Negative Life Experiences Research Articles

Improving academic self-efficacy, school connectedness, and identity in struggling middle school girls: a preliminary study of the REAL girls program.

Girls struggling to be successful in middle school are often dealing with negative life experiences that affect their ability to achieve academically. Frequently, their academic failures and problem behaviors are associated with feeling overwhelmed by difficult and challenging life circumstances. In the absence of intervention, these patterns may contribute to girls chronically underperforming in school, dropping out of school, and becoming involved in delinquent and high-risk behaviors. This article describes a quasi-experimental, mixed-methods study of the REAL Girls program. REAL Girls was designed to help struggling middle school girls develop resilience--particularly academic self-efficacy, school connectedness, and identity--and achieve successful outcomes in school and life. In this study, using a crossover design, 48 girls identified as experiencing academic failure, school behavior problems, or truancy participated in one of two implementations of this 3-day intervention. Findings based on both quantitative and qualitative data suggest that REAL Girls contributed to positive increases in academic self-efficacy, school connectedness, and identity. Repeated measures analysis of variance and paired t tests suggest significant increases in each outcome variable, both immediately after program delivery and 2 weeks later, and effect size estimates suggest moderate to large program impact. Focus groups conducted 90 days after implementation of the program confirmed the quantitative findings and support the efficacy of the REAL Girls program and approach.

Negative Life Experiences May Contribute to Bipolar Disorder

If adverse life experiences contribute to bipolar disorder, as a large new study suggests, then patients with the illness might profit from psychotherapy to help cope with such experiences.

CORRECTION OF TEMPORARY TRANSPECTIVE AT ORPHANS OF THE LATE ADOLESCENCE

The late adolescence is the key for the solution of problems of life self-determination. Training in the conditions of closed establishments and negative life experience leads to disturbances in the personality of orphan adolescents that hampers their life self-determination. The important condition of self-determination is formation of the connected steady positive temporary transpective, in which the past comes out as basis for constructing the image of future. Taking into account that orphans have distorted temporary transpective - low productivity, reduced extent, negative sense-feeling, weakly developed reflection and readiness to assume responsibility for their lives, the program of the development of positive temporary transpective the orphans of elder adolescents is proposed. Program is built on general-psychological principles of systematization, development, activity approach and includes the system of psychological trainings, the special construction of educational environment and individual psychological and pedagogical support.

Perceiving Risk in a Dangerous World: Associations between Life Experiences and Risk Perceptions

Associations between prior negative life experiences and perceptions of risk of future adverse events (e.g., natural or technological disasters, violent crime) were examined among a U.S. national sample (n = 975) who completed online surveys annually for 3 years. Having previously experienced a greater number of negative life events—of any type—was associated with greater risk perceptions, regardless of the risk being considered, controlling for demographic variables previously associated with elevated risk perceptions. This association was accounted for by prior experience with violent events, which predicted higher perceptions of risk of future negative events, even after controlling for the effects of other types of negative events. Results are discussed in terms of the possible long-term changes to schemas that may occur after experiencing adverse events characterized by hostile intent, violent imagery, and that may produce strong negative emotional reactions.

Adolescents’ Self-reported Running Away from Home and Suicide Attempts During a Period of Economic Recession in Greece

Running away from home and suicide attempts during adolescence are high-risk behaviors for safety and health, and a “way out” from negative life experiences. To examine the self-reported prevalence of running away and suicide attempts among adolescents in Greece in the midst of a severe economic recession which is exerting pressure on families, and to identify associated psychosocial factors. Data were drawn from a nationally representative school survey (n = 23,279, 15–19 years old). Students answered in their classrooms an anonymous questionnaire under the supervision of trained researchers. Each behavior was reported by one in nine adolescents (11.3 % for lifetime suicide attempts and 11.6 % for lifetime running away). Among those who reported the one behavior, a quarter also reported the other. Logistic regression analyses indicated that these behaviors share several common psychosocial correlates: family related (quality of parental relationships, parental monitoring), school related (poor performance and dissatisfaction), substance use, and emotional, psychological and behavioral problems. Gender was a significant correlate but in opposite directions for running away (more common among boys) and suicide attempts (more common among girls). Socioeconomic status was not a significant correlate for either behavior, possibly because the impact of the economic crisis on parents had not yet filtered down to their children in 2011 (the survey year). Findings suggest the need for timely interventions towards vulnerable youth and their families by identifying personal, familial and school factors associated with these two health- and life-compromising behaviors.

Perceptions and experiences of people with mental illness regarding their interactions with police

This study examined the perceptions and lived experiences of people with mental illness in relation to their interactions with the police. A community-based participatory research approach was used and a procedural justice theoretical perspective guided the study. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted by peer researchers with 60 people with mental illness who had interacted with the police and were living in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Among the study participants, contact with the police was frequent and occurred under a diverse range of circumstances. The majority of participants perceived being treated in a procedurally just manner by the police officer(s) who were involved in their most recent interaction. Almost three-quarters (n=43, 72%) of participants were generally satisfied with how the police officer(s) had handled their most recent interaction. The slight majority of participants (n=30, 51%) rated their previous contacts with the police as a positive experience overall, with 32% (n=19) indicating that their previous interactions with the police were negative life experiences. The findings paint a more balanced picture than that which is often portrayed by the media. Emphasizing a procedural justice framework for police handling of situations involving people with mental illness is a vital step toward improving how these interactions are experienced and perceived.

The Role of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy in Medicine: Addressing the Psychological and Physical Symptoms Stemming from Adverse Life Experiences

A substantial body of research shows that adverse life experiences contribute to both psychological and biomedical pathology. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an empirically validated treatment for trauma, including such negative life experiences as commonly present in medical practice. The positive therapeutic outcomes rapidly achieved without homework or detailed description of the disturbing event offer the medical community an efficient treatment approach with a wide range of applications. All randomized studies and significant clinical reports related to EMDR therapy for treating the experiential basis of both psychological and somatic disorders are reviewed. Also reviewed are the recent studies evaluating the eye movement component of the therapy, which has been posited to contribute to the rapid improvement attributable to EMDR treatment. Twenty-four randomized controlled trials support the positive effects of EMDR therapy in the treatment of emotional trauma and other adverse life experiences relevant to clinical practice. Seven of 10 studies reported EMDR therapy to be more rapid and/or more effective than trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. Twelve randomized studies of the eye movement component noted rapid decreases in negative emotions and/or vividness of disturbing images, with an additional 8 reporting a variety of other memory effects. Numerous other evaluations document that EMDR therapy provides relief from a variety of somatic complaints. EMDR therapy provides physicians and other clinicians with an efficient approach to address psychological and physiologic symptoms stemming from adverse life experiences. Clinicians should therefore evaluate patients for experiential contributors to clinical manifestations.

Exploring the experiences of people with the dual diagnosis of acquired brain injury and mental illness

Primary objective: People with the dual diagnosis of acquired brain injury and mental illness (ABI/MI) are vulnerable to a range of negative life experiences, which has received limited attention in the literature. The objective of the project described in this paper was to identify and describe these experiences in order to distinguish barriers and facilitators to successful rehabilitation and recovery.Research design: The project used qualitative methodologies.Methods and procedures: The 15 participants were eight people with ABI/MI, two family members and five support workers. Nineteen interviews were conducted. Analysis of these interviews produced a set of five key themes, with each theme elaborated by a set of descriptive issues.Main outcomes and results: The five themes were loss, personal development, occupation, family and services. The experiences of people with ABI/MI were strongly negative. They faced more barriers than facilitators to recovery. Current policies and practices were inadequate.Conclusions: Enhanced stakeholder collaboration and co-ordination and a more individualized, long-term perspective on the needs of people with ABI/MI are recommended to guide future policy and practice. Future research on quality-of-life, wellbeing, community inclusion and participation in ordinary life was recommended.

The Behavioural Inhibition System, anxiety and hippocampal volume in a non-clinical population

BackgroundAnimal studies have suggested that the hippocampus may play an important role in anxiety as part of the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS), which mediates reactivity to threat and punishment and can predict an individual’s response to anxiety-relevant cues in a given environment. The aim of the present structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study was to examine the relationship between individual differences in BIS and hippocampal structure, since this has not received sufficient attention in non-clinical populations. Thirty healthy right-handed participants with no history of alcohol or drug abuse, neurological or psychiatric disorders, or traumatic brain injury were recruited (16 male, 14 female, age 18 to 32 years). T1-weighted structural MRI scans were used to derive estimates of total intracranial volume, and hippocampal and amygdala gray matter volume using FreeSurfer. To relate brain structure to Gray’s BIS, participants completed the Sensitivity to Punishment questionnaire. They also completed questionnaires assessing other measures potentially associated with hippocampal volume (Beck Depression Inventory, Negative Life Experience Survey), and two other measures of anxiety (Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Anxiety Inventory).ResultsWe found that high scores on the Sensitivity to Punishment scale were positively associated with hippocampal volume, and that this phenomenon was lateralized to the right side. In other words, greater levels of behavioural inhibition (BIS) were positively associated with right hippocampal volume.ConclusionsOur data suggest that hippocampal volume is related to the cognitive and affective dimensions of anxiety indexed by the Sensitivity to Punishment, and support the idea that morphological differences in the hippocampal formation may be associated with behavioural inhibition contributions to anxiety.

Characteristics of Psychotherapeutic Integration for Depression in Older Adults: A Delphi Study

Although research on several psychotherapies indicates psychotherapy to be an effective treatment of depression, a large group of elderly patients have yet to respond to treatment. Psychotherapy integration (PI) seems to be more successful with these patients. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on overall effectiveness and specific components of PI. Consequently, the aim of this study is to provide a detailed description of the use of PI for the treatment of older adults. A Delphi study was conducted among 24 Dutch experts on 52 statements of specific aspects of PI for the treatment of depressed older adults. A consensus on a statement was reached when at least two of three pre-defined criteria were met. This Delphi study yielded consensus on 34 of 52 statements. The experts confirmed that PI consists of age-related and unique characteristics, such as negative life experiences, physical illness, cognitive disorders, personality characteristics, grief, sleep disorders, previous depression, and functional changes. Values and norms, shame and guilt regarding relationship problems, and changing life perspective were emphasized as important therapeutic variables. Systems, cognitive-behavioral, and client-centered approaches were the most used therapeutic techniques. In conclusion, PI is a preferred approach in the multidisciplinary treatment of depression in older adults. Age-related and unique characteristics as well as therapeutic techniques were explicated. Future research is planned to involve cross-validation studies of these 52 Delphi statements in other countries.

Childhood abuse, parental warmth, and adult multisystem biological risk in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study

Childhood abuse increases adult risk for morbidity and mortality. Less clear is how this "toxic" stress becomes embedded to influence health decades later, and whether protective factors guard against these effects. Early biological embedding is hypothesized to occur through programming of the neural circuitry that influences physiological response patterns to subsequent stress, causing wear and tear across multiple regulatory systems. To examine this hypothesis, we related reports of childhood abuse to a comprehensive 18-biomarker measure of multisystem risk and also examined whether presence of a loving parental figure buffers against the impact of childhood abuse on adult risk. A total of 756 subjects (45.8% white, 42.7% male) participated in this ancillary substudy of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. Childhood stress was determined by using the Risky Families Questionnaire, a well-validated retrospective self-report scale. Linear regression models adjusting for age, sex, race, parental education, and oral contraceptive use found a significant positive relationship between reports of childhood abuse and multisystem health risks [B (SE) = 0.68 (0.16); P < 0.001]. Inversely, higher amounts of reported parental warmth and affection during childhood was associated with lower multisystem health risks [B (SE) = -0.40 (0.14); P < 0.005]. A significant interaction of abuse and warmth (P < 0.05) was found, such that individuals reporting low levels of love and affection and high levels of abuse in childhood had the highest multisystem risk in adulthood.

Self-compassion and self-protection strategies: The impact of self-compassion on the use of self-handicapping and sandbagging

Self-compassion is a self-regulation strategy for countering negative self-directed feelings and emotions. High self-compassionate people treat themselves with kindness, care, and concern when facing negative life experience. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of self-compassion on the use of two self-esteem protecting strategies, self-handicapping and sandbagging. Both strategies are conducive to maintaining or enhancing one’s self-esteem by attributing failures in a way that serves as a protective mechanism to self-esteem, but the strategies must take performance loss or deterioration of social relations into account. High self-compassionate people were assumed to apply strategies associated with negative consequences less frequently, given their tendency to admit mistakes and not conceal their weaknesses. In the present study, 173 participants completed questionnaires that assessed self-compassion, self-esteem, self-handicapping, and sandbagging. Consistent with our hypotheses, negative correlations were found between self-compassion and self-handicapping as well as sandbagging. A hierarchical regression analysis also revealed that self-compassion significantly predicted the use of self-handicapping and sandbagging and confirmed that high self-compassionate people have less need to use these self-protecting strategies.

Health-related quality of life compared to life situation and incontinence in adults with myelomeningocele: Is SF-36 a reliable tool?

AimTo evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adults with myelomeningocele (MMC) measured by SF-36. Materials and methodsAll individuals (134) with MMC from western Sweden born before 1981, 69 with a median age of 34 years (range 27–50), participated in a telephone interview. Of these, 61 took part in SF-36 (short form 36 health questionnaire survey). ResultsThe group overall had significant impairment of physical functioning (PF)***, role physical (RP)***, general health GH*** as well as a lower physical component summary (PCS)*** compared to the reference group, while the mental component summary (MCS) was significantly higher***. The comparison between life situation and PCS was favorable for individuals 20–29 years of age or employed. In individuals exhibiting dysphoria during the interview, PCS was negatively affected, however MCS was unaffected. MCS was higher in non-ambulatory individuals* and in those not able to name a negative life experience* (* < 0.05, ** < 0.001, *** < 0.0001). HRQoL as evaluated by SF-36 was unaffected by fecal incontinence, partnership and offspring. ConclusionOur findings indicate that life situation and incontinence were not truly reflected by SF-36. A personal interview with a qualitative approach is likely to be a better tool.

THU0351 Negative life events before the disease onset and disease outcome in long term follow up of pain, sleep, fatigue and general well-being

BackgroundThere is some evidence that the effects of stressful events experienced in childhood, adolescence and adulthood before the disease onset run a high risk of chronic pain. Several unresolved stressors,...

Racial Disparities in Pretrial Diversion

Living with a felony conviction exposes people to a host of negative life experiences, including unemployment, low income, and family instability. Pretrial diversions offer defendants a rare chance to escape this fate. Using data from the State Court Processing Statistics, this study examines racial disparities in pretrial diversion among men charged with felony crimes in metropolitan counties in the even years from 1990 to 2006. The study finds that prosecutors are more likely to grant pretrial diversions to White defendants than they are to grant these diversions to Black or Latino defendants with similar legal characteristics. Moreover, while disparities disadvantaging Latinos are only present among defendants whose most serious arrest charge is for a drug crime and who have no prior convictions, those disparities disadvantaging Blacks occur both among defendants whose most serious arrest charge is for a drug crime regardless of prior convictions and among defendants charged with violent crimes who have no prior convictions.

Negative and positive life events are associated with small but lasting change in neuroticism

High neuroticism is prospectively associated with psychopathology and physical health. However, within-subject changes in neuroticism due to life experiences (LEs) or state effects of current psychopathology are largely unexplored. In this 2-year follow-up study, four hypotheses were tested: (1) positive LEs (PLEs) decrease and negative LEs (NLEs) increase neuroticism; (2) LE-driven change in neuroticism is partly long-lasting; and (3) partly independent of LE-driven changes in anxiety/depression; and (4) childhood adversity (before age 16 years) moderates the influence of NLEs/PLEs on neuroticism scores in adult life. Data came from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety [NESDA, n = 2981, mean age 41.99 years (s.d. = 13.08), 66.6% women]. At follow-up (T₂) we assessed PLEs/NLEs with the List of Threatening Experiences (LTE) over the prior 24 months and categorized them over recent and distant PLE/NLE measures (1-3 and 4-24 months prior to T₂ respectively) to distinguish distant NLE/PLE-driven change in trait neuroticism (using the Dutch version of the Neuroticism-Extroversion-Openness Five Factor Inventory, NEO-FFI) from state deviations due to changes in symptoms of depression (self-rated version of the 30-item Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, IDS-SR30) and anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory, BAI). Distant NLEs were associated with higher and distant PLEs with lower neuroticism scores. The effects of distant LEs were weak but long-lasting, especially for distant PLEs. Distant NLE-driven change in neuroticism was associated with change in symptoms of anxiety/depression whereas the effect of distant PLEs on neuroticism was independent of any such changes. Childhood adversity weakened the impact of distant NLEs but enhanced the impact of distant PLEs on neuroticism. Distant PLEs are associated with small but long-lasting decreases in neuroticism regardless of changes in symptom levels of anxiety/depression. Long-lasting increases in neuroticism associated with distant NLEs are mediated by anxiety/depression.

Erratum to: Negative and positive life experiences in patients with psoriatic arthritis

The corresponding author of the manuscript was inadvertently omitted the author name Marija Kastelan from the author group of the published article. The revised author group is given below.

An Integrative Study of Autobiographical Memory for Positive and Negative Experiences

AbstractIn this study we examined autobiographical memory for emotional experiences from an integrative perspective, analyzing nature, distribution, content and phenomenological assessment of the experiences. Undergraduate students produced positive or negative life experiences, dated them and indicated their emotional level. Afterwards, they chose an experience to narrate, and rated their memory for the experience. The positive and negative experiences were grouped into 14 categories, although most of them fell into four areas: studies, family, friends and couple. The number of positive and negative experiences progressively increased from very few childhood memories to a larger percentage of more recent events. The distribution was equivalent, except during adolescence, in which a greater number of negative than positive experiences were recorded. The negative narratives included more emotional details, references to cognitive processes, mental rehearsal and justifications than the positive narratives. But the positive experiences obtained higher ratings in vividness and sensorial details than the negative experiences.

Do Korean Immigrant Adolescents Experience Stress-Related Growth During Stressful Intergroup Contact and Acculturation?

Asian immigrant adolescents have a difficult time adapting to unfamiliar customs and cultural values as well as interacting with other ethnic groups. During intergroup contacts and acculturation, Asian immigrant adolescents have negative experiences such as discrimination experiences, intergroup anxiety, interracial tension, and limited social support. In spite of such stressful and negative life experiences, some research has shown that individuals may develop the ability to thrive or grow from stressful life events. Using grounded theory, we explored the characteristics of positive psychological changes that occurred as the result of stressful intergroup contacts and acculturation from the perspective of Korean immigrant adolescents. We captured three main themes related to stress-related growth: (a) psychological thriving, (b) cultural and ethnic understandings, and (c) culturally attuned relationships. This finding implies that stressful intergroup contacts and acculturation provide an opportunity in which Korean immigrant adolescents develop coping abilities and enhance a sense of personal growth.

Satisfaction with the Standard of Living in Reform-Era China

AbstractPopular satisfaction with current standards of living in reform-era China is explored in this article, using survey data from the 2004 China Inequality and Distributive Justice Project. Three major patterns are found: first, people of rural origin, with low levels of education and living in the west region, who are disadvantaged in the inequality hierarchy, report greater satisfaction with current standards of living than do privileged urbanites, the highly educated and residents in the coastal east. Second, inequality-related negative life experiences and social cognitive processes including temporal and social comparisons, material aspirations, and life goal orientations mediate the effects of socioeconomic characteristics. Third, the social sources of satisfaction with current standards of living vary across urban, rural and migrant residents. It is suggested that these patterns have largely stemmed from the unique political economic institutional arrangement and stratification system in China.