Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

777

Date

2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Concentration

Clinical Psychology

Committee Chair

Katherine Kitzmann

Committee Member

Robert Cohen

Committee Member

Kristoffer Berlin

Committee Member

Elizabeth Meisinger

Abstract

This study utilizes a unique approach for examining the role of emotion-related characteristics in predicting adjustment during childhood. The first aim of this study was to examine emotion-related characteristics using a person-centered approach in order to identify subgroups of children based on emotion regulation profiles. These profiles consisted of scores on nine emotion-related variables, assessed through children's self-reports of the experience and expression of sadness and anger, as well as the strategies they used for modifying these emotions. The second aim of the study was to determine if subgroup membership was associated with self- and peer-reports of adjustment (i.e., self-reported depression, peer-reported aggression, and self-reported social competence and peer-reported sociability). In total, 150 children in grades 3 through 6 participated in the study. Using latent variable mixture modeling (LVMM), five subgroups were identified (First Aim). Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that subgroup membership was differentially associated with self-report of depression andsocial competencebut not with peer-report of aggression and sociability (Second Aim). Follow-up analyses showed that subgroup classifications did not account for significant variance in adjustment beyond that which was accounted for by the emotion-related variables that characterized the subgroups. The importance of considering multiple emotion regulation components was demonstrated in both the person- and variable-centered analyses. The results are discussed in terms of the associations between subgroup classification and adjustment as viewed from both person- and variable-centered perspectives.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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