Term of Award

Winter 2017

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Jeff Klibert

Committee Member 1

Thresa Yancey

Committee Member 2

Ty Boyer

Abstract

Research has noted an upward trend in the rates of depression and anxiety disorders reported by college-attending emerging adults (American College Health Association, 2014; Mahmoud, Staten, Hall, & Lennie, 2012). Early traumatic experiences are one factor which may have a unique contribution to the development of social anxiety and depression symptoms in emerging adults (Spinhoven et al., 2010). However, these relationships may be explained by positive psychological resources like self-compassion. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediated effects of self-compassion on the relationships between recalled frequency of teasing in late childhood and adolescence and self-reports of current depression and social anxiety symptoms. Participants in this cross-sectional, correlational study included 312 undergraduate students who anonymously completed a series of online measures. As supported by past research, results suggest teasing frequency was directly associated with depression and social anxiety symptoms. Additionally, results indicated self-compassion partially mediated the relationship between teasing frequency and symptoms of depression and social anxiety. Clinical implications for these findings are discussed in the context of positive psychological interventions.

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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