New Lab Publications!

Check out some of our new publications by current graduate students:

Criminalizing Psychopathology in Black Americans: Racial and Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Psychopathology and Arrests

Black Americans are arrested at disproportionate levels compared with White Americans. We sought to understand whether the association between psychopathology and arrest record is equally strong for Black Americans and White Americans, hypothesizing that the association would be stronger for Black Americans. In a sample of adults (age: M = 34.81 years), we found that at the same level of psychopathology severity, emotion dysregulation, and impulsivity, Black Americans (n = 585) exhibited higher rates of being arrested in adulthood than White Americans (n = 977). These findings held even when controlling for environmental (e.g., socioeconomic status) and individual (e.g., substance-use history) factors associated with arrests. This suggests that the risk conferred by more severe psychopathology on arrests is stronger for Black Americans than White Americans. Our results highlight how structural racism affects both psychopathology and the carceral system to contribute to the overrepresentation of Black Americans within the criminal justice system.

Brownlow, B. N., Harmon, K. S., Pek, J., Cheavens, J. S., Moore III, J. L., & Coccaro, E. F. (2024). Criminalizing Psychopathology in Black Americans: Racial and Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Psychopathology and Arrests. Clinical Psychological Science, 21677026231217312.

Seeing is believing: The effect of subtle communication in social media on viewers’ beliefs about depression and anxiety symptom trajectories.

Objective: One barrier to treatment seeking, uptake, and engagement is the belief that nothing can be done to reduce symptoms. Given the widespread use of social media to disseminate information about important issues, including psychological health, we sought to understand how the influence of social media communication regarding mental health impacts viewers’ beliefs about psychopathology recovery. Method: Undergraduate participants from a large Midwestern university (N = 322) were randomized to view a series of Tweets characterizing psychopathology from a fixed mindset perspective, a growth mindset perspective, or, in the control condition, Tweets unrelated to psychopathology. Afterward, they completed a series of questionnaires designed to assess beliefs about recovery from depression and anxiety. Results: Participants in the growth mindset condition endorsed less pessimistic beliefs about their ability (i.e., self-efficacy) to alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety, and they believed these symptoms to be less stable and innate relative to those in the fixed mindset condition. Conclusion: Social media communication that characterizes psychopathology from a growth mindset perspective may be a viable intervention for improving beliefs around mental health self-efficacy and the malleable nature of mental illness, particularly depression and anxiety. Clinicians may be able to use social media platforms to promote functional beliefs around mental illness.

 

Whitted, W. M., Southward, M. W., Howard, K. P., Wick, S. B., Strunk, D. R., & Cheavens, J. S. (2024). Seeing is believing: The effect of subtle communication in social media on viewers’ beliefs about depression and anxiety symptom trajectories. Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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