Psychology (Functional Area: Clinical Psychology)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10315/26543

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Prefrontal Brain Microstructural Integrity is Related to an Exploitation Bias in Older Adulthood
(2025-11-11) Hewan, Patrick Alexander; Turner, Gary R.
The exploration–exploitation trade-off reflects a fundamental decision-making process supported by interactions between cortical regions involved in reward valuation and monitoring and subcortical systems that regulate attention and learning. In previous work, we demonstrated that microstructural integrity of the locus coeruleus (LC), assessed with quantitative MRI (qMRI), predicts individual differences in explore-exploit behavior in older adults. Building on these findings, we examined whether similar structure–function relationships exist within cortical regions implicated in explore-exploit. In typically aging older adults (N=109), we collected magnetization transfer saturation (MTsat), a qMRI measure sensitive to cellular microstructure, to assess integrity of the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), frontopolar cortex (FPC), rostral middle frontal gyrus (rMFG), and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC). Lower MTsat in the mOFC, FPC, and rMFG and decreasing MTsat across time was associated with an exploitation bias. Dominance analysis revealed FPC MTsat as the strongest predictor of exploitative decision-making in older adulthood.
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Exploring the Empirical and Experiential Landscape of the Perinatal Period After Breast Cancer
(2025-11-11) Vanstone, Ruth Naomi; Fergus, Karen D.
Background: Young women with breast cancer (YWBC) cite family building as a top concern at diagnosis. While pre-treatment fertility and reproductive concerns have been well researched, little is known about the experiences of young women with a history of breast cancer (YWHBC) in the perinatal period. Additionally, YWHBC report increased distress due to the lack of information available to help navigate pregnancy and postpartum. Thus, this dissertation sought to better understand the empirical and experiential landscape of the perinatal period for YWHBC. Methods: Study 1 entailed a scoping review of the empirical landscape regarding perinatal outcomes after breast cancer (BC). Importantly, considerations such as the impact of genetic mutations (BRCA 1 and 2), disease characteristics common for younger populations (e.g., HR+), the impact of assisted reproductive technology (ART), and breastfeeding and screening options for YWHBC were included. Study 2 consisted of a thematic analysis exploring participant perspectives regarding extant knowledge, questions, and concerns that arise for YWHBC in the perinatal period. Results: Study 1 findings suggest that, generally, becoming pregnant after BC does not impact overall survival for YWHBC, including for women with BRCA mutations, HR+ disease, and those who use ART to become pregnant. Further, breastfeeding may be possible after BC treatment, and various screening options are possible for women who are actively breastfeeding. Study 2 revealed a number of themes related to the experiences of the perinatal period and supportive care after BC. All participants identified that increasing access to trusted, empirical information, along with tailored support resources may help to ease the psychological burden for YWHBC in the perinatal period. Conclusions: Together, these two studies highlight the many nuanced considerations for YWHBC during the perinatal period. Study 1 helped to illuminate the empirical landscape regarding the safety of the perinatal period for YWHBC. Study 2 identified themes relating to the complex nature of having children after BC, for patients and others involved in their care, illuminating gaps in knowledge and supportive care. Ultimately, both studies will be used to inform the development of an online education tool to improve quality of care for this unique population.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Role of Out-of-Session Skills Use in Sage, a Couple-Based Intervention: Enhancing Borderline Personality Disorder Recovery and Relationship Quality
(2025-11-11) Earle, Elizabeth Ann; Fitzpatrick, Skye
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterized by emotional and interpersonal difficulties, particularly in romantic relationships. Sage is a 12-session conjoint intervention developed to improve BPD and relationship functioning by learning and practicing skills outside of therapy sessions (out-of-session skills use). This study examined whether couples (N = 21) increased out-of-session skills use across Sage and whether skills use predicted improvements in BPD and relationship outcomes. Generalized Estimating Equations revealed that individuals with BPD and romantic partners increased general skills use, while skills use during conflict decreased. Greater between-person and within-person skills use predicted improvements in BPD symptom severity, emotion dysregulation, and suicidal ideation. However, skills use did not predict most relationship outcomes, and higher between-person skills use predicted reduced relationship satisfaction in romantic partners over time. Findings highlight the importance of out- of-session skills use in conjoint BPD treatment and the potential significance of contextual and methodological factors on this relationship.
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Humility Predicts Eudaimonic Well-Being and Compassionate Action in a Daily Experience Sampling Study
(2025-11-11) Malouka Abdel Malak, Sabrina Saber Abdel Malak; Mongrain, Myriam
Humility predicts greater psychological well-being and prosocial behaviour (Exline & Hill, 2012; Worthington et al., 2017). However, research is largely cross-sectional, and mechanisms underlying these relationships remain unexplored. Further, few studies explore nuances in the relationship between humility and compassion (e.g., motivations for acting compassionately), and none have empirically examined whether humility predicts received compassion. Using the Daily Reconstruction Method (Kahneman et al., 2004), the current study examines the relationship between humility and the following outcome variables: eudaimonic well-being, given compassion, received compassion, and how freely chosen or externally pressured participants felt their compassionate actions were over one week. Multilevel modelling demonstrated that on average, humble individuals report greater well-being, give and receive more compassion, and report more autonomous compassion. Compassion did not mediate the relationship between humility and well-being. These findings suggest humility may be an important individual difference variable with intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits, and implications are discussed.
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The Psychological Vest: Trauma, Resiliency, and Posttraumatic Growth Among Police Officers
(2025-11-11) Anthony Michael Battaglia; Goldberg, Joel
Police officers are often required to make split-second decisions in unpredictable and ambiguous critical situations, while held to extremely high moral and ethical standards and intense public scrutiny. Given their level of trauma exposure and risk for traumatic and morally injurious distress, it is vital to better understand psychosocial factors which serve to increase risk or resilience, to shape a metaphoric psychological vest. In addition, a psychometrically sound measure of moral injury is needed to accurately identify such risk and resiliency factors. The current dissertation project first investigated the psychometric properties of the Moral Injury Assessment for Public Safety Personnel (MIA-PSP). Next, thematically-connected psychological (i.e., facets of mattering, grit, socially prescribed perfectionism, self-compassion, posttraumatic cognitions) and social (i.e., workplace stress, job satisfaction, childhood adversity, social support, perceived public benevolence) factors were examined in their relatedness to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), moral injury (MI), depression, anxiety, burnout, life satisfaction, and posttraumatic growth. The sample of study were 367 police officers (Median = 20 years of service; 72.5% men) from 17 small to large municipal and provincial police services across Ontario. Officers completed an online battery of validated measures assessing both the aforementioned risk and resiliency factors and trauma-related outcomes. First, regarding the MIA-PSP, confirmatory factor analysis modelling supported a correlated three-factor structure that was invariant across gender and years of service. Controlling for shared variance amongst the subscales, the emotional sequelae and betrayals subscales demonstrated unique predictive power with measures of trauma, trauma-related outcomes, and well-being. Findings suggest the MIA-PSP is a promising scale to assess MI within police populations. Second, the psychosocial factors of anti-mattering, self-compassion, and posttraumatic cognitions were identified as predictive of every distressing trauma-related outcome under investigation. Heightened anti-mattering and posttraumatic cognitions served as risk factors for increased PTSD, MI, depression, anxiety, burnout and poorer life satisfaction, with heightened self-compassion serving as a resilience factor in buffering against those outcomes and facilitating life satisfaction and posttraumatic growth. These risk and resilience factors are posited as tied to a core emotion of shame, which is discussed with reference to notable opportunities for clinical intervention.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Association Between Social Relationship Quality and Subjective Cognition in Women Experiencing Homelessness and Precarious Housing
(2025-11-11) McKeag, Suzanne Alice; Goldberg, Joel
Research shows that People Experiencing Homelessness and Precarious Housing (PEHPH) have low-quality social relationships, which are linked to limited social networks, elevated emotional distress, and poorer subjective cognition. While women’s experiences differ from men’s, they remain understudied in this population. The present research examined whether associations between social relationship quality and social networks, emotional distress, and subjective cognition differ between women (n = 46) and men (n = 53) among PEHPH. The WHOQOL-BREF measured social relationship quality, the LSNS assessed social networks, the HADS measured emotional distress, and the PROMIS assessed subjective cognition. Linear regressions analyzed associations and gender differences, and simple slopes analyses probed interactions. The key finding is that higher-quality social relationships are associated with better subjective cognition among women. For both genders, higher-quality social relationships are linked to larger networks and less emotional distress. Among PEHPH, bolstering subjective cognition may enhance women’s social relationship quality.
Access status: Open Access ,
Aphantasia and its Effects on Spatial Memory and Navigation: A Case Study
(2025-11-11) Faromika, Toluwanimi Iremide; Rosenbaum, R. Shayna
Spatial memory and navigation rely on multiple cognitive mechanisms including visual imagery and episodic memory. Aphantasia, the inability to generate voluntary visual imagery, provides a unique opportunity to examine how individuals navigate without visual mental maps. This case study investigates how the absence of visual imagery affects spatial memory across both recent and remote environments. Using a framework of topographical disorientation, we examine SD, an individual with aphantasia who has lived in multiple environments. We assessed how environmental familiarity impacts recall of coarse spatial layouts and fine-grained spatial details. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining the Sea Hero Quest (SHQ) task of spatial learning, with a battery of ecologically valid spatial memory tests. SD demonstrated preserved navigation abilities but exhibited difficulties with tasks that require fine-grained spatial details for flexible wayfinding. These findings suggest that visual imagery supports flexible, detailed spatial representations, offering insights into individual differences in navigation.
Access status: Open Access ,
Appearance-Based Social Media Use, Body Dissatisfaction, and Mood Among Young Women with High Weight Bias Internalization: Investigating the Roles of Body-Related Shame and Self-Compassion
(2025-11-11) Howells, Rachel Louise; Mills, Jennifer S.
The current study investigated how weight bias internalization (WBI) relates to body dissatisfaction and mood among young women following an upward appearance-based comparison to thin-ideal Instagram imagery, and whether such relationships are mediated by body-related shame and moderated by self-compassion. Undergraduate women (N=109) completed trait measures of WBI and body-related shame in Part I. During Part II, participants were randomly assigned to either 1)compare their body parts to those of thin-ideal Instagram models; or to 2)an appearance-neutral control condition. Participants completed pre(Time 1)/post(Time 2) measures of body dissatisfaction and mood and Time 2 measures of self-compassion and appearance-based comparison. Following upward comparison, higher WBI was related to greater weight and appearance dissatisfaction and depressed mood. At heightened WBI, body-related shame explained elevated appearance-dissatisfaction and self-compassion buffered against increased depression. Findings highlight the need for interventions addressing body dissatisfaction and mood among young women with high WBI in social media contexts.
Access status: Open Access ,
Investigating the Relationship Between Defense Mechanisms and the Therapeutic Alliance in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder
(2025-11-11) Elmadbak, Rizk; Boritz, Tali
Defenses play an important role in psychotherapy, as clients' overall defensive functioning (ODF) predicts treatment outcomes. Defensive functioning may influence the relationship between the therapeutic alliance and outcome; however, findings are mixed. This study examined the relationship between defensive functioning, alliance rupture and repair, and outcomes in dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) for borderline personality disorder (BPD), using secondary data from the FASTER study. In a subsample of 60 participants, observers coded session 6 using the Defense Mechanism Rating Scale (DMRS) and Rupture Resolution Rating System (3RS). Post-treatment outcomes were measured using the Borderline Symptom List (BSL-23) and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Partial correlations showed lower ODF was associated with greater rupture salience, specifically withdrawal ruptures. Regression analyses revealed ODF moderated the relationship between rupture salience and repair effectiveness, and mature defenses moderated the relationship between rupture salience and outcomes. Findings suggest, without mature defenses, therapists may struggle to resolve ruptures effectively.
Access status: Open Access ,
Smoke, Sip, Sleep, Repeat: Investigating Daily-Level Bidirectional Relationships Between Separate And Simultaneous Alcohol-Cannabis Use And Sleep
(2025-07-23) Moore, Annabelle Thea Hong Ven Nuyen; Jeff Wardell
Sleep problems are common among young adults, and alcohol and cannabis are known to impact sleep. Given the high prevalence of simultaneous alcohol-cannabis use in this population, there is a need to clarify the mixed findings in existing research regarding the combined effects of alcohol and cannabis use on sleep. This study used daily diary methodology to examine daily relationships between simultaneous use (versus cannabis-only, alcohol-only, and no use) and key sleep indices (i.e., subjective sleep quality, sleep duration, and bedtime), exploring the moderating role of substance use problem severity. Young adults (N=151; 64% female; Mage = 22.07) completed daily morning surveys in a smartphone app assessing prior-day alcohol and cannabis use, bedtime, wake time, and subjective sleep quality. Participants also completed measures of alcohol and cannabis problem severity at baseline. Multilevel models (with days nested within participants) indicated that participants reported worse sleep on alcohol-only use days relative to simultaneous use and no-use days, while cannabis-only use was associated with better sleep relative to no use. Participants reported similar subjective sleep quality and sleep duration on cannabis-only and simultaneous use days. Further, alcohol problem severity moderated associations between substance use and sleep. Specifically, individuals with greater alcohol problem severity experienced poorer sleep on alcohol-only days relative to simultaneous use days, whereas those with lower alcohol problem severity reported poorer sleep on simultaneous use days compared to cannabis-only days. Reciprocal models examining the impacts of sleep variables on next-day likelihood of simultaneous or single substance use did not reveal any significant main effects. These findings provide insight into the daily-level relationships between alcohol and cannabis co-use and sleep health, highlighting the need for tailored sleep interventions based on substance use patterns and problem severity. Keywords: cannabis; alcohol; simultaneous use; co-use; sleep; ecological momentary assessment
Access status: Open Access ,
Examining the Factor Structure of the Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) in Emerging Adults: An Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling Approach
(2025-07-23) Bernusky, Haley Cheyenne Renee; Keough, Matthew
The Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS) measures personality traits linked to heavy drinking and related problems (hopelessness, anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity, sensation seeking) and informs personality-matching interventions. The SURPS’ factor structure shows inconsistencies, and evidence suggests that confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is too restrictive for measures capturing correlated constructs. We examined if exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) better captured the optimal SURPS factor structure in a large Canadian sample, tested measurement invariance across sex and alcohol use differences, and assessed the predictive validity of SURPS subscales for alcohol use motives and problems. A sample of 6,397 emerging adults completed surveys. ESEM had excellent fit relative to CFA; Item 22 was removed due to a poor factor loading. The final model was invariant across groups; SURPS subscales predicted alcohol use motives and problems. Results support the SURPS’ utility for measuring substance use personality risk and ESEM’s utility for analyzing correlated constructs.
Access status: Open Access ,
Characterizing White Matter Microstructure in Asymptomatic Older Adults at Elevated Risk for Alzheimer's Disease
(2025-07-23) Kantarovich, Karin; Turner, Gary R.
Growing evidence suggests that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with axonal tract alterations. These white matter (WM) changes may emerge very early, prior to clinical symptom onset and may precede cortical grey matter changes. However, reliably characterizing these WM alterations in vivo and differentiating them from normal age-related change has been challenging. To address this challenge, the overarching goal of this dissertation was to examine differences in WM microstructure attributable to known AD-risk factors: age, genetics, and the presence of AD-related pathology. Advanced diffusion-imaging methods were used to characterize WM microstructure in a large sample of older adults at elevated familial risk for AD who remained clinically asymptomatic (n=146). Additionally, participants underwent genetic testing, lumbar punctures, and positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to derive AD-risk biomarkers. In Study 1, I implemented a multivariate, data-driven statistical technique, Partial Least Squares (PLS), to identify covariance patterns between whole-brain, voxelwise white matter microstructure and AD-risk factors. Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) data were collected to derive three WM microstructure indices: neurite density (NDI), orientation dispersion (ODI), and isotropic volume fraction (ISOVF). Each of these measures was associated with age, APOE4 genotype, and amyloid-beta and tau pathology biomarkers. Older age was associated with all three NODDI WM indices. NDI was uniquely sensitive to AD-risk indexed by AD pathology biomarkers. Study 2 extended these analyses to examine WM microstructural associations with cognition (episodic memory, processing speed, and executive control) in the same preclinical AD cohort using a whole-brain exploratory approach. WM microstructure, indexed by NODDI, was associated with episodic memory and executive control. However, most associations did not remain when accounting for age-related variance, suggesting that WM-cognition associations may not be specific to AD-risk factors. This dissertation represents one of the first, and among the most comprehensive investigations into WM microstructure in the context of multiple AD-risk factors, occurring before clinical syndrome onset. These findings demonstrate WM microstructural alterations are among the earliest neural changes to accompany AD-related pathology, providing a window into the impact of AD on brain structure, and informing novel opportunities for surveillance and intervention at the earliest disease stages.
Access status: Open Access ,
I'm Not That Person: A Qualitative Study of Moral Injury in Forensic Psychiatric Patients
(2025-07-23) Atkey, Sarah Kate; Goldberg, Joel
Few studies have examined the psychological impacts of committing criminal acts of violence on the lives of perpetrators who were mentally ill at the time of offence and in which the act itself may reflect behaviour that is uncharacteristic of the individual. Theoretical and clinical reports describe a phenomenon termed moral injury which profiles the deleterious emotional effects that can arise from actions that transgress moral beliefs and expectations (Litz et al., 2009). Shame, guilt, spiritual/existential conflict, and loss of trust are considered to be core symptoms of moral injury (Jinkerson, 2016) with growing empirical studies which examine moral injury in military and public safety worker samples. The extent to which these kinds of moral injury phenomena might be evident among mentally ill perpetrators was explored using a qualitative-methods approach in a sample of 19 adult participants hospitalized in a forensic program inpatient service in Ontario, Canada. A qualitative interview was conducted where participants were asked to describe feelings about the index offence, the effect it has had on their well-being, and how they have coped with having committed the offence. We also collected quantitative measures of shame, guilt, psychopathology, and traumatic stress; findings indicated that the sample was demonstrating mean moderate levels of traumatic stress. Qualitatively, using a reflexive thematic analysis process, five themes and 23 subthemes were generated. Each theme relates to the various impacts, emotions, and cognitions experienced by the participants as a result of the index offence. The five themes which emerged were: (1) Living with the Emotional Aftermath; (2) Trying to Make Sense and Coming to Terms; (3) My Eyes Have Opened; (4) Facing the Music; and (5) Moving On. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding forensic inpatients who may be attempting to come to terms with offences they committed and for informing moral injury intervention strategies which might be adapted for the forensic mental health hospital service and recidivism prevention programs.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Balance of Sexual Responsiveness and Autonomy: Communal and Self-Determined Approaches to Sexual Motivation, Need Fulfillment, and Support in Romantic Relationships
(2025-07-23) Shoikhedbrod, Ariel; Muise, Amy
Sexual need fulfillment between partners is central to the maintenance of a romantic relationship over time. However, it can be challenging to assert one’s sexual needs in the process of being responsive to a partner’s sexual needs, presenting a key interdependent dilemma couples navigate in the sexual domain. In the following dissertation, I integrated communal and self-determined theories of sexual motivation to further our understanding of how people balance being responsive to a partner’s sexual needs with asserting their own sexual needs and how perceiving a partner as supportive of one’s sexual needs is central to maintaining sexual and relationship well-being. In my first paper, I examine how balancing the motivation to be responsive to a partner’s sexual needs with asserting one’s own sexual needs (i.e., high sexual communal strength) is associated with greater sexual and relationship well-being as a function of engaging in sex for pleasure and meaning (i.e., autonomous reasons) rather than out of pressure or obligation (i.e., controlled reasons). In contrast, sexual responsiveness that involves self-neglect (i.e., high unmitigated sexual communion) is costly to well-being due to controlled reasons for engaging in sex. In my second paper, I demonstrate how experimentally orienting people in relationships to high sexual responsiveness is associated with differences in autonomous versus controlled reasons for engaging in sex and sexual and relationship well-being depending on whether people are also oriented toward high versus low sexual assertiveness. In my third and final paper, I examine the novel role of perceiving a partner as autonomously supportive in the sexual domain (i.e., feeling that a partner supports one’s ability to freely choose and act on their sexual preferences and interests) in fostering sexual need fulfillment, and in turn, sexual and relationship satisfaction, over and above the role of perceiving a partner as responsive to one’s sexual needs. By emphasizing the value of being sexually responsive and self-determined in relationships, this dissertation provides key insights into the dynamics of sexual motivation, sexual need fulfillment and support in romantic relationships, as well as the potential for applying and extending this work to diverse populations, contexts, and interventions.
Access status: Open Access ,
Exploring The Associations Between Trait Boredom And Cannabis Use Habits
(2025-04-10) Kronstein, Naama Beatrice; Keough, Matthew
Context: Excessive cannabis may lead to significant related problems in a small proportion of those who use. There is growing support for positive associations between trait boredom and both cannabis use and related harms. State Boredom is the aversive experience of wishing but being incapable of participating in fulfilling activity. Trait boredom is the frequency of experiencing state boredom. Recent literature suggests that trait boredom reflects a chronic lack of agency rather than being a component of sensation seeking. Theories of addiction suggest that people who experience aversive affect frequently (i.e., trait boredom as a lack of agency) tend to use for coping motives (i.e., reduce negative affect), and those who are high on sensation seeking tend to use for expansion motives (i.e., heighten mental experience). Hypotheses: I expected trait boredom to positively predict cannabis use and related harms and that these associations would be explained by coping motives. Furthermore, I expected sensation seeking to predict cannabis use and related harms and that these associations would be explained by expansion motives. Exploratory gender specific moderation effects were examined. Methods: Data were collected in a single wave on MTurk. 489 North American participant who had used cannabis in the past month were included. Participants were asked about their motivation to use cannabis, problems related to cannabis-use, sensation seeking, and their cannabis use disorder related symptoms. Results: I observed high collinearity between the cannabis motives (suggesting they were not unique), and the sensation seeking measure had a large portion of missing responses. Therefore, I was unable to examine initially planned mediation models. Instead, simple linear regressions were performed to examine how trait boredom related to cannabis outcomes. In line with the hypothesis, trait boredom was positively associated with cannabis problems and cannabis use disorder symptoms. Moderation analysis showed that men’s CUD-related symptoms were positively affected by boredom but not women’s. Significance: This study found associations between trait boredom as a lack of agency and cannabis outcomes. Future research should investigate the mechanisms of these associations and expand on our understanding of trait boredom in the etiology of excessive cannabis use and harms.
Access status: Open Access ,
Intimate Partners' Awareness of and Responses to Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviours in People with Borderline Personality Disorders: A Mixed-Methods Descriptive Study
(2025-04-10) Tissera, Talia Maria; Fitzpatrick, Skye
Intimate relationship dysfunction is characteristic of borderline personality disorder (BPD), and partners’ behaviours may exacerbate or ameliorate self-injury in BPD. Therefore, this study investigated partners’ awareness of people with BPD’s self-injury, how they find out about self-injury, their responses to self-injury, and their self-evaluated helpfulness. To address these aims, 15 people with BPD and their 15 partners reported on the presence or absence of self-injury for 30 days; partners also reported how they found out about self-injury for 30 days and completed semi-structured interviews about a recent response to self-injury and their self-evaluated helpfulness. Partners were aware of 40% of self-injury, and 66.7% found out about self-injury because people with BPD disclosed it. Qualitatively, most partners responded to self-injury by soothing, protecting, and/or problem solving for people with BPD. Most partners observed mixed or negative reactions to their efforts, and perhaps consequently, some felt lost about how helpful they were.
Access status: Open Access ,
Cancer Recovery Narratives Pre and Peri Covid: A Mixed Methods Comparative Analysis
(2025-04-10) Norton, Lucas Gordon Scott; Fergus, Karen
This study is the first of its kind to compare narratives from cancer survivors collected at the end of treatment both before the COVID-19 pandemic began (2017-2019) and three years following (2023-2024). Data was collected through short narrative care interviews, designed to provide a supportive way for cancer survivors to process the experience of treatment and recovery, and find ways to effectively move forward in life. Preliminary quantitative findings indicate the potential effectiveness and acceptability of the narrative interview for supporting individuals at the end of cancer treatment, with notable increases in self-reported social well-being. Emergent qualitative thematic differences include frequent reports of medical delays and experiences of loneliness during treatment in the peri-COVID cohort, as well as indications that this group was more inclined to advocate for their healthcare needs, express skepticism toward the medical system, and speak more positively about interpersonal support from loved ones than the pre-COVID cohort.
Access status: Open Access ,
Perceived Norms about Coping-Motivated Drinking Mediate the Relations Between Social Anxiety and Alcohol Use and Related Problems
(2025-04-10) Newman, Jessica Esther; Keough, Matt
Social anxiety has been shown to be a risk factor for alcohol-related problems among emerging adults. Perceived norms may be a relevant cognitive factor underlying this risk; however, previous literature has focused mostly on broad norms about alcohol use in general and not on norms about specific alcohol use behaviours. The main goal of this study was to examine the mediating role of perceived approval about drinking to cope specifically, in the pathway from social anxiety to alcohol use and related problems. I hypothesized that university students with heightened social anxiety would perceive their friends (in particular) as being approving of drinking to cope with negative affect, which would lead to an increase in alcohol problems. Participants were ages 18 to 29 from six Canadian universities and completed an online cross- sectional survey measuring social anxiety levels, perceived approval of specific risky drinking behaviours, alcohol use frequency, and alcohol-related problems. Mediation analyses showed that elevated social anxiety predicted greater perceptions of friends approving of drinking to cope, which in turn, predicted elevated alcohol-related problems. This mediation effect was not seen when analyzing perceived approval from typical students, highlighting a specificity for friends increasing perceived approval of coping-related drinking behaviours. Perceived approval of sexual risk taking from friends was associated with lower alcohol-related problems, and perceived approval of heavy drinking from typical students was associated with increased alcohol outcomes. This study is the first to examine the impact of perceived approval of specific risky drinking behaviours on alcohol outcomes among students with relatively elevated social anxiety. Such research could contribute to improving the efficacy of personalized normative feedback interventions for modifying normative perceptions and alcohol outcomes.
Access status: Open Access ,
Examining social networks, social support, and relationship quality as protective factors for neurocognitive health in individuals who are homeless or precariously housed
(2024-11-07) Li-Chay-Chung, Audrey Clara; Wardell, Jeffrey
Social connectedness contributes to cognitive reserve (CR) in the context of aging, but its role in predicting neurocognitive functioning in adults who are unstably housed is unknown. This study examined cross-sectional associations between dimensions of social connectedness and domains of neurocognitive functioning in a sample of adults experiencing homelessness or precarious housing. HIV infection, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and psychotic disorder were analyzed as moderating clinical risk factors. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that available social network size significantly predicted verbal memory performance. HIV moderated the association between relationship conflict and verbal memory, and the association between social network size and cognitive flexibility. Neither social support nor relationship conflict predicted neurocognitive functioning. Neither TBI nor psychotic disorder moderated any associations. The present findings elucidate the role of social connectedness in contributing to CR in this marginalized population and provide support for social-oriented interventions to preserve their neurocognitive health.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Experience Of Brain Power During A Continuous Performance Task: Exploring The Influence Of Task- And Person-Based Factors
(2024-11-07) Wagner, Danika Marie Miner; Eastwood, John
The experience of brain power is a crucial element of collective flourishing and the regulation of cognition. However, essential questions regarding its mechanisms remain poorly understood, particularly concerning how person- and task-based factors influence the experience. This study explored how the experience of brain power during a continuous performance task (CPT) is associated with person-based (i.e., ADHD symptoms) and task-based (i.e., manipulations in interstimulus intervals (ISI)) factors. Participants reported the presence of ADHD symptoms and then were randomly assigned to one of three CPT ISI conditions (1000, 3000, or 6000 ms). Two-thirds of the way through the CPT, participants rated their experience of brain power. Both person- and task-based factors influenced the experience of brain power on two psychometrically distinct facets of the experience (task-elicited and volitionally exerted). Both factors interact to influence CPT performance. Implications of the findings and future directions are discussed.

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