Award Date

December 2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Committee Member

Christopher Kearney

Second Committee Member

Michelle G. Paul

Third Committee Member

Kara Christensen

Fourth Committee Member

Wendy Hoskins

Number of Pages

156

Abstract

Youth with a history of maltreatment victimization are at heightened risk for developing symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression. Recent work has identified emotion dysregulation as a potential transdiagnostic mechanism linking maltreatment victimization to youth psychopathology, but few studies have examined the influence of specific emotion regulation strategies. Habitual utilization of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal have each demonstrated associations with trauma-related psychopathology in adults. The present study examined both strategies as predictors of posttraumatic and depressive symptomatology in youth with a history of maltreatment, as well as mediators in the relationship between the two conditions.The sample included 133 youth aged 11–17 years in Department of Family Services (DFS) custody following removal from their home after a child maltreatment report. Multiple regression analyses revealed significant, positive relationships between expressive suppression and total depression symptoms, total PTSD symptoms, and symptoms of each PTSD symptom cluster. Cognitive reappraisal was positively related to total PTSD symptoms, intrusion symptoms, and alterations in cognitions and mood, and was not associated with symptoms of depression, avoidance symptoms, or alterations in arousal and reactivity. SEM-oriented mediation analyses did not implicate either strategy as a mediator of the relationship between PTSD and depression. The findings offer important implications for assessment, intervention, and future emotion regulation research.

Keywords

adolescents; children; maltreatment; trauma

Disciplines

Clinical Psychology

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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