of comprehension study longer when the amount of study materials for the studied material. Furthermore, participants was greater. Thus, participants in the elaboration were led to believe that if they were to score below group would study for a longer total period of time the threshold of 75% on the test, they would be than the participants in the memorization group. asked to restudy the material and take another test.

We also expected that (H2) elaboration would Participants were not actually held to this standard. be more effcient than memorization. Thus, the The purpose of this deception was to provide a elaboration group was anticipated to exhibit a standard performance goal for all participants, shorter word processing time than the memoriza and to motivate them to take the task seriously.

tion group. Third, (H3) the elaboration group was The performance threshold was set at 75% because hypothesized to exhibit a deeper understanding this was deemed a level that most college students for the material by performing better on the test believe they can achieve with a reasonable effort. than participants in the memorization and control After being briefed, participants began the groups. read phase of the experiment. They were presented with an article by Mathews (2014) titled, “Hoarding Method Disorder: More Than Just a Problem of Too Much Participants. The sample consisted of 97 under Stuff.” This article was chosen because there was graduates attending Ball State University. The enough detailed content to make the test diffcult, sample represented a diverse cross section of majors but not an excessive number of technical terms that offered at the university. Participants were mostly might be diffcult for participants to understand. White (84.5%), women (n = 67), between 18 and Defnitions that were likely beyond a colloquial 50 years old (M age = 21.6, SD = 5.7). The rest of level of understanding were accompanied with a the sample consisted of 30 men. The ethnicities defnition to improve readability. The article was making up the rest of the sample were 2.1% African 55 sentences long, totaling 1,926 words in length. American, 1% Hispanic, 1% Native American, and The provided definitions were included in the 1% Middle Eastern. All participants were awarded overall wordcount. The edited article was submit class research credit in exchange for participating ted to a readability analysis using Microsoft Word’s in the experiment. built-in tools. The readability analysis provided Materials and procedure. This experiment was the following readability statistics: Flesch Reading conducted entirely over the Internet. Responses Ease = 14.4; Flesch-Kinkaid Grade Level = 19.7; to online research studies have been found to be Passive Sentences = 21.4%. reasonably equivalent to those conducted in a After 10 minutes, participants in the memoriza laboratory setting (Butler, 1986; Whitley & Kite, tion and elaboration groups were automatically 2013). For this reason, the expediency of online redirected to the study phase of the experiment. data collection led us to conduct the entire experi After being redirected, participants were not able ment within an online Qualtrics survey. Participants to navigate back to the reading material. The were randomly assigned to one of three groups: study material consisted of 20 flashcards covering memorization, elaboration, or control. Data collec information taken directly from the article. All tion continued until each group reached at least flashcards consisted of two sides. Side A posed 30 participants. a question, and Side B provided an answer. All The experiment consisted of four phases: flashcards studied by the memorization and (a) read, (b) study, (c) distraction, and (d) testing. elaboration groups were matched for content. For The memorization and elaboration groups carried the memorization group, the answer on Side B out all four phases of the experiment, but studied of the flashcard consisted of factual or defnitive different flashcards during the study phase. The information described in the article (see Figure control group did not participate in the study phase 1). For the elaboration group, the answer on Side of the experiment. B of the flashcard consisted of the same factual At the start of the survey, participants were information provided to the memorization group, presented with the informed consent. After agree and an additional applied example (see Figure 2). ing to participate, participants were presented The flashcards were presented one side at a SUMMER 2020 with a concise and detailed briefing explaining time in chronological order to match the presenta PSI CHI the procedure. The briefing explained that a tion of associated concepts in the reading material. JOURNAL OF minimum score of 75% on the test was necessary Participants were only able to navigate forward PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

through the flashcards. They read and proceeded Results through the flashcards at a self-determined pace. The items were initially inspected to insure The flashcards presented to the memorization reliability of the test. A binomial test showed group consisted of 383 words total. The flashcards that items 2 (p correct = .072, p < .001) and 12 presented to the elaboration group consisted of (p correct = .124, p = .002) were signifcantly below 796 words. Once participants had been presented with FIGURE 1 each flashcard one time, they were directed to the distraction phase of the experiment. This phase of 1a. the experiment consisted of a task designed to clear What are typical symptoms of HD? working memory. The control group completed the distraction task immediately after reading the article. The distraction task consisted of 10 questions. Abbreviations ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Participants were asked to complete as many ques CBT: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy tions as possible in 1 minute. They were able to see HD: Hoarding Disorder the timer count down from 60 seconds while com OCD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder pleting the task. Although most participants were 1b. able to complete about seven of the demographics A desire to save and difficulty or indecision discarding items. questions, none of the participants were able to fully complete the questionnaire. After 1 minute exactly, participants were automatically redirected to the testing phase of Abbreviations the experiment. The test consisted of 14 questions ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder CBT: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy designed to test comprehension for the informa HD: Hoarding Disorder tion provided in the reading material. Half of OCD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder the test questions were designed to assess shallow (factual) understanding of the material (e.g., “What Figure 1. Memorization flashcards. Side A presented a question. Side B presented a fact. Every symptoms are commonly exhibited in people with flashcard had all of the abbreviations listed at the bottom of the flashcard. hoarding disorder [HD]?”). The other half of the test questions were designed to assess deep FIGURE 2 (meaningful) understanding of the material (e.g., “Do people with obsessive compulsive disorder 1a. What are typical symptoms of HD? [OCD] respond better to SSRI medications or SNRI medications?”). Questions 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, and 13 assessed deep level knowledge. Each question was presented along with four possible answers. Abbreviations Participants were instructed to choose the best ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder answer available. All questions were presented in CBT: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy HD: Hoarding Disorder chronological order matching how the associated OCD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder concepts were introduced in the read and study phases of the experiment. Participants were given 1b. an unlimited amount of time to complete the test. A desire to save and difficulty or indecision discarding items. Upon completing the test, participants were For example, if a person with HD received a pair of shoes that did not directed to a screen declaring that they had fit, that individual would be inclined to store that pair of shoes. For example, if a person with HD had a pair of shoes that no longer completed the research study. Participants were fit, that individual would have difficulty giving away or disposing of informed that there actually was no minimum those shoes. Abbreviations score requirement. No participants were required ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder CBT: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to restudy the material or retake the test, regardless HD: Hoarding Disorder of their score on the test. At the end of the survey, OCD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder participants were presented with their test score, SUMMER 2020 and were able to review their performance for Figure 2. Elaboration flashcards. Side A presented the same question that was presented to the memorization group. Side B presented the same fact presented to the memorization group, PSI CHI each question. and an applied example for each concept. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

chance. For both questions, participants reliably (M = 0.48, SD = 0.16) was not able to outperform selected a wrong answer that was very similar the memorization group (M = 0.51, SD = 0.14). to the correct option. These two shallow items However, for shallow questions, F(1, 68) = 4.85, were removed from further analysis. Additionally, p = .03, ɳ2 = .07, the elaboration group (M = 0.8, because all test questions were matched with SD = 0.2) outperformed the memorization group specifc flashcards, the flashcards associated with (M = 0.62, SD = 0.26). There was no difference the removed questions were also removed from all between the control group for the shallow ques proceeding analyses of study time and processing tions (M = 0.45, SD = 0.25) and the control group time. for the deep questions (M = 0.32, SD = 0.18): Test score. A one-way between-subjects Analysis F(1, 68) = 1.25, p = .268, ɳ2 = .02. of Variance (ANOVA) was used to assess the differ Study time. All study time calculations consisted ence in the mean proportion of correct answers only of data from the memorization and elabora on the test between the groups. All assumptions of tion groups (the control group did not study). normality were met. The test indicated a difference Study time was defned as the total amount of time between groups: F(2, 94) = 17.09, p < .001, ɳ2 = .267. spent reviewing the flashcards. The study time data Tukey’s pairwise comparisons showed that there was was collected automatically using the meta data no difference between the elaboration (M = 0.58, function in Qualtrics. Study time was measured in SD = 0.17) and the memorization groups (M = 0.68, seconds (s). SD = 0.14), t(62) = 1.33, p = .56, Cohen’s d = 0.34, A between-subjects t test was used to assess the but the control group (M = 0.40, SD = 0.17) scored differences in study time between the two groups. worse than the elaboration group, t(68) = 4.50, Levene’s test was not signifcant, F(1, 68) = 3.19, p = p < .001, Cohen’s d = 1.08, and the memorization .08, indicating that the assumption of homogeneity group, t(58) = 5.62, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 1.45. of variances was met, but there was a positive skew Furthermore, the question types were inspected in the distribution. A natural log transformation for differences. A mixed-design 2 (question type) of the data resulted in a normal distribution of the x 3 (study strategy) factorial ANOVA was used to results. The t test indicated that the elaboration examine the differences between questions meant group (M = 370.49 s, SD = 228.80 s) studied longer to assess shallow and deep levels of understanding, than the memorization group (M = 249.52 s, and how these differences were moderated by the SD = 154.84 s), t(68) = 2.52, p = .014, Cohen’s assigned study method. All of the assumptions for d = 0.603. Processing time was measured in seconds this test were met. The interaction between ques per word (spw). Processing time was calculated tion type and study method yielded an F ratio of by dividing study time by the number of words in F(2, 94) = 3.55, p = .033, ɳ2 = .07. p the study material. A between-subjects t test was Post-hoc tests were conducted for the data used to assess the difference in processing time presented in Figure 3 using Scheffe’s method for between the two groups. Levene’s test was not sig complex comparisons (Klockars & Hancock, 2000; nifcant, F(1, 68) = 2.74, p = .10, indicating that the Scheffe, 1970). For the deep questions, F(1, 68) assumption of homogeneity of variances was met, = 1.95, p = .167, ɳ2 = .03, the elaboration group but there was a positive skew in the distribution. A natural log transformation of the data resulted in FIGURE 3 a normal distribution. The t test indicated that the

1.0 Elaboration memorization group (M = 0.78 spw, SD = 0.47 spw) 0.9 Memorization spent more time processing the information than 0.8 Control 0.7 did the elaboration group (M = 0.52 spw, SD = 0.34): 0.6 t(68) = 2.96, p = .004, Cohen’s d = 0.71. 0.5 0.4 Although the elaboration group spent more

Proportion Correct 0.3 total time studying, the memorization group spent 0.2 0.1 more time per word processing the study material. 0 Shallow Questions Deep Questions See Figure 4 for a graphical comparison of study SUMMER 2020 time and processing time measurements for the Figure 3. Study strategy by question type. Both study groups did better than the control for both PSI CHI question types. The elaboration group did better than the memorization group on the shallow two groups. JOURNAL OF questions. Error bars are 95% confidence intervals. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Discussion in the extended study condition would score bet The results supported our hypotheses that the ter than participants in the brief study condition. elaboration group would study longer and process Third, we hypothesized that (H3) there would be no the study materials more efficiently than the interaction between study time and study method. memorization group. These results uphold the general understanding that, although elaboration Method takes more time to carry out than memorization Participants. The sample consisted of 121 under (Hilgard et al., 1953), elaboration is more effcient graduates from the same university as Experiment (Karpicke et al., 2009; Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). 1. Two participants in this experiment were The elaboration group outperformed the control removed because their scores on the comprehen group, but not the memorization group. The elabo sion test were signifcantly below chance (12.5%). ration group scored better than the memorization These were the only participants in either of the group on the shallow questions, but surprisingly, experiments to score below 25%, indicating that not the deep questions. they might not have studied, or might not have The fndings that the elaboration group did understood the task. not perform better than the memorization group The sample represented a cross section of on deep questions is in contrast with a plethora majors offered at the university. Participants were of literature that has demonstrated the superior mostly White (84.6%) women (n = 92) between ity of meaningful learning when compared to 18 and 37 years old (M age = 20.8, SD = 2.9). The memorization (Ausubel, 2012; Bower et al., 1969; rest of the sample consisted of 29 men, and the Bradshaw & Anderson, 1982; Craik & Tulving, 1975; ethnicities making up the rest of the sample were Karpicke & Blunt, 2011; Mayer, 2002). Because 4.1% African American, 1.7% Middle Eastern, students tend to study until they reach a level of and 0.8% Hispanic. Anyone who participated in understanding that they believe will allow them to Experiment 1 was not eligible to participate in achieve a desired level of performance (LaPorte Experiment 2. Participants were awarded class & Nath, 1976), the lack of control over study time credit for participation. could have contributed to the lack of a difference Materials and procedure. As with Experiment 1, between study strategies. It is also worth noting that the entire procedure was conducted entirely within study time and processing time exhibited an inverse an online Qualtrics survey. Experiment 2 consisted relationship. A second experiment was needed to of the same four phases completed in Experiment further delineate the individual effects of study time 1: (a) read, (b) study, (c) distraction, and (d) and processing time on test performance. testing. The same materials used in Experiment Experiment 2 1 were used in Experiment 2. Participants were randomly assigned to study flashcards meant to In Experiment 1, the effects of total time and pro promote memorization or elaboration for a brief cessing time were confounded with study strategy. (7.5 minutes) or extended (15 minutes) study However, based on the results in Experiment 1, we period. Data collection continued until each group could estimate reasonable amounts of study time contained at least 30 participants. students would use to prepare for a test of the materials. With that information, Experiment 2 FIGURE 4 controlled study time and processing time in order to examine them independently. Experiment 2 used 400 Study Time Processing Time 0.85 the same reading material, flashcards, distraction 0.80 task, and test questions as used in Experiment 1. 360 0.75 0.70 However, study time was controlled. Participants in 320 the elaboration and memorization conditions were 0.65 280 0.60 assigned to a brief (7.5 minutes) or extended (15 Time(s) Study 0.55 Processing Time Time (spw) Processing minutes) study period. Also, processing time was 240 0.50 controlled by timing the presentation of flashcard 0.45 200 0.40 slides. We hypothesized that (H1) participants in the Elaboration Memorization elaboration condition would perform better on the SUMMER 2020 Figure 4. Study time vs. processing time. The elaboration group studied for a longer period of test than participants assigned to the memorization time than the memorization group and spent less time processing the study materials. Error PSI CHI condition. We also expected that (H ) participants bars are 95% confidence intervals. JOURNAL OF 2 PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

The read phase of Experiment 2 did not condition. For the extended study condition, this change from Experiment 1. The study phase for difference in volume of study material resulted in a Experiment 1 differed from Experiment 2 in that total study time for the elaboration condition that the flashcards were presented for a controlled was 470.82 s longer than the total study time for the amount of time by the Qualtrics program. To memorization condition. make sure that participants were attending to At the beginning of the study phase, partici the flashcards, they were required to check in at pants in the memorization condition completed random intervals during the presentation of the an additional puzzle task to account for the total study material. A check-in trial simply consisted of time difference between conditions. This allowed a flashcard explaining that participants must click for both of the study strategy conditions to have forward to continue studying. the same amount of time between (a) reading The length of time each flashcard was pre the article and taking the test and (b) studying sented was determined by the number of words the flashcards and taking the test. The puzzle task on the flashcard (i.e., processing time). Processing required participants to complete a diffcult word time was determined by calculating the amount of search entitled, “Getting to Know Indiana.” The time it took the elaboration group in Experiment word search had 50 hidden words all centered 1 to read the flashcards. The elaboration group was around the state of Indiana. This theme was chosen used as the baseline for total study time because because there was no information that would likely they had the shorter processing time in Experiment interfere with the information presented in the 1. Hence, this group provided a more accurate article. When the time ran out on the puzzle task, measure of what was likely the amount of time participants were automatically redirected to the necessary for participants to successfully read and memorization flashcards. None of the participants comprehend the flashcards. were able to complete the entire word search before A mean processing time of .50 spw was used as the time ran out. a baseline for determining the study time for the Upon completion of the study phase, par brief study condition. To ensure that none of the ticipants were automatically redirected to the participants would have trouble reading the mate distraction phase of the experiment. The distrac rial, a 1-minute buffer was added to the total study tion task consisted of the same questions used in the time. This method resulted in a study time of 7.5 distraction task for Experiment 1. After participants minutes (0.57 spw) for the brief study condition. completed as many questions as possible in 1 A reading time of 0.57 spw amounts to a read minute, they were automatically directed to the ing pace of 105.2 words per minute (wpm). Given testing phase. that college students generally read at a pace of The testing phase consisted of the same test about 300 wpm (Carver, 1992; Taylor, 1965), the that was administered to participants in Experiment 7.5-minute study time was not expected to affect 1. As in Experiment 1, participants were informed participants’ ability to read and comprehend the during the briefng that if they did not score a 75% flashcards. Although the brief study condition was on the test they would be required to restudy the likely able to read all of the flashcards without dif material and retake the test. No participants were fculty, the 7.5-minute study time limit was expected actually held to this standard. When participants to limit additional processing of the material that completed the test, they were redirected to a screen might occur beyond control of the experiment. that informed them that they had successfully The study time for the extended study condi completed the study and thanked them for their tion was determined by doubling the study time participation. Participants were able to see their test allowed for the brief study condition. The extended score and review their performance after complet study condition was given 15 total minutes to study ing the entire survey. the flashcards. This amounted to a processing time of 1.14 spw. Results The flashcards for the elaboration condition As with Experiment 1, each test item was inspected contained a total of 413 more words than the for reliability. The binomial test followed the same flashcards for the memorization condition. For pattern as Experiment 1: Items 2 (p correct = .125, the brief study condition, this difference in volume p < .001) and 12 (p correct = .133, p = .001) were SUMMER 2020 of study material resulted in a total study time for signifcantly below chance. Once again these items PSI CHI the elaboration condition that was 235.41 s longer were removed from the proceeding analyses of test JOURNAL OF than the total study time for the memorization performance. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Test scores. A between-subjects 2 (study time) the results supported our hypothesis that there x 2 (study strategy) factorial ANOVA was used to would be no interaction between study time and assess the test performance of the four different study method. conditions. Because study time was dictated by the The fndings from this study support a large predetermined processing time coeffcient, and the literature indicating that elaboration leads to better total number of words varied systematically based test performance than memorization (e.g., Adler & on study strategy, a Weighted Least Squares (WLS) Van Doren, 1972; Artis, 2008; Bower, 1970; Bower correction was used to control for the difference in et al., 1969; Carlston, 2011; Karpicke & Roediger, total study time between the elaboration and memo 2008), and that more study time leads to better rization conditions. The WLS correction applied test performance (e.g., Cooper & Pantle, 1967; weights to the data based on total study time. d’Ydewalle, Swerts, & Corte, 1983; Ebbinghaus, All of the assumptions of the ANOVA were met. 1885; Karpicke, Butler, & Roediger, 2009; Keith, The main effect for study time yielded an F ratio 1982; Kornell & Bjork, 2007; Landrum et al., 2006). 2 of F(1, 117) = 13.42, p < .001, ɳ p = .103, indicat The specifc contribution in this experiment is that ing that the extended study condition (M = 0.63, the study time and study strategy factors operate SD = 0.13) outperformed the brief study condition independently and are about equal in impact on (M = 0.53, SD = 0.13) on the test. The main effect test performance. for study strategy yielded an F ratio of F(1, 117) 2 General Discussion = 13.48, p < .001, ɳ p = .103, indicating that the elaboration condition (M = 0.62, SD = 0.14) out Previous research has concluded that study time is performed the memorization condition (M = 0.53, only effective to the extent that elaborative study SD = 0.13) on the test. As can be seen in Figure methods are utilized (Cooper & Pantle, 1967). 5, there clearly was no interaction between study This sentiment has been echoed by Bower et al. time and study strategy: F(1, 117) = 0.06, p = .812, (1969), Craik and Lockhart (1972), and Roediger 2 ɳ p = .000). and Karpicke (2006), all of whom concluded that As in Experiment 1, the question types were test performance is largely based on the applied inspected for differences. A mixed-design 2 (ques tion type) x 2 (study strategy) factorial ANOVA was FIGURE 5 used to assess the differences between the deep and 0.8 shallow questions, and how these differences were Extended Brief moderated by the assigned study method. Levene’s 0.7 test indicated that the assumption for homogene ity of variances was not met, F(7, 1432) = 52.64, 0.6 p < .001. To account for the lack of normality, Proportion Correct the main effects were assessed using the Kruskal- 0.5 Wallis test. The main effect for question type, H(1) = 44.03, p < .001, indicated that the shallow 0.4 Elaboration Memorization questions (M = 0.68, SD = 0.46) were easier than the deep questions (M = 0.5, SD = 0.5). As can be seen Figure 5. The effect of study strategy on test performance acted independently of study time. Error bars are 95% confidence intervals. in Figure 6, there were no interactions between the question type and study strategy, F(1, 116) = 1.26, 2 FIGURE 6 p = .26, ɳ p = .01, study time, F (1, 116) = 1.77, p = .186, ɳ2 = .02, or for the interaction between p 1.0 Elaboration study time, study method, and test question type, 0.9 Memorization F(1, 116) = 0.13, p = .72, ɳ2 = .00. 0.8 p 0.7 0.6 Discussion 0.5 0.4

The results supported our hypothesis that, when Proportion Correct 0.3 processing time was controlled, increasing total 0.2 0.1 study time would result in better test scores. The 0 Extended Brief Extended Brief SUMMER 2020 results also supported our hypothesis that the Shallow Questions Deep Questions elaboration condition would score better on the Figure 6. Study strategy by study time by question time. The shallow questions were easier than PSI CHI test than the memorization condition. Additionally, the deep questions. Error bars are 95% confidence intervals. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

depth of processing. The current study posits that Although this study observed the differences processing time is a third variable bridging the in elaborative and memorization study strategies, effects of study time and study strategy. When pro there was no measure of what mental strategies cessing time is not controlled, the effects of study the participants were actually implementing. As time and study strategy become entangled. When such, it is possible that participants in either group processing time is controlled, study time and study could have developed their own elaborations, or strategy are individuated. simply attempted to memorize all of the material. Given the systematic differences in total study The differences between the processing times for time and processing time between the two study elaboration and memorization groups suggest that methods, the adjustments made by the students the study methods were reliably different. Future were likely made in reference to judgments of research could clarify these differences by having processing fluency (Karpicke et al., 2009). In this participants record their study activity, or report light, the results from Experiment 1 suggest that the strategies they use. participants found the elaboration flashcards easier Another important factor to consider is control to read. The improved readability of elaborative over the volume of the provided study material and study materials appears to provide meaningful processing time. Experiment 2 was only able to learning strategies with an effciency advantage over apply a secondary statistical control to account for memorization (e.g., Bower et al., 1969; Karpicke & differences in processing time between conditions. Roediger, 2008; Kember et al., 1995). For the manipulation to control for processing The shallow questions were easier than the time, the amount of material being studied by the deep questions, but the elaboration condition did groups being compared must be equal. This can not outperform the memorization condition on be diffcult to accomplish without diluting the less either of the question types. These fndings sug meaningful material with unrelated information, gest that studying the elaboration flashcards did or making the material diffcult to read. In other not necessarily result in a more meaningful level paradigms, this issue of control has been managed of understanding than studying the memorization by having participants study qualitatively different flashcards. If the participants were using the same word lists (e.g., Bower, 1969; Karpicke & Roediger, strategy to study both sets of flashcards, information 2008). This method serves as a natural control for gained from the applied examples provided in the the third variable of processing time, but also does elaboration condition might have failed to translate not allow for the differentiation between study time to the conceptual comparisons assessed in the deep and processing time. That being said, although it questions. In Experiment 1, the provided examples may be diffcult to accomplish, future studies could promoted the elaboration condition’s memory attempt to develop study materials that are equiva lent in the amount of information being processed. for factual information. Although the results for Although a variety of study methods can Experiment 2 followed this general trend, the be considered elaborative or meaningful (e.g., elaborative advantage was not related to question Ausubel, 2012; Mayer, 2002), this study only type. From this, we can conclude that the elabora focused on one form of elaboration (i.e., applied tions in this study contributed to strengthening the examples). Further confrmation is necessary to memory for the studied information, but might not establish that the fndings associated with one type have provided a platform for exhibiting a more of elaboration can be generalized to every type of holistic understanding of the studied material (e.g., elaboration. Ausubel, 2012; Mayer, 2002). One issue that the current research does not Additionally, the study materials for the elabo address is when it may be best to implement the ration groups contained only one elaboration per implications of this study with students. Previous studied concept. In Experiment 1, this proved to research (e.g., Christopoulos et al., 1987; Dellucchi be too weak of a manipulation to differentiate the et al., 1987) has reported that students increase effects of the two study strategies. An increase in the study time as they progress in their formal educa difference of the number of elaborations between tion from middle school into college. However, a the groups might have improved the power of the number of researchers have found that the strate manipulation. Alternatively, the lack of control gies used by these students do not seem to evolve SUMMER 2020 over study time might have contributed variance much. The research here suggests that at some PSI CHI to the results that could not be accounted for by point(s) students should be strongly encouraged JOURNAL OF controlling the study strategy. to adopt more effective learning/study strategies. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

This may require both explicit instruction and the Bower, G. H. (1970). Organizational factors in memory. Cognitive Psychology, 1, use of assigned tasks that are diffcult for students 18–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(70)90003-4 Bower, G. H., Clark, M. C., Lesgold, A. M., & Wiznenz, D. (1969). Hierarchical to complete without using elaborative strategies. retrieval schemes in recall of categorized word lists. Journal of Verbal The current research did not address when this Learning and Behavior, 8(3), 323–343. should be done. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-5371(69)80124-6 Bradshaw, G. L., & Anderson, J. R. (1982). Elaborative encoding as an explanation of levels of processing. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 21, Conclusions 165–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-5371(82)90531-x The purpose of this study was to determine the Butler, D. L. (1986). Automation of instructions in human experiments. 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Journal of Experimental Psychology, 104, strategies are more effective than others (Tang, 268–294. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.104.3.268 1994), students continue to rely heavily on the Curley, R. G., Estrin, E. T., Thomas, J. W., & Rohwer, W. D. (1987). Relationships between study activities and achievement as a function of grade level and use of ineffcient and unproductive memorization course characteristics. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 12, 324–343. strategies (Christopoulos et al., 1987; Entwistle https://doi.org/10.1016/s0361-476x(87)80004-8 & McCune, 2004; Karpicke et al., 2009). In some Delucchi, J. J., Rohwer, W. D., & Thomas, J. W. (1987). Study time allocation as a function of grade level and course characteristics. Contemporary cases, this may be a product of the inability of Educational Psychology, 12, 365–380. undergraduates to effectively execute these study https://doi.org/10.1016/s0361-476x(87)80006-1 strategies (Tang, 1994). 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An Examination of the Influence of Serial Position on False Memory and Recognition Josephine Audiffred and Carissa L. Broadbridge* Saint Xavier University

ABSTRACT. The Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm has long shown that individuals will falsely recall a critical lure (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Roediger and McDermott (1995) attributed this false recall to activation and monitoring. During encoding, individuals activate information related to the critical lure, then monitoring processes during retrieval fail to identify that the critical lure was activated internally, leading to recall of the critical lure. In the present study, we examined the effect of the serial position of the strongest associates on false recall and recognition of the critical lure. Using a within-subjects design, participants were exposed to 10 lists of words via MediaLab. Each list placed highly associated words at either the beginning, middle, or end of the list. After each list, participants completed a recall task followed by a recognition task. Results showed that participants recalled the critical lure signifcantly more often when high associates were at the beginning of the list (p = .002, η2 = .07), but serial position had no effect on recognition (p = .13, η2 = .03). Recognition levels showed that, regardless of the serial position of the strongest associates, participants recognized the critical lure at similar proportions. High recall of the critical lure when strong associates were at the beginning of the list can be attributed to the higher likelihood of activation spreading to the lure when the participant is studying the list. Furthermore, there is a decreased likelihood of accurate source monitoring due to the early activation of the lure during study. Keywords: false memory, DRM paradigm, serial position, recognition, recall

alse memory is a widely studied aspect of likely to remember an item that was not presented memory. Individuals could remember an in the learned list, and he found that different lists F event very differently than how it actually produced different rates of false recall. His study occurred, they may recall an experience that did provided the groundwork for the DRM paradigm not truly happen, or they may remember words that would evolve and spark a plethora of further from a list that were not there at all. The most research (e.g., Arndt, 2012; Beato, Cavadid, Pulido, common method used to study false memory for & Pinho, 2012; Gallo & Roediger, 2002; Roediger & words from a list is the Deese-Roediger-McDermott McDermott, 1995; Roediger, Watson, McDermott (DRM) paradigm. This method was first used & Gallo, 2001). by Deese (1959) who developed 12 word lists Intrigued by the results of Deese’s study, with items that were strongly associated with Roediger and McDermott (1995) designed two an unpresented item—the critical lure—and experiments to replicate and expand on the work SUMMER 2020 presented the lists to undergraduate students. The of Deese. In their frst study, they used six lists from PSI CHI objective was to understand why individuals were Deese (1959) that had the highest false recall rates. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Researchers read each list to participants, then between list items and the critical lure in a DRM list asked participants to recall the last words they (e.g., Hicks & Hancock, 2002; Roediger et al., 2001; heard frst, followed by whichever other words they Stadler, Roediger, & McDermott, 1999). BAS plays remembered in any order. Once they had recalled a vital role in the false memory of a critical lure. all six lists, participants were given a recognition Research has suggested that false recall of a critical test containing all six critical lures as well as studied lure is more prevalent when lists contain associates and unstudied words. They were also asked to rate with higher BAS values (e.g., Gallo & Roediger, how confdent they were that they had seen each 2002; Hicks & Hancock, 2002). For instance, Hicks word during the study period. Results showed that and Hancock (2002) conducted a study where DRM participants recalled the critical lure 40% of the lists were split in half and the average BAS values for time and reported being sure that the critical lures one list was higher than the other. Results showed had been studied (Roediger & McDermott, 1995). that the lists that had the higher BAS average also In their second experiment, Roediger and had a higher rate of false recall compared to the McDermott (1995) had participants view 16 lists. lower BAS averaged lists. Gallo and Roediger (2002) Participants completed a recall test immediately also examined the BAS of words in the DRM lists. following half the lists and completed a distractor They found that participants had lower false recall task following the other half. After viewing all of rates for lists with lower mean BAS values than those the lists, each participant was given a recognition with higher mean BAS values (Gallo & Roediger, test that included words from the 16 studied lists 2002). and from an additional 8 lists that were not studied. Serial position. Serial position of the words They were asked to rate words as old or new and as with the highest BAS values may also affect the remembered or known (Roediger & McDermott, likelihood of the critical lure being recalled. Serial 1995). This remember-know distinction was frst position has been shown to affect recall of words recognized by Tulving (1985). He argued that in simple list learning tasks (Ebbinghaus, 1948; remembering involves autonoetic consciousness, or Murdock, 1962). This serial position effect is the a true sense of having experienced the event. This tendency to recall the frst and last items in the is a more complex type of recall than knowing. list the best, whereas the items presented in the Knowing involves only the belief that something middle are least likely to be recalled. Ebbinghaus was experienced (Rajaram, 1993). This can be (1948) was the frst researcher to discover the serial exemplifed by people’s experience of their birth position effect. He referred to the improved recall day. Most people know when their birthday is, but for the last words in a list as the recency effect and very few individuals claim to remember being born. the improved recall of the words at the beginning Roediger and McDermott (1995) found that false of the list as the primacy effect (Ebbinghaus, 1948). recall of the critical lure was present 55% of the Other researchers have replicated and expanded time, an increase from the previous experiment. on the work of Ebbinghaus. For instance, Murdock During the recognition test, participants also (1962) investigated the serial position effect using showed a higher probability of remembering the lists that varied in length and presentation time. critical lure compared to knowing it was on the list His results showed that, regardless of list length or (Roediger & McDermott, 1995). The results of their presentation time, participants were more likely experiment were so surprising that the procedure to show a primacy effect for the frst 3–4 words in became popular among false memory researchers, a list, and a distinctive s-shaped curve depicted the and work in this area has flourished. recency effect over the last 8 words. Items in the middle of the list were not remembered as well. Factors Affecting False Memory Murdock suggested that this may be due to proac Backward associative strength. Numerous factors tive and retroactive inhibition occurring within the (e.g., providing participants with information list. Interestingly, not many studies have explicitly about list-learning paradigms, manipulating the examined the effect of serial position on false recall position of strong associates within the study list, in the DRM paradigm. However, Roediger and manipulating participants’ attention, and indicat McDermott (1995) did note that a strong primacy ing that there is a critical lure) have been found to effect was present when the words with the strongest influence false memory (Prohaska, DelValle, Toglia, BAS values had occurred early in the lists. In the SUMMER 2020 & Pittman, 2016). One of the most common factors present study, we sought to explicitly examine the PSI CHI examined across the literature is the backward influence of serial position on false memory for a JOURNAL OF associative strength (BAS), the level of association critical lure. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Theories of False Memory that are interpretations of the experienced items. Although various theories have tried to explain the For example, the word peach would have the surface phenomenon of false memory, the two most promi form of how the word is spelled and the gist form nent theories are the activation monitoring theory of fruit. Principle two, differential retrieval, dictates and fuzzy trace theory. The activation monitoring that verbatim and gist traces are retrieved through theory argues that the probability of false recall is different mechanisms. Verbatim traces are better determined by two processes, spreading activation retrieved when items are experienced and if the and monitoring, that occur during encoding and situation shows verbatim traces to be stronger than retrieval of information (Roediger & McDermott, the gist traces. For gist traces, retrieval is easier for 1995). On the other hand, the fuzzy trace theory nonexperienced, highly meaningful items and in (Brainerd & Reyna, 2002) argues that memory situations where gist traces are instead stronger traces are stored through gist traces (commonali than verbatim. The third principle, dual-opponent ties among events) and verbatim traces (specifc processes, explains how verbatim and gist traces perceptual details of an experience used to help work together to support true memories, but work differentiate memories). The following sections against each other in the case of false memories. describe each of these theories. According to this principle, the memory for the Activation monitoring theory. The activation critical lure would be supported by the gist trace, monitoring theory is one of the primary theories but the verbatim trace would work against the gist explaining the false memory phenomenon (Gallo trace by suppressing the critical lure. Verbatim & Roediger, 2002; Roediger & McDermott 1995; traces, on the other hand, would only single out Roediger et al., 2001). This theory focuses on the the exact words that were shown, thereby inhibiting processes of spreading activation and monitor false memory (Brainerd & Reyna, 2002). ing (Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Spreading activation occurs when semantic networks become The Present Study activated during search processes. When one In the present study, we manipulated the order of concept is activated, this activation spreads to items in each list based on the BAS values in order other, related concepts, with the most highly to compare the two prominent theories for false associated concepts being activated frst followed memory. We used 10 of Roediger et al.’s (2001) by more weakly associated concepts (Roediger word lists along with their critical lures and BAS val & McDermott, 1995). Then, during search for ues. Highly associated items were grouped together previously viewed items, the monitoring process and placed either at the beginning, middle, or end determines the origin of activation in order to of a list. Our objective was to investigate whether determine the authenticity of the memory, and serial position of highly associated words affects subsequently acceptance or rejection of the lure the probability of false recall and recognition of a (Ardnt, 2012; Gallo, 2010; Roediger, Balota & critical lure. Watson, 2001). This theory helps explain the In line with the activation monitoring theory, recognition of the critical lure during the DRM we hypothesized that participants would falsely recall and recognize the critical lure more often if paradigm because an implicit associative response the high BAS words were positioned at the begin is created, and source monitoring fails to declare it ning or end of the list, rather than in the middle. as originating internally. This then leads to the lure Activation monitoring theory states that false recall being falsely remembered as present in the studied is caused by items activating a semantic network of list (Roediger & McDermott, 1995). associations, thus activating the target word, and by Fuzzy trace theory. The other prominent theory the individual’s failure to accurately monitor the of false memory, fuzzy trace theory, was frst used source of the information, which then leads them as a model to explain the relationship between the to believe that they viewed the target word before validity of solutions to reasoning problems and (Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Additionally, words memory for background events (Brainerd & Reyna, at the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of 2002). Brainerd and Reyna explained the theory a list have been shown to have higher recall rates using fve distinct principles, the frst three of which (Ebbinghaus, 1948; Murdock, 1962). Activating are relevant to false memory. The frst principle, the critical lure at these high recall points in the SUMMER 2020 parallel storage, describes each memory trace spe list through placement of high BAS value words cifcally with verbatim representations of the surface increases the likelihood that the source monitoring PSI CHI form of experienced items and gist representations process will fail and that the critical lure will be JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

recalled and/or recognized. England, and subject. Alternatively, recall/recognition of the criti Following the choice of the appropriate lists, cal lure could be greater when high associates we used a Latin square to create three possible are placed at the beginning of the list than at the word orders for each list, high associates–moderate end of the list. Such results would support the associates–low associates (HML), moderate associ fuzzy trace theory because this would suggest that ates–low associates–high associates (MLH), and verbatim traces are stronger than gist traces when low associates–high associates–moderate associates the high associates are presented last but that gist (LHM). A random number generator was then used traces are stronger when the high associates are to create 18 conditions for the order of presenta presented frst. tion of the word lists. First, we created six orders in which the lists would be presented (e.g., king, Method doctor, bread, city, mountain, trash, sweet, needle, Participants slow, window). Next, we randomized the order of Participants were 87 undergraduate students the serial position within each list. The fnal set of between the ages of 18 and 26 (M = 18.90, 18 presentation orders can be seen in Table 1. SD = 1.12; 83% women, 17% men) who were All stimuli and tests were displayed using enrolled in psychology classes at a private MediaLab (Version 2014.1.127; Jarvis, 2014). Items Midwestern university. Participants were ethnically were presented at the center of the computer screen diverse (33% European American, 43% Hispanic/ against a light blue background. Each word was 7 Latinx, 12% Arab/Middle Eastern, and 13% other) mm tall and presented in all capital letters in black and received 2 credits of research participation for Arial font at a rate of 2 seconds per word. After the completing the study. There were no exclusion presentation of each list, participants were given criteria for participants. a recall test and then a recognition test. For the recall test, a text box appeared asking participants Materials and Procedures to “Please recall any words you just saw in the most recent word list.” This is an open-ended question, Following approval from the Institutional Review similar to an essay question on an exam, for which Board at Saint Xavier University (approval participants were given 90 seconds to recall as many #FA18014AP0910), we recruited participants of the words as possible. For the recognition test, through SONA, an online research participation 13 words (6 studied items, 6 unstudied items, and system. At their scheduled session, participants the critical lure) were presented. Participants were read and signed the consent form. Participants asked, “Did the word ____ appear in the list you then completed a demographic questionnaire that just saw?”, and told to either answer yes or no. This asked for their age, sex, and ethnicity. Finally, they is comparable to a multiple-choice question on an were presented with the word lists followed by the exam because participants only have to recognize recall and recognition tasks. the words they have seen before from the options Each word list, taken from the compiled lists provided. When all 10 lists were completed, partici used by Roediger et al. (2001) [three of which were pants were given a debriefng form and thanked for also used by Stadler et al. (1999)], was based on a their time. Participants took about 45 minutes to specifc critical lure. A total of 10 lists, each contain complete the entire process. ing 15 words, were chosen. The critical lures for these lists were king, doctor, bread, city, mountain, Results trash, sweet, needle, slow, and window. These lists The Effect of Serial Position on Memory were chosen based on their inclusion of words for Studied Words varying in their level of association to the critical The researchers coded the recall of studied words lure. Specifcally, we chose lists that contained 5 and critical lures for each list (recalled = 1, not high, 5 moderate, and 5 weak associates in order recalled = 0). Only the exact word was counted to evenly vary the serial position of the strength of (e.g., a participant who recalled king was scored with the association. For example, for the critical lure a 1, whereas a participant who recalled leader was King, the list included the highly associated items scored with a 0). We then calculated the proportion SUMMER 2020 throne, queen, crown, reign, monarch, moderately of studied words that participants recalled by posi PSI CHI associated items royal, palace, prince, chess, leader, tion (1–15) and by presentation order (HML, MLH, JOURNAL OF and the weakly associated items dictator, George, rule, or LHM). These data were used to plot the serial PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

position curve for each of the three presentation remembered signifcantly better than words pre orders (see Figure 1). Finally, for each presentation sented in the middle (M = 0.45, SE = 0.02) of the list order, we averaged the recall scores for each part (ps < .001), whereas words presented first were of the curve (primacy, middle words, and recency). recalled equally as well as the words presented last We hypothesized the typical serial position (p = .94). The interaction of order and position was 2 effect for the presented words regardless of also signifcant, F(4, 328) = 17.54, p < .001, ηp = .18. whether highly associated items were placed at the Simple effects tests revealed that the serial position beginning, middle, or end of the list. To examine effect was present for all three presentation orders, this hypothesis, a 3 (HML, MLH, LHM) x 3 (frst but there were some variations in the pattern of words, middle words, last words) within-subjects this effect. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with post-hoc tests For the HML order, the effect of position on using the Bonferroni correction for Type I error recall was signifcant, F(2, 164) = 29.98, p < .001, was conducted. η2 = .27 (see Figure 2). Post-hoc tests with the The main effect of presentation order was Bonferroni correction for familywise error revealed 2 not signifcant, F(2, 164) = 0.61, p = .54, ηp = .01. that participants remembered the words that were Recall of presented words did not differ based presented frst signifcantly better than the words on which types of associates were presented presented in the middle (p < .001) or the words frst. The main effect of position was signifcant, presented at the end (p = .02) of the list. They also 2 F(2, 164) = 70.28, p < .001, ηp = .46. As can be seen remembered the words presented last signifcantly in Figure 1, the serial position effect was shown better than the words presented in the middle for all three presentation order conditions. Figure (p < .001) of the list. 2 shows that words presented first (M = 0.58, When high associates were presented at SE = 0.02) or last (M = 0.59, SE = 0.02) were the end of the list (MLH), the effect of position

TABLE 1 List and Presentation Orders 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Needle LHM Window MLH City HML Trash LHM Sweet HML Mountain LHM Doctor LHM Trash LHM City MLH Window MLH King HML Needle LHM Needle HML City HML Slow HML Mountain HML King HML Needle HML City HML Sweet LHM Doctor HML Bread MLH Mountain LHM Sweet HML Slow LHM Mountain HML Sweet MLH Bread LHM Needle LHM Trash MLH Slow HML King MLH Doctor LHM Sweet MLH Bread MLH Slow LHM King HML Mountain MLH Window MLH King MLH Trash LHM City HML Needle HML Doctor LHM King HML Trash MLH Doctor HML King HML Mountain LHM Slow HML Needle HML Bread MLH Needle HML Mountain HML Sweet LHM Slow HML Sweet LHM Doctor LHM Bread MLH Window MLH City MLH Window LHM Doctor LHM Doctor HML Bread LHM Slow HML Window MLH Needle HML Bread MLH Window LHM City MLH Trash LHM Slow HML Trash MLH Mountain MLH Sweet HML Doctor LHM Trash LHM Trash LHM Slow LHM Bread MLH Mountain MLH City HML Bread LHM City HML Window MLH King MLH King HML Sweet MLH Window LHM 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Mountain LHM Trash MLH Doctor HML Trash HML Sweet LHM Mountain MLH Doctor MLH Bread LHM Window HML Slow LHM Window LHM Sweet HML Slow MLH Mountain MLH Trash HML Mountain HML Needle LHM King LHM Sweet HML Needle MLH Window LHM Doctor MLH City LHM Sweet LHM Needle LHM Mountain HML Sweet MLH Trash MLH Sweet HML Bread HML Bread HML Slow MLH Needle MLH Slow MLH Trash HML City LHM Needle MLH King MLH City MLH Needle MLH Doctor MLH Bread HML King LHM Window HML Mountain HML Doctor HML Bread HML Mountain LHM Mountain MLH King LHM City LHM Window HML Sweet MLH Doctor MLH Bread HML Slow LHM King MLH Window HML Bread HML Doctor MLH Sweet MLH King LHM Trash HML City MLH Doctor HML Trash MLH Sweet LHM Needle MLH Window HML City LHM Slow MLH Bread LHM SUMMER 2020 Window LHM Mountain LHM Slow LHM King LHM Trash HML Slow MLH Trash HML Doctor MLH Needle LHM PSI CHI King MLH City MLH Needle MLH City LHM Window HML King LHM Bread LHM City LHM Slow MLH JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

on recall was also signifcant, F(2, 164) = 87.26, signifcantly worse than the words presented at the p < .001, η2 = .52 (see Figure 2). Post-hoc tests with beginning (p = .02) or at the end (p < .001), but the Bonferroni correction for familywise error they remembered the words at the beginning and revealed that participants remembered the words end of the list equally well (p = .32). that were presented last signifcantly better than Contrary to our hypothesis, the presentation the words presented in the middle (p < .001) or the order did have an effect on the serial position effect. words presented frst (p = .002) in the list. They also When highly associated items were presented in remembered the words presented frst signifcantly the beginning of a list, we found the typical serial better than the words presented in the middle position effect, but when the high associates were (p < .001) of the list. presented at the end, we found a greater recency Finally, when high associates were presented effect than primacy effect. Finally, when high associ in the middle of the list (LHM), the effect of ates were presented in the middle of the list, the position on recall was signifcant, F(2, 164) = 8.48, strength of the serial position effect was reduced p < .001, η2 = .09 (see Figure 2). Post-hoc tests (i.e., middle words were remembered better than with the Bonferroni correction for familywise expected). This is evidenced by the smaller effect error revealed that participants remembered the size for the serial position effect in this condition. words that were presented in the middle of the list The Effect of Serial Position on Memory FIGURE 1 for the Critical Lure Next, we calculated the proportion of critical lures 0.80 recalled separately for each list type (i.e., when 0.75 0.70 HML MLH LHM high, moderate, and low associates were presented 0.65 frst) by averaging the codes across lists with the 0.60 same order-of-word presentation. This resulted 0.55 0.50 in three outcome variables, one for each order- 0.45 of-word presentation (i.e., HML, MLH, & LHM). 0.40 Proportion of Words Recalled Words Proportion of We followed the same procedure to calculate the 0.35 0.30 proportion of critical lures recognized for each 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 order of associates. Serial Position of Presented Words A one-way within-subjects ANOVA with post- Figure 1. The proportion of presented words recalled by list order and serial position. This hoc tests using the Bonferroni correction for Type graph depicts the proportion of words recalled based on the position of the word and the I error was conducted to examine the effect of order of high, moderate, and low associated words within the list. For each list order, the data approximate a typical serial position curve. HML = high associates–moderate associates– serial position on recall. Our hypothesis was that low associates. MLH = moderate associates–low associates–high associates. LHM = low participants would be more likely to falsely recall associates–high associates–moderate associates. the critical lure when high associates were placed in FIGURE 2 the beginning of a list, rather than when moderate or weak associates were placed at the beginning of 0.70 the list. Results showed that there was a signifcant 0.60 effect of serial position on the proportion of critical 2 0.50 lures recalled, F(2, 164) = 6.32, p = .002, η = .07. 0.40 When high associates (M = 0.39, SD = 0.34) were First placed in the beginning of the list, participants 0.30 Middle Last falsely recalled a greater proportion of critical 0.20 lures than when moderate associates (M = 0.28, Proportion of Words Recalled Words Proportion of 0.10 SD = 0.26) and weak associates (M = 0.26, SD = 0.24) 0.00 HML MLH LHM were placed at the beginning of the list. There was List Order no signifcant difference in the proportion of criti Figure 2. The effect of list order on the serial position effect. This graph depicts the differences cal lures recalled between MLH and LHM orders in recall of first, middle, and last words based on the list order condition. For the high (see Figure 3). Results for recall supported our associates–moderate associates–low associates (HML) order, the typical serial position effect is seen. However, when high associates were presented in the middle or at the end of the list, hypothesis that serial position would have an effect SUMMER 2020 the serial position effect was modified. For the moderate associates–low associates–high on false recall. Power analysis revealed that there associates (MLH) order, the recency effect was stronger than the primacy effect, whereas in PSI CHI the low associates–high associates–moderate associates (LHM) order, the middle words were was adequate power to fnd this effect (power = .89). JOURNAL OF remembered more frequently than is typical for a list learning task. A second one-way within-subjects ANOVA was PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

conducted to examine the effect of serial position highly related items were placed at the end of the on recognition. We hypothesized that there would list is more readily explained by fuzzy trace theory be an effect of serial position on recognition of the (Brainerd & Reyna, 2002). Such results suggest critical lure. There was not, however, a signifcant that, when highly associated items were placed at effect of serial position on the number of critical the end of the list, the verbatim traces were stronger lures recognized, F(2, 130) = 2.10, p = .13, η2 = .03. than the gist traces at recall. This would have led to Although slightly more participants recognized suppression of the critical lure and the lower false the critical lure when high associates (M = 0.77, recall rates. SD = 0.27) were presented frst, the results were In our findings, there was not a difference not significantly different from either MLH in false recognition based on serial position. (M = 0.72, SD = 0.25) or LHM orders (M = 0.70, Participants recognized critical lures regardless of SD = 0.26; see Figure 4). This result did not support whether high, medium, or low associates were pre our hypothesis. Power analysis revealed that there sented frst. Fuzzy trace theory better explains this was not adequate power to fnd this small effect fnding. According to fuzzy trace theory, memory (power = .43); however, additional analyses revealed leaves both gist and verbatim traces (Brainerd & that a sample of 322 participants would have been Reyna, 2002). When a gist trace is strong, it can needed to fnd an effect of this size. cause a person to falsely remember something (Brainerd & Reyna, 2002). In our study, each list Discussion was made of associates of the critical lure, and The main fnding of this study was that the serial position of the high associates influenced the likelihood of recalling a critical lure but did not FIGURE 3 influence the likelihood of recognizing it. Below, 0.45 we discuss the theoretical implications of this study 0.40 and examine limitations to our study that could 0.35 0.30 have suppressed results. 0.25 In this study, we used the BAS values from 0.20 0.15 Roediger and colleagues (2001), and we divided 0.10 words into high, moderate, and weak associates 0.05 Proportion of Recalled Lures Critical 0.00 to the critical lure. We then randomized the serial HML MLH LHM position of these groupings. The placement of List Order highly associated items within a list did affect the Figure 3. The effect of the serial position of highly associated items on recall of the critical lure. This graph depicts the proportion of recalled critical lures as a function of the associative likelihood of a participant recalling the critical lure, strength of words that were presented first (serial position). There was a significant effect of such that participants recalled the critical lure more serial position on the number of critical lures recalled. When high associates were presented first, more critical lures were recalled than when medium associates p( = .01) or low associates often when high associates were placed frst. These (p = .002) were presented first. There was no significant difference in the proportion of critical results can be readily explained by the activation lures recalled when medium associates vs. low associates were presented first p( = .43). HML = high associates–moderate associates–low associates. MLH = moderate associates– monitoring theory (Roediger & McDermott, 1995). low associates–high associates. LHM = low associates–high associates–moderate associates. When the highly associated items were placed frst in the list, it might have caused activation of the FIGURE 4 critical lure earlier in the list learning process. Later, when recalling the list, participants might 0.9 0.8 have found it more diffcult to determine the source 0.7 of activation because of the time that passed from 0.6 0.5 the activation during learning. It could also be the 0.4 case that placing the highly associated items frst in 0.3 0.2 the list led to stronger activation of the semantic 0.1 0.0 network. Thus, activation spreads to include the Recognized Proportion Lures of Critical HML MLH LHM critical lure, along with other highly related items List Order during encoding. When the brain fails to accurately Figure 4. The effect of the serial position of highly associated items on recognition of the critical monitor which items are truly seen, false memory lure. This graph depicts the proportion of recognized critical lures as a function of the associative strength of words that were presented first. There was not a significant effect of serial position SUMMER 2020 occurs. That monitoring error leads participants to on the number of critical lures recognized. HML = high associates–moderate associates–low believe they saw the nonrepresented items in the list associates. MLH = moderate associates–low associates–high associates. LHM = low associates– PSI CHI high associates–moderate associates. viewed. However, the lower rate of false recall when JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

the specifc associates did not change, only their to complete the recall test before the recognition position in the list changed. This should result in test for every word list. This could have resulted the same gist trace regardless of the position of in the recall test influencing performance on the the words, thus there was no difference in false recognition test. This could be why recognition of recognition based on serial position. Participants the critical lures was so high in our sample. Finally, recollected strong gist traces, which likely caused we did not test the words for emotional relevance. If the critical lure to seem familiar, and they therefore some lists were less neutral than others, this could recognized it as part of the studied list. The gist have affected participants recall of presented words trace is a fuzzy representation of what was encoded, and their recall of the critical lure. so viewing the critical lure that the list they just saw was derived from will cause participants to think Future Research that they saw it during the study period. There is a plethora of future research directions Ebbinghaus (1948), and many others since, in the realm of false memory. Based on the fnd found that individuals can remember items better ings of the current study, future work could focus when presented at the beginning of a list. This on the effect of instruction wording on recall primacy effect has long been thought to be due and recognition. In the current study, we did not to rehearsal (Murdock, 1962), but our results explain to participants what a critical lure was nor suggest that other factors may be at work as well. did we discuss information about false recollection. The activation of the semantic networks associated Warning participants about the potential for false with the words individuals are rehearsing may also recall of a critical lure could impact their attention contribute to this primacy effect. The combination to the word lists and could decrease their recall of rehearsal and activation, particularly when the of the critical lure. Indeed, multiple studies have high associates are presented frst, seems to increase supported this (e.g., Carneiro & Fernandez, 2010; the likelihood of false recall of the critical lure. Newstead & Newstead, 1998; Watson, McDermott, Participants recalled the critical lure more because & Balota, 2004). having high associates in the beginning not only Another direction that future research could allows them to process and store them thoroughly, it take would be to examine lists of emotion-inducing also adds stronger semantic connections to the criti words. Emotional stimuli are often better remem cal lure. Our results showed no recency effects for bered in controlled environments (Charles, Mather, recall or recognition. Recency effects are typically & Carstensen, 2003). It would also be interesting thought to be due to the recent words remaining to examine whether stimuli other than words (e.g., in working memory without maintenance (e.g., pictures) could induce false memory. We could Fiore, Borella, Mammarella, & Beni, 2012; Wiswede, examine this on its own or in combination with Rüsseler, & Münte, 2007). Our results seem to sup emotional relevance. This could be a way to connect port this. We found no difference in the recall or false memory in controlled laboratory environ recognition of the critical lure when high associates ments to false memory in real-world settings such were presented in the middle of the list versus at as witness statements or perpetrator identifcation the end of the list. This suggests that the words in a line-up. that remain salient in working memory are the These possible directions in research are actual presented words instead of the critical lure. important to explore so that people can apply these Activation of the semantic network does not change fndings to real-world problems and techniques. In what participants saw most recently, so there is not education, researchers and teachers are constantly a failure of source memory for the recency effect. developing and updating strategies to help students remember what they learn such as creating strong Limitations associations or mental imagery that students can This study does have some limitations regarding connect to the information they are learning. the word lists that were chosen. First, some lists may Additionally, participants in this study showed hold stronger overall connections to the critical higher false memory rates in the recognition task lure, and thus, result in higher false memory rates than in the recall task. This result could help stu than other lists. This could have contributed to the dents with their test-taking strategies for multiple SUMMER 2020 high rates of recognition of the critical lures that choice exams by teaching them to focus on recall PSI CHI might have masked the effect of serial position on frst. Encoding specifcity research would support JOURNAL OF false recognition. Second, participants were asked this idea as well. Wiseman and Tulving (1976) PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

have shown recognition failures in the absence Fiore, F., Borella, E., Mammarella, I. C., & De Beni, R. (2012). Age differences in verbal and visuo-spatial working memory updating: Evidence from analysis of cues that were present at study. In the present of serial position curves. Memory, 20, 14–27. study, no cues were presented for the words during https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2011.628320 study, recall, or recognition, which may be why Gallo, D. A. (2010). False memories and fantastic beliefs: 15 years of the DRM illusion. Memory & Cognition, 38, 833–848. https://doi.org/10.3758/mc.38.7.833 participants showed higher rates of recognition Gallo, D. A., & Roediger, H. L. (2002). Variability among word lists in eliciting than recall. memory illusions: Evidence for associative activation and monitoring. 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Spreading activation and recall and recognition, so the results of this study arousal of false memories. In H. L. Roediger, J. S. Nairne, I. Neath, & A. M. Surprenant (Eds.), Science conference series. The nature of remembering: contributed to the knowledge about how the place Essays in honor of Robert G. Crowder (pp. 95–115). ment of items varying in associative strength can https://doi.org/10.1037/10394-006 affect what someone remembers. We have shown Roediger, H. L., & McDermott, K. B. (1995). Creating false memories: Remembering words not presented in lists. Journal of Experimental that the serial position of highly associated items Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 21, 803–814. did influence false recall, but not false recognition. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.21.4.803 These results are very positive and worthy of further Roediger, H. L., Watson, J. M., McDermott, K. B., & Gallo, D. A. (2001). Factors that determine false recall: A multiple regression analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin study by others looking to delve deeper into how & Review, 8, 385–407. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03196177 serial position, or other manipulations, can affect Stadler, M. A., Roediger, H. L., & McDermott, K. B. (1999). Norms for word lists that an individual’s memory. create false memories. Memory & Cognition, 27, 494–500. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03211543 Tulving, E. (1985). How many memory-systems are there? American Psychologist, References 40, 385–398. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.40.4.385 Arndt, J. (2012). The influence of forward and backward associative strength on Watson, J. M., McDermott, K. B., & Balota, D. A. (2004). Attempting to avoid false false memories for encoding context. Journal of Experimental Psychology: memories in the Deese/Roediger–McDermott paradigm: Assessing the Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 38, 747–756. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026375 combined influence of practice and warnings in young and old adults. Beato, M. S., Cavadid, S., Pulido, R. F., & Pinho, M. S. (2012). No effect of stress on Memory & Cognition, 32, 135–141. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03195826 false recognition. Psicothema, 25, 25–30. Wiseman, S., & Tulving, E. (1976). Encoding specificity: Relation between recall https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2012.158 superiority and recognition failure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Brainerd, C. J., & Reyna, V. F. (2002). Fuzzy-trace theory and false memory. Human Learning and Memory, 2, 349–361. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 164–169. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197394 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00192 Wiswede, D., Rüsseler, J., & Münte, T. F. (2007). Serial position effects in free Carneiro, P., & Fernandez, A. (2010). Age differences in the rejection of false memory recall – An ERP-study. Biological Psychology, 75, 185–193. memories: The effects of giving warning instructions and slowing the https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2007.02.002 presentation rate. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 105, 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2009.09.004 Author Note. Josephine Audiffred, Charles, S. T., Mather, M., & Carstensen, L. L. (2003). Aging and emotional https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8276-8299, Department of memory: The forgettable nature of negative images for older adults. Journal Psychology, Saint Xavier University; Carissa L. Broadbridge, of Experimental Psychology: General, 132, 310–324. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1041-4771, Department of http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.132.2.310 Psychology, Saint Xavier University. Deese, J. (1959). Influence of inter-item associative strength upon immediate free This research study was supported by the Provost’s recall. Psychological Reports, 58, 305–312. Student-Faculty Collaboration Grant provided by Saint Xavier https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1959.5.3.305 University. Ebbinghaus, H. (1948). Concerning memory, 1885. In W. Dennis (Ed.), Century Correspondence concerning this article should be psychology series. Readings in the history of psychology addressed to Josephine Audiffred, 5649 S Trumbull Avenue, SUMMER 2020 (pp. 304–313). https://doi.org/10.1037/11304-034 Chicago, Illinois, 60629. E-mail: [email protected] PSI CHI JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Puberty, Parents, and Depression: An EMA Study in Adolescent Girls Danielle Apple and Stefanie Sequiera University of Pittsburgh

ABSTRACT. Pubertal onset has frequently been shown to predict depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. Research has also suggested that parents play an important role during this developmental period. The goal of the present study was to test whether high parent–child (PC) closeness might buffer the link between pubertal status and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. To do this, we used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to assess adolescents’ perceptions of their closeness to their parents in daily life. One-hundred-ffteen 11–13-year-old female adolescents reported on their parental closeness using a smartphone for 16 days. They also self-reported on their depressive symptoms, pubertal status, and parental closeness using questionnaires. Surprisingly, findings failed to support an association between pubertal status and depressive symptoms, and no interaction between pubertal status and closeness on depressive symptoms was found. Interestingly, however, the EMA measure of closeness was signifcantly correlated with pubertal status for closeness to dad and closeness to mom at trend level but not with depressive symptoms. Alternatively, the questionnaire measure of closeness was significantly correlated with depressive symptoms but not with pubertal status. These results suggest that how adolescent girls report on relationships may be important for understanding associations between pubertal status, depressive symptoms, and parenting. The fndings have implications for the future investigation of the relationship between puberty and depressive symptoms and for the use of EMA and questionnaires to study PC relationship quality. Keywords: depression, puberty, parent–child relationships, ecological momentary assessment

ne trend that emerges in adolescence is Conger, Elder, & Simons, 1994; Ge, Natsuaki, a significant increase in rates of major Neiderhiser, & Reiss, 2009; Hazel, Oppenheimer, Odepressive disorder (Avenevoli, Swendsen, Technow, Young, & Hankin, 2014). However, few He, Burstein, & Merikangas, 2015) and depressive studies have examined how PC relationships may symptoms (Gardner & Lambert, 2019; Vannucci, moderate the association between puberty and Flannery, & McCauley Ohannessian, 2018) among depressive symptoms. Because puberty can be a female adolescents. Existing research has suggested signifcant source of stress in an adolescent girl’s life that these increases are explained in part by the (Conley & Rudolph, 2009; Steinberg, 2017), a warm onset of puberty (Angold, Costello, & Worthman, parental relationship may help buffer the effects of 1998; Lewis et al., 2018). A separate body of puberty on depressive symptoms. Further, the work SUMMER 2020 literature has also suggested that positive parent– that has been done has focused on self-reported child (PC) relationship qualities may buffer the PC relationship quality but has not examined PC PSI CHI JOURNAL OF effects of stress on adolescent depressive symptoms relationship variables as experienced by adolescents PSYCHOLOGICAL (Anderson, Salk, & Hyde, 2015; Ge, Lorenz, in daily life (Benoit, Lacourse, & Claes, 2013; RESEARCH

Booth, Johnson, Granger, Crouter, & McHale, One proposed theory for the association 2003; Rudolph & Troop-Gordon, 2010). Thus, the between pubertal status and depression in girls is primary goal of the current study was to use the the stressful change hypothesis, which posits that Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to test the the changes associated with puberty, particularly hypothesis that PC closeness would moderate the menarche, are inherently stressful and contribute relationship between pubertal status and depressive to increased vulnerability to depression (Joinson symptoms in adolescent girls. et al., 2011). In one study, researchers found that girls who had already reached menarche had higher Socioemotional Effects of Puberty levels of salivary cortisol and depressive symptoms Effects of puberty on depressive symptoms. More than both girls who had not reached menarche and advanced pubertal status (i.e., the level of devel boys, thus lending support to the stressful change opment based on visible physical changes) is hypothesis (Trépanier et al., 2013). associated with more depressive symptoms in girls Effects of puberty on PC relationships. Socially, both concurrently (Conley & Rudolph, 2009) pubertal development has been linked to important and longitudinally (Conley, Rudolph, & Bryant, changes in interpersonal relationships during 2012; Ge, Elder, Regnerus, & Cox, 2001; McGuire, adolescence. Due to the physical changes associated McCormick, Koch, & Mendle, 2019; Trépanier et with puberty, young girls may be perceived as more al., 2013). Studies using the Tanner stages (measure mature or sexually active (Compian, Gowen, & of secondary sex characteristics; Angold et al., 1998) Hayward, 2009), and consistent with a biosocial and the onset of menarche (Joinson, Heron, Lewis, model, these changes can impact an adolescent’s Croudace, & Araya, 2011; Trépanier et al., 2013) social relationships (Booth et al., 2003). For as measures of pubertal development found that example, the emergence of secondary sex charac mature girls reported higher levels of depressive teristics signals the ascent to reproductive maturity, symptoms than both immature girls and boys in which may elicit strong emotions from both parent general. Notably, pubertal status has been shown to and child and lead to changes in PC interactions be a better predictor of depressive symptoms than (Paikoff & Brooks-Gunn, 1991). In addition to age (Angold et al., 1998; Conley & Rudolph, 2009). adapting to the physical changes in their pubescent Additionally, puberty partially explains the gender child, parents must adjust to adolescents becoming differences in depression rates that begin to emerge more invested in the peer group and less interested around age 13, with girls showing greater increases in spending time with family (Laursen & DeLay, in depressive symptoms (Angold et al., 1998; Lewis 2011; Suleiman & Dahl, 2019). et al., 2018; Salk, Hyde, & Abramson, 2017). As adolescents undergo changes during A major biological change that occurs dur puberty, they typically experience diminished ing puberty is the increase in sex hormones. feelings of closeness with their parents (Steinberg, Elevated estrogen and testosterone are associated 1988; Suleiman & Dahl, 2019), which partially with increases in depressive symptoms (Angold, results from increases in adolescent desire for Costello, Erkanli, & Worthman, 1999). These privacy and less parent–adolescent physical affec hormones stimulate the development of second tion (Keijsers, Branje, Frijns, Finkenauer, & ary sex characteristics like pubic and body hair Meeus, 2010; Steinberg, 2017). Puberty appears to growth and breast development, as well as gains in affect both maternal and paternal relationships; height and weight (Steinberg, 2017). Adolescent when examined separately, decreases in both girls may not be prepared for these potentially maternal and paternal closeness were associated stressful physical changes, and these changes with more advanced pubertal status (Steinberg, may affect their self-esteem and mood beyond 1987). Alternatively, a later study found decreases the effects of the hormones themselves (Ge et in father–daughter closeness but not mother– al., 2003). Additionally, increased activation of daughter closeness with increasing pubertal status the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis leads to (Steinberg, 1988). Notably, girls generally report increased release of cortisol in response to stress more overall closeness with mothers than with during puberty, which may heighten an adolescent fathers (Steinberg, 2017). Therefore, it is important girl’s risk for developing depressive symptoms to examine maternal and paternal relationships SUMMER 2020 (Gunnar, Wewerka, Frenn, Long, & Griggs, 2009; separately when studying their influences on PSI CHI Trépanier et al., 2013). adolescent adjustment. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Effects of PC Relationships on Depression association between stress and depressive symptoms The link between PC relationships and adolescent in adolescent girls. Despite evidence for the buffer depression has been extensively studied, with ing hypothesis found in these studies, others did not research suggesting that positive PC relation fnd similar support (Burton, Stice, & Seeley, 2004; ship qualities may serve as a protective factors Greenberger et al., 2000). One explanation for against adolescent depressive symptoms (Finan, contrary fndings may be the use of parent-report Ohannessian, & Gordon, 2018; Gariépy, versus child-report measures of closeness (Ge et al., Honkaniemi, & Quesnel-Vallée, 2016; Ge et al., 2009). Further, relying on self-report measures of 2009). For example, studies have found that high PC relationship quality may be subject to recall bias. parental warmth and support are associated with An alternative data collection method that fewer depressive symptoms in adolescent girls assesses PC relationship quality in a natural setting, (Cumsille, Martínez, Rodríguez, & Darling, 2015; such as EMA, may help address these recall bias Greenberger, Chen, Tally, & Dong, 2000), and a issues. EMA allows researchers to collect data in recent meta-analysis found that strong parental real-time, thus maximizing ecological validity and relationships predict better depressive symptom minimizing recall bias often seen in retrospective trajectories (Shore, Toumbourou, Lewis, & Kremer, reporting (Shiffman, Stone, & Hufford, 2007). 2018). Thus, these studies suggest that parents still EMA can provide information on an adolescent’s play an important role in protecting against the current emotional state and potential contribut onset of depression in their adolescents, despite a ing factors to that state, such as the presence of a decline in closeness (Suleiman & Dahl, 2019) and parent or peer (Silk et al., 2011). For example, in time spent together (Steinberg, 2017). a study of clinically depressed adolescents, Forbes Many of these studies consider mothers and and colleagues (2012) used EMA to assess factors fathers as a single parenting dimension (i.e., contributing to treatment response. They found parental), but other researchers have emphasized that time spent with fathers as measured by EMA using separate measures of maternal and paternal predicted better treatment response. In a study relationship qualities (Bean, Bush, McKenry, & using the experience sampling method (similar to Wilson, 2003; Vazsonyi & Belliston, 2006). In one EMA; Csikszentmihalyi & Larson, 1987), research study, researchers compared maternal and paternal ers found that although the overall time spent with relationship qualities and found maternal support family decreased from early to late adolescence, and closeness accounted for more variance in both time spent alone with mother and with adolescent depressive symptoms than paternal father did not significantly decrease (Larson, support and closeness (Vazsonyi & Belliston, 2006). Richards, Moneta, Holmbeck, & Duckett, 1996). However, other studies have found that, even when Furthermore, they found that girls reported an measured separately, maternal and paternal close increase in talking with their mothers alone, and ness (Ge et al., 2009; Vazsonyi & Belliston, 2006) the topics discussed became more interpersonal and support (Needham, 2007; Vazsonyi & Belliston, in nature from early to late adolescence. Although 2006) are both negatively associated with adolescent some work has been done with EMA assessing a depressive symptoms. These results suggest that child’s time spent with parents (Forbes et al., 2012; both mothers and fathers play a critical role in Larson et al., 1996; Silk et al., 2011), no study to our protecting against adolescent depressive symptoms knowledge has used EMA to examine child’s report and should be measured separately when examin of closeness with parents and how that affects the ing parental relationships. relationship between pubertal status and depressive The buffering hypothesis posits that social symptoms. support can buffer the effects of stressful life events on risk for depression (Cohen & Wills, 1985). The Interactions Between Puberty, Depression, literature surrounding the buffering hypothesis as and PC Relationships it relates to PC relationships and risk for depression Although there is robust evidence supporting the is mixed. In one study, higher parent-reported link between puberty and depressive symptoms, PC relationship quality buffered the effects of puberty and PC relationships, and depressive symp peer stress on depressive symptoms (Hazel et al., toms and PC relationships, there is less research on SUMMER 2020 2014). Other studies found that maternal, but not the association among all three variables. One pos PSI CHI paternal, warmth and support (Ge et al., 1994) sible way to conceptualize the relationship among JOURNAL OF and closeness (Ge et al., 2009) moderated the these variables is the contextual-amplification PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

model, which suggests that pubertal maturation is between pubertal status and depressive symptoms. related to depression risk in certain interpersonal contexts that exacerbate depressive symptoms The Present Study (Benoit et al., 2013; Rudolph & Troop-Gordon, PC relationship quality appears to play an impor 2010; Winer, Parent, Forehand, & Breslend, 2016). tant role in the association between pubertal timing Rudolph and colleagues (2010) examined the and adolescent depressive symptoms (e.g., Benoit moderating role of family contextual factors on the et al., 2013; Rudolph & Troop-Gordon, 2010), but association between pubertal timing and depression more research is needed to better understand how in 167 adolescents. Whereas pubertal status is an PC relationship quality affects this relationship. objective measure of an adolescent’s pubertal stage, Furthermore, we sought to investigate the role pubertal timing is an adolescent’s pubertal status of parental closeness as a potential buffer on the relative to their age (Rudolph & Troop-Gordon, link between puberty and depressive symptoms. 2010). Earlier pubertal timing predicted depressive This is important because puberty appears to symptoms only in girls who reported high or moder influence perceptions of PC closeness (e.g., ate levels of family stress and in girls whose mothers Steinberg, 1988), and high parental closeness has endorsed high or moderate levels of depression. been directly linked to lower depressive symptoms Researchers have suggested that these contextual in adolescents (Ge et al., 2009). In addition, few risk factors decrease the available parental warmth studies have examined maternal and paternal close and support needed for early-maturing adolescents ness separately, which is a gap in the literature this to handle the challenges of puberty (Rudolph & study sought to address (Bean et al., 2003; Vazsonyi Troop-Gordon, 2010). & Belliston, 2006). Finally, most of the previous Other studies have also found support for literature relied on retrospective questionnaires the contextual amplifcation model with respect conducted in the lab to assess PC relationship to pubertal timing (Benoit et al., 2013). In a quality. The current study utilized EMA in order to longitudinal study of 1,431 adolescents, Benoit and colleagues (2013) measured pubertal timing address the issue of retrospective reporting while at ages 12–13 and perceived parental rejection at providing insight on PC relationships in natural, ages 14–15 to determine if early pubertal timing real-time conditions (Wilson, Smyth, & MacLean, predicted depressive symptoms in late adolescence 2013). (ages 16–17) and if parental rejection moder There were two main goals to this study. The ated this association. Early pubertal timing was first was to examine the link between pubertal associated with more depressive symptoms in status and depressive symptoms in a sample of adolescent girls, and this relationship was moder adolescent girls. The second goal was to examine ated by perceived parental rejection, such that the separate effects of mother–daughter relation more depressive symptoms were reported in early ship quality and father–daughter relationship developing girls who had higher perceived parental quality on the link between pubertal status and rejection. Although authors found support for the depression. In accordance with prior literature contextual-amplifcation model, the current study (Conley & Rudolph, 2009; Conley et al., 2012; Ge was interested in measures of pubertal status rather et al., 2001; Lewis et al., 2018), we hypothesized than pubertal timing. Although there is evidence first that more advanced pubertal status would that both pubertal timing and status are signifcant be associated with more depressive symptoms. predictors of depression (Conley & Rudolph, 2009), Second, we hypothesized that both maternal and studies comparing the two have found that pubertal paternal closeness would moderate the associa status is a better predictor (Joinson et al., 2012; tion, such that the relationship between pubertal Lewis et al., 2018). Given these fndings and the increased risk of depression in girls at the onset of status and depressive symptoms would be weaker puberty, regardless of timing (Angold et al., 1998), for girls who report more closeness and stronger pubertal status will be measured as opposed to for girls who report less closeness. An exploratory pubertal timing. Additionally, these studies focus on aim was to examine whether these models are negative relationships qualities such as high paren signifcant for both mothers and fathers. Because tal rejection (Benoit et al., 2013) and family stress using EMA to measure parental closeness is novel, (Rudolph & Troop-Gordon, 2010). The current a second exploratory aim was to test whether SUMMER 2020 study sought to assess how a positive relationship the EMA fndings replicate with the Network of PSI CHI quality, high PC closeness, might buffer the link Relationships Inventory-Relationships Quality JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Version (NRI-RQV), a questionnaire assessing the participant and their primary caregiver to assess parental closeness (Furman & Buhrmester, 1985). current and past DSM-5 diagnoses. Participants were eligible to continue based on their WASI Method score (IQ > 70) and no exclusionary current or Participants past diagnoses. One-hundred-fifteen adolescent girls between During Visit 2 at the lab, participants com the ages of 11 and 13 (M = 12.3, SD = 0.8) were pleted a variety of behavioral tasks that are not recruited from the community through advertise addressed in the current study. At the end of Visit ments and announcements. Participants were 2, participants were given an Android smartphone oversampled for shy/fearful temperament, which and provided with details about the EMA protocol has been shown to predict depression in later and how to use the smartphone. The EMA protocol adolescence and adulthood (Murberg, 2009). Shy/ lasts 16 days, during which participants were asked fearful temperament was assessed using the Early questions about recent social interactions and Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised their behavioral and emotional responses to these (EATQ- R), and about two-thirds of participants interactions. were considered at high-risk for depression while one-third was considered at low-risk for depression Measures (Ellis & Rothbart, 2001). Pubertal Development Scale (PDS). Pubertal status Participants could not meet criteria for a DSM-5 was measured using the female PDS (Petersen, current or lifetime diagnosis of major depres Crockett, Richards, & Boxer, 1988), a self-report sive disorder, anxiety disorder (except specific measure used to assess physical development. phobia), or any psychotic or autism spectrum Correlations between self-reported PDS and disorder, as measured by the Kiddie-Schedule for physician ratings of physical development range Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and between .61 and .67 (Brooks-Gunn, Warren, Rosso, Lifetime version (K-SADS-PL; Kaufman et al., 1997). & Gargiulo, 1987). The current study utilized the Additional exclusionary criteria included an IQ < 70 coding system developed by Shirtcliff, Dahl, and as determined by the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale Pollak (2009) that converts the PDS to a 5-point of Intelligence (WASI; Wechsler, 2011), presence of scale reflecting the Tanner stages. The scale reflects head injury or congenital neurological anomalies, hormonal signs of development: pubic/body hair lifetime presence of a neurological or serious and skin changes are associated with adrenarcheal medical condition, acute suicidality, pregnancy, hormones (i.e. DHEA), while menarche, growth uncorrected visual disturbance, or medications that spurt, and body changes are associated with affect the central nervous system. gonadal hormones (Shirtcliff et al., 2009). In this sample, the PDS demonstrated acceptable reliability Procedures (Cronbach’s α = .76; Cortina, 1993). The study, which was approved by the University Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ). of Pittsburgh Institutional Review Board, assessed Current depressive symptoms were measured using participants at three time points. At Time 1 (ages the child-reported MFQ (Costello & Angold, 1988). 11–13) and Time 2 (ages 13–15) participants The scale consists of 33 items that describe depres completed several lab visits consisting of clinical sive symptoms for children and adolescents ages evaluations, questionnaires, and behavioral and 8–18. Participants rated each statement as “True,” neuroimaging tasks. At Time 3 (ages 14–16) “Sometimes,” or “Not True.” The MFQ was flled participants completed clinical evaluations and out by both parent and child; however, only the questionnaires. The current study will only use data child-report scale was used for the current study from Time 1, which consisted of three visits and a because parents may underestimate depressive 2-week, home-based EMA protocol that occured symptoms in their children (Wood, Knoll, Moore, between Visit 2 and 3. & Harrington, 1995), and the curent study was During Visit 1, occurring in the lab, participants interested in the child’s own perceptions of their gave informed consent and were told their eligibil depressive symptoms. In this sample, the MFQ ity for Visit 2 would be determined at the end of demonstrated high reliability (Cronbach’s α = .87). SUMMER 2020 Visit 1. A research assistant administered the WASI Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). PSI CHI and a trained graduate student or doctoral-level PC closeness was reported by participants in JOURNAL OF clinical interviewer administered the K-SADS-PL to real-time using EMA. Using a smartphone app PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

for Web Data Express developed by the Office dad more than three times, data on her closeness of Academic Computing in the University of to mom was still used. Similarly, we used paternal Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry, partici data for girls who only reported being with their pants entered their responses to questions about father more than three times. their daily interactions with parents and peers Closeness to mom ratings (calculated on a into an Android smartphone. Participants were 0–100 scale) were summed and divided by the total sampled over 16 consecutive days by receiving an number of time points the participant endorsed electronic notification to respond to questions being with mom to achieve an average closeness about their social interactions and responses to rating. This analysis was repeated identically but those interactions. A maximum of 54 completed separately for closeness to dad ratings. This analysis EMA samples was possible because participants was sensitive to the fact that participants were not received notifications three times per day on with either parent at every sampling. weekdays (once in the morning between 7 a.m. and Main analysis. Pubertal status, depressive 8 a.m. and twice between 4 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.) and symptoms, and closeness ratings were included as four times per day on the weekends between 10 a.m. continuous variables. All variables were centered for and 9:30 p.m. Participants received notifcations ease of interpretation prior to analyses. First, the at random points throughout these prespecifed direct effect of pubertal status on depressive symp time intervals. In our sample, the average number toms was tested by running a multiple regression of contacts completed was 42, and fve participants analysis using SPSS version 24.0 while controlling completed all 54 EMA samples. for participant age. Second, the moderating role After receiving a notifcation, participants were of parental closeness on the link between pubertal led through a series of questions about their recent status and depressive symptoms was tested in a social interactions. Specifcally, participants were moderation model using the PROCESS macro for asked to report all the people they were with when SPSS (Hayes, 2017). The moderation model was they received the notifcation (e.g., mother, father, frst tested using EMA data while controlling for friend) and indicate how close/connected they participant age and frequency of interactions with feel with that person on a scale from “Not at all” parents over the 16-day period. This model was to “Extremely” by sliding a bar on the application. evaluated separately for reported closeness to moms Network of Relationships Inventory- and dads. Second, the model was tested using the Relationship Qualities Version. The NRI-RQV was NRI-RQV questionnaire as an alternative measure tested in the moderation model separately from of maternal closeness only. EMA as an alternative measure of PC closeness. The questionnaire consists of 30 items with 10 scales; Results fve assess positive relationship qualities, and fve Preliminary Analyses assess negative qualities (Buhrmester & Furman, The average age of participants was 12.3 years 2008). A closeness factor can be computed by (SD = 0.82). Our sample was relatively diverse, with averaging the scores from the fve positive scales. 67% identifying as White, Nonhispanic, 25% Black, The child can fll out the NRI-RQV about any family Nonhispanic, 1% Asian, 1% Native American, and member or friend. For the current study, they were 10% biracial or multiracial. Sixty-seven percent of only asked to rate their mother; therefore, we only participants reported currently living with both tested the NRI-RVQ in the moderation model for biological parents, 17% lived with their biological closeness to mothers. In this sample, the NRI-RQV mother, 9% lived with their biological mother demonstrated high reliability (Cronbach’s α = .93). and stepfather, and the remaining 8% reported other living arrangements (i.e., biological parents- Data Analysis joint custody, biological mother and boyfriend/ EMA data analysis. PC closeness was assessed by girlfriend, adoptive parent, and grandparent). analyzing the closeness question if participants Analyses of Variance revealed that there were no endorsed being with either their mother or father at signifcant differences based on racial group and least three times over the 16-day period. Participants living arrangements on the primary study variables who identifed being with a parent fewer than three (i.e., depressive symptoms, pubertal status, and times were excluded from the EMA analyses for average closeness). SUMMER 2020 that parent. If a participant endorsed being with Examination of the variables included in PSI CHI her mom more than three times but not with her the model revealed that all variables appeared JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

normally distributed. However, we did find low Interestingly, preliminary analyses revealed variability in higher levels of depressive symptoms. that the EMA measure of closeness had a small Scores on the MFQ in this sample ranged from 0 yet signifcant correlation with pubertal status for to 30 (out of a possible 66), and although overall dads (r = -.29, p = .011) and moms at trend level variability in depressive symptoms was moderate (r = -.21, p = .051) but was not signifcantly corre (variance = 47.79), only two participants reported lated with child depressive symptoms. Alternatively, MFQ scores above what is considered the clinical the questionnaire measure of closeness was signif cutoff signaling the potential presence of major cantly correlated with child depressive symptoms depressive disorder (total score > 26). (r = -.22, p = .021) but was not signifcantly cor Table 1 presents means and standard devia related with pubertal status. Girls with more tions for the variables included in the model as well depressive symptoms reported less closeness to as preliminary analyses conducted to determine their mom retrospectively using the NRI-RVQ, and the relationships between various study variables. girls with more advanced pubertal status reported Bivariate correlations revealed that participant less closeness to their moms and dads in real-time age was positively related to pubertal status using EMA. (r = .46, p < .001), so participant age was included as a covariate to isolate effects of pubertal status. Effect of Pubertal Status on Depression Average closeness scores were signifcantly associ A simple linear regression was run to examine ated with frequency of contacts between the the effect of pubertal status on child depressive participant and her mother (r = .21, p = .043) and symptoms, controlling for child age and parental between the participant and her father (r = .11, history of major depressive disorder. This overall p = .086), so frequency of contacts was controlled model was not signifcant, F(2, 97) = 0.30, p = .745, for in further analyses. Bivariate correlations R2 = .014. Fourteen participants were missing data revealed that the EMA measure of closeness was on pubertal status. These participants did not differ signifcantly correlated with the NRI-RQV closeness from participants with pubertal status data on age factor (r = .50, p < .001); therefore, the NRI-RQV or depressive symptoms (ps > .39). Three partici was tested in the moderation model as an alternate pants were missing data on depressive symptoms. measure of mother–child closeness. These participants did not differ from participants with data on age or pubertal status (ps > .09). TABLE 1 PC Closeness as a Moderator Between Pubertal Pearson Correlations of Study Variables and Measures Status and Depressive Symptoms Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The PROCESS macro for SPSS (Hayes, 2017) 1 Age – was used to test whether PC closeness (centered) 2 PDS .46* – moderated the relationship between pubertal 3 MRQ-C -.12 -.06 – status (centered) and child depressive symptoms. Participant age and frequency of contacts (with 4 Parental MDD .002 -.09 .17 † either mom or dad) were included as covariates. 5 EMA Maternal -.13 -.21 † -.03 -.03 – Four participants were excluded from the mater Cloesness nal model and nine participants were excluded 6 EMA Paternal -.18 -.29* -.005 -.10 .88** – Closness from the paternal model due to having less than three contacts. No signifcant interactions were 7 Frequency -.21* -.05 -.16 -.28** .21* .27* – Contact Mom found for closeness to mom or closeness to dad. We ran follow-up analyses including participants 8 Frequency .007 .13 -.23* -.21 .03 .19 † .58** – Contact Dad with less than three contacts with either parent, 9 NRI-RQV .03 -.01 -.22* -.11 .50** .46** .29** .16 – and the results did not change. As an exploratory aim, the model was also tested using the NRI-RQV as an alternate measure of maternal closeness. M 12.3 3.54 8.88 0.29 68.3 64.3 8.94 7.04 3.89 Again, no signifcant interaction was found. All SD 0.82 1.06 6.91 0.46 23.2 23.03 4.41 3.89 0.72 analyses reported above were repeated while Note. PDS = Pubertal Development Scale, MFQ-C = Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, child report, MDD = Major Depressive controlling for parental history of major depressive Disorder, EMA = Ecological Momentary Assessment, NRI-RVQ = Network of Relationships Inventory, Relationship Qualities Version. disorder (yes/no), and there were no signifcant † p < .10. * p < .05. ** p < .010. changes in results.

Discussion (androgens; Shirtcliff et al., 2009). Some research The goals of the current study were to test the ers have argued that indicators of pubertal status relationship between pubertal status and depres should be separated because different hormones sive symptoms in a sample of adolescent girls and appear to be differentially related to depressive examine the potential moderating role of PC symptoms (Angold et al., 1999; Joinson et al., closeness on this association. To test this model, 2012; Lewis et al., 2018). For example, Lewis and we gathered self-report data of pubertal status colleagues (2018) examined breast and pubic hair and depressive symptoms and used EMA to col growth separately and found that breast develop lect data on participants’ daily contacts with their ment, but not pubic hair growth, was associated parents and momentary feelings of closeness to with more depressive symptoms both concurrently their parent. Retrospective questionnaire data on and prospectively. Thus, a relationship between parental closeness were also collected to serve as a pubertal status and depressive symptoms might not comparison to EMA. have been detected in our study because we used a Inconsistent with our frst hypothesis, we did composite measure of pubertal status rather than not fnd a signifcant relationship between partici looking at specifc changes. pants’ pubertal status and depressive symptoms. We The stressful change hypothesis suggests thus failed to replicate prior research suggesting that puberty is an inherently stressful event that that more advanced pubertal status is associated increases risk for depressive symptoms in girls. with more depressive symptoms in adolescent girls The experience of pubertal stress is often transient (Conley & Rudolph, 2009; Conley et al., 2012; Ge and therefore might not have been captured in et al., 2001). One potential explanation for these our measure of depressive symptoms (Joinson et fndings could be the use of a self-report measure al., 2011). Perhaps specific changes associated of pubertal development. As previously discussed, with puberty are more important in predicting we used the PDS to measure perceived pubertal depressive symptoms than puberty itself, such development according to the Tanner stages, which as physical changes in body shape. Interestingly, reflect different secondary sex characteristics that Vogt Yuan (2007) found that adolescent girls’ are driven by different hormones (Shirtcliff et al., perceptions of being overweight explained the 2009). Pubertal onset is associated with an increase relationship between pubertal status and depressive in both gonadal (i.e., estrogen and testosterone) symptoms; pubertal status alone was not signifcant and adrenal (i.e., cortisol) hormones, which in turn in this model. In other studies, researchers found are associated with increased risk for depressive that pubertal development predicted depressive symptoms (Angold et al., 1999; Gunnar et al., 2009). symptoms only in adolescent girls who had poor Angold and colleagues (1999) compared two mea body image (Marcotte, Fortin, Potvin, & Papillon, sures of puberty, the Tanner stages and hormonal 2002) or lower body esteem (Hamlat et al., 2015). assays (testosterone and estrogen) on their effects Taken together, these studies suggest that, although on depressive symptoms. Both measures predicted puberty leads to physical changes, the perception depressive symptoms; however, the effect of puber of these changes is more important in predicting tal changes as measured by the Tanner stages on depressive symptoms than pubertal status alone. depressive symptoms was no longer signifcant when Another stressful change in adolescence hormones were added to the model. Conversely, that was not measured in the current study is the the effects of hormones on depressive symptoms increasing importance and influence of peers remained significant even when controlling for (Laursen & DeLay, 2011; Steinberg, 2017). For the Tanner stages. This fnding suggests that using example, researchers have found that puberty hormones as a measure of pubertal status may be interacts with peer stress (Conley et al., 2012) and more sensitive in predicting depressive symptoms peer victimization (Hamlat et al., 2015) to predict than the Tanner stages. Indeed, a recent study depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. A more using Tanner stages recommended that future recent study found that both pubertal status and studies use direct hormonal measures to examine peer rejection sensitivity prospectively predicted effects of puberty on depressive symptoms (Lewis et al., 2018). more depressive symptoms (McGuire et al., 2019), Furthermore, the PDS is a composite measure and another found that peer support predicted of pubertal development; it measures changes that fewer depressive symptoms (Shore et al., 2018). SUMMER 2020 Taken together, these results suggest that earlier are driven by different hormones, such as breast PSI CHI development (estrogen) and pubic hair growth pubertal development may negatively affect girls’ JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

social relationships, and this peer stress contributes focused on negative interpersonal factors, but to depressive symptoms during a developmental they also measured pubertal timing rather than time when peer approval is extremely important. pubertal status. Perhaps a measure of pubertal Thus, similar to the physical changes occurring timing, which assesses pubertal status within the during puberty, the peer stress associated with context of age and the status of peers, would more puberty may be more important in predicting strongly predict depressive symptoms. Future work depressive symptoms during adolescence than should examine whether high parental closeness is pubertal status itself. a more salient protective factor against the negative Current findings also did not support the effects associated with early pubertal timing rather hypothesized moderation model, such that neither than pubertal status. mother-daughter closeness nor father-daughter Although we did not fnd support for the pro closeness moderated the relationship between posed model, we did fnd an interesting difference pubertal status and depressive symptoms. We did between the EMA and questionnaire measures not fnd support for this moderation with either the of closeness in our preliminary analyses. Both EMA measure of maternal and paternal closeness measures were highly correlated; however, there or the questionnaire measure of maternal close were differences in how these measures related ness. Prior research has suggested that a close PC to depressive symptoms and pubertal status. The relationship may serve as a protective factor against NRI-RVQ was correlated with adolescent depres developing depressive symptoms in adolescence sive symptoms, but the EMA measure of closeness in the presence of adverse/stressful life events was not correlated with depressive symptoms. (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Ge et al., 1994; Ge et al., Girls who reported more depressive symptoms 2009), family and school stress (Greenberger et retrospectively reported less closeness to their al., 2000), romantic stress (Anderson et al., 2015), mom, but when asked to report on closeness in real and peer stress (Hazel et al., 2014). Although time via EMA, there was no difference compared puberty can contribute to these different stressors, to girls who reported fewer depressive symptoms. a measure of puberty itself as an indicator of stress One explanation for this fnding may be related to may not be strong enough to detect the potential autobiographical memory bias. Youth with more buffering effects of positive PC relationship quali depressive symptoms often exhibit overgeneralized ties on depressive symptoms. Future studies should negative memory biases; that is, when they recall examine specifc stressors influenced by puberty events, they remember them as more negative than and how parents can serve as a protective factor they actually experienced in the moment (Silk against developing depressive symptoms in the et al., 2011). Our study shows that EMA may be presence of these stressors. used to circumvent this autobiographical memory Furthermore, the current study drew from the bias and may provide a more accurate picture of contextual-amplifcation model, which posits that their perceived closeness with their parents as it is pubertal maturation is related to depression risk experienced in daily life. This may have important in certain interpersonal contexts that exacerbate implications for understanding the mechanisms depressive symptoms (Benoit et al., 2013; Rudolph through which depression influences perceptions & Troop-Gordon, 2010). However, these studies of PC relationship quality. examined more negative relationship quality Alternatively, we found that only the EMA factors such as high family stress, maternal depres measure of closeness was correlated with pubertal sion, and parental rejection. Positive relationship status. Girls with more advanced pubertal status qualities such as high closeness may not act in reported less closeness to their parents in daily a way to decrease risk for depressive symptoms as life using EMA compared to girls who were less negative qualities do to increase risk. Although advanced, but there was no difference based on low parental closeness can also serve as a negative pubertal status when girls were asked to report relationship quality factor, it may not be as salient retrospectively on their parental relationships. as harsh parenting or overt parental rejection and Given that puberty is associated with increased thus may not exacerbate depressive symptoms to PC distance and decreased feelings of closeness the extent that other negative relationship qualities (Suleiman & Dahl, 2019), girls with more advanced SUMMER 2020 do. In addition, prior studies showing support for pubertal status may experience less momentary PSI CHI the contextual-amplifcation model (Benoit et al., closeness with their parents but may not recall less JOURNAL OF 2013; Rudolph & Troop-Gordon, 2010) not only closeness when asked to reflect retrospectively on PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

their relationships. EMA appears to be detecting There is a potential response bias, such that par differences in experienced parental closeness ticipants who completed more EMA contacts might based on pubertal status that questionnaire mea have been more motivated to accurately and actively sures may not detect. report on their experiences. Researchers must There are several study limitations that should also consider the issue of reactivity, where asking be addressed. First, the study only included ado participants to observe and report on their thoughts lescent girls ages 11–13. Gender differences in and behavior may influence those thoughts and depression begin to emerge around age 13 (Salk behaviors (Shiffman et al., 2007). Furthermore, our et al., 2017), and only two participants in the study EMA measure of closeness was a single item asking reached the clinical cutoff for potential presence how close or connected the adolescent feels to her of depression (Costello & Angold, 1988). Although parent. Future work should incorporate more ques two-thirds of participants were considered at risk tions to capture the nuances of PC relationships; for depression due to having shy/fearful tem for example, perhaps an adolescent feels close to perament, the present study was a cross-sectional a parent in the moment but not supported in their secondary analysis of a longitudinal project. recent decisions, potentially affecting how they Examining how pubertal status at Time 1 predicted make their closeness rating. It is also important depressive symptoms at Time 2 or 3 might have to note that participants who reported being allowed us to see an association between pubertal with a parent less than three times were excluded status and depressive symptoms. Another limitation from analyses, which could skew the data toward is our use of the PDS as a composite measure of adolescents with positive parental relationships. pubertal status; research has suggested that specific However, only four participants were excluded pubertal changes may be associated with depressive in the maternal model and nine participants in symptoms (Joinson et al., 2012; Lewis et al., 2018). the paternal model, and the inclusion of these Additionally, the PDS does not directly measure participants in follow-up analyses did not change hormonal changes, which may be more predictive the results. of depressive symptoms (Angold et al., 1999). Despite the limitations of EMA, it also reflects Future studies should investigate this relationship using an alternative measure of pubertal status. It a strength of the current study. EMA is an eco is important to note that participants only rated logically valid measure that allowed us to measure their mother on the questionnaire measure of participants’ closeness to their parents in real-time closeness because most participants completed the and in naturalistic settings, which indicates how dyadic visits with their mother, and because they adolescent girls experience and perceive close completed a battery of questionnaires and tasks ness to their parents in everyday life (Shiffman during this visit, they were only asked to rate their et al., 2007). Furthermore, the EMA measure of mother to reduce burden for participants. When closeness was significantly correlated with the comparing EMA to questionnaire measures of NRI-RQV, a widely used questionnaire measure of closeness, it would be useful to rate both parents PC relationship quality. In support of validity, our separately. Finally, our sample, although somewhat EMA measure of parental closeness appears to be diverse, was primarily White and of a restricted age tapping into positive PC relationship qualities. This range. Further, few participants reported clinically study contributed to the growing body of literature signifcant depressive symptoms; thus, our results that advocates for the use of ecologically valid may not generalize to other female adolescent measures when studying adolescent emotions and populations. social interactions (Forbes et al., 2012; Silk et al., There are also potential limitations to using 2011). Another strength of the study is the separate EMA. EMA is an intensive process that requires examination of maternal and paternal closeness. participants to continuously report on their emo Although we did not fnd support for either model tions and behavior, so sampling may be biased such of parental closeness, it is important to continue that only some participants will respond, or certain looking at moms and dads separately to capture times during the day may be reported on more than the differences in these relationships and how they others (Shiffman & Stone, 1998). Additionally, the independently contribute to adolescent adjustment SUMMER 2020 average number of completed EMA contacts was 42, (Bean et al., 2003; Vazsonyi & Belliston, 2006). PSI CHI and only fve participants completed all 54 contacts. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Conclusion hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310–357. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310 The results of the current study have important Compian, L. J., Gowen, L. K., & Hayward, C. (2009). The interactive effects of implications for future investigations. First, when puberty and peer victimization on weight concerns and depression examining the relationship between pubertal symptoms among early adolescent girls. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 29, 357–375. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431608323656 status and depressive symptoms in adolescent girls, Conley, C. S., & Rudolph, K. D. (2009). The emerging sex difference in adolescent researchers should consider using measures of depression: Interacting contributions of puberty and peer stress. pubertal status other than the PDS (Angold et al., Developmental Psychopathology, 21, 593–620. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579409000327 1999; Joinson et al., 2012). Future studies should Conley, C. S., Rudolph, K. D., & Bryant, F. B. (2012). Explaining the longitudinal also examine the influence of puberty-related association between puberty and depression: Sex differences in the changes on depressive symptoms, such as changes mediating effects of peer stress.Developmental Psychopathology, 24, 691–701. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579412000259 in body image (Marcotte et al., 2002; Vogt Yuan, Cortina, J. M. (1993). What is coefficient alpha? An examination of theory and 2007) and peer relationships (Conley et al., 2012). applications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 98–104. Second, the results of this study have important https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.78.1.98 Costello, E. J., & Angold, A. (1988). Scales to assess child and adolescent implications for the use of EMA and questionnaire depression: Checklists, screens, and nets. Journal of the American measures when studying adolescent girls and their Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 726–737. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-198811000-00011 parental relationships. EMA may be a useful tool Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1987). Validity and reliability of the for avoiding autobiographical memory bias in experience sampling method. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175, adolescents with some depressive symptoms (Silk 526–536. Cumsille, P., Martínez, M. L., Rodríguez, V., & Darling, N. (2015). Parental and et al., 2011), and it may detect differences in PC individual predictors of trajectories of depressive symptoms in Chilean relationship quality in daily life that questionnaire adolescents. International Journal of Clinical Health Psychology, 15, measures may not detect. Future work should 208–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2015.06.001 Ellis, L. K., & Rothbart, M. K. (2001). 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Shyness predicts depressive symptoms among anxiety: Contextual amplification in family and peer environments. Journal adolescents. School Psychology International, 30, 507–519. of Child and Family Studies, 25, 1375–1384. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034309107065 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0318-0 Needham, B. L. (2007). Reciprocal relationships between symptoms of Wood, A., Knoll, L., Moore, A., & Harrington, R. (1995). Properties of the mood and depression and parental support during the transition from adolescence to feelings questionnaire in adolescent psychiatric outpatients: A research young adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 893–905. note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 327–334. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9181-7 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1995.tb01828.x Paikoff, R. L., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1991). Do parent-child relationships change during puberty? Psychological Bulletin, 110, 47–66. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.110.1.47 Author Note. Danielle Apple, https://orcid.org/0000- Petersen, A. C., Crockett, L., Richards, M., & Boxer, A. (1988). A self-report 0003-0278-311X, Department of Psychology, University of measure of pubertal status: Reliability, validity, and initial norms. Journal of Pittsburgh; Stefanie Sequiera, https://orcid.org/0000- Youth and Adolescence, 17, 117–133. 0001-8622-8652, Department of Psychology, University of Rudolph, K. D., & Troop-Gordon, W. (2010). Personal-accentuation and Pittsburgh. contextual-amplification models of pubertal timing: Predicting youth Danielle Apple is now at the Department of Psychology at depression. Developmental Psychopathology, 22, 433–451. Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579410000167 This study was supported by the National Institute of Salk, R. H., Hyde, J. S., & Abramson, L. Y. (2017). Gender differences in depression Mental Health (project number: 5R01MH103241-05) in representative national samples: Meta-analyses of diagnoses and symptoms. Psychological Bulletin, 143, 783–822. Special thanks to Dr. Jennifer Silk and Psi Chi Journal https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000102 reviewers for their support. Shiffman, S., & Stone, A. A. (1998). Introduction to the special section: Ecological Correspondence concerning this article should be momentary assessment in health psychology. Health Psychology, 17, 3–5. addressed to Danielle Apple, Drexel University, Philadelphia, https://doi.org/10.1037/h0092706 PA. E-mail: [email protected] SUMMER 2020

PSI CHI JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Relationships Between Self-Leadership, Psychological Symptoms, and Self-Related Thought in an Undergraduate Sample Sarah A. Myers , Carissa L. Philippi* , Leah Reyna, and Gregory Dahl University of Missouri–St. Louis

ABSTRACT. The concept of self-leadership was developed in the 1980s as an integral component of Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS). According to IFS, a self-led person can more effectively manage stress and diffcult life events. These enhanced coping abilities associated with self-leadership are thought to reduce symptoms of psychiatric disorders. Several studies have investigated self-leadership in connection with workplace behavior, psychological health, and physical health. Few studies have examined the relationship between self-leadership and psychological symptoms in a community sample. Another important question is whether self-leadership is related to other established measures of self-related thought. In the current study, adult undergraduate participants (n = 166) completed self-report measures assessing psychological symptoms and self-related thought. We predicted that there would be a relationship between (H1) self-leadership and fewer psychological symptoms and (H2) self-leadership and lower levels of negative self-reference, but higher positive self-regard. Our findings revealed significant negative relationships between self-leadership and symptoms of depression (p < .001, f 2 = .55), posttraumatic stress disorder (p < .05, f 2 = .03), and social anxiety (p < .001, f 2 = .21). Enhanced self-leadership was also associated with distinct correlations with measures of negative versus positive aspects of self-related cognition. Specifcally, self-leadership was associated with lower levels of self-rumination (p = .005, f 2 = .05) and negative self-related responses (p = .002, f 2 = .06), but greater levels of self-reflection (p < .001, f 2 = .12) and positive self-related responses (p = .021, f 2 = .03). These fndings provide novel empirical support for a relationship between self-leadership, symptoms of psychological conditions, and measures of self-related thought. Keywords: depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, self-leadership, internal family systems

elf-leadership was developed as a tool for of mindfulness and nonjudgmental awareness. clients to moderate their own psychiatric Similar to a family dynamic, parts of a personality Ssymptoms within Internal Family Systems may cause conflict and extremes in the family system (IFS) therapy (Schwartz, 2013). IFS therapy defnes of a person’s inner psyche, and the self cultivates SUMMER 2020 the self as the central leader and moderator of cooperation within the internal ecosystem so as psychiatric symptoms, whereas self-leadership refers to be a caregiver to traumatized, sad, or resentful PSI CHI to the ability to comfort, regulate, and improve parts that result from psychiatric symptoms. The JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL one’s psychiatric symptoms by achieving a state purpose of the present study was to investigate RESEARCH

142 COPYRIGHT 2020 BY PSI CHI, THE INTERNATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY IN PSYCHOLOGY (VOL. 25, NO. 2/ISSN 2325-7342) *Faculty mentor Myers, Philippi, Reyna, and Dahl | Self-Leadership in an Undergraduate Sample

the relationship between self-leadership and suggest that IFS therapy may reduce symptoms psychiatric symptoms. Foundational to IFS therapy associated with different psychiatric conditions is the notion that self-leadership can reduce the (Schwartz, 1995; Sweezy & Ziskind, 2013), there symptoms experienced by many of those patients is reason to hypothesize that higher levels of self- suffering from mental illness (Schwartz, 1995). leadership would be associated with fewer symptoms Self-leadership is characterized by the traits of of anxiety, depression, and PTSD. The self-report compassion, objectivity, nonjudgment, creativity, questionnaires assessing psychological symptoms and calmness. Schwartz described working with used in the present study are directly related to patients who experienced severe childhood trauma Schwartz’s clinical observations of the presence who, during the course of IFS therapy, were able to of anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms. In instantly access a mindful state that is a hallmark the current study, we tested this hypothesis in a trait associated with the self. This mindful state is nonclinical undergraduate sample of adults with an indicator of the presence of self-leadership and primarily subclinical levels of self-reported psychi is necessary for a client to develop the skills needed atric symptoms. to generate their own ability to calm the psychiatric It is also unknown whether self-leadership is symptoms (Schwartz, 1995; Sweezy & Ziskind, associated with other well-established psychological 2013). Schwartz observed in clinical sessions that measures of self-related thought. Several studies traits of self-leadership are lower before beginning have demonstrated relationships between self- therapy and associated with greater psychiatric referential cognition and psychiatric conditions, in symptoms. Based on these clinical observations, particular when the self-focused thoughts are con it has been proposed that the enhanced coping centrated on negative aspects about oneself (e.g., abilities associated with adequate self-leadership “I am worthless”). Using a variety of different mea would lead to a reduction in symptoms of prevalent sures, a greater bias toward negative self-focused psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, cognition has been consistently documented in and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Schwartz, depression (Hards et al., 2020; Ingram et al., 1987; 1995). These enhanced coping abilities can take the Ingram & Smith, 1984; Joormann et al., 2006; Kaiser form of mindful observation of extreme emotions, et al., 2018; Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 2008; Siegle et being present with sadness and anger, developing al., 2004; Smith & Greenberg, 1981) as well as in independent internal conflict resolution strategies, social anxiety/social phobia in both clinical and and learning to self-soothe (e.g., baths, quiet time, nonclinical populations. Consequently, in the pres walks). ent study, we included several self-report scales and Although IFS therapy is currently used in sev an open-ended sentence completion task to assess eral countries to treat different psychiatric disorders both negative and positive aspects of self-related (e.g., anxiety, depression, PTSD; Anderson, 2013; thought, including self-consciousness, rumination, Schwartz, 2013; Sweezy & Ziskind, 2013; Twombly, self-reflection, and self-focused thought that is 2013; Wonder, 2013), empirical research investigat either positively or negatively valenced (Ingram et ing associations between self-leadership and mental al., 1987; Ingram & Smith, 1984; Woodruff-Borden health is limited. Previous correlational studies have et al., 2001). Characterizing the relationship examined self-leadership in connection with stress, between self-leadership and other measures of coping styles, physical health, and workplace out self-referential cognition could help support the comes (Dolbier et al., 2001, 2010), marital problems convergent validity of self-leadership and may (Green, 2008), and body dissatisfaction (Bezner et further refne the construct of self-leadership as al., 1997). For example, one study found that higher defned within IFS. self-leadership was correlated with reduced stress, In the current study, we frst examined how healthier coping styles, increased optimism, better self-leadership relates to mental health based on health, and improved work outcomes (Dolbier et self-report measures of depression, anxiety, PTSD, al., 2001). Another study reported positive cor and social anxiety symptoms in a sample of under relations between self-leadership and stress-related graduates. Second, we investigated the relationship growth (Dolbier et al., 2010). However, to our between self-leadership and positive and negative knowledge, no studies outside of clinical observa features of self-related thought using self-report tions have yet examined the relationship between measures and a sentence completion task. The SUMMER 2020 self-leadership and psychological symptoms in a hypotheses were twofold: (a) Self-leadership was PSI CHI community sample. Given that specifc case studies expected to negatively correlate with psychological JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

symptoms, and (b) self-leadership was expected to defned by IFS. This scale has 20 items measuring be associated with lower levels of negative self-focus qualities that are considered hallmarks of self-lead (e.g., rumination), but higher levels of positive ership including calmness, confdence, creativity, self-reference (e.g., self-reflection). courage, and compassion. Participants rate each item on a scale from 1 (almost never/never occurs) Method to 5 (almost always/always occurs). Some example Participants and Procedure items include, “I feel a sense of inner peace” or “I We collected data from undergraduate students treat myself with kindness.” Higher scores on this ages 18 to 61 years of age (n = 166; 27 male/131 scale indicate higher levels of self-leadership (e.g., female) enrolled in psychology courses at a optimal psychological well-being, mindfulness, non- Midwestern University. The average (SD) age of judgmental awareness). The internal consistency of participants was 23 years old (7.1). Participants had the self-leadership scale in the present sample was varying levels of education including some college high (Cronbach’s α = .94). (20.2%), associate’s degree (16.5%), bachelor’s The Beck Depression Inventory-II. This scale degree (18.6%), professional degree (17.6%), and (BDI-II; Beck et al., 1996) was chosen to measure doctoral degree (2.1%). Greater than half of par self-reported symptoms of depression. The BDI-II is ticipants were European American/White (56%), one of the most widely used tools to assess depres approximately one third of participants were sion symptoms (Beck et al., 1996). Psychometric African American/Black (32%), and the remain studies have provided support for good convergent ing participants were Hispanic/Latino (4.8%), and discriminant validity of the BDI-II (Schotte et Asian/Pacifc Islander (3%), and other (6.6%). al., 1997; Steer et al., 1997). The BDI-II consists of All participants gave informed consent according 21 items that assess depressive symptoms such as to a protocol approved by the Institutional Review worthlessness, loss of energy, and fatigue. Each item Board. All students received course credit for their is rated on a scale from 0 (an absence of symptoms) to participation in the study. See Table 1 for all study 3 (maximum severity). Example options for worthless variables (described below). ness item range from “I do not feel I am worthless” to “I feel utterly worthless.” The scores across all Measures items were summed up to calculate the total depres Self-leadership scale. This scale (Steinhardt et sion score for each participant. Total depression al., 2003) was used to measure self-leadership as scores can range from 0 to 63, with higher scores indicating greater severity of depressive symptoms. The internal consistency of the BDI-II in the present TABLE 1 sample was high (Cronbach’s α = .94). Study Variables The Beck Anxiety Inventory. This scale (BAI; Variable M(SD) pa Beck & Steer, 1990) was selected to measure self- Self-Leadership 71.7(15.8) .445 reported anxiety symptoms because it has evidence for adequate convergent and discriminant validity Psychological Symptom Measures (Fydrich et al., 1992; Steer et al., 1993). The BAI Depression 12.1(11.3) .387 consists of 21 items that measure situations, sensa Anxiety 13.2(11.7) .001 tions, and thoughts that are associated with anxiety. PTSD 22.2(18.6) .512 Items on the BAI are rated on a scale from 0 (not Social Anxiety 10.2 (3.4) .003 at all) to 3 (severely). Some example items include “numbness or tingling” and “diffculty in breath Self-Related Thought Measures ing.” Scores across all items were then summed up Private Self-Consciousness (SCSR) 17.9 (4.8) .151 to compute a total anxiety score. The anxiety scores Public Self-Consciousness (SCSR) 14.0 (3.4) .114 can range from 0 to 63, and higher scores indicate Self-Rumination (RRQ) 43.3 (9.4) .041 greater anxiety. The internal consistency of the Self-Reflection (RRQ) 41.0 (8.8) .016 BAI in the present sample was high (Cronbach’s = .93). Negative Self-Related Responses (SCT) 0.17(0.15) .408 α PTSD Checklist for DSM-5. The checklist Positive Self-Related Response (SCT) 0.34(0.17) .128 (PCL-5; Weathers et al., 2013) is a 20-item question SUMMER 2020 Note. PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder; SCSR = Self-Consciousness Scale-Revised; RRQ = naire used to assess PTSD symptoms (Blevins et Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire; SCT = Self-Focus Sentence Completion Task. PSI CHI aDifferences between female n( = 131) and male (n = 27) participants were evaluated for all al., 2015), including re-experiencing, avoidance, JOURNAL OF variables using one-sample t tests and p values are reported. negative alterations in cognition and mood, and PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

hyperarousal. Participants rate how much they Participants rated each item on a scale ranging were bothered by their symptoms in the past month from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). As in from 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely). Some examples previous studies, scores were calculated separately include “repeated, disturbing dreams of the stress for Self-Rumination and Self-Reflection subscales ful experience” and “avoiding memories, thoughts, (Trapnell & Campbell, 1999). Psychometric or feelings related to the stressful experience.” research indicates that these subscales have good Psychometric research suggests that the PCL-5 has convergent and discriminant validity (Trapnell & good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .96), Campbell, 1999). In the current sample, the inter test-retest reliability (r = .84), and convergent and nal consistency was high for the Self-rumination discriminant validity (Bovin et al., 2016). For the (Cronbach’s α = .92) and Self-reflection subscales present study, we focused on total PTSD severity (Cronbach’s α = .87). scores, which were calculated by summing the Self-Focus Sentence Completion Task. scores across all items. The internal consistency of This measure assessed self-focus and researchers the PTSD checklist for DSM-5 in the present sample have provided evidence for its reliability and was high (Cronbach’s α = .96). validity based on six validation studies using large Self-Consciousness Scale-Revised. This scale normative and clinical samples (Exner, 1973). (SCSR; Scheier & Carver, 1985) is a 23-item self- For the sentence completion task, participants report questionnaire designed to measure thoughts were given 30 different sentence stems to complete and behaviors related to personal insight and (e.g., “I think…” or “My father…”). Participants self-focused attention. Psychometric analysis of were instructed to complete each sentence as they this questionnaire has revealed adequate internal wished, with no other instruction regarding the consistency (Cronbach’s α = .75-.84), test-retest content of their responses. As in previous research reliability (.74-.77), and evidence for convergent (Exner, 1973), each participant’s response was scored and discriminant validity (Carver & Glass, 1976; based on four focus categories: (a) self-focused Scheier & Carver, 1985; Turner et al., 1978). Some (e.g., I think… “therefore I am.”), (b) other-focused example items include “I’m quick to notice changes (e.g., It upsets me when… “the Cardinals do not in my mood” and “I think about myself a lot.” For win.”), (c) self- and other-focused (e.g., If only I each item, participants used a 4-point rating scale would… “have enough money to support myself ranging from 0 (not at all like me) to 3 (a lot like and my family.”), or (d) non-person-focused (e.g., me). Separate scores were computed for the three When I look in the mirror… “I see a reflection.”). subscales of the self-consciousness scale used most We also coded each response for overall valence frequently in clinical and subclinical populations (as in Ingram & Smith, 1984), including positive, (Hope & Heimberg, 1988; Ingram & Smith, 1984; negative, and neutral, which resulted in focus- Jostes et al., 1999): Public Self-Consciousness, by-valence categories. Total scores corresponded Private Self-Consciousness, and Social Anxiety. to the sum of all responses for each response Higher scores on the SCSR indicate greater levels of category. Four pairs of two raters, blinded to public self-consciousness, private self-consciousness, the other behavioral data, were trained in and social anxiety. The internal consistency of sentence completion task coding in two steps. the SCSR in this sample was adequate for public The raters first separately scored all responses self-consciousness (Cronbach’s α = .80), private for focus and valence. Using a two-way random self-consciousness (Cronbach’s α = .75), and social effects intraclass correlation coefficient, anxiety (Cronbach’s α = .85) and comparable to interrater reliability was calculated for these previous studies (Scheier & Carver, 1985). The initial ratings for this group and adequate Public and Private Self-Consciousness subscales interrater reliability was found for each response were included in self-related thought measures category included in the analyses (self-negative whereas the Social Anxiety subscale was included responses = .85; self-positive responses = .87; in the psychopathology measures. reliability was averaged across raters), which was Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire. This within acceptable limits (Exner, 1973). Second, questionnaire (Trapnell & Campbell, 1999) is a the raters conferred and agreed on a fnal code 28-item self-report questionnaire assessing aspects for each response (e.g., self-focused and positive of ruminative thought or negative self-related valence). The fnal codes for the total proportion of thought patterns (e.g., “Often I’m playing back over self-negative and self-positive responses were used in SUMMER 2020 in my mind how I acted in a past situation”) and self- the present study (e.g., total number of self-focused PSI CHI reflection (e.g., “I love exploring my inner self”). negative responses / total self-focused responses). JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Data Analysis all measures including self-report symptoms of We used SPSS 25 for all data analysis. We performed depression, = -.58, t(156) = -9.34, p < .001, f 2 = .55, two separate multiple regression analyses to PTSD, = -.15, t(156) = -2.16, p < .05, f 2 = .03, and examine the association between self-leadership social anxiety, = -.30, t(156) = -5.73, p < .001, f 2 = and measures of psychopathology and self-related .21. Self-leadership was not signifcantly related thought. For each regression, we performed outlier to anxiety symptoms, = .06, t(156) = 1.00, p = .32. tests using established tests of influence in regres Collinearity statistics for all variables were within sion with the following criteria: Cooks distance > 1 normal limits: VIF = 1.1–1.9, tolerance = .5–.9. All (Cook & Weisberg, 1982), leverage > .13 (Stevens, results remained signifcant after controlling for 2012), and Mahalanobis distance > 15 (Barnett & age, gender, education, and ethnicity and excluding Lewis, 1994). Based on these tests, number of outli outliers (see Table 2). ers varied between 0, 1, 4, 5, or 6 depending on the regression. We deleted the participant outlier score Self-Leadership and Measures only for that specifc regression analysis as opposed of Self-Related Thought to using listwise deletion for outliers. In line with our second hypothesis, self-leadership Demographic information was not available for was inversely correlated with almost all measures all participants (missing age for n = 25; gender for assessing negative aspects of self-related thought, n = 8; education for n = 15; ethnicity for n = 15), and positively correlated with measures assessing therefore analyses reported below controlling for positive aspects of self-related thought. Specifcally, demographic variables did not include these partici higher levels of self-leadership were associated pants. A few participants (n = 5) were also missing with lower levels of self-rumination, = -.24, for depression, anxiety, and PTSD measures. In this t(159) = -2.83, p = .005, f 2 = .05, and negative case, these participants were not included in the self-related responses on the sentence completion analyses with these psychopathology measures, but task, = -.21, t(159) = -3.09, p = .002, f 2 = .06. On the they were included in the other analyses. other hand, higher levels of self-leadership were Results associated with greater levels of self-reflection, = .33, t(159) = 4.29, p < .001, f 2 = .12, and positive Demographic Information self-related responses on the sentence completion Age was signifcantly correlated with self-reflection, task, = .16, t(159) = 2.34, p = .021, f 2 = .03. There was r = .31, p < .001, but not with any other psycho no signifcant relationship between self-leadership logical symptoms or self-related thought variables and private self-consciousness, = -.06, t(159) = -0.67, (ps = .28–.95). Differences between female and p = .51, or public self-consciousness, = -.04, male participants were present for anxiety, t(159) = -0.51, p = .61. Collinearity statistics for all t(154) = -3.87, p = .001, social anxiety, t(156) = -3.07, variables were within normal limits: VIF = 1.1-1.9, p = .003, self-rumination, t(153) = -2.06, p = .041, tolerance = .5-.9. After controlling for all demo and self-reflection variables, t(155) = -3.87, p = .001. graphic variables and removing outliers, all results There was a signifcant difference in education level remained signifcant (see Table 3). for positive, F(6,142) = 4.33, p < .001, and negative, F(6,142) = 7.48, p < .001, self-related responses Discussion on the sentence completion task, but not for any In the present study, we investigated the con other variables (ps = .11–.98). There was a sig nections between self-leadership, psychological nifcant difference in ethnicity for self-leadership, symptoms, and self-related thought in a nonclinical F(4, 144) = 2.88, p = .025, but not for any other setting. Our results supported our hypotheses. First, variables (ps = .13–.75). As a result of these analyses we found that higher levels of self-leadership were and outlier tests, we also report the results of two follow-up multiple regression analyses controlling associated with less severe self-reported symptoms for age, gender, education, and ethnicity and of depression, PTSD, and social anxiety even after excluding outliers in all analyses below. controlling for age, gender, education, and ethnic ity. Second, we also demonstrated that higher levels Self-Leadership and Psychological Symptoms of self-leadership were correlated with reduced SUMMER 2020 Consistent with our frst hypothesis, participants negative self-related thought as well as greater positive self-reference. PSI CHI who scored higher on self-leadership had signif JOURNAL OF cantly fewer psychological symptoms across almost Our results indicating that higher levels of PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

self-leadership were correlated with diminished (Dolbier et al., 2001), physical self-esteem (Bezner psychological symptoms are consistent with past et al., 1997), and stress-related growth (Dolbier et research on self-leadership in nonclinical samples al., 2010). Given that self-leadership is comprised showing enhanced psychological functioning (e.g., of qualities such as compassion and confdence, it is healthy coping styles), reduced stress, greater not surprising that greater self-leadership would be perceived wellness, and stress-related resilience related to both diminished negative self-reference (Bezner et al., 1997; Dolbier et al., 2001, 2010). To and increased positive self-perception. Our fndings our knowledge, this was the frst empirical study are also relevant to compassion-focused therapy, to reveal a (negative) correlation between the which includes training individuals to cultivate self-leadership scale and psychological symptoms self-compassion (Gilbert, 2009; Gilbert & Irons, of depression, PTSD, and social anxiety in a 2018). Similar to research on self-leadership, nonclinical sample. Importantly, these findings greater self-compassion has been associated with remained significant after controlling for age, several benefts to psychological and physical health gender, education, and ethnicity. Broadly, our (see Bluth & Neff, 2018, for review). Together, results are consistent with the IFS model, in which these fndings also provide support for convergent appropriate self-leadership as cultivated through validity of the self-leadership scale as a measure of IFS therapy is thought to be associated with reduced positive aspects of self-referential cognition. This symptoms in patients with mental health conditions is particularly relevant to IFS therapy, which seeks (Anderson, 2013; Schwartz, 1995, 2013; Sweezy & Ziskind, 2013; Twombly, 2013; Wonder, 2013). TABLE 2 However, the present fndings were correlational and based on a nonclinical sample of individuals Multiple Regression Analyses Between with lower levels of psychological symptoms. As a Self-Leadership and Psychological Symptoms result, replication in a clinical sample will be neces Controlling for Demographic Variables sary. A recent randomized control trial suggested Psychological Symptom Measures B SE B β pa that IFS may be associated with sustained increases Depression -.58 .10 -.45 <.001 in self-compassion and decreases in depressive Anxiety .06 .08 .06 .46 symptoms (Shadick et al., 2013). This is relevant PTSD -.12 .06 -.19 .03 to our fndings because the largest effect size we Social Anxiety -1.27 .26 -.34 <.001 found was for the analysis relating self-leadership Note. PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder. to depressive symptoms. However, Shadick et al. did aIn a follow-up multiple regression analysis controlling for age, gender, education, and ethnicity not assess changes in self-leadership. Longitudinal and excluding outliers, relationships between self-leadership and all psychological symptom measures remained significant, except for anxiety. Collinearity statistics were within the normal treatment studies will be necessary to investigate limits: VIF = 1.1–2.0, tolerance = .5–.9. Participants without age, gender, education, or ethnic- whether IFS therapy increases self-leadership and ity information were not included in the multiple regression analyses. diminishes psychiatric symptoms in clinical samples and how IFS differs from other forms of therapy in TABLE 3 promoting self-leadership. Multiple Regression Analyses Between When comparing self-leadership with other Self-Leadership and Self-Related Thought measures of self-related thought, we identified Controlling for Demographic Variables distinct relationships with both negative and posi tive aspects of self-referential cognition. Specifcally, Self-Related Thought Measures B SE B β pa self-leadership was inversely correlated with lower Private Self-Consciousness (SCSR) -.04 .31 -.01 .89 levels of self-rumination after covarying for demo Public Self-Consciousness (SCSR) -.20 .31 -.07 .52 graphic factors. These fndings are consistent with a Self-Rumination (RRQ) -.48 .14 -.35 .001 previous study in undergraduate students reporting Self-Reflection (RRQ) .40 .16 .25 .01 a negative correlation between self-leadership and ineffectiveness or the tendency to perceive oneself Negative Self-Related Responses (SCT) -16.58 7.83 -.19 .04 as inadequate, worthless, and insecure (Dolbier et Positive Self-Related Responses (SCT) 20.93 6.75 .26 .002 al., 2001). By contrast, greater self-leadership was Note. SCSR = Self-Consciousness Scale-Revised; RRQ = Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire; SCT = Sentence Completion Task. positively correlated with increased positive self-ref aIn a follow-up multiple regression analysis controlling for age, gender, education, and ethnicity SUMMER 2020 erence on the sentence completion task. Our results and excluding outliers, all relationships remained significant, except for private and public self- consciousness. Collinearity statistics were within the normal limits: VIF = 1.2–2.3, tolerance = mirror prior work demonstrating relationships .4–.8. Participants without age, gender, education, or ethnicity information were not included PSI CHI between self-leadership and increased optimism in the multiple regression analyses. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

to cultivate a healthy and mindful self (Schwartz, consumption and poor sleep quality have been 1995; Sweezy & Ziskind, 2013). In future studies, it associated with worse academic performance would be interesting to explore whether established in undergraduate samples (e.g., Singleton & measures of self-related thought also change after Wolfson), these same factors may have a general successful treatment with IFS therapy. impact on ratings for the self-report measures. It Our results suggest that self-leadership is is also possible that regular physical exercise may not entirely explained by the self-referential increase positive self-regard because exercise has cognition measures. The associations between been associated with greater self-esteem (Fox, self-leadership and self-rumination and positive 2000). Third, we had fewer male participants in our self-related responses on the sentence completion sample, which may limit our ability to generalize task revealed small effect sizes (f 2 < .05). More these results. Fourth, we did not examine measures generally, these measures of self-related thought that were entirely distinct from self-leadership, do not appear to be overlapping with all of the which could more precisely assess discriminant characteristics of self-leadership. Given that self- validity. Thus, additional research should inves leadership is defined by calmness, confidence, tigate discriminant validity of the self-leadership creativity, courage, and compassion, it is possible scale in more detail. Fifth, we focused only on that self-leadership may be more highly correlated self-leadership and not the various components of the IFS theory, such as the distinction between with measures that specifcally assess those traits. self and parts. Additional research is warranted Relatedly, cultivating self-leadership relies in to examine whether measurement of the parts part on engaging cognitive skills associated with or subpersonalities described in IFS theory also mindfulness, including the ability for the self to align with psychological research related to self control the more undesirable aspects of one’s and personality. Future studies may also help personality and psychiatric symptoms (Schwartz, clarify the similarities and differences between 1995). Further, mindfulness based stress reduction self-leadership defned within IFS and the concept training and greater trait mindfulness have been of self-leadership defined in industrial organi associated with reduced psychological symptoms zational psychology as a form of leadership that across different psychiatric disorders, including challenges common notions of how followers depression, anxiety, PTSD, and social anxiety take after workplace setting supervisors (Shek et (Boyd et al., 2018; Chi et al., 2018; Hjeltnes et al., 2015). Self-leadership as defned in industrial al., 2018; Hoge et al., 2013; Paul et al., 2012). As organizational psychology involves leading oneself such, measures of trait mindfulness may provide to perform work in a timely manner and to provide stronger support for the convergent validity of the internal motivation to carry out workplace respon self-leadership scale. However, additional research sibilities (Manz, 1986; cf. Stewart et al., 2019). will be needed to further establish the convergent Effective self-leadership has been associated with and discriminant validity of this scale. better workplace outcomes, enhanced socializa There are limitations to this study that should tion for new employees, and favorable personality be mentioned. First, our study used an under characteristics (Amundsen & Martinsen, 2015; graduate sample with self-reported psychological Cranmer et al., 2019; Ho & Nesbit, 2018; Stewart symptoms not assessed by a clinical psychologist et al., 2019). and with relatively low levels of symptoms, possibly limiting the generalizability of the fndings. Further Conclusion studies will be critical to determine whether these In sum, we provided novel empirical evidence findings replicate in other populations such as for a connection between the concept of self- middle-aged or older adults as well as individuals leadership in IFS and symptoms of depression, diagnosed with psychiatric conditions. Second, PTSD, and social anxiety in a nonclinical sample. there are several possible confounding variables We also found evidence for convergent validity such as sleep quality, exercise, and drug use that between self-leadership and traditional measures were not measured in the present study. Given of self-related thought. Although these results that our sample was comprised of undergraduate await replication in a clinical sample, these fnd SUMMER 2020 students, these factors might have influenced ings suggest that self-leadership may be useful as PSI CHI our findings (Fox, 2000; Singleton & Wolfson, a dimensional measure of more positive aspects of JOURNAL OF 2009). For example, given that increased alcohol self-referential cognition. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

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Addictive Technology: Prevalence and Potential Implications of Problematic Social Media Use Chloe Tanega and Andrew Downs* University of Portland

ABSTRACT. College students spend a signifcant amount of time using social media, and there is evidence that at least some of the rapid growth in social media use may be driven by social media companies’ efforts to implement behavioral engineering strategies designed to maximize the amount of time individuals spend on their platforms. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether such behavioral engineering strategies are leading individuals to become addicted to social media and to examine whether those who report problematic social media use (PSMU) may be at risk for mental health problems. Two-hundred ninety-four college students completed an online survey asking about indicators of PSMU, mental health symptoms, and well-being. Depending on the cut score used, between 8.2% and 51.3% of college students may be at risk for PSMU. No matter which cut score was used, participants identifed as being at risk for PSMU reported higher levels of mental health symptoms across several domains, as well as lower well-being. These results suggest that individuals who spend time using social media platforms may be at risk for PSMU and highlight the need for clinicians and researchers to establish empirically based diagnostic criteria, as well as effective treatments, for PSMU. Keywords: social media, assessment, addictive behavior

ocial media is fully integrated into society Facebook’s stated mission is “to give people today, and the use of social media is currently the power to build community and bring the world Sthe main activity of Internet-users (Jasso- closer together.” Consistent with that mission, Medrano & López-Rosales, 2018). With the Facebook was originally created to connect college advent of smartphones and the wide variety of students but has since expanded to connect people platforms available, individuals can now seamlessly from around the world. With billions of users spend switch from site to site when browsing online. ing roughly 50 minutes per day on social media Indeed, Hardy and Castonguay (2018) found that sites (Brailovskaia & Margraf, 2016), it seems as millennials switch between media sites an average though these platforms may allow individuals the of 27 times per hour. Currently, the most popular opportunity to express their innate need to belong social media platforms are Facebook and Instagram. (Hardy & Castonguay, 2018). Social connection is As of 2017, Facebook had approximately 2 billion conceptualized by psychologists as a vital human monthly users, which corresponds to over 25% need, and researchers have long known that social of the world’s population (Østergaard, 2017). relationships decrease the risk for a host of prob Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram, a highly visual lems such as depression, alcoholism, and lowered social media platform, gave way to a broadened immune response (Cacioppo & Cacioppo, 2014; user base to include younger generations, in House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988). As such, social addition to the older population already found media companies could potentially be viewed as SUMMER 2020 on Facebook. Instagram grew rapidly, beginning providing a valuable service that contributes to the PSI CHI in 2010 and already had over 500 million users by well-being of a signifcant proportion of the world’s JOURNAL OF 2016 (Sherlock & Wagstaff, 2018). population. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Consistent with such a view, some research Although such correlational studies cannot studies have supported the idea that the connec demonstrate causation, some recent studies have tions made via social media may benefit users. revealed that social media use does indeed appear Individuals’ social attractiveness increases with to cause negative effects for users. Using a longitu the number of Facebook friends they have and dinal design, Shakya and Christakis (2017) found is associated with higher life satisfaction (Grieve, that more active Facebook users showed worsening Indian, Witteveen, Tolan, & Marrington, 2013; mental health and well-being over time, even when Hardy & Castonguay, 2018; Utz, 2010). Such results controlling for initial well-being. In another study, support fndings that the main motivation to use Tromholt (2016) utilized an experimental design social networking sites is to facilitate and maintain and found that Facebook users who abstained for social relationships in order to increase social a week had higher life satisfaction and mental capital (Johnston, Tanner, Lalla, & Kawalski, 2013). well-being than those who did not abstain. Several Social media sites can also serve as a platform for other recent experimental studies have found that authentic self-presentation, which is associated with viewing images and appearance-related comments positive well-being in users (Berryman, Ferguson, on Instagram leads to increased negative mood, & Negy, 2018). With its integration into daily life, anxiety, body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, many individuals fnd their social support online and decreased self-compassion and self-esteem, (Hardy & Castonguay, 2018), and college students particularly for female users (Brown & Tiggemann, report using social media as part of their daily rou 2016; Hendrickse, Arpan, Clayton, & Ridgeway, tine for reasons such as escaping academic stress, 2017; Kleemans, Daalmans, Carbaat, & Anschutz, having limited hobbies, and maintaining social 2018; Sherlock & Wagstaff, 2018; Slater, Varsani, relationships (Jasso-Medrano & López-Rosales, & Diedrichs, 2017; Tiggemann & Barbato, 2018; 2018). Several studies have also shown that college Tiggemann et al., 2018). students frequently use social media sites such as The undesirable outcomes associated with time Facebook as a “cry for help” and to openly discuss spent on social media raise important questions mental health (Berryman et al., 2018; Jelenchick, about why the social connections touted by compa Eickhoff, & Moreno, 2013). nies in their mission statements may have negative, Despite the potential benefts of social media rather than positive, effects on users. One possible use noted by researchers, several studies have also explanation for this apparent paradox is that the found that frequent social media use correlates kind of social connectivity accessed by social media with several indicators of psychological distress. For use is not of sufficient quality to contribute to example, there is a signifcant relationship between well-being. Because social media companies are Facebook use and depression (Steers, Wickham, & almost entirely dependent on advertising revenue, Acitelli, 2014), poor self-esteem (Kalpidou, Costin, their business model focuses on having the highest & Morris, 2011), high anxiety (Labrague, 2014), number of users possible spending as much time high body dissatisfaction (Fardouly, & Vartanian, on their platform as possible. As recently stated by 2015), low self-perceived physical attractiveness a former Facebook employee, “You have a business (Haferkamp & Kramer, 2011), and lower over model designed to engage you and get you to all well-being and life satisfaction (Shakya and basically suck as much time out of your life as pos Christakis, 2017; Tromholdt, 2016). Specifcally, for sible and then selling that attention to advertisers” highly visual social media sites such as Instagram, (Anderson, 2018). Theoretically, such companies social comparison may play an important role, act could focus on maximizing the quality of the ing as a mediator for poor psychological well-being, social connections they foster in order to achieve such that the more people use Instagram and the their desired quantity of user time and associated more people they follow, the higher their levels of advertising revenue. depressive symptoms and body dissatisfaction and Unfortunately, there is evidence that these the lower their self-esteem (Sherlock & Wagstaff, companies are instead investing heavily in behav 2018; Tiggemann, Hayden, Brown, & Veldhuis, ioral engineering strategies designed solely to 2018). Consistent with such results, Shensa, Sidani, maximize user time on their platforms, and Dew, Escobar-Viera, and Primack (2018) found that perhaps even entice users to become addicted. SUMMER 2020 using multiple social platforms is associated with As noted by a former social media employee in increased levels of anxiety and depression, and a recent interview, “Behind every screen on your PSI CHI excessive social media use has been strongly linked JOURNAL OF phone, there are generally like literally a thousand PSYCHOLOGICAL with poor sleep quality (Xanidis & Bignell, 2015). engineers that have worked on this thing to try to RESEARCH

make it maximally addicting” (Anderson, 2018). neurobiological differences in individuals with For example, Facebook and Instagram use artifcial social media addiction that are consistent with those intelligence, that is informed by data based on user found in individuals with substance use disorders behavior, and a variable ratio schedule of reinforce such as reduced gray matter in the insula (Turel, ment to customize user news feeds. This may be He, Brevers, & Bechara, 2018). Further supporting done not to inform, but rather to appeal to strong the validity of the concept of social media addic emotions and intermittently surprise users in order tion are the fndings of Beison and Rademacher to spark dopaminergic reward pathways and keep (2017) that a family history of alcohol dependence users looking, posting, and sharing at as high a rate accounts for a signifcant proportion of problematic as possible for as long as possible (Deibert, 2019; smartphone use. Turel, He, Xue, Xiao, & Bechara, 2014). Other If the behavioral engineering efforts of social examples of behaviorally engineered “features” media companies are indeed leading some users designed to promote addictive behavior include to become addicted, important questions need notifcations (i.e., discriminative stimuli that prime to be answered. First, it is necessary to specify the users to pay attention to social media throughout diagnostic criteria and cutoffs that would defne an the day so they can access the rewards doled out individual as having a social media use problem. To on that variable ratio reinforcement schedule), date, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental “streaks” on SnapChat that reward users for send Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, ing as many consecutive messages as possible, and 2013) only provides validated diagnostic criteria auto-play on YouTube, which starts a new video as for substance use disorders and gambling disorder. the one being watched ends so that users mindlessly However, there is increasing recognition that other keep watching as long as possible. All social media behavioral addictions (e.g., sex, shopping, Internet) sites keep new content coming in an endless feed may exist. Indeed, the DSM-5 includes proposed so that users have to opt out rather than opt in, diagnostic criteria for Internet gaming disorder as which is a well-known way to increase compliance a “condition for further study,” and the most recent with desired behaviors due to the “status quo bias” version of the International Classification of Diseases (Samuelson & Zeckhauser, 1988). These habit-form (World Health Organization, 2018) includes gam ing features are intentionally integrated throughout ing disorder as an offcial diagnosis in its section on all social media platforms, and their effects on users “Disorders due to addictive behaviours.” Expanding are well-known to the companies themselves. As this work, several researchers have proposed that noted by a former Facebook employee, “there was social media addiction is also a legitimate disorder, defnitely an awareness of the fact that the product while also noting signifcant and problematic vari was habit-forming and addictive” (Anderson, 2018). ability across studies in how social media addiction There is a burgeoning consensus that such is defned and measured (see Ryan, Chester, Reece, behavioral engineering efforts are successful in & Xenos, 2014, for a review). increasing user time on social media and may In an attempt to develop a reliable and valid also be leading to addictive behavior in some measure of social media addiction, van den individuals. For example, approximately 24% of Eijnden, Lemmons, and Valkenburg (2016) U.S. teens report being online “almost constantly” modifed the proposed DSM-5 criteria for Internet with most of that time being spent on social media gaming disorder to be applicable to social media applications (Barry, Sidoti, Briggs, Reiter, & Lindsey, use, thus creating the Social Media Disorder Scale 2017). Zaremohzzabieh, Samah, Omar, Bolong, (SMDS-9). The authors did so based on the belief and Kamarudin (2014) argued that Facebook that Internet gaming disorder and problematic addiction is similar to other behavioral addictions social media use (PSMU) are specifc forms of the such as gambling, shopping, or even abusing sub broader construct of Internet addiction. Supporting stances. Consistent with such a view, excessive social that belief, van Eijnden and colleagues conducted media use is believed to be associated with loss of a psychometric evaluation of the SMDS-9 and control, negative repercussions (i.e., impairments evaluated its test-retest and internal consistency to daily functioning), poor selective and sustained reliability, factor structure, content, convergent, attention, reduction in physical activity, giving up and criterion validity, and sensitivity and specifc other interests and activities, and an anxiety to ity. The authors concluded that the SMDS-9 could SUMMER 2020 remain connected (Echeburúa, 2013; Kim, Kim, provide a reliable and valid measure of PSMU (see PSI CHI & Jee, 2015). Additionally, researchers have found van den Eijnden et al., 2016, for details). JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Another important consideration that needs to Method be addressed is the prevalence of PSMU. Because Participants prevalence estimates are necessarily affected by the Data was collected between September and cut score that is used as part of the determination December 2018 using a Qualtrics survey that was of whether an individual may meet diagnostic distributed to students at a private university in the criteria for any disorder, it is critical to determine northwest United States via Facebook posts and an how many symptoms an individual must exhibit online research participation system for students to potentially qualify for a diagnosis of PSMU. In enrolled in an introductory psychology course their study, van den Eijnden and colleagues (2016) (n = 294). The sample averaged 18.9 years of age used a cut score of 5 out of 9 symptoms, which is (SD = 1.2) and was comprised of 61.1% frst-year the experimental cut score proposed in the DSM-5 students, 18.2% second-year students, 8.1% third- for Internet gaming disorder, and found that year students, and 11.8% fourth-year students. between 7.3% and 11.6% of adolescents across Women comprised 77% of the sample. Reported three studies met criteria for PSMU. However, ethnicities included White or European American the DSM-5 notes that a cut score of 5 symptoms (58.6%), Asian American (16.0%), Hispanic or provides a conservative definition of Internet Latino (14.9%), Hawaiian/Pacifc Islander (4.4%), gaming disorder that may be adjusted as empirical Black or African American (2.4%), and Native evidence accumulates. Indeed, the DSM-5 criteria American or Alaska Native (1.0%). Ninety-fve per for substance use disorders requires the presence of cent of respondents reported being native English only 2 symptoms, whereas the criteria for gambling speakers and 94.3% reported the United States disorder requires the presence of 4 symptoms. This as their country of origin. Eighty-three percent of uncertainty around cut scores raises the possibility participants’ parents or grandparents attended col that the actual prevalence of PSMU may increase lege. Eighty-eight percent of participants reported if a cut score lower than 5 is eventually adopted. being heterosexual, 1.4% were gay or lesbian, and Finally, it is also necessary to determine whether 8.8% were bisexual. PSMU has negative impacts aside from those included in the symptoms themselves. For example, Procedures do individuals who show PSMU have worse mental Participants completed an online survey comprised and/or physical health than those who do not? of the Social Media Disorder Scale-9 (SMDS-9), the Van den Eijnden and colleagues (2016) found Symptoms and Assets Screening Scale (SASS), and that SMD-9 scores were significantly correlated a demographic survey. Students currently enrolled with depression, loneliness, attentional problems, in introductory psychology classes received class impulsivity, and low self-esteem. However, it is credit for survey completion. The University of important to note that the correlations were not Portland institutional review board approved all particularly strong, ranging from .19 to .37, nor procedures and materials used in this study, and did the researchers determine whether there were each participant provided informed consent prior signifcant differences on those variables between to completing the study. those who met their criteria for PSMU and those who did not. Measures The current study sought to add to the research Social Media Disorder Scale-9 (SMDS-9). The literature on social media addiction by examin SMDS-9 is a 9-item instrument designed to assess ing the percentage of college students who may whether a respondent potentially displays disor be at risk for PSMU. Expanding the work of van dered social media use. The SMDS-9 items were den Eijnden and colleagues (2016), we elected modified versions of the proposed diagnostic to evaluate two cut scores in the present study: criteria for Internet gaming disorder, which is the conservative cut score of 5 used in the DSM-5 included in the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric experimental criteria for Internet gaming disorder, Association, 2013). Participants responded “yes” and the more liberal cut score of 2 used in the established and widely used DSM-5 substance use or “no” to nine items such as “During the past year, disorder diagnostic criteria (American Psychiatric have you tried to spend less time on social media, but failed?” Affrmative responses were summed to SUMMER 2020 Association, 2013). It was hypothesized that those who met either cut score for PSMU would report create a score for each participant who indicated PSI CHI higher levels of mental health symptoms and lower the number of PSMU symptoms they reported expe JOURNAL OF riencing in the past year. Psychometric evaluation of PSYCHOLOGICAL well-being. RESEARCH

154 COPYRIGHT 2020 BY PSI CHI, THE INTERNATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY IN PSYCHOLOGY (VOL. 25, NO. 2/ISSN 2325-7342) Tanega and Downs | Problematic Social Media Use the SMDS-9 revealed internal consistency reliability Results coeffcients (Cronbach’s α) ranging from .76 to Prevalence of PSMU .83 for the 9-item scale across three studies, and a Table 1 shows the percentage of participants who test-retest reliability coeffcient of .66. Regarding endorsed each possible number of indicators of validity, SMDS-9 scores were signifcantly and posi PSMU (0 through 9). Overall, 8.1% of participants tively correlated with compulsive Internet use (r = (4.5% of men and 9.2% of women) qualifed as .51) and self-declared social media addiction (r = at risk for High Cut Score PSMU, as measured .48; see van den Eijnden et al., 2016 for additional by the conservative experimental criteria of 5 or psychometric data). more indicators used to identify Internet gaming Because an empirically based cut score for disorder. Over 51% of participants (37.9% of men PSMU has not yet been determined, we elected to and 54.8% of women) qualifed as at risk for Low examine cut scores of 5 (i.e., the experimental cut Cut Score PSMU as measured by the more liberal score for Internet gaming disorder) and 2 (i.e., the criteria of 2 or more indicators used to identify established cut score for substance use disorders) substance use disorders. Men endorsed a mean of in the present study. Participants who endorsed 1.26 (SD = 1.49) out of 9 PSMU indicators, whereas 5 or more out of 9 symptoms were defined as women endorsed a signifcantly higher mean of at-risk for “High Cut Score PSMU” and those who 1.85 (SD = 1.67) indicators, t(290) = 2.61, p = .009, endorsed 2 or more symptoms were defined as d = 0.37. at-risk for “Low Cut Score PSMU.” Table 2 shows the percentage of participants Symptoms and Assets Screening Scale (SASS). who endorsed each specifc indicator of PSMU. The SASS is a 30-item self-report screening measure As seen in the table, the most common indicators that was developed to assess mental health in the reported by participants were trying to spend less college student population. Participants rated time on social media but failing, and using social each of the 30 items on a 4-point Likert-type scale media to escape from negative feelings. The least ranging from 0 (not true) to 3 (certainly true). The common indicator reported by participants was SASS generates a 23-item overall psychological having serious conflicts with family, friends, or distress score ranging from 0 to 69, as well as the others because of social media use. following 5-item subscale scores ranging from 0 to 15: Depressive Symptoms (e.g., “I feel hopeless”), PSMU and Mental Health Anxious Symptoms (e.g., “I get scared easily or Presented in Table 3 are bivariate Pearson correla often feel afraid”), Substance Problems (e.g., “I tion coeffcients for all study variables. As expected, have difficulty limiting or cutting down on my the number of PSMU indicators endorsed by par use of alcohol or drugs”), Eating Problems (e.g., ticipants was signifcantly correlated with all mental “I am very afraid of gaining weight or becoming fat”), and Well-Being/Assets (e.g., “I feel good TABLE 1 about myself”). A psychometric evaluation of the Percentage of College Students Endorsing SASS generated internal consistency reliability Each Possible Number of Problematic Social coeffcients (Cronbach’s α) ranging from .73 to Media Use Indicators by Gender .81 for the fve subscales and .86 for the 23-item Number of Percentage of Percentage Percentage overall distress measure, as well as test-retest coef Indicators All Participants of Men of Women fcients ranging from .75 to .83 for the subscales n = 294 n = 66 n = 228 and .87 for the overall distress scale. In the same 0 24.7 38.3 21.1 study, the SASS subscales and overall distress 1 21.8 20.0 22.1 scale were signifcantly and positively correlated 2 29.1 25.0 30.5 with well-established measures of their respective 3 11.3 5.0 12.7 constructs with coeffcients ranging from .68 to .83 4 4.7 6.7 4.2 (see Downs, Boucher, Campbell, & Dasse, 2013, for 5 5.5 3.3 6.1 additional psychometric data). 6 1.8 1.7 1.9 Demographics. The survey ended with demo graphic questions, including gender, age, ethnicity, 7 0.4 0 0.5 SUMMER 2020 country of origin, native language, sexual orienta 8 0.4 0 0.5 PSI CHI tion, and year in college. 9 0.4 0 0.5 JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

health symptoms. Specifically, PSMU indicators correlated with each other, and were signifcantly were signifcantly and positively correlated with inversely correlated with well-being. eating problems, r(293) = .33, p < .001, anxiety Following those correlational analyses, a series symptoms, r(293) = .27, p < .001, depressive symp of independent-samples t tests were conducted to toms, r(293) = .22, p < .001, substance use problems, determine whether participants who were consid r(223) = .13, p = .03, and total symptoms, r(291) = ered at risk for PSMU reported more mental health .34, p < .001, and were signifcantly inversely cor symptoms than those who were not classifed as at related with well-being, r(291) = -.23, p < .001. Also risk for PSMU. Because there is not yet an estab as expected, all mental health symptom subscale lished cut score for a potential diagnosis of PSMU, scores on the SASS were significantly positively we first compared participants who endorsed 5 or more indicators (High Cut Score PSMU) with TABLE 2 those who endorsed 4 or fewer indicators, and then compared participants who endorsed 2 or more Percentage of College Students Endorsing Each indicators (Low Cut Score PSMU) with those who Indicator of Problematic Social Media Use by Gender endorsed 0 or 1 symptoms. Problematic Social Media Use Indicators Percentage of All Percentage Percentage High Cut Score PSMU. As seen in Table 4 and Participants of Men of Women consistent with our hypothesis, those who were at n = 294 n = 66 n = 228 risk for High Cut Score PSMU (5 or more symp Regularly found that you can’t think of 7.4 9.1 7.0 toms) reported signifcantly higher levels of total anything else but the moment that you will be able to use social media again mental health symptoms, depressive symptoms, Regularly felt dissatisfied because you 8.1 10.6 7.0 anxiety symptoms, and problematic eating symp wanted to spend more time on social media toms than did those who were not at risk for High Often felt bad when you could not use 18.2 15.2 19.3 Cut Score PSMU (4 or fewer symptoms). There social media were no differences between those at risk for High Tried to spend less time on social media, 51.4 34.8 56.6 Cut Score PSMU and those not at risk for High but failed Cut Score PSMU on reported levels of well-being Regularly neglected other activities (e.g., 15.9 9.1 17.5 or substance use problems. hobbies, sports, etc.) because you wanted Low Cut Score PSMU. Table 5 shows the men to use social media tal health symptom and well-being scores for those Regularly had arguments with others 6.4 1.5 7.9 categorized as at risk for and not at risk for PSMU because of your social media use when the cut score was dropped down to the more Regularly lied to your family or friends about 11.8 9.1 12.7 liberal criteria of two or more indicators. Those the amount of time you spend on social media who were at risk for Low Cut Score PSMU criteria Often use social media to escape from 51.4 37.9 54.8 negative feelings reported signifcantly higher levels of total mental health symptoms, problematic eating symptoms, Had serious conflict with your family, 1.7 0.0 2.2 friends, or other people because of your anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, as well as social media use lower well-being than did those who were not at risk for Low Cut Score PSMU (0 or 1 symptoms). TABLE 3 There was no difference between those at risk for Low Cut Score PSMU and those who were not at risk Bivariate Correlations Between Problematic Social Media for Low Cut Score PSMU on the level of substance Use Indicators, Mental Health Symptoms, and Well-Being use problems reported. Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Problematic Social – .33** .13* .27** .22** .34** -.23** Discussion Media Use Indicators The primary purpose of this study was to examine 2. Eating Problems – .38** .41** .47** .71** -.36** the prevalence of PSMU in the college student 3. Substance Problems – .24** .40** .55** -.21** population using two different cut scores: (a) 4. Anxiety Symptoms - – .70** .83** -.53** the conservative experimental cut score of 5 indicators out of 9 proposed for further study in 5. Depressive Symptoms – .88** -.66** the DSM-5 to diagnose Internet gaming disorder; ** 6. Total Symptoms – -.63 and (b) the more liberal established cut score of 2 7. Well-Being -.31** indicators out of 9 used in the DSM-5 to diagnose Note. **p < .05. ** p < .001. substance use disorders. The results revealed that

the prevalence of PSMU may range from 8.2% to for diagnostic and research purposes. Doing so will 51.3% among college students, depending on the require evaluating the sensitivity and specifcity of cut score used. different cut scores when compared to indepen These fndings raise interesting questions about dent measures of diagnostic status (e.g., clinician just how successful the behavioral engineering report) and clinically signifcant impairment or efforts of social media companies are in foster distress (e.g., serious problems at work, home, ing addictive behavior in users by “exploiting a or with social relationships) in order to validate vulnerability in human psychology” in order to PSMU as a legitimate disorder and to guard against “consume as much user time as possible” as stated false positives (incorrectly pathologizing normal by Facebook’s founding president in a recent inter behavior) and false negatives (failing to diagnose view (Anderson, 2018; Deibert, 2019). On the one actual pathological behavior). hand, a prevalence estimate of 51.3% would seem Alternatively, as clinicians and researchers to be quite high for any psychological disorder. increasingly conceptualize most forms of psycho However, there is some evidence that the actual pathology as dimensional, rather than categorical prevalence of PSMU may be signifcantly higher phenomena (American Psychiatric Association, than the estimates of 8.2% generated in this study 2013), it is quite possible that PSMU may be more and the 7.3% and 11.6% found by van den Eijnden and colleagues (2016) using the same conservative TABLE 4 high cut score of 5 indicators. Specifcally, previous studies have generated Mean Scores on Mental Health Symptoms and prevalence estimates ranging from 33% to 50% Well-Being by High Cut Score Problematic for psychological problems such as depression Social Media Use Status and anxiety in the college student population At Risk for High Cut Not at Risk for (Eisenberg, Gollust, Golberstein, & Hefner, 2007; Score Problematic Problematic Social Media Use Social Media Use Garlow, Rosenberg, Moore, Haas, Koestner, (5 or More (4 or Fewer Hendin, & Nemeroff, 2008; Hunt & Eisenberg, Indicators) Indicators) 2010), and recent surveys from the American n = 24 n = 270 College Health Association (2018) found that Variable M SD M SD t p d 31.1% of students reported being diagnosed with or Eating Problems 6.58 (3.34) 4.96 (3.26) 2.33 .021 0.49 treated for a psychological disorder in the previous Substance Problems 1.50 (2.40) 1.01 (2.02) 1.11 .269 0.22 12 months. In other words, it is quite common for Anxiety Symptoms 7.13 (3.94) 4.72 (3.74) 3.00 .003 0.63 college students to meet diagnostic criteria for at Depressive Symptoms 5.08 (3.88) 3.58 (3.53) 1.98 .048 0.40 least one psychological disorder at any given time. In addition, research has revealed that the primary Total Symptoms 25.21 (12.60) 17.95 (11.15) 3.02 .003 0.61 activity college students are using their cell phones Well-Being 9.29 (3.14) 10.27 (3.11) 1.47 .142 0.31 for is to access social media (Barry et al., 2017; Jasso-Medrano & López-Rosales 2018). Indeed, TABLE 5 researchers have found that social media use, rather than gaming or Internet use, is the primary driver of Mean Scores on Mental Health Symptoms and smartphone addiction in college students (Roberts, Well-Being by Low Cut Score Problematic Petnji Yaya, & Manolis, 2014). Social Media Use Status As researchers, clinicians, and diagnostic At Risk for Low Cut Not At Risk for systems such as the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Score Problematic Problematic Social Social Media Use (2 Media Use Association, 2013) and the International or More Indicators) (0 or 1 Indicators) Classification of Diseases (World Health Organization, n = 151 n = 143 2018) increasingly recognize the existence of Variable M SD M SD t p d behavioral addictions such as gambling disorder Eating Problems 5.97 (3.45) 4.18 (2.85) 4.70 .000 0.57 and Internet gaming disorder, it seems likely that Substance Problems 1.25 (2.53) 0.85 (1.37) 1.64 .101 0.20 PSMU (or a closely related variant) will likely be recognized as a legitimate behavioral addiction in Anxiety Symptoms 5.71 (3.80) 4.08 (3.65) 3.74 .000 0.44 the future. As such, it will be critically important to Depressive Symptoms 4.44 (3.96) 2.94 (2.94) 3.68 .000 0.43 determine the exact diagnostic criteria for PSMU, Total Symptoms 21.89 (12.27) 15.06 (9.31) 5.31 .000 0.58 including the proper DSM-5 cut score to be used Well-Being 9.51 (3.10) 10.90 (2.99) 3.89 .000 0.40

appropriately conceptualized as dimensional, thus support for the notion that PSMU may have signif potentially negating the need to identify a single cant negative impacts on individuals’ mental health specifc cut score for diagnostic purposes. Rather, and well-being. any person who displays one or more indicators Such fndings raise questions about why social could potentially be considered to be displaying media, which is purportedly designed to increase PSMU, depending on the extent to which their social connections, may paradoxically have negative social media use causes clinically significant effects on users. Researchers have pointed to the impairment and/or distress. The results of this social comparisons that social media platforms fos study provide some support for a dimensional con ter such that, as users scroll their social media feeds ceptualization of PSMU as all of the mental health and see others apparently doing well, they often try problems assessed were signifcantly correlated with to boost their own self-image, which perpetuates the number of PSMU indicators reported by partici a “self-enhancement envy spiral” (Krasnova et al., pants. Further, even those who reported relatively 2015). In other words, an ongoing competition may mild levels of PSMU (i.e., two or more indicators) arise on social media sites as individuals compare appeared to be at risk for experiencing distress or themselves to the content they consume, with impairment, as they reported signifcantly higher subsequent negative feelings arising if they perceive levels of overall psychological distress, anxiety themselves as doing less well than others. Consistent symptoms, depressive symptoms, and disordered with such an interpretation, studies have found eating symptoms, as well as lower well-being, than that social comparison is an important variable did those who reported one or zero indicators that mediates the negative effects that exposure of PSMU. A third possibility is that a combined to Instagram has on body dissatisfaction and drive approach may emerge as most appropriate for for thinness (Hendrickse et al., 2017; Kleemans et assessing PSMU with cut scores denoting different al., 2018). Similarly, Hanna and colleagues (2017) levels of severity. Such a system would be analogous found that social comparison and self-objectifca to how the DSM-5 currently classifes substance use tion mediated the relationship between Facebook disorders as mild, moderate, or severe, depending use and body shame, symptoms of depression and on the number of symptoms present (American anxiety, and low self-esteem. Other researchers have Psychiatric Association, 2013). noted that the pressure to appear as perfect offline Of course, our study cannot prove that PSMU as a person appears online may further increase an caused the mental health symptoms participants individual’s social comparison and anxiety levels were experiencing because one could reasonably even when not engaging with social media (Rauch, hypothesize that individuals who experience more Strobel, Bella, Odachowski, & Bloom, 2014). mental health problems may subsequently be at risk If some users experience negative emotions for developing PSMU. However, there is accumulat as a result of using social media platforms, it may ing evidence that problematic (or even “normal”) be fair to ask why those users do not simply spend social media use may indeed cause impairment less time using social media. Continued use despite and/or distress. Using prospective experimental negative consequences is a pattern consistent with designs, researchers have demonstrated that active the behavior of many individuals with substance use Facebook users show worsening mental health and disorders who continue to use substances despite well-being over time (Shakya & Christakis, 2017) negative impacts on their health, relationships, and and that Facebook users who abstain for a period ability to function at school and/or work. Recent of time as short as a week experience improvements research has suggested that these similarities may in well-being (Tromholt, 2016). Individuals exposed be due, at least in part, to neurobiological factors to images on Instagram show immediate increases such as reduced gray matter in the posterior insula in a host of negative mental health variables that may cause increases in delay discounting (Turel such as body dissatisfaction, anxiety, depressive et al., 2018; Wood & Bechara, 2014), in which indi symptoms, and immediate decreases in self-esteem viduals show a stronger preference for immediate and self-compassion (Brown & Tiggemann, 2016; rewards despite the potential negative long-term Hendrickse et al., 2017; Kleemans et al., 2018; consequences of their behavior. In other words, Sherlock & Wagstaff, 2018; Slater, Varsani, & just as cues and the high associated with substance SUMMER 2020 Diedrichs, 2017; Tiggemann & Barbato, 2018; abuse are known to trigger the brain’s impulsive PSI CHI Tiggemann et al., 2018). These experimental reward seeking system (e.g., dopamine pathways JOURNAL OF studies are consistent with our fndings and provide in the ventral striatum) and reduce activity in PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

inhibitory systems (e.g., prefrontal and orbitofron media, which would have allowed us to examine tal cortex; He et al., 2018), the cues and immediate how time spent on social media related to indica rewards engineered into social media platforms tors of PSMU. may have a similar effect, causing some individu Despite those limitations, this study generated als to compulsively pick up their smartphone and some interesting results that raise legitimate get on social media even if doing so may have the concerns that the behavioral engineering efforts of long-term effect of worsening their quality of life. social media companies may be fostering addictive Given that research on social media addiction is behavior in a signifcant proportion of users. Thus, relatively new, it is not currently known whether it is critically important that researchers, clinicians, PSMU leads to the neurobiological differences and those interested in public health continue to reported by Turel and colleagues, or if pre-existing determine exactly how PSMU can be accurately differences in brain structure and function may assessed, diagnosed, and treated. However PSMU predispose certain individuals to be at higher risk may come to be defned in the future, our results for developing problematic social media use. suggest that those who display even mild levels of PSMU may be at risk for a range of negative mental Limitations, Conclusions, and Recommendations health effects including increased symptoms of This study was limited by a cross-sectional design depression, anxiety, eating problems, and overall and a reliance on an online self-report survey that psychological distress. introduced the possibility of biased responding Moving forward, it will be important for and did not allow for causal explanations. It is researchers to examine both the short-term and also important to note that our categorization of long-term impacts of PSMU to determine the level participants as being at risk for or not at risk for of risk associated with social media use problems. PSMU was based solely on participant report on Future studies should also seek to elucidate a single checklist, which is not at all analogous the specific mechanisms by which PSMU may to a valid psycho-diagnostic evaluation. Ideally, impact mental health. Finally, it will be necessary future studies would include a multimethod, to conduct longitudinal studies to examine the multiinformant evaluation of PSMU symptoms in effects of PSMU on brain structure and function order to more accurately categorize participants because such research is currently in its infancy. and determine proper cut scores, and to evaluate These are especially vital questions to answer whether a dimensional or combined approach to because the current generation of young people understanding PSMU may be more appropriate than a categorical approach. will never know a world without social media, and Another limitation was the disproportionately the long-term effects of social media use have yet high percentage of women and younger college to be investigated. students in the sample and low percentage of References African American participants, which limits the American College Health Association. (2018). National College Health generalizability of the fndings. Although women Assessment. Retrieved from https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/ make up more than 60% of the student population NCHAII_Fall_2018_Undergraduate_Reference_Group_Executive_ Summary.pdf where this study was conducted, women comprised American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of 77% of the sample, and the average participant age mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. of the sample was 18.9 years old, a reflection of Anderson, H. (2018, July). Social media apps are ‘deliberately’ addictive to users. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44640959 the students enrolled in Introductory Psychology Barry, C. T., Sidoti, C. L., Briggs, S. M., Reiter, S. R., & Lindsey, R. A. (2017). when the study was conducted. We considered Adolescent social media use and mental health from adolescent and analyzing our data separately by gender, however, parent perspectives. Journal of Adolescence, 61, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.08.005 it was not feasible to do so because of the small Beison, A., & Rademacher, D. J. (2017). Relationship between family history of number of men (n = 3) who were at risk for High alcohol addiction, parents’ education level, and smartphone problem use Cut Score PSMU. Future studies should seek to scale scores. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 6, 84–91. https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.6.2017.016 address whether there are gender differences Berryman, C., Ferguson, C. J., & Negy, C. (2018). Social media use and mental in the extent to which PSMU is associated with health among young adults. Psychiatric Quarterly, 89, 307–314. psychological distress and/or impairment, as our https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-017-9535-6 Brown, Z., & Tiggemann, M. (2016). Attractive celebrity and peer images on SUMMER 2020 results suggested that women may be at higher risk Instagram: Effect on women’s mood and body image. Body Image, 19, for PSMU than are men. Finally, our study did not 37–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.08.007 PSI CHI ask participants to report their time using social Cacioppo, J. T., & Cacioppo, S. (2014). Social relationships and health: The toxic JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

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are: How one’s profile, number of friends, and type of friends influence Zaremohzzabieh, Z., Samah, B. A., Omar, S. Z., Bolong, J., & Kamarudin, N. A. impression formation on social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated (2014). Addictive Facebook use among university students. Asian Social Communication, 15, 314–335. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2010.01522.x Science, 10, 107–116. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v10n6p107 van den Eijnden, R. J. J. M., Lemmens, J. S., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2016). The Social Media Disorder Scale. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 478–487. Author Note. Chloe Tanega, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.038 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1596-3737, Department Wood, S. M. W., & Bechara, A. (2014). The neuroscience of dual (and triple) of Psychological Sciences, University of Portland; and system in decision making. In V. F. Reyna & V. Zayas (Eds.), The neuroscience Andrew Downs, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8611-7407, of risky decision making (pp. 177–202). https://doi.org/10.1037/14322-008 Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Portland. World Health Organization. (2018). International statistical classification of We would like to thank all of the reviewers who helped to diseases and related health problems (11th Revision). Retrieved from make this a better manuscript. https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en Correspondence concerning this article should be Xanidis, N., & Brignell, C. M. (2016). The association between the use of social addressed to Andrew Downs, Department of Psychological network sites, sleep quality and cognitive function during the day. Computers Sciences, University of Portland, Portland, OR 97203. in Human Behavior, 55, 121–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.09.004 E-mail: [email protected]

SUMMER 2020

PSI CHI JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Context Effects on Recognition Memory for Words Abhilasha Vishwanath and Joshua Shive* Tennessee State University

ABSTRACT. The present study examined whether word frequency, study context, and word repetition produce differences in word recognition and context recognition. We also tested a prediction of the dual process model where recognition memory has two individual processes, namely recollection and familiarity. Participants studied lists of words presented in contexts defined by background color, screen position of the word, and study question during encoding. Word frequency, study context, and word repetition were manipulated during the encoding phase. During the subsequent retrieval phase, participants performed two memory tasks: a word recognition task involving old judgments or new judgments and a context recognition task involving remember judgments and know judgments for words reported as an old judgment. We found effects of each of the manipulated factors on recognition memory. False alarms were higher for common 2 words than uncommon words (η p = .38, p < .001). Repeated words were 2 remembered better than nonrepeated words (η p = .76, p < .001). Words repeated across contexts during the study were recognized better than 2 words repeated in the same context during encoding (η p = .18, p = .03). We also found effects of repetition and word frequency on reaction time. 2 Repeated words were recognized faster than nonrepeated words (η p = .23, p = .01), and uncommon words were recognized faster than common words 2 (η p = .38, p = .001). However, we did not fnd evidence to support the dual process model’s predictions about the impact of context on remember and know judgments. Keywords: recognition memory, word frequency, repetition, context, dual process model

he process by which different kinds of and the context in which it was presented (Opitz, information are encoded and retrieved 2010). The dual process model of recognition Tby memory is still unclear, despite the shows the complexity of recognition memory current knowledge of distinct memory systems and the retrieval process (Jacoby & Dallas, 1981; (Murnane, Phelps, & Malmberg, 1999; Oberauer, Mulligan, Smith, & Spataro, 2016; Murnane, Phelps, 2018). The dual process model of recognition & Malmberg, 1999). memory states that two separate processes govern This study replicates and extends an experi recognition: familiarity and recollection (Norman ment that tested the dual process model’s & O’Reilly, 2003; Opitz, 2010; Rugg & Yonelinas, predictions about the influence of context and 2003). Familiarity involves recognizing a piece of repetition on recognition memory (Opitz, 2010). SUMMER 2020 information or stimulus without accessing other Our study replicates the behavioral portion of that information about the context in which the material study’s methodology, which measured reaction PSI CHI was learned (Opitz, 2010). Recollection involves time and accuracy, and extends the previous work JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL retrieving all the information about the stimulus to examine the influence of word frequency on RESEARCH

recognition memory. Thus, this study has the poten location. Chun and Jiang showed that, although tial to provide further evidence of the importance all visual searches got faster over the course of the of context and repetition, while adding to the experiment, searches were faster for items on the literature on how word frequency impacts memory. repeated displays. Furthermore, fewer than half of participants reported noticing the repeated Repetition, Context, and Word Frequency displays. Repeated presentations of a stimulus tend to Although memory research has emphasized the improve memory encoding (Xue et al., 2010). importance of repetition and context, the effects When the conditions of encoding match each of word frequency (i.e., how often an English word other across encoding sessions, similar patterns occurs in written and spoken language) are less of neural activity associated with the episodic clear. Word frequency has a signifcant effect on memory of the event are evoked. For example, an word recognition tasks (Brysbaert & New, 2009). In fMRI study of activation in cortical areas associated a lexical decision task, where a participant is shown with object recognition and memory encoding a string of letters and asked to decide whether the showed similar patterns of activity across encoding letter string forms an English word, high frequency trials for items that were subsequently recognized words are evaluated faster than low frequency words (Xue et al., 2010). However, simple repetition of (Balota & Chumbley, 1984). This suggests easier materials does not have a signifcant influence on lexical access to common words. However, word memory recall (Karpicke, 2012; Tulving, 1966) or frequency has no signifcant effect on reaction time recognition (Jacoby & Dallas, 1981). Contemporary in tasks such as category verification (Andrews, researchers of memory have connected the depth 1992). Thus, there seem to be inconsistent effects of of processing one uses to encode information with word frequency on different types of memory tasks. subsequent retrieval for the information (Baddeley & Hitch, 2017). For example, thinking about how Dual Process Model of Recognition Memory you would use an item to survive on a desert island The process of familiarity and recollection of the produces better free recall for the item than think dual process model, which we introduced earlier, ing about how pleasant it is (Nairne, Thompson, & are suggested to retrieve different kinds of informa Pandeirada, 2007). tion regarding a stimulus, where familiarity may Furthermore, memory is better when the be more characteristic of semantic memory and context during an encoding phase matches the recollection is characteristic of episodic memory context during retrieval than when there is a mis (Henson & Gagnepain, 2010; Oberauer, 2018). match between encoding and retrieval conditions Some studies have proposed that familiarity is (Godden & Baddeley, 1975). Context refers to the an automatic process whereas recollection is a details of the surrounding environment in which controlled process (Jacoby, 1991; Oberauer, 2018; information is learned or experienced. Contextual Yonelinas & Jacoby, 1995). Although there has information can include low-level visual or auditory not been consensus on a dual process or single features such as background display (Chun, 2000), process model, there is evidence that one distinct the visual position of a stimulus (Hollingworth, form of information can be retrieved without the 2006), or background music (Coutinho & Scherer, other (Henson & Gagnepain, 2010; Jacoby, 1991; 2017). It can also encompass higher-level features Oberauer, 2018; Opitz, 2010). (i.e., features that rely on knowledge or previous The dual process model of recognition memory experience) such as the emotional context of a makes predictions about how context and rep scene (Finke, Zhang, Best, Lass-Hennemann, & etition impact memory for words. First, the dual Schächinger, 2018) or the entirety of the physical process model predicts that participants should environment (Godden & Baddeley, 1975). The respond differently depending on whether words effects of contextual congruence can also occur are learned within the same context or in differ when a study participant is unaware of the congru ent contexts. Secondly, the model proposes that ence (Chun, 2000; Jiang & Sisk, 2019). Chun and presenting a word in the same context multiple Jiang (2003) compared visual searches for letters on times facilitates stimulus binding, which associates displays that appeared only once during the course a word with the contextual features that occurred of the experiment and displays shown several times during its presentation. The model predicts less SUMMER 2020 during the course of the experiment. Letters on stimulus binding when words are presented across PSI CHI these repeated displays always appeared in the same contexts. Thus, the model predicts better memory JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

for words presented in the same context at testing Present Study as encoding, as well as better memory for repeated The current study expanded on the Opitz (2010) words than non-repeated words. study in two ways. First, it examined memory for Stimulus binding can be tested by asking words rather than pictures. Second, the study participants to make remember judgments and know examined whether word frequency affects recogni judgments about words presented during the tion under repetition and context manipulations. encoding phase. Remembering entails retrieving The study evaluated four research questions the contextual features in which a word appeared, about recognition memory: (a) are the reaction while knowing does not. For example, if partici times faster for words when they are repeated pants indicate that they remember the word in its than when presented once?, (b) is the number of context, as part of the recollection process, this correct responses greater for repeated words than corresponds to higher stimulus context binding, nonrepeated words?, (c) are there differences in which is most likely to occur with words repeatedly recognition for common and uncommon words?, presented in a single context (Norman & O’Reilly, and (d) are the know judgments greater for words 2003; Opitz, 2010). However, if participants indicate presented across contexts and are the remember only knowing the word and not the contextual judgments greater for words presented within the features in which it was presented, as part of the same contexts? familiarity process, this would reflect lower stimulus We predicted that our experimental manipula context binding, which is likely to occur with words tions involving repetition, word frequency, and presented across all three contexts (Norman & context would affect accuracy, reaction time, and O’Reilly, 2003; Opitz, 2010). remember/know judgments during recognition. Opitz (2010) tested the dual process model We predicted greater accuracy (i.e., higher hit rates by examining recognition memory for pictures and lower false alarm rates) for words repeated in different colored backgrounds and screen three times compared to single presentations, as positions. During the learning phase of the study, well as lower reaction times and greater accuracy for common words than uncommon words. We several contextual features were manipulated: the also predicted that know and remember judgments number of presentations, position on the screen, would differ based on within- and across-context screen background, and the encoding task question presentations. Specifcally, in line with the dual presented after a picture. The repeated pictures in process model of recognition, we predicted a this learning phase were divided into two groups: greater number of know judgments for words pre one group of pictures was repeated with the same sented across different contexts during encoding contextual features and the other was repeated and a greater number of remember judgments for using multiple contextual features. During the words always presented in the same context during retrieval phase, participants were asked to recognize encoding. which pictures they had seen before and whether they could remember seeing them in their context Method or merely knew that they had seen them before. Participants Opitz (2010) collected both behavioral data This study represents a replication with extension and physiological data, using event-related poten of the experiment described in Opitz (2010). tials, to determine the independence of familiarity Thus, we used the data reported in that article to and recollection processes. He found that repeated estimate the required sample size for the current pictures were recognized faster than nonrepeated study. Because Opitz (2010) did not report effect pictures, and participants were best at recognizing sizes, we frst used their reported F-statistic values repeated pictures that occurred across different and degrees of freedom values to calculate effect contexts and worst at recognizing pictures pre sizes for the reported statistical tests. The smallest of sented only once. In addition, remember and know these effect sizes (for the hypothesis test comparing judgments elicited different event-related poten recognition across contexts versus within contexts) 2 * tials. Specifically, remember judgments elicited was η p = .33. A power analysis using G Power (Faul, stronger late responses (550–770 ms after stimulus Erdfelder, Lang, and Buchner, 2007) revealed that presentation) in parietal recording sites than know detecting a difference between two means for a SUMMER 2020 judgments did. These results lend further support within-groups design using α = .05, β = .20 and PSI CHI to the dual process model’s proposal that recol nonsphercity correction ε = 1 would require data JOURNAL OF lection and familiarity are independent processes. from 19 participants. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

A total of 26 participants completed the The encoding and retrieval phases of the experiment. All participants were recruited from experiment were presented on varying background Tennessee State University campus through recruit colors. The colors and RGB values are as follows: ment presentations in classrooms, recruitment dark grey (RGB: 64, 64, 64), black (RGB: 0, 0, 0), across the campus, and through the SONA system, white (RGB: 255, 255, 255), light grey (RGB: 128, which is the subject pool management system of the 128, 128), and red (RGB: 255, 0, 0). In the encod university’s psychology department. Each partici ing phase, the words were presented at different pant was 18 years or older and enrolled as a student. positions on the screen aside from the center. The One participant was excluded for not meeting the positions were left side of the screen, which was age criteria. Another participant had to be elimi approximately 27° of visual angle to the left of the nated from the analysis because the data collection fxation point, and the right side of the screen, program did not record the participant’s reaction which was approximately 27° of visual angle to the time data. The average age of the remaining 24 right of the fxation point at a viewing distance of participants was 20.91 years (age range: 18–38, approximately 18 inches. SD = 4.28), and 17 of the participants were women. The students reported normal color vision and no Design light sensitivity. The students received extra credit for select courses for participation in the study. The study used a 2 (frequency) x 2 (repetition) However, the extra credit offered for participation x 2 (context) experimental design to examine the was only one of several extra credit opportunities effects of repetition of common and uncommon that were available for the course so that participa words in different contexts on recognition. The tion in the study was not required for success in word frequency factor compared common and the course. uncommon words, as indexed by the Kučera and Francis scale. The repetition factor had two levels: Materials repeated words were presented three times during The stimuli were presented on an iMac with a the encoding phase, whereas nonrepeated words 21.5-inch monitor with a display resolution of 1920 were presented only once during the encoding x 1080 pixels. We presented the experiment and phase. Study context referred to whether a word collected the data using the Psychophysics Toolbox was presented in the same context each time it was for MATLAB (Brainard, 1997; Kleiner, Brainard, presented during the encoding phase or whether Pelli, 2007; Pelli, 1997). it appeared across contexts during the encoding The study used six lists of 42 words. We chose phase. equal numbers of common and uncommon words from the Kučera and Francis written frequency Procedure scale, which measures word occurrences per The study was approved by Tennessee State million words (MRC, n.d.). All words had four to University’s Institutional Review Board. After seven letters. The words were comprised of nouns, which, participants were recruited. The partici adjectives, and verbs as distinguished in the Medical pants were frst given an oral briefng about the Research Council Psycholinguistic Database. The purpose of the study and then directed to read the words were not restricted to any single category to required consent form. After obtaining consent, get enough unique uncommon and common list participants completed a demographic question of words to use in the study that could be associ naire that asked about age, birth sex, gender ated with each of the task questions. For each task identity, handedness, and whether the participant question, approximately half of the words required a “yes” response. The uncommon words (e.g., her has normal or corrected to normal vision, normal ring, benzene, cowhide, belfry, frown) had a mean color vision, and no light sensitivity. Kučera and Francis frequency of 1.39 and a range Next, participants began the experiment, of 1 to 3, and the common words (e.g., rifle, green, which had two phases: an encoding phase, consist market, paper, writing) had a mean frequency of ing of three blocks, and a retrieval phase comprised 147.07 and a range of 60 to 400. The concreteness in a single block. All responses were recorded using and imageability of the words were between the a keyboard. The participants were made aware that SUMMER 2020 scale of 1 and 7 as determined by the Medical they could take breaks in between blocks, if and PSI CHI Research Council Psycholinguistic Database. as needed. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Encoding phase. In the encoding phase, all repetition context. Words from the frst list were words presented within a block had the same com only presented once during the encoding phase. bination of three contextual features: background To create a repetition-within-context level, one color, screen position, and task question (see Figure third of the words from the second list were pre 1). In one block, words were presented on the left sented three times within a particular block of the side of the screen on a dark grey background, and encoding phase (that is, in the same background participants were asked whether the item the word color, at the same place on the screen, followed represented would ft inside a shoebox. In another by the same encoding question). To create a block, words were presented on the right side of repetition-across-contexts level, the words from the screen on a black background, and participants the third list were presented once in each of the were asked if the word was a noun. In the last three blocks, so that they appeared once in each block, words were presented at the center of the of the different contexts. screen on a white background, and participants The words from the three lists chosen for the were asked if the item the word represented was a encoding phase amounted to 98 trials in each human creation. The three blocks were presented block. The 98 trials of a block were comprised in a random order for each participant. of 14 words from List 1, which were presented The words presented in the experiment were once (14 trials), 14 words from List 2, which were chosen from six lists of 42 words from the Kučera presented three times (42 trials), and all 42 words and Francis written frequency scale. The six lists of List 3, which were presented once (42 trials). were frst divided into two sets of three lists each. Each block took approximately five minutes to For each participant, one set was chosen to be complete. At the start of each block, participants presented in the encoding phase, and the other set were asked to indicate a “yes” or “no” response was presented as distractors in the retrieval phase. using two marked keys on the keyboard to the task The assignment of each list as target or distractor questions associated with the combination. Each was randomized for each participant. word in the encoding phase was presented for 500 We assigned words from the study lists to ms. After each word, there was a 1000 ms interval three blocks of trials to create different levels of before the participant was asked to answer the task question with a yes or no response. FIGURE 1 Retrieval phase. In the retrieval phase, all words were presented at the center of the screen on a light grey background (see Figure 2). The radio words in the retrieval phase comprised of all the 500 ms A words from the set of three lists presented in the Does it fit inside a shoebox? encoding phase (42 words from three lists, which

100 ms 100 add up to 126 words) and the remaining words from the set of three lists (42 words from three forest lists, which add up to 126 words), which functioned B 500 ms as the distractor words. All words were presented Is it a human creation? once in the retrieval phase. Thus, the retrieval phase comprised of a total of 252 trials that took 100 ms 100 approximately 25 minutes to complete. The words were presented for 500 ms each. balloon Participants were asked to make an old judgment or 500 ms C a new judgment after 1000 ms of word presentation, Is it a noun? using two marked keys on the keyboard. An old

100 ms 100 response indicated that they recognized the word from the encoding phase and a new response Figure 1. Illustration of the three blocks in the study phase, which consists of three combinations of the contextual features in each block. The contextual features are indicated that they did not recognize the word background colors (dark grey, white, and black), screen positions (left, center, and from the encoding phase. If participants made an SUMMER 2020 right), and task questions (Does it fit inside a shoebox? Is it a human creation? Is it a old judgment, an additional question appeared ask noun?). The words are presented for 500 ms, and the question appears after a 1000 PSI CHI ms interval. Note that the words are shown in white and black here for readability. ing them to make a know judgment or remember JOURNAL OF During the experiment, words in all contexts were displayed using a red font. judgment using two different marked keys on the PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

keyboard. The remember judgment indicated that the above mentioned four conditions of responses participants remembered the contextual features are presented in Table 1. The average reaction in which the words were presented, for example, times were assessed using these four response left side or dark grey background. The know judg conditions as well (see Table 1). ment indicated that participants remembered only Old and new responses had high accuracy rates. the word and none of the other features. To assess the overall and word frequency effects on accuracy, hit rates from all context and repetition Results conditions were compared to the false alarm rates. The data were analyzed to compare effects of A repeated-measures ANOVA conducted for hit word frequency, repetition, and contextual fea rates and false alarms for uncommon and common tures on accuracy and speed of recognition. All words revealed a main effect of response type, responses and reaction times for old words and 2 F(1, 23) = 204.40, p < .001, η p = .89, frequency, new words were analyzed for overall effects and 2 F(1, 23) = 14.26, p = .001, η p = .38, and an word frequency effects. However, only the old interaction of response type and frequency, words could be analyzed for repetition and context 2 F(1, 23) = 15.24, p = .001, η p = .39. For old words, effects. The new words were only presented in the the pairwise comparison revealed that hits retrieval phase and thus could not be assessed for (M = 0.84, 95% CI [.81, .89]) were greater than false repetition and context effects, because these fac alarms (M = 0.21, 95% CI [.11, .31]). The signifcant tors were manipulated in the encoding phase. The repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used for analysis of all conditions, and multiple FIGURE 2 comparisons were corrected using the Bonferroni correction. radio 500 ms Accuracy Have you seen the word before To assess the accuracy of old responses, hit rates or is it a new word? and false alarms were calculated and compared. Hit ms 100 rate was defned as number of correct old responses for old words divided by the total number of old words. False alarm rate was defned as number of Old New old responses to new words divided by the total Do you remember the context details of the word or just teeth number of new words. The data were also assessed the word? for accuracy of new responses by comparing correct new response rate and false negative rate. Correct Figure 2. Simulation of a single trial in the test phase where words appeared at the new response rate was all new responses to new center of the screen on a light grey background. The words are presented for 500 ms, and the question appears after a 1000 ms interval. A “yes” response to the ques- words divided by the total number of new words, tion leads to another question. A “no” response to the question starts a new trial. and false negative rate was all new responses to old Note that the words are shown in black here for readability. During the experiment, words divided by all old words. The proportions for words in all contexts were displayed using a red font.

TABLE 1 Accuracy and Reacton Time Data Old Words New Words Overall Frequency Repetition Overall Frequency Uncommon Common Single Across Context Within Context Uncommon Common Proportions Old Repsonses 0.85(0.02) 0.85(0.05) 0.85(0.02) 0.73(0.03) 0.92(0.02) 0.89(0.02) 0.21(0.02 0.16(0.05) 0.26(0.05) New Responses 0.79(0.05) 0.84(0.05) 0.74(0.05) 0.27(0.03) 0.08(0.02) 0.11(0.02) 0.15(0.02 0.15(0.02) 0.15(0.02) Reaction Time Old Responses 443 (29.66) 396 (25.86) 489 (37.56) 503 (44.17) 402 (26.28) 441 (34.15) 609 (71.50) 565 (68.62) 624 (88.39) SUMMER 2020

New Responses 894 (102.44) 709 (97) 984 (126.84) 885 (130.57) 1036 (366.39) 1046 (137.02) 565 (48.50) 514 (50.50) 578 (49.09) PSI CHI Note. Reaction times (ms) and mean proportions (+SEM) for old and new responses to old and new words. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

interaction effect showed that common words were classifying the repeated words into across-context more likely to be false alarms than uncommon and within-context. The proportions of hits and words, but common and uncommon words did not false negatives for all repeated and nonrepeated differ for hits. Figure 3 illustrates this interaction. conditions, along with their reaction times, are Likewise, correct new responses (M = 0.79, 95% presented in Table 1. However, an ANOVA was CI [.69, .89]) were higher than false negatives conducted for the grouped conditions using the (M = 0.15, 95% CI [.11, .19]). The uncommon hit rate. The false negatives were excluded from words were more accurately recognized as new the analysis because participants were highly accu words than common words, but uncommon and rate in their new responses. The word frequency common words did not differ in the number of was also analyzed by subdividing all groups into false negatives they produced. uncommon and common words. The accuracy and Reaction times were lower for hits and correct reaction times of hit rates and word frequency were new responses. The repeated-measures ANOVA for compared in all repetition and context groups. hit rates, false alarms, and word frequency showed Old words were recognized best when repeated a main effect of response type, F(1, 23) = 9.15, across contexts. The ANOVA for repeated and 2 nonrepeated words using hit rate as the dependent p = .006, η p = .28, but no effect of frequency, F(1, 23) = 1.95, p = .17, η2 = .07, or interaction, F(1, variable showed a signifcant main effect of repeti p 2 2 23) = 0.11, p = .73, η = .001. The pairwise compari tion, F(1, 23) = 74.05, p < .001, η p = .76, but no effect p 2 sons showed that hits (M = 442ms, 95% CI [381, of word frequency, F(1, 23) = 0.00, p = .98, η p < .001, 2 504]) were recognized faster than false alarms or an interaction, F(1, 23) = 0.02, p = .87, η p = .001. (M = 594ms, 95% CI [467, 721]). The analysis was The pairwise comparison revealed that hit rates repeated for correct new responses, false negatives, for repeated words (M = 0.90, 95% CI [.87, .94]) and word frequency. The ANOVA revealed a main were higher than for words presented only once effect of response type, F(1, 23) = 17.11, p < .001, (M = 0.72, 95% CI [.66, .79]), as shown in Figure 4. 2 The context effects were assessed using the η p = .42, but no effect of frequency, F(1, 23) = 0.84, 2 ANOVA for context repetitions and word frequency p = .36, η p = .03, or interaction, F(1, 23) = 1.57, 2 of hit rates. The results showed a main effect p = .22, η p = .06. The pairwise comparisons showed that correct new responses (M = 521 ms, 95% of context repetition, F(1, 23) = 5.06, p = .03, 2 CI [448, 595]) were faster than false negatives η p = .18, but not for frequency, F(1, 23) = 0.10, 2 (M = 805 ms, 95% CI [640, 970]). Thus, the correct p = .75, η p = .004, or interaction, F(1, 23) = 1.53, 2 responses for both old and new words were faster p = .23, η p = .06. Pairwise comparisons showed that than incorrect responses. words repeated across context had a higher hit rate (M = 0.92, 95% CI [.88, .96]) than within-context Repetition and Context repetitions (M = 0.89, 95% CI [.85, .93]). Figure 4 To examine the effects of repetition, all old words depicts this effect of the two repetition contexts on were grouped into repeated and nonrepeated the hit rate, along with hit rate for single presenta words. The context effects were analyzed by further tions for comparison. Reaction times were lower for uncommon words but showed no effect for repetition or FIGURE 3 context. The repeated and nonrepeated groups, 1.0 and word frequency ANOVA for hit rate reac 0.9 tion times, showed a main effect of repetition, Uncommon 0.8 2 Common F(1, 23) = 6.89, p = .01, η = .23, and frequency, 0.7 p 2 0.6 F(1, 23) = 14.40, p = .001, η p = .38, but no interac 2 0.5 tion effect, F(1, 23) = 1.28, p = .26, η p = .05. The 0.4 pairwise comparisons showed that repeated words 0.3

Proportion of Responses (M = 418 ms, 95% CI [361, 475]) were recognized 0.2 faster than nonrepeated words (M = 505 ms, 95% 0.1 CI [411, 600]), and uncommon words (M = 409 0.0 SUMMER 2020 Fit Rate False Alarm ms, 95% CI [349, 469]) were recognized faster Response Type PSI CHI than common words (M = 514 ms, 95% CI [425, Figure 3. Comparison of hit rates and false alarm rates and common and uncommon words JOURNAL OF using a repeated-measures Analysis of Variance. Error bars show SEM. 603]) for both repeated and nonrepeated words. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

The reaction times were further analyzed for Discussion context and word frequency effects. The ANOVA This project investigated the effects of stimulus for hit rates showed a main effect of frequency, F(1, repetition, context, and word frequency on rec 23) = 7.88, p = .01, η2 = .25, but no main effects p ognition memory. We found that word frequency for context, F(1, 23) = 2.80, p = .10, η2 = .10, or p affected the speed and accuracy of recognition for interaction, F(1, 23) = 0.03, p = .85, η2 < .001. p both common and uncommon words. Contrary to Uncommon words (M = 381 ms, 95% CI [327, our predictions, we found that uncommon words 435]) were recognized faster than common words were recognized faster than common words, and (M = 457 ms, 95% CI [384, 531]) in both across- common words were more likely to be false alarms. and within-context repetition conditions. 2 However, the effect size (η p = .38) for this pattern was small and could indicate a possible random Evaluating the Dual Process Model effect. It is also possible that the scale we used to In line with the dual process model, we predicted that participants should respond differently in select common and uncommon words (the Kučera the recognition task depending on if they saw the and Francis frequency scale) did not produce lists words multiple times within a single context or of words that differed only in word frequency. More spread across the three contexts. To test this, we recent frequency scales use a larger corpus and analyzed the proportion of remember judgments include spoken language in determining the word and calculated a corrected know proportion to frequency (Brysbaert & New, 2009). reflect pure familiarity (Opitz, 2010). Corrected The study revealed that repetition and context know responses were calculated by using the have prominent effects on recognition. Repeated formula K/(1-R) where K refers to proportion of words were recognized both faster and more know responses for hits and R refers to propor accurately than non-repeated word. In addition, tion of remember responses for hits. Corrected we found that repeating words across the three know response rate was calculated, as it assumes contexts resulted in better recognition for words, the independence paradigm by treating the two whereas recognition for words repeated within processes as being mutually exclusive (Yonelinas & a single context was less accurate. However, the Jacoby, 1995). Hit rates were used in this analysis repeated words within a single context were still because only old responses prompted the know or more accurate than single presentations. The remember question to participants. The hits were descending order of accuracy from across-context divided into groups for across- and within-context to within-context, and lastly to nonrepeated words repeated words, and word frequency. Remember was consistent with Opitz (2010). response rates and corrected know response rates High accuracy for across-context presenta were calculated for all groups. tions may indicate that participants were able to Across- and within-context repetitions did recognize words better when they saw the words in not affect remember and know judgments. We varying background colors and screen positions. performed a three-way ANOVA for word frequency, This may speak to effects of extrinsic versus intrinsic context, and memory judgment type (corrected context for recognition memory, mentioned by know vs. remember). There was no main effect for Godden and Baddeley (1980). They proposed that 2 frequency, F(1, 18) = 3.79, p = .16, η p = .17, context, 2 F(1, 18) = 1.52, p = .23, η p = .78, judgment type, FIGURE 4 F(1, 18) = 5.04, p = .06, η2 = .22, or context p 0.9 and judgment type interaction, F(1, 18) = 0.00, 0.8 2 p = .98, η p < .001. There was, however, a signifcant 0.7 three-way interaction of memory judgment, word 0.6 frequency, and context, F(1, 18) = 5.04, p = .04, 0.5 η2 = .22. Hit rate was highest for know responses

p Hit Rate 0.4 for uncommon words presented across contexts. 0.3 Overall, the study context could not predict 0.2 remember or know responses. Repeated presenta 0.1 tions within the same context did not produce a 0.0 Single Within Across SUMMER 2020 higher proportion of remember responses, and Repetition Condition across-context repetitions did not correspond to Figure 4. Hit rates for repeated words, within and across contexts, and nonrepeated words. Error PSI CHI higher know responses. bars show SEM. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

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PSI CHI JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Predicting Student-Athlete Mental Health: Coach–Athlete Relationship Megan Powers , Jana Fogaca , Regan A. R. Gurung* , and Callan M. Jackman Oregon State University

ABSTRACT. Student athletes must balance numerous challenges as they work at their academics and their sport. In this context, social support, especially from coaches, could have the potential of contributing to these athletes’ well-being. The present study aimed to investigate if coach–athlete relationships could predict college student athletes’ mental health outcomes (i.e., well-being, depression, and anxiety) beyond the known effects of gender and personality on mental health. Student athletes (N = 79, 56 men, 23 women) between 18 and 23 years of age (M = 19.50, SD = 1.25) completed measures of depression, anxiety, psychological quality of life, and coach–athlete relationship online. Results showed that both personality and coach–athlete relationships were significantly correlated to mental health outcomes. Multiple regression analyses showed the predictive power of the coach–athlete relationship over gender and personal Open Data and Open Materials badges earned factors in the prediction of depression and psychological for transparent research practices. Data and well-being, but not anxiety. Results provide support for the materials are available importance of the coach–athlete relationship for athletes’ at https://osf.io/efvb9/ well-being, although more research with larger and more diverse samples is necessary to confrm this relationship. Keywords: mental health, student athlete, depression, anxiety, coach–athlete relationship

ental health issues in college are rising (Hammen, 2005), especially the relationship with precipitously. The proportion of college coaches (Lentz, Kerins, & Smith, 2018). In the Mstudents diagnosed with mental health present study, we examined major contributors to conditions increased from 21.9% in 2007 to college athletes’ mental health with a special focus 35.5% in 2017 (Lipson, Lattie, & Eisenberg, on the coach–athlete relationship. 2018). Collegiate athletes may be at even more The National Collegiate Athletic Association risk for mental health issues than nonathlete (NCAA) has over 360,000 student athletes who students. Together with overcoming developmental attend and compete at universities around the challenges, such as becoming independent United States. Meeting academic challenges with and coping with uncertainty found in college the additional rigors of athletic competition can (Chickering, 1969; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005), unduly tax students. Not surprisingly, stress plays a student athletes contend with extra pressures, signifcant role in the mental health of high-school such as competition and athletic lifestyles, that and college athletes (Lentz et al., 2018). The SUMMER 2020 nonathletes do not endure (Etzel, Watson, Visek, average student athlete exhibits similar or higher PSI CHI & Maniar, 2006). Social support may play an rates of depressive disorders than nonstudent JOURNAL OF important role in student-athlete mental health athletes (Etzel, 2009; Wolanin, Gross, & Hong, PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

2015; Wolanin, Hong, Marks, Panchoo, & Gross, can be linked to the number of daily stressors that 2016). In a major study of college students, 28% of they face, which in the long term could lead to the female and 21% of the male student athletes mental illness, if not well managed (Davoren & reported symptoms of depression in the last 12 Hwang, 2014; Hammen, 2005; Wenzel, Glanz, & months; 31% of male and 48% of female student Lerman, 2002). Student athletes must maintain athletes reported symptoms of anxiety (Davorean & a full course load, work out to meet the physical Hwang, 2014). Even more worrisome, a retrospec demands necessary to succeed, adapt to frequent tive study from 2003 to 2012 showed that suicide traveling for competition, and cope with injuries, represented the cause of 7.3% of NCAA student while experiencing public pressure to perform athletes’ deaths during these nine seasons (Rao, (Ferrante & Etzel, 2009). Student athletes’ year- Asif, Drezner, Toresdahl, & Harmon, 2015). round training also results in athlete-specific Mental health is related to personal, inter physical and psychosocial demands (Etzel et al., personal, and environmental factors, such as 2006). Overall, student athletes cope with various personality, social support, and life stressors stressors while adapting to the college environ (Hammen, 2005; Kotov, Gamez, Schimidt, & ment and finding a well-balanced life between Watson, 2010; Oexle & Sheehan, 2020). Among sports, school, and social life (Beauchemin, 2014). personal factors, gender (Storch, Storch, Killiany, & Finding the right balance in student athletes’ lives Roberti, 2005; Wolanin et al., 2016) and personality is an added challenge because each individual is (Kotov et al., 2010) have been linked to mental unique in the ways these aspects work together health in the past (Brewer, 1993). For example, and the ways in which they do not (Whitehead & a survey of 398 undergraduate students showed Senecal, 2019). that female student athletes had higher social Because of the signifcant impact of stress on anxiety and depression than male athletes and mental health, interpersonal factors that help nonathlete students (Storch et al., 2005). The athletes cope with these stressors should also be authors noted that women may be exposed to a considered when analyzing student athletes’ men greater number of stressors during their collegiate tal health. A factor known to act as a buffer from careers, internalizing these stressors more than stress is social support (Lu et al., 2016; Wenzel et their male counterparts, and feeling less satisfed al., 2002). Social support has been operationalized with their overall collegiate experience (Storch et in different ways, and measures of perceptions, al., 2005). Another survey of 465 NCAA Division I receipt, networks, and quality have all been related student athletes found that women showed a risk to health (Sarason, Sarason, & Gurung, 2001). 1.84 times higher than men of reporting depressive Among college students, social support has been symptoms (Wolanin et al., 2016). related to lower risk of presenting depressive and Specifc personality traits such as conscientious anxiety symptoms (Hefner & Eisenberg, 2009; ness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and Merianos, Nabors, Vidourek, & King, 2013). In openness—or the Big Five traits—may also relate to addition, student athletes who show higher social mental health issues. Personality traits have been connectedness tend to have fewer symptoms of linked to competition anxiety (Binboga, Guven, depression (Armstrong & Oomen-Early, 2009). Çatikkas, Bayazit, & Tok, 2012; Velikic, Knezevic, & Teammates’ social support negatively correlates to Rodic, 2014) and social physique anxiety in athletes depression in female student athletes (Hagiwara, (Cangur, Yaman, Ercan, Yaman, & Tok, 2017). A Iwatsuki, Isogai, Van Raalte, & Brewer, 2017). meta-analysis has also shown a link between the Despite the importance of social support for Big Five personality traits and anxiety, depressive, better mental health outcomes, the influence of and substance abuse disorders in the general social support from the coach, and consequently population, especially high neuroticism and low the coach–athlete relationship, has not been satis conscientiousness (Kotov et al., 2010). Kotov et factorily explored (Felton & Jowett, 2013b; Felton al. suggested that personality traits are strongly & Jowett, 2017). Coaches can be an important related to psychopathology and should be taken source of support and can instill confdence in into consideration in research and clinical practice. their athletes (Lentz et al., 2018; Lu et al., 2016). Besides the importance of personality and Coaches can also be a source of stress with a poor gender, environmental factors can also have a coach–athlete relationship adding stress in the SUMMER 2020 signifcant effect on mental health. Specifcally, athletes’ lives (Chyi, Lu, Wang, Hsu, & Chang, PSI CHI mental health issues among college student athletes 2018). In contrast, a good relationship could help JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

in the identifcation of pre-existing mental health Method issues and disclosure (Schary, 2019). Although the Participants role of the coach has been studied, most research The sample consisted of 56 female and 23 male focuses on how coaches influence motivation student athletes at a midsized Midwestern public and satisfaction (e.g., Langan, Toner, Blake, & university (Division I of the NCAA). Participants Lonsdale, 2015; Raabe & Zakrajsek, 2017; Riley & ranged between 18 and 23 years old (M = 19.50, Smith, 2011; Wu, Lai, & Chan, 2014). The coach– SD = 1.25) and from college first-year athlete relationship is strongly related to athletes’ students to college seniors. Student athletes iden basic psychological needs and has the potential to tifed themselves as European American (n = 77), be helpful during physically, psychologically, and African American (n = 1), and Asian (n = 1). emotionally challenging times (Choi, Cho, & Huh, Student athletes averaged 14.44 enrollment credits, 2013). Consequently, our working defnition of which ranged from 12–18 credits (SD = 1.69). The social support involves the provision of emotional, average student athlete practiced 2.93 hours per day esteem, informational, and tangible aid by the (SD = 2.14; range 0–5). The average number of days coach (Koh, Kokkonen, & Law, 2019). the student athlete practiced each week was 5.77 Research on social support in general, and (SD = 0.74; range 3–7). Participants took part in from the coach in particular, reinforces the idea 16 sports, and the highest represented sports were that better understanding the coach–athlete rela swimming and diving (n = 26), volleyball (n = 11), tionship may help predict athletes’ mental health. and soccer (n = 11). For example, research on basic needs satisfaction provided by the coach has shown that support from Measures a coach predicts well-being outcomes (Davis & Student athletes answered demographic questions Jowett, 2014; Felton & Jowett, 2017). In one survey concerning age, class, number of course credits, of 215 athletes, perceived social support from the ethnicity, and the number of hours of participation coach predicted athletes’ basic needs satisfaction in their specific sport each day and each week. (Felton & Jowett, 2013a). Support from the coach Participants also completed questionnaires about has also been related to other athlete well-being their personality traits, coach–athlete relationship, factors such as vitality, positive and negative affect, and mental health. and physical self-concept (Felton & Jowett, 2013b). Personality. We measured personality with a Coach–athlete attachment anxiety was related to questionnaire based on the Big Five factors, the Ten diffculties in emotional regulation, which in turn Item Personality Inventory (Gosling, Rentfrow, & was linked to aggression, alcohol use, and psycho Swann, 2003). It consists of 10 statements, two for logical distress (Hebard, 2015). More research each factor, that are rated on a 7-point Likert-type is necessary to clarify the association between scale ranging from 1 (disagree strongly) to 7 (agree coach–athlete relationships and mental health. strongly). Sample statements included “extraverted, As illustrated, multiple variables may influence enthusiastic” and “open to new experiences, com student athletes’ mental health, including gender, plex.” Gosling et al. demonstrated that the Ten personality, and social support. Despite the appar Item Personality Inventory has adequate validity ent importance of the athletes’ relationships with and reliability, which makes it a good option to their coaches to their mental health, this variable decrease the size of surveys involving Big Five traits has not been adequately studied in relation to while maintaining good psychometric standards. important mental health outcomes, such as depres Given that each personality trait is only measured sion and anxiety. The aim of the present study was with two items, internal reliability measurements to investigate if the variable coach–athlete relation are not commonly calculated. ship can predict student athletes’ mental health Coach–athlete relationship. The Coach–Athlete after controlling for the effect of personal factors. Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q) (Jowett & Specifcally, we tested the extent to which coach– Ntoumanis, 2004) was used to assess the coach– athlete relationships predicted student-athlete athlete relationship. Jowett and Ntoumanis (2004) mental health beyond the influence of gender and have shown that this scale has good validity and reli SUMMER 2020 personality. Identifying specifc variables that are ability. This measure has 11 items and 3 subscales. connected to student athletes’ mental health will The subscales consist of commitment (3 questions), PSI CHI help professionals develop more effective interven closeness (4 questions), and complementarity JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL tions to prevent mental health issues. (4 questions). The student athletes answered the RESEARCH

CART-Q questions based on their relationship with from 0 (not at all) to 3 (severely – it bothered me a lot). their head coach. Sample questions include “I feel Sample statements included are “numbness or close to my head coach” and “I respect my head tingling” and “diffculty in breathing.” The Beck coach.” The student athletes selected a response Anxiety Inventory Manual showed strong reli based on a 7-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 ability with a Cronbach’s α of 0.89. A score of 1–21 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The Cronbach indicates low anxiety, a score of 21–35 indicates α for CART-Q was .98. moderate anxiety, and a score greater than 36 Mental health. To draw a comprehensive indicates high anxiety. Individuals scoring in the assessment of the athletes’ mental health, we used range of moderate to high anxiety should follow measurements of mental disorders (i.e., depression up with a medical professional. and anxiety) and of a positive element of mental health (i.e., psychological quality of life). Each scale Procedure has been validated in previous studies and shown to Athletes completed the questionnaires on Qualtrics have convergent and divergent validity. during the month of November. After approval Positive elements of health. WHO-Quality of the Institutional Review Board, the university of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) is a brief version of athletic department’s academic coordinator sent the World Health Organization Quality of Life emails to every student athlete (n = 247) and assessment (The WHOQOL Group, 1998). It included an invitation to participate in the online has been tested in a sample of people across 23 survey. Seventy-nine athletes completed surveys for countries, showing sound validity and reliability a 32% response rate. Participants gave consent to (Skevington, Lotfy, & O’Connell, 2004). The scale participate in the survey, provided the background consists of 26 questions and 4 domains (physical information requested, and completed each of the health, psychological health, social relationships, surveys listed above in this report. Participants flled and environmental health), but only psychologi in their frst and last names at the end of the survey cal health was used in the present study. Sample to allow clinical referrals based on clinical levels of statements included, “How much do you enjoy depression or anxiety. Only the researchers had life?” and “How satisfed are you with yourself?” access to the data. For Questions 1 through 4, responses ranged from 1 (not at all) to 5 (an extreme amount). For Question Data Analysis 5, the statements ranged from 1 (very dissatisfied) We used the Statistical Package for the Social to 5 (very satisfied). For Question 6, the statements Sciences for three major data analyses. First, we ranged from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Reliability was conducted descriptive analyses of all variables, high, Cronbach α = .83. both for the complete sample and separated by Negative elements of health. The Center for gender. Next, we correlated the major predictor Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale Revised variables personality and coach–athlete relation (CESD-R; Eaton, Muntaner, Smith, Tien, & Ybarra, ship subscales with measures of mental health 2004) consists of 20 statements on a 5-point Likert- (depression, anxiety, and psychological quality of type scale ranging from 1 (not at all or less than 1 life), controlling for gender. Finally, we used three day last week) to 5 (nearly every day for two weeks). hierarchical multiple regression analyses to assess Sample items are comprised of “Nothing made if the coach–athlete relationship could predict me happy” and “I felt like I was moving too slowly.” each of the major mental health measures beyond This scale has shown good validity and reliability gender and personality. We entered gender and and is vastly used in psychiatric epidemiology, with personality in the first step and coach–athlete the strength of being atheoretical (Eaton et al., relationship in the second to test if it predicted 2004; Van Dam & Earleywine, 2011). The CESD-R variance in mental health variables over and above value that determines if an individual is considered gender and personality. clinically depressed is a score of 16 or higher out of the total 20 questions. The Cronbach α for the Results CESD-R was .86. Table 1 illustrates the mean and standard deviations The Beck Anxiety Inventory Manual consists of all variables presented in the survey. We used an of 21 statements regarding how the individual Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to assess if there SUMMER 2020 felt within the past month (Beck & Steer, 1993). were signifcant differences between genders on PSI CHI Participants use a 4-point response scale, ranging the mental health variables. All descriptive data JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

are shown in Table 1. Men and women varied on A post-hoc power analysis showed that assuming a five measures in the study. Men showed higher medium effect size and a standard signifcance level scores on the WHOQOL scale, F(1, 72) = 4.08, of p = .05, power was suffcient with our sample p = .047, and three measures of the coach–athlete relat size = .74. Assuming a large effect between mental ionship, and lower scores on emotional stability, health and coach–athlete relationship shows our F(1, 72) = 11.18, p = .001. Consistent with our focus sample has adequate power. on this important relationship, our results show men reporting higher levels of complementar Predicting Mental Health ity, F(1, 72) = 4.75, p = .033, and commitment, Three hierarchical multiple regressions had F(1, 72) = 5.88, p = .018, on the CART-Q. gender and personality inserted on the frst step and coach–athlete relationship on the second Associations Between Major Variables step. The frst multiple regression had depression Table 2 shows partial correlations between each as the dependent variable. In predicting depres of the mental health variables and the predictor sion, only the model including coach–athlete variables, controlling for gender. Results show relationship as a predictor was signifcant, with many signifcant, moderate correlations between a medium effect size, F(7,61) = 2.22, p = .045, the variables examined. Consistent with the main R2 = .21. The combination of gender, personality, focus of this article, the strongest associations are and coach–athlete relationship predicted 21% seen between well-being, depression, and the sub of the variance in depression scores. Adding scales of coach–athlete relationship. In addition, coach–athlete relationship on the second step emotional stability correlated signifcantly with of the hierarchical regression accounted for an all mental health measures. It was positively and additional 15% of the variance in depression, strongly correlated with quality of life, and nega ΔF(1, 60) = 11.37, p = .001, ΔR2 = .15. Regarding tively and moderately correlated to depression and specifc predictors, only coach–athlete relation anxiety. The correlations supported the importance ship (β = -.43, p = .001) was a signifcant predictor of including measures of personality, especially of depression, where a stronger coach–athlete emotional stability, and coach–athlete relationship relationship was associated with lower depression measures in the hierarchical regression analyses. scores. Table 3 shows the values for all predictors. The second hierarchical regression, which had TABLE 1 psychological quality of life as the dependent vari able, also had only the second model as signifcant, Descriptive Characteristics for Individual with a medium effect size, F(7,61) = 2.78, p = .014, Variables by Gender R2 = .24. The model accounted for 24% of the Variable Male (n = 23) Female (n = 56) variance in psychological quality of life, with M(SD) M(SD) the addition of coach–athlete relationship con Ten Item Personality Inventory tributing to half of this variance (ΔR2 = .12), Extraversion 9.36 (2.97) 9.45 (2.69) ΔF(1, 61) = 9.39, p = .003. Regarding specific Agreeableness 8.73 (2.60) 9.00 (1.96) predictors, again, coach–athlete relationship was the only signifcant predictor (β = -.38, p = .003), Conscientiousness 11.55 (2.22) 11.59 (1.98) where a stronger coach–athlete relationship was * Emotional Stability 10.95 (2.36) 8.73 (2.71) associated with higher quality of life scores. Table Openness 10.73 (2.62) 10.61 (1.88) 3 shows the values for all predictors. Coach–Athlete Relationship Questionnaire 55.52(15.09) 45.66(17.24) In the third hierarchical regression, anxiety was Commitment* 16.29 (5.47) 12.70 (5.77) the dependent variable. Neither model was signif Closeness 23.05 (6.33) 19.54 (7.23) cant in predicting anxiety. Gender and personality Complementarity* 21.90 (5.33) 18.22 (6.92) had a statistically nonsignifcant contribution of 5% to the anxiety scores with a small effect size, World Health Organization- Quality of Life* 23.95 (3.76) 21.88 (4.00) F(6,60) = 0.54, p = .777, R2 = .05, and the model Center for Epidemiological Studies- 10.20(14.11) 13.79(11.18) Depression Scale Revised including coach–athlete relationship had a non signifcant contribution of 11%, ΔF(7,59) = 1.05, Beck Anxiety Inventory 6.15 (9.50) 9.43 (7.31) p = .407, ΔR2 = .11. We summarize the regression * Note. Indicates statistically significant (p < .05) differences between gender. analyses in Table 3.

Discussion but also generating more stress on top of the many This study aimed to assess the associations between pressures that student athletes already undergo coach–athlete relationships and student athletes’ (Lentz et al., 2018). mental health. It also aimed to analyze if this Previous research (i.e., Davis & Jowett, 2014; association would be signifcant after accounting Felton & Jowett, 2013b; Felton & Jowett, 2017) has for the influence of student athletes’ gender and shown an association of athlete’s attachment style personality. Our results provide a detailed picture and coach support with well-being outcomes such as of the relationships between different measures of affect, vitality, and performance self-concept. In the mental health, a range of personality factors, and present study, coach–athlete relationship was corre most importantly, measures of the coach–athlete lated to psychological quality of life and depression, relationship. This section will discuss the fndings besides predicting them over and above the effects regarding the relationship of each of these variables of personality and gender. These fndings indicate with different aspects of student athletes’ mental that the coaches’ behaviors and their relationship health. with their athletes may have a connection with their The relationship between coaches and athletes TABLE 2 presents itself as a major candidate for focus in the context of mental health of athletes (Lentz et al., Correlations Between Major Variables, 2018). Coaches’ relationship with their athletes Controlled by Gender showed a clear association with psychological WHO CESD-R BAI quality of life and depression and contributed to Extraversion .06 .08 .04 the prediction of 15% of depression and 12% of Agreeableness .14 -.60 .07 psychological quality of life scores in this sample, after accounting for the effects of gender and Conscientiousness .22 .00 -.21 personality variables. These are important fndings, Emotional Stability .47*** -.31* -.29* as they reinforce the need for coaches to invest on Openness .12 -.11 .03 the improvement of their relationships with their Commitment* .38** -.36** -.14 athletes. Previous research has shown that the Closeness .37** -.44*** -.26* coach–athlete relationship influences important ** ** aspects of athletes’ performance and development Complementarity .36 -.41 -.15 (Prophet, Singer, Martin, & Coulter, 2017). In addi Note. WHO = World Health Organization. CESD-R = Center for Epidemiological Studies- Depression Scale Revised. BAI = Beck Anxiety Inventory Manual. tion, the International Sport Coaching Framework * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001. (2013) includes building relationships in its list of coaching competencies. It is one of the few times, however, that this variable is related to aspects of TABLE 3 athletes’ mental health. Summary of Multiple Regression Analyses for the Prediction Even though the link between coach–athlete of Depression, Anxiety, and Psychological Quality of Life relationship and depression in athletes has not been Depression Anxiety Psychological QOL studied extensively in the past, it is not surprising B SE B ® B SE B ® B SE B ® that this relationship may exist. Lentz et al. (2018) suggested that the athletes’ relationships with their 1st Block coaches could represent a source of support amid Gender -.79 1.26 -.08 .44 1.12 .39 -.96 1.07 -.11 the many stressors that college student athletes Extraversion -.09 .36 -.03 .08 .32 .03 .47 .31 .18 endure. On most teams, the coach is the main point Agreeableness .13 .29 .06 -.14 .26 -.08 .11 .25 .06 of contact between the athlete and the university, Conscient. .40 .32 .15 .15 .29 .07 .06 .27 .03 and on some campuses the coach may be the gatekeeper for all interactions with a university. Emotional St. .07 .43 .02 .23 .38 .08 .03 .35 .01 A coach and his or her approval or disapproval Openness .12 .30 .05 .-08 .27 .04 -.07 .26 -.03 could also play a major role in the athlete’s psyche. 2nd Block Implicitly or explicitly the athletes’ prospects, play C–A Rel. -.12 .03 -.43** -.06 .03 -.27 .09 .03 .38** ing time, and career, can hinge on the coach. It is R2 .21 .11 .24 not surprising that the relationship with the coach * * can play a major role in the athlete’s mental health. F 2.22 1.05 2.78 Further, a poor relationship with the coach could Note. QOL = Quality of Life. C–A Rel. = Coach–athlete relationship. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001. be a stressor in itself, not only negating support,

athletes’ mental health, beyond the effect of the Conclusion athletes’ personality on their own mental health. Although the present study only demonstrates However, further research with larger and more initial evidence that coach–athlete relationship and varied samples (i.e., from various universities and some aspects of college student athletes’ mental divisions) are needed to confrm the relationship health may be connected, it is important to consider of these variables. In addition, future studies with this fnding within the context of previous studies longitudinal or experimental designs could help that have found relationship of coaches’ behaviors identify if this relationship is causal or if there is a and support with various aspects of athletes’ psy third confounding or mediating variable affecting chological well-being, such as positive and negative this association. affect, vitality, satisfaction, and performance self- Beyond the coach–athlete relationship, our concept (Davis & Jowett, 2014; Felton & Jowett, results shed light on other aspects of student 2013b; Felton & Jowett, 2017; Reinboth, Duda, & athletes’ mental health. We found significant Ntoumanis, 2004). In addition, this relationship gender differences in quality of life scores and makes theoretical sense, because coaches are key that emotional stability was signifcantly correlated sources of support for college student athletes to all measures of student-athlete mental health. and relationship issues represent crucial stressors In a meta-analysis that included 137 personality in college students’ lives (Lentz et al., 2018). The traits as correlates of subjective happiness and coach–athlete relationship had never been con well-being, DeNeve and Cooper (1998) found nected to depression and psychological quality of that among the Big Five factors, emotional stability life, to our knowledge. In the present study, the was the strongest predictor of happiness, and that coach–athlete relationship was not only correlated extraversion and agreeableness were good predic to depression and life satisfaction, but could also tors of positive affect. However, emotional stability predict part of the athletes’ scores on these scales. was not a signifcant predictor in the hierarchical More studies are necessary to confirm this con multiple regressions. These fndings indicate that it nection, but in light of the evidence that coaches’ may be important to consider emotional stability’s behaviors are connected to various well-being role in student athletes’ mental health in research outcomes, coach education that targets specifc and practice, but further research is necessary to establish this connection with confdence. behaviors that could support student athletes’ Our results are tempered by some important psychological well-being and mental health should limitations. First, we acknowledge that different become a central part of coaching education. teams have their seasons start and end at different Although there are great examples of suggestions times of the year. Our data was collected at one on how to improve coach–athlete relationships point in the year and, although some teams were to improve performance (e.g., Ferrar et al., 2018; already playing, others would only be practicing. Prophet et al., 2017), the potential effect of this The stress and related mental health issues would relationship on athletes’ mental health should correspondingly be different. Second, teams vary become central in these trainings as well. in size. Whereas a swimming team may have many References members and even many assistant coaches, a vol Armstrong, S., & Oomen-Early, J. (2009). Social connectedness, self-esteem, leyball team will have a smaller number of players. and depression symptomatology among collegiate athletes versus Although we measured team membership, we did nonathletes. Journal of American College Health, 57, 521–526. not factor team size into our analyses. Both these https://doi.org/10.3200/jach.57.5.521-526 Beauchemin, J. (2014). 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Journal of Personality, 61, 343–364. portion of the student athletes volunteered for https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1993.tb00284.x our study, the sample is under 50% of the athlete Cangur, S., Yaman, C., Ercan, I., Yaman, M., & Tok, S. (2017). The relationship SUMMER 2020 population on campus. It is possible the athletes of anthropometric measurements with psychological criteria in female athletes. Psychology, Health, & Medicine, 22, 325–331. PSI CHI in the sample varied in some way from those who https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2016.1234714 JOURNAL OF did not take part. Chickering, A. W., McDowell, J., & Campagna, D. (1969). Institutional differences PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

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551–558. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291798006667 differences by gender and sport. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50, Van Dam, N. T., & Earleywine, M. (2011). Validation of the Center for 167–171. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2015-095756 Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CESD-R): Pragmatic Wu, A. M. S., Lai, M. H. C., & Chan, I. T. (2014). Coaching behaviors, satisfaction of depression assessment in the general population. Psychiatry Research, needs, and intrinsic motivation among Chinese university athletes. Journal 186, 128–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2010.08.018 of Applied Sport Psychology, 26, 334–348. Velikic, D., Knezevic, J., & Rodic, N. (2014). Relations of some personality https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2014.888107 traits and characteristics of sportsmen with the level of sports anxiety. SportLogia, 10, 35–43. https://doi.org/10.5550/sgia.141001.en.005v Author Note. Megan Powers, https://orcid.org/0000-0003- Wenzel, L., Glanz, K., & Lerman, C. (2002). Stress, coping, and health behavior. 1899-6291, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay; Jana Fogaca, In K. Glanz, B. K. Rimer, & F. M. Lewis (Eds.), Health Behavior and Health https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2309-7541, University of Education: Theory, Research, and Practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Wisconsin, Green Bay; Regan A. R. Gurung, Whitehead, P. M., & Senecal, G. (2019). Balance and mental health in NCAA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3542-4378, School of Psychological Sciences, Oregon State University; and Callan Division I student-athletes: An existential humanistic view. The Humanistic M. Jackman, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3303-4293, Psychologist. Advance online publication. School of Psychological Sciences, Oregon State University. https://doi.org/10.1037/hum0000138 Special thanks to Psi Chi Journal reviewers for their support. Wolanin, A., Gross, M., & Hong, E. (2015). Depression in athletes: Prevalence and Correspondence concerning this article should be risk factors. American College of Sports Medicine, 14, 56–60. addressed to Callan Jackman, School of Psychological https://doi.org/10.1249/JSR.0000000000000123 Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331. Wolanin, A., Hong, E., Marks, D., Panchoo, K., & Gross, M. (2016). Prevalence E-mail: [email protected] of clinically elevated depressive symptoms in college athletes and

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PSI CHI JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Do Hugs and Their Constituent Components Reduce Self-Reported Anxiety, Stress, and Negative Affect? Preman Koshar and Megan L. Knowles* Franklin & Marshall College

ABSTRACT. Past research has suggested that touch and pressure can have antidepressant and anxiolytic properties. The present investigation hypothesized that brief interventions of hugging and its constituent components (pressure and the presence of a friend) during a stressful situation would reduce anxiety, social anxiety, stress, and negative affect while increasing social support, relative to control condition. Open Data badge earned Undergraduate participants (n = 155) completed the Trier for transparent research Social Stress Test while either receiving hugs from a friend practices. Data available at https://osf.io/g9z8k/ (hug), having a friend nearby (friend), wearing a weighted pressure vest (vest), or having nothing added (control). There was no signifcant effect of condition on state measures of 2 2 anxiety (ηp = .01, p = .79), social anxiety (ηp = .01, p = .70), 2 2 stress (ηp = .02, p = .58), negative affect (ηp = .01, p = .77), 2 or social support (ηp = .03, p = .22). These fndings suggest that brief interventions with hugs, weighted pressure vests, or the presence of a friend are not effective at increasing social support nor at reducing anxiety, social anxiety, stress, or negative affect. Alternative explanations for these results are discussed. Keywords: hugging, weighted vests, anxiety, touch, pressure

ouch and, more broadly, pressure, have long touch also improve sleep and decrease the produc been held to have medicinal properties, tion of substance P, a chemical associated with pain Teven though scientifc research has only production, in addition to increasing the release recently begun to put these beliefs to the test of oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine in the brain (Classen, 2012). Touch is defned here as “the tactile (e.g., Field, 2010; Stock & Uvnäs‐Moberg, 1988). stimulation of one person by another,” whereas Oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine increases pressure is defned as tactile stimulation induced by have been linked to reductions in anxiety, stress, any person or object (Mulaik et al., 1991, p. 308). and depression (for a review, see Field, 2010; Field Touch in particular has been underresearched, et al., 1992). According to the polyvagal theory, with no formal evaluation of its benefits for a these neurochemical changes are likely due to variety of common psychological maladies, despite vagus nerve stimulation from skin pressure (e.g., systematic reviews largely lauding its wide-ranging Field, 2010; Gamse, Lembeck, & Cuello, 1979; benefts across a variety of mediums (e.g., Field, Porges, 2001; Stock & Uvnäs‐Moberg, 1988). 2010; Jakubiak & Feeney, 2017). These neurochemical changes may explain why Massage, for instance, has been found to touch decreases anxiety in cardiac patients (Weiss, SUMMER 2020 reduce anxiety and cortisol levels (e.g., Field, 2010; 1990), as well as existential anxiety after a death PSI CHI Field et al., 1992). Massage and other forms of reminder (Koole, Tjew A Sin, & Schneider, 2014). JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Touch is also often used as a demonstration of and boards all around the user’s body (Edelson affection, and some forms of affection (though et al., 1999; Grandin, 1992). Grandin stated that not always physical affection) have been associated her Hug Machine “calm[ed] down [her] anxiety” with reduced cortisol levels and stress (e.g., Floyd (Grandin, 1992, p. 66). However, this has only ever et al., 2007; Floyd & Riforgiate, 2008). Touch and been investigated in a single study evaluating 12 other forms of tactile stimulation have also been children diagnosed with autism, which found that implemented in sensorimotor therapy, which is the Hug Machine signifcantly reduced tension used to help traumatized individuals reconnect and marginally reduced anxiety (Edelson et al., with their bodies and modulate their own arousal 1999). It is worth noting that this study consisted (e.g., Ogden & Minton, 2000; for an overview, see of a small sample of children and focused entirely Van der Kolk, 2015). However, it is important to on nonnormative populations. One other study note that touch is not always benefcial—a wrist evaluated the effects of a similar contraption on touch on highly socially anxious people was dem college students, and although Krauss (1987) onstrated to increase anxiety (Wilhelm, Kochar, found no clear effect on state anxiety, subjective Roth, & Gross, 2001). Overall, this growing body relaxation did increase. These conflicting results of research indicates that touch can (across a may be due to the unusual contraptions employed wide range of modalities) improve a diverse set of by Krauss and Grandin, the small samples used in variables related to mental health. each study, or the different qualities of the samples. The range of possible responses to touch, from The vast majority of the research, from reducing stress to increasing anxiety, suggests that Grandin onward, has been aimed at identifying these responses are, to some degree, dependent the sensory benefits of pressure (particularly on context and individual perception (Field, 2010; with small, nonnormative samples of children), Wilhelm et al., 2001). This is one of the many despite inconsistent and rarely signifcant results reasons why a well-researched stress test such as (Losinski, Sanders, & Wiseman, 2016; Stephenson the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was selected for & Carter, 2009). The mixed results for pressure as participants to undergo; that way the context of the an effective remedy for autism and other sensory interventions would be constant across conditions. disorders (as well as the promising preliminary Both reviews and original research have found results highlighting pressure’s anxiolytic proper that touch in close adult relationships increases ties) suggest that this focus on utilizing pressure oxytocin levels, and when that touch is paired with to improve sensory and behavioral issues may be a positive interpretation of the touch, it leads to misguided. Sensory and behavioral improvements lowered stress and could cause cognitive changes may be caused by nothing more than a reduction that increase both relational and psychological in anxiety, as there is some evidence that anxiety well-being (e.g., Holt-Lunstad, Birmingham, & is related to sensory overresponsivity (Green & Light, 2008; for a systematic review, see Jakubiak Ben-Sasson, 2010; Mazurek et al., 2013). Pressure & Feeney, 2017). Touch also stimulates the vagus might also disproportionately beneft individuals nerve, which activates the pregenual anterior diagnosed with autism because their elevated cingulate cortex (related to rewarding pleasant anxiety (compared to a normative population) stimulations) even more strongly than pressure, may be reduced by the pressure (White, Oswald, suggesting that interpreting skin pressure as Ollendick, & Scahill, 2009). Previous research touch may enhance any neurochemical benefts ers might have been measuring uninformative (Jakubiak & Feeney, 2017; Lindgren et al., 2012). variables in their attempts to ascertain why pres These benefts, although most pronounced sure—particularly weighted pressure vests—seemed in response to touch, have their roots in pressure. to help some children diagnosed with autism. Pressure has been described as “relaxing” and Research on weighted pressure vests has suf “calming” ever since Temple Grandin described fered from the same issues as research on pressure her “Squeeze Machine,” now termed the “Hug as a whole, with the majority of studies on the Machine” (Edelson, Edelson, Kerr, & Grandin, vests only addressing behavioral or sensory issues 1999; Grandin, 1992, pp. 63, 67). There have been in autism, attention deficit disorders, or perva SUMMER 2020 several designs of this machine, but usually the sive development disorder (e.g., Kane, Luiselli, PSI CHI individual using the machine lies on their stomach Dearborn, & Young, 2004; Lin, Lee, Chang, & JOURNAL OF in it and pulls a lever that tightens cushioned pads Hong, 2014). Weighted pressure vests are defned PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

here as adjustable vests that can be tightened and which then buffered stress and improved resistance are flled with small metal or sand-flled weights to infection (Cohen, Janicki-Deverts, Turner, & that in total weigh anywhere from 1 to 10 pounds. Doyle, 2015). This fnding supports the hypothesis Most of these studies were focused on children and that hugging can reduce stress while increasing relied on very small sample sizes (e.g., Fertel-Daly, social support. Also, the frequency of hugs has been Bedell, & Hinojosa, 2001; Losinski, Cook, Hirsch, & associated with lower blood pressure and higher Sanders, 2017). Systematic reviews have revealed oxytocin, suggesting that hugs have a wide array of that weighted pressure vests are not effective at positive benefts that are all linked to vagal stimula treating autism, among other disabilities (e.g., tion (Light, Grewen, & Amico, 2005; Porges, 2001; Stephenson & Carter, 2009). Very little literature Stock & Uvnäs‐Moberg, 1988). However, most exists on the effect of weighted pressure vests of the experimental studies on hugging actually on anxiety despite the vests being the focus of a assessed warm contact, which consists of positive substantial amount of research on nonnormative social and physical interaction with a partner populations and animals. To date, this potential (usually a romantic partner) that often culminates effect has been most clearly described in a handful in a 20-second hug. Such “warm contact” appears of studies on dogs where it has been effective at to increase oxytocin and self-reported happiness reducing dogs’ fear of thunder (Cottam, Dodman, while reducing alpha amylase and blood pressure & Ha, 2013; Fish, Foster, Gruen, Sherman, & (Grewen, Girdler, Amico, & Light, 2005; Holt- Dorman, 2017; King, Buffington, Smith, & Lunstad, Birmingham, & Light, 2008; Matsunaga et Grandin, 2014). al., 2011). No study has analyzed whether hugging alone can reduce psychopathological symptomol Weighted blankets, or blankets that have been ogy, and the effects of hugging on anxiety has yet flled with metal weights or a heavy material such to be the subject of published research. as sand and often weigh 12 pounds or more, have It is also unclear whether any benefits that more clear results than the weighted pressure might arise from hugging are due to the touch vests (e.g., Champagne, Mullen, Dickson, & and pressure involved in the act, or if they are Krishnamurty, 2015). However, many of the studies due simply to the presence of a supportive friend, have the same issues: small sample sizes, samples as the presence of a friend alone can reduce that only include children, and samples that consist some measures of stress such as cardiovascular only of nonnormative individuals (i.e., individuals reactivity, which is “the response of physiological diagnosed with autism, individuals with insomnia, parameters, often blood pressure or heart rate, or patients in a psychiatric inpatient facility; e.g., to a laboratory stressor” (e.g., Christenfeld et al., Champagne et al., 2015; Gee, Peterson, Buck, & 1997, p. 388; Grewen, Girdler, Amico, & Light, Lloyd, 2016; Gringras et al., 2014). Although the 2005). Cardiovascular reactivity is related to vagal results have been mixed, there is some agreement stimulation, just like touch and pressure, implying that weighted blankets reduce anxiety, at least in that similar or connected processes may be at the some specifc populations and contexts such as root of these benefts (e.g., Huang, Webb, Zourdos, inpatients at a psychiatric facility and individuals & Acevedo, 2013). undergoing dental care (e.g., Chen, Yang, Chi, & In sum, pressure, touch, and the presence of Chen, 2013; Novak, Scanlan, McCaul, MacDonald, a friend all show promise as symptom reduction & Clarke, 2012). Weighted vests were chosen over strategies for anxiety, stress, and depression (e.g., Cohen et al., 2015; Field, 2010). However, much weighted blankets for this study primarily due to of the work on touch and pressure has substantial the need for participants to be sitting up for the limitations, often featuring populations that are TSST; it is likely that a weighted blanket would have not generalizable or measuring inconsistent vari fallen off if not actively held in place for the dura ables of interest. Anxiety, stress, and depression are tion. The potential anxiolytic effects of other types all exceedingly common, both as various disorders of pressure have yet to be confrmed empirically. and as subthreshold nuisances; these issues incur One common, perhaps ubiquitous form of profound amounts of pain, suffering, economic both pressure and touch is hugging (e.g. Fromme costs, and death every year (DuPont et al., 1996; et al., 1989). Hugging has also been overlooked Kessler et al., 2005). New strategies for managing SUMMER 2020 in the literature. One of the few hugging studies these disorders and the corresponding suffering found that the number of daily perceived hugs these maladies cause could have wide-ranging PSI CHI correlated positively with increased social support, benefts. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Present Investigation Prior to arrival at the lab, participants signed In light of past research demonstrating that warm up for the study, entitled “Social Behavior and interpersonal contact, physical pressure, and the Emotions” in order to minimize demand charac presence of friends produce positive outcomes, teristics. It was made clear to all participants in the we tentatively expected hugs, weighted pressure description of the study that they needed to sign up vests, and friends to mitigate anxiety, stress, and with a friend. This was necessary to ensure that all depression to some degree. More specifically, conditions had equivalent groups of participants; we hypothesized that brief interventions of hug otherwise the conditions that do not require a friend ging and its two primary components, pressure to come along (control and vest) would have more (wearing a weighted pressure vest), and social participants who cannot bring a friend, while the presence (being in the presence of a friend) friend-bringing conditions (hug and friend) would throughout a stressful situation would reduce state have more participants who can bring a friend, thus anxiety, state social anxiety, state stress, and state creating inequivalent groups with differing char negative affect while increasing state social support. acteristics. However, it would also be problematic Negative affect was included as an exploratory for all participants to bring a friend, as the Friend variable of interest despite the weaker evidence condition is specifcally trying to measure the effect supporting its relationship to touch and pressure of the presence of a friend, and this variable would due to its close relationship to anxiety and stress. be very diffcult to differentiate if all participants Participants completed the TSST (Kirschbaum, brought a friend. It would also make it impossible Pirke, & Hellhammer, 1993), which consisted of to ascertain if any benefts in the vest condition were from the weighted pressure vest alone if a friend was a speech task and a math task performed in front also present. As such, after signing up, participants of a camera monitored live by a judge, in order to were randomly assigned without replacement to a determine if any of the experimental conditions condition based on when they signed up and their had a protective effect on participants’ otherwise assumed gender, and were then either emailed a elevated stress and anxiety levels. Elevating stress reminder to bring a friend to the study (hug or and anxiety also made the corresponding variables friend conditions) or an update informing them to more easily measurable and any differences more come alone (control or vest conditions). easily detectable. Hugging, and its two primary components, Measures pressure and social presence, were examined We first assessed general anxiety, social anxiety, as strategies for reducing anxiety, stress, and depression, stress, and social support at the trait negative affect for the frst time in this study. These level to determine whether they moderated the strategies could potentially be used as affordable impact of condition on our outcomes of interest. supplements to common treatments such as Immediately after participants completed the TSST, cognitive-behavioral therapy or medication. we assessed the same variables at the state level as Method our outcomes of interest. All state measures were modifed from their original forms to reference Participants the TSST. One hundred fifty-five (110 women, 43 men, 2 Demographic information. All participants other; age: M = 19.55 years, SD = 1.24) undergradu provided their gender and their age in addition to ates from Franklin & Marshall College participated completing the following scales. in return for either partial course credit or $5 from Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). January to May 2018. After institutional review We measured trait anxiety using the GAD-7, a 7-item board approval from the Franklin & Marshall self-report scale developed by Spitzer, Kroenke, College IRB was obtained, participants signed up Williams, and Löwe (2006). The GAD-7 measured for the study online either through Sona (www. trait anxiety on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging sona-systems.com) or via a publicly available Google from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day) and included Sheets spreadsheet. Participants were recruited items such as “Feeling nervous, anxious, or on from an introductory psychology class, via word-of- edge.” This scale demonstrated adequate validity mouth (including paid recruiters who received $3 and reliability (α = .92) when taken by adults in a SUMMER 2020 per pair of participants), Facebook posts to a subset clinical setting (Spitzer et al., 2006). The scale was PSI CHI of college class pages, and emails to a randomized internally reliable using a student sample in the JOURNAL OF sample of 400 students. current study, α = .88. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS-6) and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Social Phobia Scale (SPS-6). We measured trait (STAI). We measured state anxiety using the short- social anxiety by combining the 6-item SIAS-6 and form STAI, a 6-item self-report scale developed by the 6-item SPS-6 scales, both developed by Peters, Marteau and Bekker (1992). The STAI measured Sunderland, Andrews, Rapee, and Mattick (2012), state anxiety on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging into one self-report scale. The SIAS-6 and SPS-6 from 1 (not at all) to 4 (very much) and included measured trait social anxiety on a 5-point Likert- items such as “I feel calm.” This scale has been type scale ranging from 0 (not at all characteristic or found to be internally reliable in a combined true of me) to 4 (extremely characteristic or true of me) sample including students and pregnant women, and included items such as “I can feel conspicuous α = .82, as well as in the present study, α = .81 standing in a line.” The individual scales demon (Marteau & Bekker, 1992). strated adequate validity and reliability (αs > .90) State Social Anxiety Questionnaire (SSAQ). in clinical samples (Peters et al., 2012), and the We measured state social anxiety using the SSAQ, a composite scale demonstrated adequate internal 6-item self-report scale developed by Kashdan and reliability in the present study, α = .84 Steger (2006). The SSAQ measured state social Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2). We anxiety on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from measured trait depression using the PHQ-2, a 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely) and included items two-item self-report scale developed by Löwe, such as “I worried about what the judges thought of Kroenke, and Gräfe (2005). The PHQ-2 measured me.” This scale originally had seven items, but one trait depression on a 4-point Likert-type scale rang item (“I found it hard to interact with people”) was ing from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day) and removed due to most participants not interacting included items such as “Little interest or pleasure with anyone but the experimenter. This scale has in doing things.” The scale demonstrated adequate been found to be internally reliable with a student validity and reliability (α = .83) in a sample of sample, α = .91, as well as in the present study, medical outpatients (Löwe et al., 2005). The scale α = .93 (Kashdan & Steger, 2006). demonstrated adequate internal reliability in the State Stress Scale. We measured state stress present study using the Spearman-Brown coeffcient using the State Stress Scale, a single-item self-report (α = .73) despite the limitations of two-item scales scale based on the work of Park, Armeli, and (Eisinga, Te Grotenhuis, & Pelzer, 2013). Tennen (2004). The State Stress Scale consists of a Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). We measured single item, “How stressed did you feel during the trait stress using the PSS, a 10-item self-report scale speech and math tasks you just completed?”, with developed by Cohen, Kamarck, and Mermelstein responses on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging (1983). The PSS measured trait stress on a 5-point from 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely). Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (very Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule often) and included items such as “In the last (PANAS). We measured state negative affect using month, how often have you been upset because the 10-item negative affect subset of the PANAS, of something that happened unexpectedly?” This a self-report scale developed by Watson, Clark, scale has been found to be internally reliable in and Tellegen (1988). The PANAS measured state clinical and student populations, α = .84 to .86, negative affect on a 5-point Likert-type scale rang as well as in the present study, α = .84 (Cohen et ing from 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely) and including al., 1983). items such as “distressed.” This scale has been Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social found to be internally reliable in student samples, Support (MSPSS). We measured trait social sup α = .84 to .90, as well as in the present study, α = .89 port using the MSPSS, a 12-item self-report scale (Watson et al., 1988). developed by Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, and Farley State Social Support Scale. We measured state (1988). The MSPSS measured trait social support social support using the State Social Support Scale, on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very a single-item self-report scale based on the MSPSS strongly disagree) to 7 (very strongly agree) and included (Zimet et al., 1988). It consisted of the item “To items such as “There is a special person who is what extent did you feel emotionally supported dur- around when I am in need.” This scale has been ing the speech and math tasks you just completed?” reliable in student samples (α = .84 to .92; Zimet The state social support measure was evaluated on SUMMER 2020 et al., 1988). It was also internally reliable in the a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (not at PSI CHI present study, α = .87. all) to 5 (extremely). JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Procedure via intercom to continue, as there was still time The following procedure is depicted in Figure 1. remaining. After the speech was completed, the Participants were greeted by a male experimenter second 1-minute break took place, with participants in a white lab coat. All participants were then asked remaining in the lab room. Then, participants to read and sign an informed consent form. were instructed to serially subtract 17 from 2023 Control condition. After completing the (one of the more diffcult math tasks proposed consent process, participants in the control condi for the TSST) for another 5 minutes and were tion were then led into the lab room and asked to told to restart if they made a mistake (Kudielka, complete the trait measures on the computer using Hellhammer, Kirschbaum, Harmon-Jones, & Qualtrics (www.qualtrics.com). Four participants Winkielman, 2007). Afterward, the experimenter completed the trait measures online, less than informed the participants that they now had a one week before arriving for the lab session. After third and fnal 1-minute break; the participants completing the trait measures, the participants again remained in the lab room. After the break, informed the experimenter that they were done, the participants completed the state measures on and the experimenter took them back to the wait the computer using Qualtrics (www.qualtrics.com). ing area where they had arrived and instructed Vest condition. The procedure for the vest the participants to wait for 1 minute. This was the condition was nearly identical to the above pro participants’ frst 1-minute break. After the break, cedure for the control condition, except during the experimenter led the participants back to the the frst 1-minute break the experimenter helped lab room. The experimenter then informed them participants put on the weighted pressure vest. that they would be giving a 5-minute speech to the Four weighted pressure vests (Hyper Wear Inc., camera in the lab room about why they would be Austin, TX) weighing 10 pounds each were used, a good candidate for their ideal job. The experi one in each of the four commonly available sizes menter also informed participants that the camera (small, medium, large, and extra-large). Each par was monitored live by three judges, including the ticipant selected the size that best ft. Participants experimenter; in actuality it was only monitored in the vest condition wore the vest throughout the by the experimenter. Participants then began the experiment until the fnal 1-minute break, when TSST, which consisted of a 3-minute preparation the experimenter helped participants remove the period, a 5-minute speech task, and a 5-minute vest. math task (Kirschbaum, 2015). Participants Hug condition. If the participant was in the were first given 3 minutes to prepare for their hug condition, then the procedure was also similar speech task before performing the 5-minute to that of the control condition but with a few speech. During the speech task, if the participants major changes. One such change is that, at the stopped speaking for an extended period of time, beginning of the study, the participant and friend the experimenter would tell the participants were told that, during the study, they would not be

FIGURE 1

State of Procedure End of Study

Wait for 1 min Wait for 1 min Wait for 1 min Control

Put on Vest, Wait for Continue Wearing Vest, Remove Vest, Wait for Vest Remainder of 1 min Wait for 1 min Remainder of 1 min Speech Portion Math Portion Pottest Recieved Hug for 15 s, Wait With of TSST Recieve Hug for 15 s, Wait Alone for of TSST Recieve Hug for 15 s, Wait Alone for Measures Hug Friend for Remainder of 1 min Remainder of 1 min Remainder of 1 min

Be With Friend for 15 s, Wait Alone Be With Friend for 15 s, Wait Alone Friend Wait With Friend for 1 min for Remainder of 1 min for Remainder of 1 min

Figure 1. A flow chart demonstrating the procedural differences between the four conditions in the present study. TSST = Trier Social Stress Test.

allowed to talk to or touch each other without per with vest removal (n = 2), or the participant being mission from the experimenter. This was to ensure an acquaintance or friend of the experimenter that communication and touch that was not a part (n = 9).1 In preliminary analyses involving gender, of the protocol—both of which could generate the one participant with nonbinary gender was social support or reduce stress and anxiety—were also excluded, but this participant was included relatively constant across participants and condi for analyses that did not involve gender. tions. They were also informed that the participant First, a two-way Multivariate Analysis of would be doing tasks in the lab room while the Variance with gender and condition was run on friend primarily remained in the waiting area. all trait variables (anxiety, social anxiety, depres The procedure was then identical to the control sion, stress, and social support) in order to verify condition until the frst 1-minute break, when the that random assignment was successful. There participant and friend were instructed to hug each were no signifcant main or interaction effects. other, using both hands and arms for 15 seconds. To confirm that there were no effects for any Then, both the participant and the friend waited individual variables, additional two-way Analyses together for the rest of the break. The procedure of Variance (ANOVAs) with gender and condition was then identical to the control condition until were run on each of the trait variables. There were the second break, when the friend was asked to no signifcant effects involving condition. follow the experimenter to the lab room and A series of one-way ANOVAs were then run hug their friend in the same way as before for 15 to examine whether significant differences in seconds. After the hug was over, the experimenter our outcome variables emerged as a function asked the friend to return to the waiting area. The of condition. Inconsistent with our hypotheses, participant and friend then waited out the rest of these analyses revealed no signifcant differences the second break alone. The procedure was then between conditions in participants’ state anxiety, 2 identical to the control condition until the third F(3, 136) = 0.36, p = .79, ηp = .01, state social anxiety, 2 and fnal break, when the same 15-second hug was F(3, 136) = 0.48, p = .69, ηp = .01, state stress, 2 repeated once more before the friend was asked F(3, 135) = 0.66, p = .58, ηp = .02, state negative 2 to return to the waiting area. affect, F(3, 136) = 0.37, p = .77, ηp = .01, or state 2 Friend condition. The friend condition was social support, F(3, 136) = 1.48, p = .22, ηp = .03. nearly identical to the hug condition. However, Descriptive statistics for state variables across instead of receiving a hug during the frst break, conditions (and the whole sample) are viewable in the participant and friend just waited together for Table 1. No other state or trait measures or analyses 1 minute in the waiting area. The gender of the had any results of note.2 friend in both the hug and the friend conditions was not recorded, although the experimenter TABLE 1 anecdotally observed that the majority of partici Mean State Variable Scores Across Conditions pants brought a same-sex friend. During the two other minute-long breaks, the friend entered the Variable Control Hug Vest Friend Full Sample (n = 37) (n = 36) (n = 34) (n = 33) (n = 140) second room and stood near the participant for the same 15-second interval that the hug took Anxiety 2.68(0.58) 2.69(0.73) 2.72(0.56) 2.83(0.75) 2.73(0.65) place in the hug condition, but the friend did not Social Anxiety 2.60(1.20) 2.72(1.32) 2.49(1.03) 2.81(1.24) 2.65(1.20) touch or talk to them before being asked to leave Stressa 2.97(1.14) 3.17(1.08) 3.09(1.11) 3.34(1.13) 3.14(1.11) after 15 seconds. Negative Affect 2.13(0.77) 2.20(0.86) 2.14(0.73) 2.32(0.98) 2.20(0.83) All participants fnished the protocol by com Social Support 1.49(0.08) 1.92(1.08) 1.74(0.93) 1.58(0.90) 1.68(0.94) pleting the state measures. Note. Standard deviations are provided in parentheses. aOne participant in the friend condition did not complete this scale and was not included in analyses Results involving state stress. This participant was included in all other analyses. All of the scales were reduced by reverse-scoring 1Additional analyses using all 155 participants yielded results appropriate items and averaging the scores. Fifteen which were largely the same as those presented here. These participants were dropped from analyses for a additional tests are available upon request to the frst author. 2 variety of reasons such as failing to follow protocol Exploratory ANOVAs were also run with gender and each SUMMER 2020 (n = 3), knowing revealing information about the of the state and trait measures (anxiety, social anxiety, stress, depression, and social support). No signifcant effects involving PSI CHI study beforehand (n = 1), experimenter error condition were found. These analyses are also available upon JOURNAL OF request to the frst author. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Discussion of the benefts of oxytocin are not realized unless Contrary to predictions, our brief interventions they are paired with a positive interpretation of the utilizing hugs, weighted vests, and the presence oxytocin-releasing stimulus—and no such positive of a friend were all ineffective at reducing state interpretation was provided during this study. anxiety, state social anxiety, state stress, and state Negative contexts and interpretations may also negative affect during a stressful situation, relative be why previous research on weighted pressure vests to a control condition. All interventions also failed was so mixed and largely unclear; children and to signifcantly increase state social support, relative nonnormative populations may be more likely to to a control condition. Overall, these results do not interpret new situations and sensations negatively appear, at least at frst glance, to align with previous (Fertel-Daly et al., 2001; Losinski et al., 2017). It is research suggesting that all of these conditions can also possible that these interventions are effective, produce fast-acting benefcial effects, such as rapid but only when implemented for long periods of anxiolytic and supportive responses to massage and time (e.g., wearing the vest for a longer period warm contact, respectively (Field, 2010; Light et al., of time), or when used repeatedly (e.g., wearing 2005). However, further examination suggests that the vest for several short intervals a day for several these results may nonetheless make sense when weeks). Long-term intervention strategies (e.g., interpreted through an established theoretical massaging a participant daily for several weeks) framework. have been used effectively in previous research There are a number of possible explanations (for a systematic review, see Field, 2010). This for our null results. The most likely of these explanation, however, conflicts with several other explanations is that there are very little to no actual studies that demonstrate relatively rapid changes in benefts conferred from being hugged, wearing a oxytocin and its accordant benefts (e.g., Jakubiak weighted pressure vest, or being in the presence of & Feeney, 2017; Light et al., 2005). a friend. However, this explanation is not aligned The presence of a friend condition might have with the limited amount of previous research sug also failed to reach signifcance as it only measured gesting that similar brief interventions have at least the effect of the presence of a friend when behavior some measurable benefts (Field, 2010; Light et al., between friends was restricted (i.e., they were not 2005; Novak et al., 2012). The research indicating allowed to touch or talk to one another). It is pos the importance of context and interpretation is sible that some benefts could have been gained if also inconsistent with this explanation (Jakubiak social behavior had not been restricted. Another & Feeney, 2017). likely explanation for the null effect is that oxytocin Another possible explanation for our results is was released in the presence of a friend, but that it that the benefcial effects of touch, pressure, and was moderated heavily by the confusing context and the presence of a friend are heavily moderated possibly negative interpretation of a psychological by the perception or interpretation of the touch, experiment (Jakubiak & Feeney, 2017). pressure, or presence of a friend (Jakubiak & Of all possible explanations, this study appears Feeney, 2017). This idea is robustly supported in to align most closely with Jakubiak and Feeney’s a number of studies on touch and pressure, which aforementioned model of affectionate touch suggest that many of its benefits are due to the (2017). Our findings were consistent with that release of oxytocin via vagal stimulation (Field, model and suggest that the effects from the basic 2010; Jakubiak & Feeney, 2017). Oxytocin has actions of wearing a weighted vest, being hugged been clearly linked to perceived social support, as by a friend, or being in the presence of a friend well as dopaminergic and serotoninergic pathways, have very little psychological value when they are which could be why massage has antidepressant not interpreted positively. and anxiolytic properties (Baskerville & Douglas, 2010; Field, 2010; Marazziti et al., 2012). If oxytocin Limitations is indeed at the root of all of the benefts related to The study, however, is not without limitations. touch, pressure, and social support, then it would We were unable to recruit suffcient numbers of make sense that these benefts would only present participants to achieve the desired power of .80. Assuming a medium effect size, our study had .73 SUMMER 2020 themselves in positive contexts because oxytocin * is a context-dependent hormone (e.g., Jakubiak power, according to a G Power analysis. This study PSI CHI & Feeney, 2017). As summarized in Jakubiak and also had a surprisingly young sample (even for JOURNAL OF college students), with a mean age of 19.55 years PSYCHOLOGICAL Feeney’s model of affective touch (2017), most RESEARCH

(SD = 1.24). Given the limited age range and that Conclusion all participants attended the same undergraduate In sum, brief interventions with hugs, weighted institution, it is possible that this sample was not pressure vests, or the presence of a friend did not representative of college students. reduce anxiety, stress, or negative affect. They The gender of the friend in both the hug and also did not signifcantly increase social support. friend condition was also not accounted for, and it As such, it appears that these brief interventions is likely that the gender of the friend is a signifcant are not viable as strategies for reducing anxiety, moderator because the gender of both the hugger stress, or negative affect. However, given previous and individual receiving the hug has a major role in research, it is possible that the effects of hugs, touch behaviors and touch responses during a hug weighted pressure vests, and the presence of a (Stier & Hall, 1984). This may be due to concerns friend were attenuated by the lack of positive con about the possibility of intimacy, as well as social text or interpretation during the stress test. Further norms (Stier & Hall, 1984). research on the medicinal properties of touch The study might also have lacked ecological and pressure must be done, focusing in particular validity; that is, the forced, clinical nature of the on how context and interpretation moderate the experiment might have made a lab-based hug effects of oxytocin released in response to tactile irreconcilable with a real, genuine hug borne from stimulation. prosocial impulses (Sbordone, 1996). This may well be the case, and, if it is indeed what occurred, References serves to further support the model of affectionate Baskerville, T. A., & Douglas, A. J. (2010). Dopamine and oxytocin interactions underlying behaviors: Potential contributions to behavioral disorders. 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Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering, 33, 463–470. the hug (or any of the other conditions) was meant https://doi.org/10.5405/jmbe.1043 to be benefcial (or perhaps harmful) and therefore Christenfeld, N., Gerin, W., Linden, W., Sanders, M., Mathur, J., Deich, J. D., & Pickering, T. G. (1997). Social support effects on cardiovascular reactivity: Is were biased to report more positive (or negative) a stranger as effective as a friend? Psychosomatic Medicine, 59, 388–398. results. However, this seems somewhat unlikely https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-199707000-00009 given the null results across all conditions, and no Classen, C. (2012). The deepest sense: A cultural history of touch. https://doi.org/10.5406/illinois/9780252034930.001.0001 indications of negative bias from participants, but Cohen, S., Janicki-Deverts, D., Turner, R. B., & Doyle, W. J. (2015). Does hugging it is a potential factor that should be considered. provide stress-buffering social support? 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PSI CHI JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Who Am I? Identity Development During the First Year of College Madelynn D. Shell* , David Shears, and Zoe Millard The University of Virginia’s College at Wise

ABSTRACT. The frst year of college provides emerging adults with time to explore their identity, but changes in exploration and commitment may differ across different aspects of identity. It was hypothesized that (a) exploration and commitment would be stable across the frst year, but that fall exploration would prompt greater commitment in spring, indicating that individuals are moving toward identity achievement; (b) there would be differences in these patterns across the domains; and (c) exploration would be negatively associated with satisfaction with life, although commitment would be positively associated with life satisfaction. A total of 98 college students reported on satisfaction with life and identity exploration and commitment within 8 domains in the fall and spring of their frst year. Results demonstrated that exploration and commitment were stable over time. In general, greater fall commitment predicted less spring exploration, whereas greater fall exploration predicted less spring commitment, but these patterns differed by domain. In addition, global exploration was negatively related to life satisfaction, and peer relationship identities were particularly important in predicting psychological well-being. These fndings suggest that identity development is not complete by the end of the frst year of college, and that students would beneft from support as they the transition from exploration to commitment. Keywords: identity development, emerging adulthood, college transition, psychological well-being

dentity development is the process by which Contextual factors may play an important role adolescents and emerging adults search in the process of identity development. In par Ifor answers to fundamental questions that ticular, the transition from high school to college surround who they are, including their political may result in signifcant changes in a number of and religious views, career choices, and future domains such as romantic relationships, friend achievements (Ole, 2016). Identity development ships, and academics (Azmitia, Syed, & Radmacher, is often characterized as beginning in adolescence 2013; Kunnen et al., 2008). This transition is a time and continuing through emerging adulthood when students explore new potential identities and (Arnett, 2000; Kunnen, Sappa, van Geert, & begin to commit to one of their choosing (Luyckx, Bonica, 2008). However, because of differing Goossens, Soenens, & Beyers, 2006). Consistent with opportunities for exploration or commitment, this idea, previous work has found that high school identity development in some domains (i.e., students often had neither explored nor committed components of identity, such as religion or to an identity, whereas college students were more political views) may develop earlier or later than likely to be currently exploring identity options SUMMER 2020 others. Thus, it is important to understand not (Verschueren, Rassart, Claes, Moons, & Luyckx, just identity development in general, but domain- 2017). Because the first year of college may be PSI CHI JOURNAL OF specifc identity development as well (Kunnen et a time of identity instability and development PSYCHOLOGICAL al., 2008). (Azmitia et al., 2013), it is important to understand RESEARCH

the process of identity development during this Multiple Domains of Identity time. These potential shifts in identity could also Although identity development is often described have important impacts on psychological well-being. as a singular process, emerging adults develop multiple domain-specific identities, and this Identity Exploration and Commitment process may occur with different timing for differ Identity development occurs as emerging adults ent domains (McLean et al., 2016). For example, explore and learn about different identity alterna individuals might have made a commitment in tives and consider which to adopt as their own. It their friendship identity (with or without explora involves two separate processes: exploration and tion), while simultaneously actively exploring their commitment (Kunnen et al., 2008). Exploration career identity with no commitment. Eight identity occurs when individuals search for and collect domains have been examined in previous research information on alternative identities or perspec (McLean et al., 2016): career, family, friendship, tives. Commitment occurs when emerging adults romantic relationships, religion, politics, general have selected an identity that they plan to adopt values, and gender roles. as their own (Kunnen et al., 2008). Historically, Changes in career. Career decisions are often exploration and commitment have been used multistep processes that may involve extensive to develop four identity statuses: achievement, exploration in college (Gati, Krausz & Osipow, foreclosure, moratorium, and diffusion (Marcia, 1996; Rosemond & Owens, 2018). The selection 1966). Achievement, considered an optimal end of an undergraduate major may set the trajectory result (Marcia, 1966), is when identity exploration of emerging adults’ future career options, thus has occurred and a commitment has taken place. declaring a major may prompt career identity Foreclosure is when a commitment has been made exploration. Declaring a major is often required in with no exploration. Moratorium involves current the frst few semesters of college, therefore students exploration but no commitment. Lastly, diffusion are forced to make a commitment relatively early in is when individuals have not explored or made a their college career (Rosemond & Owens, 2018). commitment. Although it is generally expected that Although some students may use the frst year of exploration will lead to commitment, commitment college to thoroughly explore potential majors and and identity achievement are not always fnal, as long-term careers prior to making a commitment, emerging adults may also revisit their identity and others may select a major without much consider explore new views even after making a commitment ation of alternatives. Making a career commitment (Marcia, 1966). has a positive impact on the college experience, Despite the previous categorical treatment, whereas exploration of career goals is associated exploration and commitment happen on a con with negative attitudes about college (Waterman tinuum; thus, it may be more useful to investigate & Waterman, 1970). This may be a reflection of identity development in a continuous fashion the stress associated with career exploration. Thus, (McLean, Syed, & Shucard, 2016), particularly academic major selection may drive career identity when investigating changes over time. By taking a exploration during the frst year of college. dimensional approach to identity development, one Changes in relationships. Similar to career can detect changes in exploration and commitment that may not be captured when creating categories. identity, social relationships may also change sig Previous evidence has suggested that continuity in nifcantly during the frst year of college. Changes exploration and commitment is common over the in family dynamics, particularly parent-child course of one year (Meeus, van de Schoot, Keijsers, relationships, often occur when students move Schwartz, & Branje, 2010). However, there is also away from home (Guassi Moreira & Telzer, 2015; gradual change in exploration and commitment Mounts, Valentiner, Anderson, & Boswell, 2006). over time, as emerging adults move toward identity This may lead students to reconsider their roles in achievement (Meeus et al., 2010). As students prog the family, leading to exploration. Furthermore, ress in identity development, it would be expected the family itself may affect identity exploration, as that greater exploration would be associated with emerging adults with more family support engage greater commitment (and therefore identity in more exploration (Jourdan, 2006) and may achievement). In contrast, if individuals are still in be more likely to develop their family and other SUMMER 2020 the process of identity development, exploration identities. Therefore, more positive support from and commitment may be negatively related (i.e., family members can result in more positive identity PSI CHI JOURNAL OF foreclosure or moratorium). exploration experiences. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Friendship dynamics often change as well dur Identity Development and ing the transition to college. Comfort from budding Psychological Well-Being college friendships aids in establishing identity The process of identity development may also development across domains (Barry, Madsen, impact social or emotional well-being, including Nelson, Carroll, & Badger, 2009). However, the satisfaction with life. Evidence has suggested that loss of high school friendships and the formation subjective well-being and satisfaction with life are of new friendships in a larger environment (Oswald influenced by domains that are important and & Clark, 2003) may cause instability as students relevant to an individual (Diener, 1984). Thus, a explore the types of friends and friendships they link between identity development and satisfaction prefer and make commitments to their roles as with life would demonstrate the importance of friends. Along with changing friendships, college identity in psychological well-being. Consistent with introduces emerging adults to a different dating this idea, committing to an identity has been associ scene. As students are establishing more mature ated with higher quality of life and mental health romantic relationships, they may do further (Azmitia et al., 2013; Berzonsky, 2003; Luyckx et al., exploration and commitment as to who they are as 2006; Oleś, 2016; Waterman & Waterman, 1970). In a romantic partner. Previous evidence has suggested contrast, identity exploration in college has been that romantic relationship quality and dissolu associated with poorer mental health (Luyckx et tion are often related to identity development in al., 2006; Oleś, 2016) and lower satisfaction with emerging adulthood (Barry et al., 2009; Norona, college (Waterman & Waterman, 1970). However, Olmstead, & Welsh, 2017). Thus, the dramatic there is also some evidence that exploration may changes in interpersonal environment during the have positive impacts on well-being (Berzonsky, transition to college may prompt emerging adults 2003; Kunnen et al., 2008; Luyckx et al., 2006). to engage in exploration and commitment in a The process of exploration may be stressful in the number of relationship domains. short-term, although it may produce more positive Changes in beliefs and opinions. The shift from identity outcomes in the long term. If some areas high school to college may also prompt a period of of identity are more important than others, there questioning of personal beliefs and opinions such may be domain-specifc differences in the impacts as politics, religion, general values, and gender of identity development on satisfaction with life. roles, which could lead to identity instability. For example, religious exploration may occur when The Present Study emerging adults engage in critical discussions The current study investigated changes and stability about religious and value-related ideas with their in identity exploration and commitment across peers, parents, or college faculty (Foster & LaForce, multiple domains during the frst year of college, 1999). However, evidence has also suggested that and investigated the link between identity devel students tend to adopt religious ideals early on from opment and psychological well-being. Students their parents or other signifcant adults (Copen & reported on exploration and commitment in eight Silverstein, 2007). Thus, it is possible that rather domains of identity development, and also on than being something to explore, religion could satisfaction with life, during the fall and spring of instead provide stability and comfort to students. If their frst year of college. Hypothesis 1 focused on this were the case, during the transition to college general expectations of stability versus change in students may be less inclined to explore or com both global and domain-specifc identity develop mit to new religions, resulting in greater stability ment. It was hypothesized that, although there in religious identity compared to other domains. would be stability in exploration and commitment Likewise, other domains involving more abstract (Hypothesis 1a), there would also be progress in beliefs (e.g., politics, gender roles, and values) identity development. It was expected that fall may also develop later in adulthood. For many exploration would predict greater commitment such domains, students initially adopt the beliefs of in spring (Hypothesis 1b), a pattern indicative their parents during high school (Johnson, 2017; of identity achievement. In contrast, fall commit Wray-Lake, 2019). These beliefs may remain stable ment was expected to be negatively associated throughout college as emerging adults focus on with spring exploration (Hypothesis 1c), because SUMMER 2020 more pressing and immediate aspects of identity individuals who have committed may be less likely PSI CHI (e.g., career and relationship identities), but may to continue to explore other options. Hypothesis JOURNAL OF be revised in adulthood. 2 predicted that that there would be differences in PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

these patterns across domains. In particular, it was scale, from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). expected that identities that were more directly Items were reverse-scored as needed so that higher influenced by the college environment (such as scores indicated more exploration or more com career or relationships) would be more likely to mitment. The global exploration and commitment experience change toward identity achievement scores included 16 items for each construct, and the (i.e., positive relationship between fall explora mean was taken across all domains. For the domain tion and spring commitment, greater support for scores there were two items each assessing explora Hypothesis 1b). In contrast, in domains related to tion and commitment, and the domain score was more abstract beliefs and opinions (e.g., politics, the mean of the two items. See Table 1 for means religion), individuals may be less likely to engage and standard deviations for each domain. in exploration if they initially made a commitment The Satisfaction With Life Questionnaire (i.e., greater support for Hypothesis 1c). Finally, (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) was Hypothesis 3 focused on the relation between used to assess psychological well-being in both fall identity development and satisfaction with life. It and spring. The questionnaire had fve statements, was expected that, across domains, exploration which participants responded to on a 7-point would be negatively associated with satisfaction Likert-type scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly with life (Hypothesis 3a), whereas commitment agree). Example items included, “If I could live my would be positively associated with life satisfaction life over, I would change almost nothing,” and “In (Hypothesis 3b). most ways my life is close to my ideal” (see Table 1 for descriptive statistics). Method Participants The current study was conducted at a four-year pub TABLE 1 lic liberal arts institution. Following Institutional Descriptive Statistics for All Variables Review Board approval at the University of Fall Spring Virginia’s College at Wise, college students were N M SD α N M SD α invited to complete a series of questionnaires Global exploration 98 3.73 0.63 .69 98 3.63 0.62 .68 during fall and spring of their frst year. In fall, 144 students completed the survey, and in spring, 108 Global commitment 98 4.24 0.73 .78 98 4.18 0.69 .76 participants completed it. Only the 98 participants Career exploration 98 4.44 0.86 97 4.32 1.05 (55 women, 56%; 43 men, 44%) who completed Career commitment 98 4.08 1.21 98 4.21 1.19 questionnaires in both fall and spring were used Family exploration 97 3.90 1.13 97 3.77 0.98 in the present analyses. Of those students, 91% Family commitment 98 4.51 1.20 98 4.43 1.06 identifed as European American, 10% as African Friendship exploration 98 3.82 1.05 98 3.77 1.01 American, 2% as Latino/a, and 2% as American Friendship commitment 98 4.28 1.01 98 4.31 0.99 Indian/Native American. Romantic relationships 98 3.94 1.15 98 3.71 1.19 exploration Measures Romantic relationships 98 4.22 1.25 98 4.37 1.18 The Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (Balistreri, commitment Busch-Rossnagel, & Geisinger, 1995) was used Religion exploration 98 3.16 1.14 98 3.11 1.06 to assess identity development in eight domains Religion commitment 98 4.58 1.04 97 4.54 1.10 (career, family, friendship, romantic relationships, religion, politics, values, and gender roles) in both Politics exploration 98 3.95 1.24 98 3.86 1.32 fall and spring. Thirty-two questions assessed explo Politics commitment 98 3.83 1.44 98 3.70 1.29 ration and commitment in each domain (see Table Values exploration 98 3.47 1.02 98 3.35 1.14 1 for Cronbach’s α for this study at each time point). Values commitment 98 4.62 1.09 97 4.40 1.05 Exploration questions included items such as, “I Gender roles 98 3.17 1.31 98 3.12 1.14 have tried to learn about different occupational exploration felds to fnd the best one for me.” Commitment Gender roles 98 3.81 1.38 97 3.54 1.21 questions included items such as, “I have defnitely commitment SUMMER 2020 Satisfaction with life 94 5.24 1.35 .91 98 5.20 1.22 .89 decided on the occupation I want to pursue.” PSI CHI Participants responded on a 6-point Likert-type Note. N = 98. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Procedure greater fall global exploration predicted greater Participants were assessed during the frst eight spring exploration, and likewise greater fall global weeks of the fall and the last 12 weeks of the spring commitment predicted more spring commitment. semester in their frst year of college. In fall, the Contrary to Hypothesis 1b, greater fall global majority of participants (77%) completed surveys exploration predicted less spring commitment. within the frst four weeks (the median date for fall However, consistent with the Hypothesis 1c, greater surveys was 2.5 weeks after the frst day of classes). fall commitment predicted less spring exploration. There was a mean of approximately 6.5 months Thus, during the frst year of college, students did (194 days, SD = 23.77) between the administration not appear to complete identity achievement, but of the fall and spring surveys. At each time point, rather were more likely to continue the identity task participants were contacted via phone or email, they were engaged in during the fall. and then came to the lab to complete the question Next, fall exploration and commitment within naires under the supervision of a trained research each domain were used to further test Hypothesis assistant. 1 and predict spring exploration or commitment in the same domain (see Table 2). These analyses Results indicated several domain-specific patterns of First, bivariate correlations were run among all vari identity development that differed from the global ables for descriptive purposes, to establish general patterns, consistent with Hypothesis 2. The most relations among variables (see Supplemental Table common pattern, shared by friendship, politics, 1 at https://osf.io/6tjyw). Of particular interest and values domains, demonstrated stability in was the relationship between exploration and both exploration and commitment, consistent commitment within domain, which could indicate with Hypothesis 1a. In addition, consistent with the stage of identity development. In fall, there Hypothesis 1c, for each of these domains, more was a significant negative relationship between commitment in the fall predicted less exploration exploration and commitment in global identity in spring. This pattern is also consistent with the (r = -.32, p < .01) as well as for politics (r = -.41, Hypothesis 2 expectation that domains related to p < .01), values (r = -.25, p < .01), and gender roles abstract beliefs (i.e., politics and values) would (r = -.65, p < .01). Thus, for these domains, higher demonstrate the patterns predicted by Hypothesis exploration was associated with less commitment, 1c, although the same pattern was not expected for and less exploration was associated with more com friendship, which is more directly impacted by the mitment. Likewise, in spring, there were signifcant college transition. negative correlations between exploration and Another common pattern was found for commitment in all domains except for family and religion and gender role identities. Again, there religion (rs = -.21 to -.51, all ps < .05). This evidence was signifcant stability in both exploration and suggests that within each time point individuals commitment within these domains (consistent with may be in either moratorium (exploring without Hypothesis 1a), but students who engaged in more commitment) or foreclosure (made a commitment exploration in fall were lower in commitment in without exploration). spring, contrary to Hypothesis 1b. There was also no signifcant relationship between fall commitment Stability and Change Over Time in and spring exploration, contrary to Hypothesis 1c Exploration and Commitment and Hypothesis 2. First, analyses explored the relationship between Next, career identity demonstrated a unique exploration and commitment over time during the pattern. Although career commitment was stable, frst year of college to address Hypothesis 1. Linear as expected, fall exploration was not a signifcant regressions were used to identify whether fall explo predictor of spring exploration, contrary to expec ration or commitment predicted spring exploration tations in Hypothesis 1a. Thus, exploration in the and commitment (see Table 2). The interaction career domain was the only indicator that was not between fall exploration and fall commitment stable across the first year of college. Contrary was included in preliminary models, but was not to Hypothesis 1b, greater fall career exploration signifcant for any analyses, thus was excluded from predicted less spring commitment. The lack of SUMMER 2020 the fnal models. The results for global identity this relationship in the career domain contradicts PSI CHI supported Hypothesis 1a by demonstrating that Hypothesis 2, that domains directly related to the JOURNAL OF exploration and commitment were quite stable; college transition would experience more growth PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

toward identity achievement. In addition, greater exploration, commitment, and satisfaction with fall commitment did predict less spring exploration, life could predict change in satisfaction with life consistent with Hypothesis 1c, although according across the frst year of college (see Table 3). The to Hypothesis 2 this pattern was not expected to be initial model included a Fall Exploration x Fall as prominent in a domain directly influenced by the Commitment interaction, but it was not signifcant college transition. It is important to note, however, in any of the analyses and therefore was excluded that although the overall model for spring career from final models. As expected according to exploration was significant, the predictors only Hypothesis 3a, higher global exploration in fall pre explained a small portion of the variance (R2 = .07). dicted signifcant decreases in satisfaction with life There were several patterns displayed in only but, contrary to Hypothesis 3b, global commitment one domain. For example, romantic relationship did not predict change in satisfaction. However, identity mirrored the pattern for global explora this pattern differed across domains. Consistent tion and commitment, with evidence for stability with global results and Hypothesis 3a, exploration in both exploration and commitment, consistent in friendship and political identity domains had a with Hypothesis 1a. There was also a negative negative impact on life satisfaction. The pattern relationship between exploration and commitment, for commitment was less clear. Consistent with consistent with Hypothesis 1c and inconsistent with Hypothesis 3b, fall commitment with regard to Hypothesis 1b (according to Hypothesis 2, this romantic relationship identity improved satisfaction domain was expected to demonstrate signifcant with life over the frst year of college. However, fall support for Hypothesis 1b). Finally, the pattern for commitment to a political identity decreased life family identity indicated only stability in explora satisfaction, contrary to Hypothesis 3b. Finally, nei tion and commitment, consistent with Hypothesis ther exploration nor commitment in career, family, 1a and inconsistent with Hypotheses 1b and 1c, religion, values, or gender roles predicted changes although the model predicting spring family in life satisfaction across the frst year of college. exploration did not meet the standard threshold of signifcance (p = .06). Discussion This study explored identity development in Satisfaction With Life multiple domains during the frst year of college. To address the final hypothesis, that identity Overall, findings demonstrated that, consistent development may impact psychological well-being, with Hypothesis 1a, there was signifcant stability in linear regressions were used to identify whether fall exploration and commitment from fall to spring.

TABLE 2 Fall Exploration and Commitment Within Domain Predict Spring Exploration and Commitment in Some Domain Global Career Family Friendship Romantic Relationships Sp Explore Sp Commit Sp Explore Sp Commit Sp Explore Sp Commit Sp Explore Sp Commit Sp Explore Sp Commit β p β p β p β p β p β p β p β p β p β p Fall exploration .53 <.01 -.26 <.01 .17 .10 -.22 .02 .22 .03 -.03 .78 .22 .03 .07 .47 .36 <.01 -.25 .01 within domain Fall commitment -.26 <.01 .50 <.01 -.22 .03 .42 <.01 .07 .52 .31 <.01 -.32 <.01 .40 <.01 -.25 .01 .41 <.01 within domain R2 .42 <.01 .39 <.01 .07 .01 .24 <.01 .06 .06 .09 <.01 .15 <.01 .17 <.01 .20 <.01 .25 <.01 Religion Politics Values Gender Roles Sp Explore Sp Commit Sp Explore Sp Commit Sp Explore Sp Commit Sp Explore Sp Commit β p β p β p β p β p β p β p β p Fall exploration .31 <.01 -.20 .03 .50 <.01 -.10 .34 .27 .01 -.11 .22 .32 .01 -.32 .01 within domain Fall commitment -.18 .06 .43 <.01 -.20 .03 .40 <.01 -.23 .02 .52 <.01 -.22 .07 .24 .04 within domain R2 .14 <.01 0.25 <.01 .37 <.01 .20 <.01 .16 <.01 .31 <.01 .24 <.01 .27 <.01 Note. Sp Explore is spring exploration. Sp Commit is spring commitment. R2 and corresponding p value relate to whole model. N = 98

As expected by Hypothesis 1c, global commitment in fall were lower in commitment in spring, and predicted less exploration over time, but contrary those higher in commitment in fall were lower to expectations of Hypothesis 1b, global exploration in exploration in spring. Mapping this on to the predicted less (rather than more) commitment over traditional categorical discussion of identity status time. Thus, global fndings suggested that students (e.g., Meeus et al., 2010), this suggests that students may not yet be progressing toward identity achieve who start out higher on exploration are likely ment (contrary to Hypothesis 1b), but rather remaining in moratorium (continuing exploration engaging in either exploration or commitment without commitment), rather than transitioning to throughout the frst year of college. Furthermore, achievement (as predicted in Hypothesis 1b). These these patterns differed by domains, consistent with students may enter college actively considering Hypothesis 2, although domain-specifc fndings and exploring potential identities. During the frst generally underscored the pattern of stability in year of college, they may be continuing to explore either exploration or commitment, rather than identity options. Although they may eventually progress toward identity achievement in domains increase their commitment over time (Meeus et al., directly affected by the college transition. Finally, as 2010; Verschueren et al., 2017), the lack of positive expected by Hypothesis 3a, global exploration pre relationship between fall exploration and spring dicted decreases in satisfaction with life, particularly commitment, indicated that few students made in the friendship and political domains of identity. direct progress toward identity achievement by the In contrast, global commitment did not predict life end of their frst year. In contrast, students who satisfaction, although these fndings differed some were high on commitment in fall were less likely to what by domain. Thus, this study demonstrated that engage in exploration (consistent with Hypothesis the processes of exploration and commitment may 1c), thus likely remaining in achievement (if they differ for different domains of identity, and these previously explored) or foreclosure (if they did not processes may also have differential impacts on explore prior to entering college). These students psychological well-being. may be unwilling to explore even in contexts that encourage it, such as starting college or moving Stability and Change in Exploration away from home, and instead remain committed to and Commitment their initial identity. The college transition appears Consistent with Hypothesis 1a, there was signifcant to encourage continued exploration for those who stability in exploration and commitment (Meeus explore early on, but leads to doubling down on et al., 2010). Students who began their frst year commitment for those who enter college commit as higher in exploration were likely to continue ted to an identity. This is consistent with Meeus and to explore identity options in spring, and likewise colleagues (2010), who found movement toward students high in commitment were likely to remain identity achievement over four years, but not one committed in spring. Global exploration and year. Thus, the transition to identity achievement commitment were also inversely related over time, may not have been captured in the time frame of indicating that students who engaged in exploration the present study.

TABLE 3 Fall Satisfaction With Life, Exploration, and Commitment Predict Spring Satisfaction with Life Global Career Family Friendship Romantic Religion Politics Values Gender Roles Relationships β p β p β p β p β p β p β p β p β p Fall Satisfaction .48 <.01 .52 <.01 .53 <.01 .50 <.01 .43 <.01 .50 <.01 .56 <.01 .47 <.01 .46 <.01 With Life Fall Exploration -.22 .02 .05 .58 -.11 .22 -.19 .04 -.08 .39 -.12 .20 -.22 .02 -.15 .10 -.19 .11 Within Domain Fall Commitment .04 .72 .00 .97 .06 .51 .02 .86 .21 .03 .08 .36 -.24 .02 .12 .20 .02 .84 SUMMER 2020 Within Domain PSI CHI R2 .31 <.01 .26 <.01 .29 <.01 .31 <.01 .32 <.01 .30 <.01 .31 <.01 .32 <.01 .32 <.01 JOURNAL OF Note. Dependent variable for all analyses in spring satisfaction with life. R2 and corresponding value relate to the whole model. N = 94 PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Differences in Identity Development identity development often begins in adolescence Across Domain (Johnson, 2017; Wray-Lake, 2019), so many of these As expected in Hypothesis 2, results indicated that students might have already explored and made a there were differences in the process of develop commitment before they enter college. ment in different identity domains. However, in Similar to the previous pattern, religion contrast to predictions, even in domains directly and gender roles demonstrated stability in both impacted by the transition to college, students exploration and commitment. However, higher did not yet appear to be making progress toward exploration in these domains in fall was associated identity achievement. First, over time, fall career with lower in commitment in spring. This is in commitment predicted less exploration and more contrast to expectations that individuals would commitment in spring, but early exploration did move from exploration into commitment during not predict later exploration, and was associated their frst year, although according to Hypothesis with less commitment. Thus, the process of taking 2 these patterns were expected to be less likely general education courses and choosing a college in abstract domains such as these. The negative major may promote exploration in the career relation between exploration and commitment domain, but this exploration does not appear to indicates that exploration in these domains may be be completed by the end of the frst year. The fact particularly likely to lead individuals to continue that these patterns were unique to career identity to question their identity. Consistent with this, underscores that colleges provide an important opportunity for career exploration, and this may some evidence has suggested that religion serves drive occupational identity achievement (Fouad to promote identity development (King, 2003), so & Ghosh, 2016). However, these patterns did not during the process of exploration in fall, students indicate progress toward identity development, at might realize how little they know about their least within the frst year, thus were inconsistent religious or gender role options and therefore be with Hypothesis 2. less likely to make a commitment in spring. For friendship, political, and value identities, Romantic relationship identity mirrored the in addition to stability in both exploration and global pattern; those who were currently exploring commitment, entering college having greater com their romantic identity were less likely to make a mitment predicted less exploration in spring. Thus, commitment, and those who had made a commit making an early commitment in friendship, politi ment were less likely to explore. This is in contrast cal, or value domains appeared to deter students to the Hypothesis 2 expectation that relationship from engaging in exploration in these domains domains would be impacted by the college transi during their frst year of college. Many of these tion and therefore experience growth toward students may be in foreclosure status, in which they achievement. It could be that students have either have made a commitment without exploration, entered college in a romantic relationship or with and continue to stay with that decision despite an idea of their romantic identity and refuse to opportunities to explore. On the other hand, some consider alternatives (foreclosure) or have entered students might have explored prior to entering with plans to explore their romantic options with college, and thus might enter college in identity no interest in making a commitment (morato achievement. These students might be happy with rium). Emerging adults just entering college may their identity and therefore not considering other be transitioning between the more casual affection options. Although Hypothesis 2 predicted this phase of a relationship and more complex bonded pattern for the abstract domains of political and love (Seiffge-Krenke, 2003), and these patterns of value identities, it was initially hypothesized that romantic relationship identity development may students would experience growth toward identity reflect these different relationship goals. achievement in friendship identity as a result of the Finally, the pattern for family identity indicated transition to college. The common pattern in these only stability in exploration and commitment, with domains may be rooted in the fact that students no relationship between exploration and commit might have had extensive exposure to potential ment over time. Family relationships may be set in friendship, political, and value identities prior to place earlier in adolescence, and therefore, may college entry, and therefore might be hesitant to be unlikely to change at college entry, even in the SUMMER 2020 consider alternatives. Consistent with this idea, face of substantial changes such as moving out and PSI CHI evidence has suggested that civic and political establishing long-distance relationships. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Overall, there was the most substantial support a romantic relationship, and the emotional support for Hypothesis 1a, and stability in exploration and from that relationship could improve satisfaction commitment. It also appeared that rather than the with life. Even if students are not in a committed expected progress toward identity development relationship, making a commitment about prefer (Hypothesis 1b), students were instead engaged in ence and expectations for romantic partners could either exploration or commitment, but were not relieve the stress of actively exploring potential transitioning between the two. Development in romantic options. Combined, this evidence demon the different domains of identity reflected pieces strates that identity with regard to peer relationships of this global pattern, suggesting that the general has a signifcant impact on psychological well-being process may be the same but the timing of changes during the frst year of college. within domains might be different. In contrast to Political identity also appeared to be par Hypothesis 2 expectations, fndings for domains ticularly linked to well-being, although both directly impacted by the college transition as well exploration and commitment in the political as those related to more abstract beliefs demon domain were associated with a decrease in well- strated that students were stably engaging in either being over the frst year. Political identity develops exploration or commitment within the frst year of in adolescence as a result of parental influences and college, rather than transitioning toward identity high school community engagement experiences achievement. (Wray-Lake, 2019), and therefore may be frmly rooted in students’ family values, especially in more Identity Development and Satisfaction With Life conservative and rural areas such as the one in Consistent with Hypothesis 3a and previous which this study was conducted (Feinberg, Tullett, research (Kunnen et al., 2008; Luyckx et al., 2006; Mensch, Hart, & Gottlieb, 2017). This could make Oleś, 2016), greater global exploration in fall challenges to identity in this domain particularly predicted signifcant decreases in satisfaction with impactful. Students who explore political views life over the course of the year. The process of may experience stress as a result of reconsidering exploration and questioning one’s beliefs or values previously accepted assumptions, particularly if may create stress that decreases satisfaction with life. these views contrast those of their families. However, Conversely, global commitment did not predict sat commitment in political identity was also negatively isfaction with life. This is in contrast to Hypothesis associated with satisfaction with life. Exposure to 3b and previous research that demonstrated links alternative ideas may cause stress or dissatisfaction between commitment and psychological well-being for students who enter college having already com (Azmitia et al. 2013; Berzonsky, 2003; Oleś, 2016). mitted to a political perspective. Overall, it appears However, these effects differed across domains. that the effects of exploration and commitment may First, peer relationship identities appeared differ depending on domain. to have a significant impact on psychological well-being. Friendship exploration was associated Implications with poorer satisfaction with life, consistent with This study demonstrated significant stability in Hypothesis 3a. Because students generally rely on exploration and commitment during the first precollege friendships for social support during year of college, although the two constructs the first year of college (Shell & Absher, 2019), were inversely related over time. Thus, colleges questioning friendship identity could create strain might support identity development by providing in these relationships and lead to less social support. structured opportunities for exploration, as well Alternatively, students may engage in friendship as encouraging commitment following explora exploration in fall because of a significant loss tion to help students progress toward identity of social support during the college transitions achievement. However, it also demonstrated that (Oswald & Clark, 2003), leading to a decrease in life different domains of identity develop at different satisfaction. Conversely, consistent with Hypothesis rates, highlighting the importance of investigating 3b, commitment in romantic relationship identity domains of identity separately. Exploration of had a positive impact on satisfaction with life, con career identity was particularly common, but did sistent with previous research linking commitment not predict later commitment. Greater support SUMMER 2020 to better psychological well-being (Berzonsky, 2003; and guidance for career exploration may ensure PSI CHI Olés, 2016). Students high on commitment to a that first year college students have thoroughly JOURNAL OF romantic identity may be entering college already in investigated potential careers and are making PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

commitments. For friendship, political, and value by the end of the frst year of college. This study identities, students who have committed appear also highlighted the importance of investigating to be less likely to explore over time, thus these domains of identity separately, as patterns differed identities may not change much in the frst year of across domains. It also underscored the importance college. In contrast, for religion and gender roles, of continuing to investigate identity development students who begin exploring are less likely to make throughout students’ entire college career, as a commitment. This suggests that students may ben exploration and commitment to various domains eft from support for exploration in these domains may change later in college. Finally, it suggested in particular; classes or discussion groups may help that colleges may increase psychological well-being students explore and may motivate commitment. by providing support for peer relationship identities Furthermore, associations between identity status and exploration in general. and psychological well-being suggested that peer relationship identities may be particularly linked References to satisfaction with life, thus colleges might focus Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469–480. on supporting such relationships. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066x.55.5.469 Azmitia, M., Syed, M., & Radmacher, K. (2013). Finding your niche: Identity and Limitations emotional support in emerging adults’ adjustment to the transition to college. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23, 744–776. Despite these contributions, there were several https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12037 limitations to this study. First, the current study Balistreri, E., Busch-Rossnagel, N., & Geisinger, K. (1995). Development and only investigated identity development in the frst preliminary validation of the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire. Journal of Adolescence, 18, 179–192. https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.1995.1012 year of college; continuing farther into college may Barry, C. M., Madsen S. D., Nelson, L. J., Carroll, J. S., & Badger, S. (2009). lead to better understanding of individual trajec Friendship and romantic relationship qualities in emerging adulthood: tories of identity development, as well as a better Differential associations with identity development and achieved adulthood criteria. Journal of Adult Development, 16, 209–222. picture of the timing of identity achievement. The https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-009-9067-x relationship between identity and psychological Berzonsky, M. D. (2003). Identity style and well-being: Does commitment well-being may also differ over a longer period of matter? Identity, 3, 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532706xid030203 Copen, C., & Silverstein, M. (2007). Transmission of religious beliefs across time. Second, fndings demonstrated links between generations: Do grandparents matter? Journal of Comparative Family identity development and a very general measure Studies, 38, 497–510. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.38.4.497 of psychological well-being (satisfaction with life). Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542–575. https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.95.3.542 Identity development within each domain may be Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). Satisfaction With Life associated with different measures of psychological Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75. well-being. Finally, there are some limitations to https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13 Feinberg, M., Tullett, A. M., Mensch, Z., Hart, W., Gottlieb, S. (2017). The political generalizability. Many students were local to the reference point: How geography shapes political identity. PLOS One, 12, rural Appalachian community in which the study 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171497 was conducted, which tends to be predominantly Foster, J. D., & LaForce, B. (1999). A longitudinal study of moral, religious, and identity development in a Christian liberal arts environment. Journal of Psychology and Christian and culturally conservative. This may Theology, 27, 52–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/009164719902700105 impact the amount of reliance on family (Russ, Fouad, N., & Ghosh, A. (2016). Career exploration among college students. 2010) as well as early expectations of responsibility, Journal of College Student Development, 57, 460–464. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2016.0047 leading to earlier commitment. In addition, identity Gati, I., Krausz, M., & Osipow, S. H. (1996). A taxonomy of difficulties in career development processes may differ for emerging decision making. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 510–526. adults who do not attend college, as they may have https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.43.4.510 Guassi Moreira, J. F., & Telzer, E. H. (2015). Changes in family cohesion and links fewer opportunities for exploration. to depression during the college transition. Journal of Adolescence, 43, 72–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.05.012 Conclusions Johnson, M. R. (2017). Understanding college students’ civic identity development: A grounded theory. Journal of Higher Education Outreach Altogether, this study provided important informa and Engagement, 21, 31–60. tion about the identity development process during Jourdan, A. (2006). The impact of the family environment on the ethnic identity the frst year of college. Consistent with hypotheses, development of multiethnic college students. Journal of Counseling and Development, 84, 328–340. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2006.tb00412.x exploration and commitment were generally stable King, P. E. (2003). Religion and identity: The role of ideological, social, and over time. Students who had more commitment spiritual contexts. Applied Developmental Science, 7, 197–204. in fall did less exploration in spring, and those https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532480xads0703_11 Kunnen, E. S., Sappa, V., van Geert, P. L. C., & Bonica, L. (2008). The shapes SUMMER 2020 who did more exploration in fall were less likely to of commitment development in emerging adulthood. Journal of Adult make a commitment in spring. This demonstrates Development, 3, 113–131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-008-9042-y PSI CHI that identity development is certainly not complete Luyckx, K., Goossens, L., Soenens, B., & Beyers, W. (2006). Unpacking JOURNAL OF commitment and exploration: Preliminary validation of an integrative PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

model of late adolescent identity formation. Journal of Adolescence, 29, https://doi.org/10.1080/01650250344000145 361–378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2005.03.008 Shell, M. D., & Absher, T. N. (2019). Effects of shyness and friendship on Marcia, J. E. (1966). Development and validation of ego-identity status. Journal socioemotional adjustment during the college transition. Personal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 551–558. Relationships, 26, 386–405. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12285 https://doi.org/10.1037/h0023281 Verschueren, M., Rassart, J., Claes, L., Moons, P., & Luyckx, K. (2017). Identity McLean, K. C., Syed, M., & Shucard, H. (2016). Bringing identity content to the statuses throughout adolescence and emerging adulthood: A large scale fore: Links to identity development processes. Emerging Adulthood, 4, study into gender, age, and contextual differences. Psychologica Belgica, 356–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696815626820 57, 32–42. https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.348 Meeus, W., van de Schoot, R., Keijsers, L., Schwartz, S. J., & Branje, S. (2010). On Waterman, A. S., & Waterman, C. K. (1970). The relationship between ego the progression and stability of adolescent identity formation: A five-wave identity status and satisfaction with college. The Journal of Educational longitudinal study in early-to-middle and middle-to-late adolescence. Child Research, 64, 165–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1970.10884127 Development, 81, 1565–1581. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01492.x Wray-Lake, L. (2019). How do young people become politically engaged? Child Mounts, N. S., Valentiner, D. P., Anderson, K. L., & Boswell, M. K. (2006). Shyness, Development Perspectives, 13, 127–132. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12324 sociability, and parental support for the college transition: Relation to adolescents’ adjustment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35, 68–77. Author Note. Madelynn D. Shell, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-005-9002-9 Norona, J. C., Olmstead, S. B., & Welsh, D. P. (2017). Breaking up in emerging https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3316-2025, The University of adulthood: A developmental perspective of relationship dissolution. Virginia’s College at Wise, David Shears, Department of Emerging Adulthood, 5, 116–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696816658585 Psychology, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise; Oleś, M. (2016). Dimensions of identity and subjective quality of life in Zoe Millard, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7049-5625, adolescents. Social Indicators Research, 126, 1401–1419. Department of Psychology, The University of Virginia’s https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0942-5 College at Wise. Oswald, D. L., & Clark, E. M. (2003). Best friends forever?: High school best Zoe Millard is now at the Department of Occupational friendships and the transition to college. Personal Relationships, 10, Therapy at Radford University, Radford, VA. David Shears is 187–196. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6811.00045 now at the Department of Counselor Education at Longwood Rosemond, M. M., & Owens, D. (2018). Exploring career development in University, Farmville, VA. emerging adult collegians. Education, 138, 337–351. This study was supported by The University of Virginia’s Russ, K. A. (2010). Working with clients of Appalachian culture. Retrieved from College at Wise Offce of Admissions, Scholarship, and https://www.counseling.org/resources/library/vistas/2010-v-online/ Financial Aid and Offce of Academic Affairs. Supplementary Article_69.pdf materials are available at https://osf.io/6tjyw. Seiffge-Krenke, I. (2003). Testing theories of romantic development from We would like to thank Colton Chase Collins for his adolescence to young adulthood: Evidence of a developmental sequence. signifcant contributions to editing and revision of the initial International Journal of Behavioral Development, 27, 519–531. draft of this manuscript.

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PSI CHI JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Planning to Practice: Action and Coping Plans Increase Days of Meditation Practiced Jonathan N. Cloughesy , Alissa J. Mrazek* , Michael D. Mrazek*, and Jonathan W. Schooler* University of California Santa Barbara ABSTRACT. Despite the growing prevalence of mindfulness, few studies have investigated self-regulatory strategies to develop and sustain a meditation practice over the long-term. In the current research, participants (N = 109) naïve to mindfulness and meditation were randomly assigned to an active control or self-regulatory intervention designed to increase the frequency of meditation practice and habit strength over a 4-week practice period. The intervention led

to more days of meditation practiced (z = 2.44, p = .02), but Open Materials badge did not produce stronger habits of practice (z = 0.63, p = .53). earned for transparent research practices. Common perceived barriers to daily practice included Materials are available busyness, forgetfulness, and lack of motivation. Common at https://osf.io/aj6te enabling factors to daily practice included setting practice reminders and identifying a suitable practice location. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed. Keywords: mindfulness, meditation, action plans, coping plans, habit strength

mpirical investigation into the effects Huppert & Johnson, 2010; Vettese, Toneatto, Stea, of mindfulness meditation over the past Nguyen, & Wang, 2009). At the same time, greater Ethree decades has demonstrated a range single-session practice time is associated with of psychological and physiological benefits, reductions in practice adherence over time (Adams spurring unprecedented global interest in the et al., 2018), and mindfulness-based intervention practice. Growing interest in meditation has participants often struggle to achieve compliance been accompanied by a multitude of books, with practice recommendations (Quach, Gibler, online courses, and mobile applications that & Jastrowski Mano, 2017; Rosenzweig et al., 2010). have made high-quality meditation instruction Consequently, evaluating behavioral strategies that more accessible than ever before (Mrazek et al., may help to sustain a meditation practice over the 2018). Accordingly, national statistics document long-term is essential if meditation practitioners are a more than threefold increase in meditation to fully beneft from their practice. practice from 2012 to 2017, with approximately A prominent behavioral strategy employed to 35 million U.S. adults estimated to have practiced sustain behavior over the long-term is habit formation meditation in 2017 alone (Clarke, Barnes, Black, (Duhigg, 2012; Galla & Duckworth, 2015; Gardner, Stussman, & Nahin, 2018). Despite the increasing 2015). Indeed, research has shown habits help prevalence of meditation practice among the individuals maintain greater behavioral consistency general public, little is known about how to help across a number of domains, including exercise, novice meditation practitioners maintain a long- diet, sleep, schoolwork, and meditation (Galla & term practice. Evidence has suggested that greater Duckworth, 2015; Lally, Chipperfeld, & Wardle, total time spent practicing meditation is associated 2008). Habits strengthen over time when a behavior SUMMER 2020 with improved mindfulness and psychological well- is repeated within a specifc context, leading to PSI CHI being among practitioners (Carmody & Baer, 2008; the automatic initiation of that behavior when the JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

associated context is encountered (Gardner, 2015). mindfulness meditation practice. Specifcally, the By shifting the responsibility for the initiation of the current investigation assessed the impact of the behavior to an automatic process, habits reduce reli action and coping plans on number of days of ance on momentary self-control (Gardner, Lally, & meditation practiced and habit strength over four Wardle, 2012). Thus, forming a habit of meditation weeks. We predicted that subjects assigned to create may help practitioners avoid self-regulatory failures, action and coping plans would practice meditation accomplish their practice goals, and continue to more often over a four-week daily practice period meditate over the long term. and score higher on a measure of habit strength Crucial to successful habit formation are compared to subjects assigned to an active control. the characteristics of the context in which the behavior is enacted. If contextual factors make the Method behavior’s initiation more diffcult, habit formation Participants and Design will falter. Conversely, contexts that remove fric The sample consisted of 109 undergraduate tion and facilitate action can enhance behavioral students at a large public university in the south automaticity and habit acquisition. Given the western United States. Participants were recruited importance of context, planning when and where on a rolling basis over 5 weeks from an introductory to carry out a behavior is critical to the intentional level psychology class that required participation in development of habitual behavior. Such plans are research to receive course credit. Participants were referred to in the psychological literature as action eligible if they reported no prior experience with plans and have been shown to translate behavioral mindfulness or meditation practice. Participants intentions into actual behavior (Gollwitzer, 1999; were randomly assigned to either an action and Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006; Hagger & Luszczynska, coping plan intervention or active control condi 2014). Action plans create a mental link between tion. Informed consent was obtained from all the relevant context and an individual’s intent participants in the study. to act, facilitating behavior initiation when that context is encountered (Parks-Stamm, Gollwitzer, & Procedure Oettingen, 2007). Prior to initiating the study, approval was granted However, well-thought-out action plans may still from the University of California Santa Barbara fail to elicit the desired behavior. Internal barriers institutional review board to conduct this research. to action, such as fatigue, doubt, or low mood, along In-lab Time 1. At Time 1 (T1), participants with external barriers, such as social pressure, time were brought into an experimenter room where constraints, or an unsuitable environment, can they watched a 30-minute digital mindfulness crash prevent intention from turning into action. Coping course designed by our lab (see online supplemen plans, which involve planning a response to antici tary materials at https://osf.io/aj6te). At the end pated barriers, can be used to circumvent these of the crash course, participants practiced a brief obstacles to action (Kwasnicka, Presseau, White, & mindful breathing meditation and received instruc Sniehotta, 2013). Like action plans, coping plans tions to practice mindful breathing meditation for 5 mentally link anticipated barriers to a planned minutes each day over the next 4 weeks. Participants response. Encountering a barrier activates the then received the frst part of the self-regulatory coping response and allows the individual to persist intervention or active control (described below). All with the intended behavior (Sniehotta, Scholz, & participants were provided a daily tracking sheet on Schwarzer, 2006). Taken together, action plans which they were instructed to track their meditation and coping plans may provide a complementary practice starting the following day. approach to bolstering long-term adherence to Practice period. Over the 4 weeks following T1, meditation practice. participants recorded whether or not they had prac ticed meditation each day on the provided tracking Present Study sheet. One week into the 4-week practice period, all The paucity of research into behavioral strategies to participants additionally received an online survey facilitate long-term meditation practice underscores sent via email. The survey contained the second a critical gap in the literature on meditation instruc part of the intervention or active control (described SUMMER 2020 tion. To fll this gap, the present research evaluated below). Two days before each participant’s posttest PSI CHI the impact of two complementary evidence- session, participants were sent an email reminder JOURNAL OF based self-regulation strategies on adherence to to return to posttesting. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

In-lab Session 2. Four weeks after T1, partici Part 2. One week into the 4-week daily practice pants returned to the lab for posttesting (T2). An period, participants received a survey that helped online questionnaire was administered to assess them revise their action plan and enjoyment habit strength. Additionally, participants were strategy and create a coping plan (referred to as provided with two open-ended prompts that asked an “obstacle strategy”). First, participants were them to describe which factors had helped and asked to revise their action plan if they had not which factors had hindered them in maintaining practiced mindful breathing on each day so far. a daily practice. Second, participants were instructed to think about Treatment condition. the most common barrier to daily practice that Part 1. Participants assigned to the treatment they had encountered and to form a coping plan condition completed an action plan at T1. First, to overcome this obstacle. Third, participants were the instruction to practice mindful breathing encouraged to revise their enjoyment strategy if meditation daily over the next 4 weeks was reiter they felt they could make it more effective. ated. Second, participants were guided through Active control. the creation of their action plan. Participants were Part 1. Participants assigned to receive the frst instructed to consult their class schedule and personal calendars in order to determine the best active control were asked to respond to four time and place for them to practice meditation on questions requesting feedback on the digital mind each day of the week. For each day of the week, fulness crash course. Participants were asked how participants were asked to stick to the time and enjoyable, relevant, and valuable they had found place they had selected across all 4 weeks. When the course on a 1–7 scale. Participants were then choosing a time and place for each day of the asked to provide recommendations to improve the week, participants were presented with a list of four course. As in the treatment condition, participants criteria designed to help them select a practice were instructed to practice 5 minutes of mindful time and location. Specifcally, participants were breathing meditation each day over the next 4 told: “Your mindful breathing exercise should weeks and to track their practice on a provided occur (a) during a natural transition in your day, worksheet (see online supplementary materials). (b) when you have enough time, (c) near a place Participants were then told that getting comfortable you feel comfortable practicing, and (d) where with practicing an activity is one of the best ways to there won’t be a lot of distractions.” Participants bring it into your daily routine, and subsequently were then provided with a worksheet containing a practiced an additional 5-minute mindful breathing daily calendar that ranged from 6 a.m. to midnight for each day of the week (see online Supplementary meditation. Materials). At the appropriate time on the calendar, Part 2. The control condition also received a participants wrote down the location they intended survey 1 week into the 4-week practice period. The to practice for each day of the week. Participants control survey consisted of three steps. First, par also wrote down the activity that they expected to ticipants were asked to review their daily tracking directly precede their planned meditation time for sheet. Second, participants were asked to list fve of each day of the week. their existing habits. Third, participants were asked Next, participants created an “enjoyment to pick one of the fve habits they had listed that strategy” that they would use to reward themselves had been most benefcial to their life and explain after practicing meditation. Two suggestions were how it has benefted their life. provided (“Before doing mindful breathing, Measurement. remind yourself this is a chance to set down your Habit strength. The 12-item Self-Report Habit burdens and fnd peace of mind” and “When you Index (Verplanken & Orbell, 2003) was used to fnish mindful breathing, take a moment to give measure habit strength (e.g., “Practicing mindful yourself a little credit for doing something good for yourself”), but participants were also encouraged breathing is something I do frequently”; “Practicing to develop their own enjoyment strategies if they mindful breathing is something I do without having so desired. Participants wrote down their chosen to consciously remember”; “Practicing mindful enjoyment strategy on the provided worksheet. The breathing is something that’s typically ’me’”). The reverse side of the worksheet contained the 4-week index is widely used to measure habit strength of SUMMER 2020 daily tracking sheet, on which participants were an identifed behavior. Items were rated from 1 asked to indicate if they had or had not practiced (disagree) to 6 (agree). Internal reliability was high PSI CHI JOURNAL OF meditation (see online Supplementary Materials). (α = .95). PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Days of meditation practice. Days of meditation Correlation between days of practice and practiced was recorded by participants on a daily habit strength. A moderate-to-large correlation practice tracking sheet. Number of unique days was observed between days of meditation practice meditated from 1 day after T1 until the day before and habit strength (r = .49, p < .01). This correla T2 was aggregated to create a total score from 0 tion held in both the treatment condition (r = .57, to 27. p < .01) and control condition (r = .43, p = .01). Enablers and barriers to practice. Enablers and barriers to daily practice were assessed by open- Main Analyses ended responses to two prompts (“Over the last 4 The intervention increased days of med- weeks, what factors did you fnd helpful when trying itation practice. A Mann-Whitney U test was to maintain your daily mindful breathing practice? performed to determine the effect of condi Try to think of at least two.”; “Over the last 4 weeks, tion on days of meditation practice. Days what types of challenges did you face when trying of meditation practice was significantly to maintain your daily mindful breathing practice? greater in the treatment condition (mean Try to think of at least two.”). rank = 40.97) than control condition (mean Analytic plan. Only participants who returned rank = 29.20), U = 798.00, z = 2.44, p = .02. to posttesting were included in the analyses. In The intervention did not change habit strength. the treatment condition, 39 returned to posttest A Mann-Whitney U test was performed to determine ing, while 40 returned in the control condition. the effect of condition on habit strength. Habit All participants who returned to posttesting were strength did not signifcantly differ between the analyzed to assess the effect of condition on habit treatment condition (mean rank = 41.65) and strength. Due to nonnormal distribution of data, control condition (mean rank = 38.39), U = 844.50, a Mann-Whitney U test was run to test the effect of z = 0.63, p = .53. condition on habit strength. Of the 79 participants Enablers and barriers to practice. Of the 79 who returned to nontesting, 69 participants (treat participants who returned to posttesting, 72 pro ment n = 34; control n = 35) also returned their vided a written response to items assessing enablers daily tracking sheet containing data on days of and barriers to daily practice. After responses meditation practice. A chi-square test of homoge were coded by the authors, five major themes neity revealed no differences between conditions that enabled participants to practice daily were in proportions of nonreturners or returners who identifed: 31.9% (n = 23) set practice reminders, did not bring tracking sheet (p = .97). Participants 26.4% (n = 19) practiced in a quiet and comfortable who did not provide tracking sheet data were not location, 18.1% (n = 13) practiced in the morning included in the analysis assessing effect of condition or evening, 16.7% (n = 12) recalled the benefts of on meditation practice. Again, due to nonnormal the practice, and 8.3% (n = 6) practiced at the same distribution of data, a Mann-Whitney U test was run time and same place each day. Five major themes to test the effect of condition on days of meditation related to common barriers to daily practice were practice. also identifed: 72.2% (n = 52) reported being too busy to practice, 62.5% (n = 45) reported forgetting Results to practice, 41.7% (n = 30) reported motivational Descriptive Statistics barriers to practicing, 16.7% (n = 12) reported Days of meditation practice. On average, par difficulties identifying a comfortable and quiet ticipants practiced meditation less than half practice location, and 12.5% (n = 9) reported dif the total number of days in the practice period fculties creating a practice schedule. (M = 12.06, SD = 7.52). Participants who received the self-regulatory intervention practiced more Discussion (M = 14.38, SD = 8.10) than participants who The present study found that a self-regulatory received the active control (M = 9.80, SD = 6.23). intervention increased the days of meditation Habit strength. On average, participants practiced over a 4-week daily practice period among reported low levels of habit strength (M = 2.22, individuals who had no prior experience with SD = 1.07). Participants who received the self- mindfulness or meditation. However, the effect of SUMMER 2020 regulatory intervention reported similar habit the intervention did not extend to increased habit PSI CHI strength (M = 2.28, SD = 1.07) to participants who strength. There are a number of reasons why the JOURNAL OF received the active control (M = 2.15, SD = 1.07). lack of effect on habit strength might have been PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

observed. For one, lack of context consistency the behavior and the consistency with which it is across the practice period might have limited the performed (Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts, & Wardle, development of habit strength. Although partici 2009). The action plan, coping plan, and enjoyment pants were encouraged to practice meditation at strategies crafted by participants in the intervention the same time and place on a specifc day across were designed to bolster behavioral frequency the practice period (e.g., same time and place and increase habit strength by encouraging daily every Monday), the intervention did not require practice while accounting for the variability of a participants to practice meditation in the same student’s changing daily schedule. However, lack location or at the same time across each day of the of context consistency, variability in daily practice, week. Instead, participants were encouraged to and the complexity of initiating a meditation ses consult their weekly schedule when planning their sion may all have hampered the development of meditations in order to account for the variability habit strength. in the typical undergraduate student’s schedule. Although differences were not observed Although this allowed for increased customization between conditions on measures of habit strength, and personalization of practice time and location the intervention did lead to more days of medita on different days of the week, this approach likely tion practice for participants in the treatment created considerable variability in practice context condition. It is especially promising that these across days. The lack of context consistency across results were observed among a population that days might have hindered the acquisition of lacked prior experience with mindfulness or medi context-behavior associations that underlie habit tation. Many mindfulness-based training programs strength. Second, although research has suggested include participants who are motivated and autono that missing a single day of a target behavior does mously driven to practice meditation, indicating not have a detrimental impact on habit formation that this intervention may work just as well, if not (Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts, & Wardle, 2009), missing better, in these contexts. Indeed, research has many days in a row may hinder habit development suggested that action plans work best when sup (Armitage, 2005). Given that separate action ported by high levels of commitment (Gollwitzer, plans were created for each day of the week, some 1999; Sheeran, Webb, & Gollwitzer, 2005). Among action plans might have worked better than others, the present sample, days of practice accounted for potentially contributing to lapses in practice over more than 20% of the variance in habit strength, time. Although the practice period lasted 27 days, suggesting that interventions resulting in increased participants receiving the intervention meditated practice could lead to stronger habits. This fnding an average of just over 14 days, indicating that points to the potential for action and coping plan missed days of practice were common. Third, fac interventions to lay the framework for long-term tors intrinsic to the practice of meditation may have meditation practice. However, additional support restricted habit strength from developing. Research may be necessary to bolster daily practice and has suggested that complex behaviors may not context consistency. For example, encouraging become as automatic, and therefore may have lower context consistency across days of the week, or habit strength maximums compared with simple administering weekly check-ins that facilitate tasks (Verplanken, 2006; Wood, Quinn, & Kashy, plan revision and barrier identifcation may help 2002). Although ostensibly simple, the initiation of practitioners achieve greater context consistency, a meditation practice session can involve a series of optimize action plans, and overcome new barriers cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes that as they arise. Although the treatment condition cumulatively serve to increase behavioral complex received a check-in one week into the practice ity. For example, beginning a meditation practice period, they did not continue to receive check-ins session might involve evaluating whether one has throughout the rest of the practice period. suffcient time, overcoming motivational barriers, This study also assessed the factors that partici and locating a quiet and private place to practice. pants reported to have helped or hindered daily For this reason, meditation can be seen as a more practice. A substantial percentage of the sample complex behavior and, as a result, may have a lower reported being too busy to practice 5 minutes of maximum of habit strength, further confining meditation per day. However, 5 minutes represents differences between conditions. Indeed, research an inconsequential amount of time in the day. SUMMER 2020 has shown that habit formation can take between Although a majority of the participants reported PSI CHI 18 and 254 days depending on the complexity of being too busy, it is more likely that most simply felt JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

too busy. This distinction is important. If partici unable to draw conclusions about whether habit pants were truly too busy, then future interventions formation would have been achieved. These limita may need to focus on helping practitioners reduce tions suggest caution in extrapolating the fndings commitments in order to incorporate meditation of this study to habit formation. Future studies practice into their day. However, given the more may beneft from expanding the practice period likely scenario that the participants felt too busy, duration and conducting long-term follow-ups, busyness can be conceptualized as a motivational as well as assessing the duration and consistency barrier. Future research might aim to develop necessary to accomplish habit formation of mind strategies that increase practitioners’ motivation fulness meditation. Fourth, the study was unable over time, for example, by delivering targeted to examine practice data for participants who did motivational messages directly before a scheduled not return to posttesting. Participants who were practice time. A substantial percentage of partici more engaged with their daily practice might have pants also reported forgetting to practice, as well been more likely to return to posttesting, leading as other motivational barriers such as fatigue, not to potentially inflated effects. Future research may seeing value in the practice, or simply not wanting consider using digital methods of behavior tracking to practice. On the other hand, the most common as to eliminate the need for participants to return to enabling factor participants reported was setting the lab to collect measures of behavior frequency. reminders. Reminders are powerful, not only Fifth, the study only examined participants who had because they can make one’s plan to meditate no prior experience with mindfulness or medita more salient, but also because they can simultane tion, limiting the generalizability of this sample to ously address common motivational barriers. For those who are just beginning their mindfulness example, a reminder set 5 minutes before a planned practice. Future research could look at the effects meditation time could both serve as a reminder to of action and coping plans on participants who practice and a motivational boost by highlighting have prior experience with meditation practice. the benefts of the practice. Precise and personal Sixth, the study relied upon data from participant ized motivational reminders delivered with digital self-report. Non-self-report measures are needed to tools are a promising future direction for address most accurately measure the effect of self-regulation ing common barriers to daily meditation practice. interventions on meditation practice. Seventh, participants were asked to record their daily Limitations and Future Directions practice on a piece of paper we referred to as the The study was subject to a number of limitations. daily tracking sheet. It is unlikely that participants First, the multifaceted nature of the intervention would have carried their tracking sheet with them makes it diffcult to isolate the elements that con throughout the 4-week practice period, presenting tributed most to increased days of practice. Future barriers to immediate and accurate self-reporting. work could manipulate the presence of action Instead, participants may have relied on memory plans, coping plans, and enjoyment strategies inde recall to report their meditation practice, increasing pendently to precisely identify the contribution of the likelihood of error. Future studies may beneft each. Second, the analysis did not look at whether from using digital tracking methods that can utilize practice trends changed over time. Evaluating reminders to increase the accuracy of self-report whether specific points in time are particularly behavioral measures. Eighth, participant attrition challenging for most people to stay adherent could at posttesting reduced the achieved power of the allow for the targeted administration of coping study, suggesting caution in interpreting the results. plan interventions. Third, the study duration was Replications with a larger sample size are neces restricted to a 4-week period, limiting the study’s sary before results can be considered conclusive. ability to assess whether habit strength would have Last, demographic information on participants continued to develop over a longer period of was not analyzed, limiting interpretations of the time. The 4-week duration was necessary in order generalizability of the results, as well as examina to incorporate sufficient time for recruiting an tions of variance in results among age, sex, and adequate number of participants given the con race/ethnicity, and other demographic variables. straints of the university’s 11-week quarter system. Although demographic data was collected by the Given that recruitment was estimated to take 5 department managing the participant pool, errors SUMMER 2020 weeks and began on the second week of the quarter, in communication resulted in the deletion of the PSI CHI a practice period of 4 weeks was necessary. No long- demographic data before it could be shared with JOURNAL OF term follow up was conducted, rendering us further the authors of this study. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Concluding Comments how to cope with anticipated barriers facilitate health-related behaviour change? A systematic review. Health Psychology Review, 7, 129–145. Mindfulness meditation holds enormous potential https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2013.766832 to transform lives. Still, no amount of transforma Lally, P., Chipperfield, A., & Wardle, J. (2008). Healthy habits: Efficacy of simple tion can occur without facing the reality of practice. advice on weight control based on a habit-formation model. International Journal of Obesity, 32, 700–707. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803771 As a whole, this study highlights the promises of Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. M. M., & Wardle, J. (2009). How are using action plans and coping plans to help naïve habits formed: Modeling habit formation in the real world. European mindfulness practitioners develop a long-term Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 998–1009. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.674 Mrazek, A. J., Mrazek, M. D, Cherolini, C. M, Cloughesy, J. N., Cynman, D. J., Gougis, meditation practice. The self-regulatory interven L. J., . . . Schooler, J. W. (2018). The future of mindfulness training is digital, tion assessed here increased the overall frequency and the future is now. Current Opinion in Psychology, 28, 81–86. of days of meditation practiced. However, the https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.11.012 Parks–Stamm, E. J., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Oettingen, G. (2007). Action control by intervention was unable to increase habit strength implementation intentions: Effective cue detection and efficient response over a 4-week period, demonstrating the persistent initiation. Social Cognition, 25, 248–266. challenge of facilitating a long-term practice. As https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2007.25.2.248 Quach, D., Gibler, R. C., & Jastrowski Mano, K. E. (2017). Does home practice mindfulness continues to expand into educational, compliance make a difference in the effectiveness of mindfulness occupational, and therapeutic contexts, developing interventions for adolescents? Mindfulness, 8, 495–504. self-regulatory strategies that facilitate a sustainable https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0624-7 Rosenzweig, S., Greeson, J. M., Reibel, D. K., Green, J. S., Jasser, S. A., & Beasley, practice remains more important than ever. D. (2010). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for chronic pain conditions: Variation in treatment outcomes and role of home meditation practice. References Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 68, 29–36. Adams, Z. W., Sieverdes, J. C., Brunner-Jackson, B., Mueller, M., Chandler, J., Diaz, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.03.010 V., . . . Treiber, F. A. (2018). Meditation smartphone application effects on Sheeran, P., Webb, T. L., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2005). 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S., & Luszczynska, A. (2014). Implementation intention and action Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara. planning interventions in health contexts: State of the research and Jonathan N. Cloughesy is now at the Center for Advanced proposals for the way forward. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, Hindsight at Duke University, Durham NC. 6, 1–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12017 This study was supported by the UCSB Undergraduate Huppert, F. A., & Johnson, D. M. (2010). A controlled trial of mindfulness training Research and Creative Activities Grant. in schools: The importance of practice for an impact on well-being. The Correspondence concerning this article should be Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 264–274. addressed to Jonathan N. Cloughesy, Center for Advanced https://doi.org/10.1080/17439761003794148 Hindsight, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27701. Kwasnicka, D., Presseau, J., White, M., & Sniehotta, F. F. (2013). 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