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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (12 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Riverside Previously Published Works (2024)
Psychological scientists are increasingly using preregistration as a tool to increase the credibility of research findings. Many of the benefits of preregistration rest on the assumption that preregistered plans are followed perfectly. However, research suggests that this is the exception rather than the norm, and there are many reasons why researchers may deviate from their preregistered plans. Preregistration can still be a valuable tool, even in the presence of deviations, as long as those deviations are well documented and transparently reported. Unfortunately, most preregistration deviations in psychology go unreported or are reported in unsystematic ways. In the current article, we offer a solution to this problem by providing a framework for transparent and standardized reporting of preregistration deviations, which was developed by drawing on our own experiences with preregistration, existing unpublished templates, feedback from colleagues and reviewers, and the results of a survey of 34 psychology-journal editors. This framework provides a clear template for what to do when things do not go as planned. We conclude by encouraging researchers to adopt this framework in their own preregistered research and by suggesting that journals implement structural policies around the transparent reporting of preregistration deviations.
    Creative Commons 'BY' version 4.0 license
    • Thesis
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2019)

    People are not impassive bystanders to their emotional experiences. Instead, people tend to judge their emotions as good or bad. In this research, I examined individual differences in emotion judgments and their implications for emotional responses and psychological health. In Study 1 (N = 1,136), I developed a questionnaire to assess four types of habitual emotion judgments. The four types of emotion judgments differed according to the valence of the emotion being judged (positive or negative) and the valence of the judgment (positive or negative). In Study 2 (81 participants and 2,999 observations), I examined the relationship between habitual emotion judgments and emotion judgments in daily life. Emotion judgments were common in daily life and were predicted by habitual emotion judgments. In Study 3 (same participants as in Study 1), I examined cross-sectional associations between habitual emotion judgments and psychological health. Positive judgments of positive emotions were associated with greater psychological health and negative judgments of negative emotions were associated with poorer psychological health, above and beyond other types of emotion judgments and key confounds. In Study 4 (111 participants and 835 observations), I examined prospective links between habitual emotion judgments and psychological health over one month and the mediating role of net emotions (emotions that linger after an emotional event has passed). Negative judgments of negative emotions were associated with worse psychological health one month later, and this relationship was partially mediated by daily net emotions. In sum, individuals differ in the types of emotion judgments that they tend to make and these individual differences appear to powerfully shape daily emotional responses and in turn, psychological health.

      Cover page: Judging emotions as good or bad: Individual differences, links with emotional responses, and implications for psychological health
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2023)
      People differ in their initial emotional responses to events, and we are beginning to understand these responses and their pervasive implications for psychological health. However, people also differ in how they think about and react to their initial emotions (i.e., emotion judgments). In turn, how people judge their emotions-as predominantly positive or negative-may have crucial implications for psychological health. Across five MTurk and undergraduate samples collected between 2017 and 2022 (total N = 1,647), we investigated the nature of habitual emotion judgments (Aim 1) and their associations with psychological health (Aim 2). In Aim 1, we found four distinct habitual emotion judgments that differ according to the valence of the judgment (positive or negative) and the valence of the emotion being judged (positive or negative). Individual differences in habitual emotion judgments were moderately stable across time and were associated with, but not redundant with, conceptually related constructs (e.g., affect valuation, emotion preferences, stress mindsets, meta-emotions) and broader traits (i.e., extraversion, neuroticism, trait emotions). In Aim 2, positive judgments of positive emotions were uniquely associated with better psychological health and negative judgments of negative emotions were uniquely associated with worse psychological health concurrently and prospectively, above and beyond the other types of emotion judgments, and above and beyond conceptually related constructs and broader traits. This research gives insight into how people judge their emotions, how these judgments relate to other emotion-related constructs, and their implications for psychological health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
        Cover page: Judging Emotions as Good or Bad: Individual Differences and Associations with Psychological Health
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2020)

        Objective

        The present research aimed to better understand deficits in emotion differentiation that accompany depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms have been associated with more undifferentiated negative emotion experiences-experiencing multiple negative emotions simultaneously. We extend previous research by asking: (a) Are depressive symptoms and negative and positive emotion differentiation related above and beyond emotion intensity? (b) Are deficits in negative emotion differentiation specific to distinct categories of negative emotions (sadness, guilt, anger, and anxiety)? and (c) Do age or gender predict emotion differentiation or its associations with depressive symptoms?

        Method

        In 220 community participants (59% female; 21-60 years), we assessed depressive symptoms using surveys and emotion differentiation using daily diary emotion ratings in response to daily stressful events.

        Results

        Greater depressive symptoms were associated with lower negative, but not positive, emotion differentiation, above and beyond emotion intensity. Depressive symptoms were specifically related to lower differentiation among sadness-related emotions, and this sadness-specific deficit accounted for the deficit in negative emotion differentiation. Age and gender did not predict or moderate associations with emotion differentiation.

        Conclusion

        Depressive symptoms are associated with undifferentiated negative emotions above and beyond emotion intensity, and this association appears to be driven by undifferentiated sadness-related emotions, across gender and age.
          Cover page: Depressive symptoms and deficits in stress‐reactive negative, positive, and within‐emotion‐category differentiation: A daily diary study
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC Davis Previously Published Works (2021)
          Despite the importance of life satisfaction for health and well-being, there is a paucity of longitudinal studies tracking changes in life satisfaction in ethnic minority youth. In a sample of 674 Mexican-origin youth, the present research examined life satisfaction trajectories from middle (age 14) to late adolescence (age 17) and from late adolescence to young adulthood (age 21). On average, life satisfaction did not change significantly from age 14 to 17, and then decreased from age 17 to 21 (d = .30), perhaps reflecting difficulties transitioning into adult roles. Drawing on ecological systems theory, we examined both proximal (i.e., family) and distal (i.e., social-contextual) environmental factors (measured via self- and parent-reports) that may account for between-person variation in life satisfaction trajectories. Youth with more positive family environments in middle adolescence (age 14) had higher mean life satisfaction from middle adolescence to young adulthood (age 21). In contrast, youth with more negative family environments and who experienced greater economic hardship and more ethnic discrimination in middle adolescence (age 14) had lower life satisfaction during this period. Many of these factors also predicted change in life satisfaction from middle (age 14) to late adolescence (age 17), but not from late adolescence to young adulthood (age 21). This research extends the current understanding of life satisfaction during a critical developmental period in an understudied population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
            Cover page: Life satisfaction trajectories during adolescence and the transition to young adulthood: Findings from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth.
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2023)
            Temporal distancing (TD) is a promising yet understudied emotion regulation strategy that involves reflecting on how one will feel much later in the future. Although limited, the available evidence suggests that TD is a beneficial way to appraise negative events. Experimental studies have demonstrated causality: Situational use of TD (e.g., when thinking about a negative event) confers short-term emotional benefits in the laboratory. In addition, correlational studies show that habitual use predicts better long-term well-being. However, several open questions remain. First, we do not fully understand associations between habitual TD and emotions in daily life. Second, we do not fully understand daily TD, either on average across days or fluctuating within person. We conducted an 8-day diary study to test associations between TD and emotional responses to daily stressful events for three distinct measures at two levels of analysis: habitual TD assessed with a survey, average daily TD across days, and within-person fluctuations in TD across days (N = 155 participants, 837 observations). TD was associated with lower negative emotion at the within-person level and with greater positive emotion at both levels. Overall, these findings suggest that TD-on average and fluctuating within person-is associated with a beneficial pattern of daily emotional experiences, which may support overall well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
              Cover page: Short-term implications of long-term thinking: Temporal distancing and emotional responses to daily stressors.
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2020)
              Daily life is full of emotional ups and downs. In contrast, the objective conditions of our lives usually remain relatively stable from day to day. The degree to which emotional ups and downs influence life satisfaction-which prima facie should be relatively stable-remains a puzzle. In the present article, we propose the Individual Differences in Evaluating Life Satisfaction (IDELS) model to address this puzzle. The IDELS model posits that people differ in the processes by which they evaluate their life satisfaction: Some people's life satisfaction is more strongly associated with their current emotions (i.e., "emotion globalizing") whereas other people maintain a filter between their life satisfaction and current emotions. These individual differences should have important implications for the degree of short-term variability in life satisfaction and, in turn, for psychological health. In 3 diverse samples of women (total N = 536), we assessed life satisfaction and emotions daily or multiple times per day for 2 weeks. We tested 4 hypotheses derived from the IDELS model. First, participants differed substantially in the degree of short-term variability in life satisfaction, and these individual differences were moderately stable. Second, participants differed substantially in emotion globalizing, and these individual differences were moderately stable. Third, higher emotion globalizing predicted greater short-term variability in life satisfaction. Fourth, greater short-term variability in life satisfaction was associated with a maladaptive profile of greater neuroticism and worse psychological health. We discuss implications for life satisfaction theory and measurement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
                Cover page: Understanding Short-Term Variability in Life Satisfaction: The Individual Differences in Evaluating Life Satisfaction (IDELS) Model
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2017)
                  Cover page: RELAPSE PREVENTION IN MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER: 24-MONTH FOLLOW UP OF MINDFULNESS-BASED COGNITIVE THERAPY VS. ACTIVE CONTROL
                  • Article
                  • Peer Reviewed
                  UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2023)
                  Exposure to adversity (e.g., poverty, bereavement) is a robust predictor of disruptions in psychological functioning. However, people vary greatly in their responses to adversity; some experience severe long-term disruptions, others experience minimal disruptions or even improvements. We refer to the latter outcomes-faring better than expected given adversity-as psychological resilience. Understanding what processes explain resilience has critical theoretical and practical implications. Yet, psychology's understanding of resilience is incomplete, for two reasons: (a) We lack conceptual clarity, and (b) two major approaches to resilience-the stress and coping approach and the emotion and emotion-regulation approach-have limitations and are relatively isolated from one another. To address these two obstacles,we first discuss conceptual questions about resilience. Next, we offer an integrative affect-regulation framework that capitalizes on complementary strengths of both approaches. This framework advances our understanding of resilience by integrating existing findings, highlighting gaps in knowledge, and guiding future research.
                    Cover page: Psychological Resilience: An Affect-Regulation Framework
                    • Article
                    • Peer Reviewed
                    UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2018)
                    We conducted a 26-month follow-up of a previously reported 12-month study that compared mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to a rigorous active control condition (ACC) for depressive relapse/recurrence prevention and improvements in depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Participants in remission from major depression were randomized to an 8-week MBCT group (n = 46) or the ACC (n = 46). Outcomes were assessed at baseline; postintervention; and 6, 12, and 26 months. Intention-to-treat analyses indicated no differences between groups for any outcome over the 26-month follow-up. Time to relapse results (MBCT vs. ACC) indicated a hazard ratio = .82, 95% CI [.34, 1.99]. Relapse rates were 47.8% for MBCT and 50.0% for ACC. Piecewise analyses indicated that steeper declines in depressive symptoms in the MBCT vs. the ACC group from postintervention to 12 months were not maintained after 12 months. Both groups experienced a marginally significant rebound of depressive symptoms after 12 months but were still improved at 26 months compared to baseline (b = -4.12, p <= .008). Results for life satisfaction were similar. In sum, over a 26-month follow-up, MBCT was no more effective for preventing depression relapse/recurrence, reducing depressive symptoms, or improving life satisfaction than a rigorous ACC. Based on epidemiological data and evidence from prior depression prevention trials, we discuss the possibility that both MBCT and ACC confer equal therapeutic benefit. Future studies that include treatment as usual (TAU) control conditions are needed to confirm this possibility and to rule out the potential role of time-related effects. Overall findings underscore the importance of comparing MBCT to TAU as well as to ACCs.
                      Cover page: Relapse/Recurrence Prevention in Major Depressive Disorder: 26-Month Follow-Up of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Versus an Active Control
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