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Participate in a psychology research study from Ohio State University and earn up to $67 and a personalized profile of your emotion management style. Learn more about the study and sign up to participate here: https://go.osu.edu/emotionstudy

Check out our new publication about Borderline Personality Disorder, perceived social support, and memory biases! Read about how people with traits of Borderline Personality Disorder remember others—and how feeling supported (or not) changes those memories.

🎉 Congratulations to Mason Jupinka for winning the prestigious Frederick Y. Billingslea Research Award for 2025-2026! 🏆

This award honors an outstanding junior or senior conducting novel research in clinical psychology—and Mason has more than earned it with her incredible work on social media and identity alongside graduate student Whitney Whitted 👏💡

Congrats Ally, Kristen, & Dr. Cheavens on the new publication!

Howard, K.P., Heiland, A.M., & Cheavens, J.S. (2024). Characterizing interpersonal emotion regulation across dimensions of personality pathology. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment.

Abstract:

There is growing recognition of the value of better understanding interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) in individuals with personality pathology, with some initial investigations providing preliminary information about IER in borderline personality disorder (BPD). We aimed to examine characteristics of IER across dimensional measures of personality pathology. In a sample recruited for elevated levels of personality pathology, specifically BPD features, (N = 95; 63% met criteria for at least one PD), we examined the relations among interpersonal and emotional personality pathology domains (i.e., negative affect, detachment, and antagonism) and characteristics of IER (i.e., frequency, efficacy, and perceived willingness of partners to assist in IER) with social network partners. Overall, detachment was associated with a smaller network of IER partners, while negative affect was associated with greater frequency of IER. In multilevel models, participants reported higher IER frequency with partners with both greater relative positive relationship quality and greater relative negative relationship quality. However, partners with greater positive relationship quality and lower negative relationship quality were perceived as more efficacious and willing to help in the process of IER. We also examined the moderating role of personality pathology in the associations of partner quality and IER. All domains were associated with differences in the qualities of partners they perceive as most efficacious or willing. These results help broaden our understanding of IER across a range of personality pathology.

Don’t miss Dr. Cheavens’ appearance in this APA article:

Jennifer Cheavens wants to put hope to work for people who could use a lift

Check out Kassidie and Whitney’s recent press releases in the Ohio State news!

Higher Arrest Rates for Black Adults with Psychological Disorders

Social Media Affects Views on Mental Health

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.

We are so proud of Ally Heiland for receiving an Honorable Mention for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program! Way to go!

Ally’s research summary:

This research aims to explore the concept of interpersonal negativity bias, which suggests that individuals are more likely to respond to negative emotions and events shared by others than positive ones, potentially leading to long-term increases in psychological distress for both the sharer and the responder. Experiments will test if differential reinforcement of negative versus positive experiences influences future sharing behaviors, and if consistently attending to negative experiences leads to heightened distress and lower well-being compared to focusing on positive experiences or engaging in self-care. The research will also examine the role of social connection, self-esteem, and social network dynamics as potential mechanisms underlying these effects.

Let’s congratulate Cameryn Cooley on her hard work and earning the Decision Sciences Collaborative Small Pilot Grant to fund your master’s thesis! We look forward to learning what you find!

Check out our research assistants and graduate students who presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association this year!

Daniels, S. M., Heiland, A. M., & Cheavens, J. S. Perceptions of extrinsic IER consequences for positive and negative scenarios. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association; 2024, April 19, Chicago, IL.

Arntz, A., Whitted, W. M., Brunette, D. B., & Cheavens, J. S. When in Doubt, Choose Kindness: Investigating the Impact of Quality on Well-Being Interventions’ Functionality. Poster session presented at: Midwestern Psychological Association; 2024, April 19, Chicago, IL.