Browsing by discipline "Psychology"

My thesis is a scientific review written for psychology students and researchers, wherein I assess factors affecting attitude certainty. Research on persuasion and attitude change has political, commercial, educational, therapeutic and everyday value. The most popular model describing attitude change is the elaboration likelihood model, according to which attitudes shift either through the central route, where people think though the pertinent issue carefully, or through the peripheral route, where environmental cues lead to a shift in the attitude. A large proportion of the research on persuasion and attitude change has been conducted with an emphasis on marketing with relatively homogeneous populations and low-stakes research frames. Therefore, the generalizability of these results warrants skepticism. People have differing cognitive styles and ways of processing information, one of which is the need for cognition. It reflects individual differences in the extent to which people enjoy cognitive tasks. The elaboration likelihood model has been studied through this construct, which has been linked to attitude permanence. However, the need for cognitive closure, which reflects the tendency to form opinions quickly and to hold on to them steadfastly, has been found to have a similar effect. Also, intellectual humility might moderate the connection between elaboration and attitude certainty. In this review I critique the elaboration likelihood model through these contradicting research results. I also reflect on the effects of the thoughtfulness heuristic (which refers to the tendency to feel as if one has thought about a certain issue more than one has) and the type of information assessed (e.g. is the issue familiar or new) on attitude certainty. The material referred to in this review was searched using Scopus and Google Scholar. Keywords used were, among others, ”elaboration likelihood model”, ”attitude change”, ”attitude certainty” and “persuasion”. The material spanned the years 1980–2017. The focus was on articles concerning the elaboration likelihood model, attitude change and differing cognitive styles, many of which were published in the journals ”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” and ”Personality and Social Psychology”. The elaboration likelihood model’s 7th postulate, according to which attitudes formed through the central route are stronger than the ones formed through the peripheral route, ought to be questioned. Also, the research results on the thoughtfulness heuristic blur the distinction between the model’s central and the peripheral routes. The generalizability of the model is limited, because the variance in cognitive styles is greater than the one in the population used in the creation of the model. Different cognitive styles ought to be compared using longitudinal settings in order to gather more information about the true permanence of attitudes.

Physical activity is beneficial for health and it has an important role in preventing several diseases. However, physical activity may in some cases become an addiction and cause physical, psychological and social harm to an individual. The purpose of this literature review was to consider individual and psychosocial factors that associate with exercise dependence, and possible causes and mechanisms of exercise dependence. Regarding temperament and personality traits, high extraversion, neuroticism, harm avoidance and persistence, and low self-directedness and cooperativeness are positively associated with exercise dependence. The results concerning neuroticism are not, however, perfectly consistent. Also different combinations of traits and behavioral dispositions such as perfectionism and narcissism are related to exercise dependence. Strong exercise identity and beliefs of physical inactivity’s harmfulness are also associated with exercise dependence. Regarding psychosocial factors, specific anxiety factors such as health anxiety and anxiety over one’s physical appearance, as well as eating disorder are associated with exercise dependence. Individual and psychosocial factors may be associated with exercise dependence through a variety of mechanisms. Exercise can help in managing stress, or it may fulfill a person’s needs for excitement, activity and competition. Perfectionistic traits may be associated with exercise dependence through accomplishments gained through exercise. In future research, it would be useful to focus on developing congruent definition for exercise dependence in order to improve the measurability of the phenomenon. It would be important to perform the studies within different populations, such as among people who practice different sports. Also experimental and longitudinal studies are needed. Identifying individual and psychosocial factors that contribute to the development of exercise dependence may help in recognizing and intervening in the problem. For instance, recognition of factors that affect exercise dependence may help in preventing overstraining conditions and injury progression to chronicity. Identifying factors that contribute to exercise dependence may also assist in preventing psychological and social problems, such as family- and work-related ones.

Objectives. Parenting is known to be associated with children’s conduct problems. Parenting can be divided into negative and positive parenting dimensions, both of which have independent effects on conduct problems. The strength of the association between parenting and a child’s conduct problems is also influenced by the child’s individual traits. One approach focuses on callous unemotional traits that can be defined as lack of guilt and empathy as well as callous use of others. The quality of parenting may affect children differently depending on the level of their callous unemotional traits. In this review it will be examined whether callous unemotional traits work as a moderating factor on the association between conduct problems and parenting. Methods. The literature search was conducted with PubMed -database using search terms parent* and callous unemotional. In addition, the reference lists from articles already found were manually searched. The articles that examined the moderating effect of callous unemotional traits of 4 to 13-year-old children on the association between conduct problems and parenting were selected in the review. Seven articles were picked to the final review. Results and conclusions. The quality of parenting and conduct problems are associated with each other, but the strength of the association is influenced by the child’s callous unemotional traits. Parenting affects children differently based on the level of callous unemotional traits. Parenting had little effect on children high on callous unemotional traits, which is attributed to them being less responsive to punishment and other people’s distress. However, parental warmth affected these children and it is seen as an important protective factor from conduct problems. The negative dimension of parenting was consistently associated with more conduct problem symptoms and positive dimension of parenting with less symptoms on children low on callous unemotional traits. Considering callous unemotional traits in the treatment of conduct problems would be important to better suit interventions for children based on their individual traits.

Purpose of the Review: Climate change is not a new thing. Global warming and climate change pose environmental problems and increasing risks for mental health of individuals as well as generally among people. Children and adolescents are at risk of a range of climate-related mental health stressors due to their limited adaptive capacity and still developing understanding of the climate change. They are exposed to the negative effects of climate change for their whole lifetime. In this study, I reviewed the latest research on the psychological effects of climate change on children and adolescents. This study included research that addressed children and adolescents' awareness of climate change, their emotions and anxiety towards climate change and future. Methods: Literature searches were made in PubMed with mixed words 1) climate change or global warming, 2) mental health, anxiety, eco-anxiety, distress or fear and 3) children, child or adolescent. Language was English. In addition, the bibliographies of the selected articles were manually browsed and some of the literature was selected from there. 19 articles covering the effects of climate change for children and adolescents were selected for this study. Findings and summary: Children and adolescent of all ages are aware of climate change. They are worried and afraid of climate change and the future all around the world. Awareness of climate change arose emotions and eco-anxiety. Children and adolescents will be the future decision-makers, so they need skills and the capacity to adapt to the climate change. More research is needed on mental health and adaptation effects of climate change for children, adolescents and adults.

Background and aim of the study. Antisocial behavior is a complex phenotype describing combinations of criminal or aggressive behavior opposing the social rules and symptoms of antisocial personality disorder. Antisocial behavior seems to be highly heritable, but the mechanisms of heritability remain poorly understood. One of the best studied risk factors is maltreatment in childhood, but it seems that biological factors can create higher vulnerability to harmful experiences and so heighten the risk for antisocial behavior. Differences in levels of MAOA enzyme, caused by MAOA gene variants, has been proposed to be one possible biological factor moderating the interaction between childhood maltreatment and antisocial behavior. Especially the low activity variant, MAOA-L-genotype, has been proposed to increase the risk as the complete ineffectiveness of MAOA enzyme has been shown to led to impulsive aggression. The aim of this review is to examine how childhood maltreatment and MAOA genotype can heighten risk for antisocial behavior across the lifespan. Research methods. A search for relevant studies was made using terms ”MAOA” or ”Monoamine oxidase A” in connection with ”antisociality”, ”antisocial behavior”, ”antisocial lifespan”, ”violence” and ”childhood maltreatment” or ”childhood adversities”. The databases used were Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus and Helka. Results and conclusions. The MAOA gene variants did not create a risk for antisocial behavior, but when a MAOA-L-carrier is exposed to childhood maltreatment, the risk became remarkably higher. MAOA-H genotype seems to improve resilience against harms of maltreatment. Research on topic has resulted in quite mixed results, especially in populations other than white males. The reasons behind the high heredity of antisocial behavior remain unknown, but it seems that biological factors and childhood experiences are equally crucial in development of antisocial behavior.

Traumatic childhood experiences predispose psychiatric symptoms in adulthood. Sexually abused children have more behavioral problems, depressive symptoms, feel more shame and have lower self-esteems compared to other children. Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by fear of abandonment, aggression towards self and others, difficulty of controlling feelings and behavior, instability of identity and self-destructive behavior, and these traits could hypothetically stem from shameful and traumatic childhood experiences. BPD has a relatively strong genetic component, but the specific etiological factors are still unclear. In this review, the aim is to see whether there is a connection between child sexual abuse and BPD, how specific forms of abuse correlate with BPD and ultimately, to show whether child sexual abuse is a relevant factor in the etiology of BPD. Studies show that childhood sexual abuse was significantly common in the histories of people with BPD. People suffering from BPD had experienced childhood sexual abuse more often than people with depression, schizophrenia or healthy controls had. However, there was no difference in the prevalence of sexual abuse between BPD and other personality disorders. In these studies, there was no difference in the familiarity of the perpetrator, but on average people with BPD had experienced sexual abuse slightly earlier in childhood. Reliable conclusions could not be made about duration, frequency, seeking help, nature of abuse or use of force due to scarcity and narrow focus of previous research on the subject. The results presented in this review suggest that childhood sexual abuse does not play a part in the development of BPD as an independent causative factor. However, the lack of uniform usage of the term ”sexual abuse” and the interrelatedness of sexual abuse, other forms of abuse and family environmental factors all pose challenges for interpreting the results. The observed connection between BPD and childhood sexual abuse could be explained by the cumulative problems associated with underprivileged families, which can result in neglect and thus being more vulnerable to abuse. Additional longitudinal and meta-analytical research is needed to clarify the connections.

Studies have shown that significant proportion of people with eating disorders have reported childhood sexual abuse. However, the link between childhood sexual abuse and eating disorders is still unclear. Eating disorder is a severe condition, and therefore it is important to find out the mechanisms underlying it. The purpose of current thesis is to examine whether there is an association between childhood sexual abuse and eating disorders later in life. Studies on this subject are mostly cross-sectional – therefore, the existence of causal links remains unclear. The few longitudinal studies evaluating the link between childhood sexual abuse and eating disorders have produced mixed results. From a biological point of view, the link between childhood sexual abuse and eating disorders could stem from the dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Alternatively, the link could result from traumatization, as the trauma model posits. It is probable that the link is a complicated one, with many mediators and moderators influencing it. According to the existing literature, it seems that sexual abuse is a risk factor for developing an eating disorder, especially bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder. According to studies, treatment outcomes for eating disorder patients with a history of childhood sexual abuse have been poor. Thus, early intervention of child sexual abuse is important to prevent the development of eating disorders. In future, there is a need for more, prospective longitudinal studies on this subject that help to understand the link between child sexual abuse and eating disorder.

Objectives: Psychotic symptoms are often seen as a sign of severe psychopathology. However, the high prevalence of symptoms in relation to the low prevalence of psychosis raises the question of the clinical significance of childhood psychotic symptoms. In this thesis, I examine the clinical significance of psychotic symptoms in childhood. I review results on the prevalence and persistence of psychotic symptoms in childhood and associations between childhood psychotic symptoms and later psychotic and non-psychotic psychopathology. Methods: The thesis was made as a literature review. Literature was collected from the PubMed and Google Scholar databases using the following keywords and their various combinations: psychotic, psychosis, psychotic symptom, psychotic-like, schizophrenia, hallucination, delusion, and childhood, children, child, pediatric or young. In addition, some of the literature was found in the reference lists of other research reports. The choice of literature was made according to the relevance of the topic. Results and conclusions: Childhood psychotic symptoms are associated with later psychotic disorders, but the majority of children having psychotic symptoms do not suffer from later psychotic disorder. Symptoms have also been shown to be associated with non-psychotic disorders, poorer global functioning and suicidal behavior. Studies show that the prevalence of psychotic symptoms is quite high in childhood, but the majority of symptoms disappear over time. The high prevalence and transience rates of psychotic symptoms in childhood suggest that symptoms also occur in non-clinical populations. It’s possible that the psychotic symptoms reported by a child reflects immature thinking patterns or imagination instead of being psychotic. The methods used in the studies and thus the results are variable, which makes it difficult to draw clear conclusions.

Sedentary behaviour has been found to increase the risk of cancer, coronary heart disease, and mental disorders. It is important to know which factors affect sedentary behaviour in order to motivate people to take care of their psychological as well as physical health by being physically more active. This literature review considers the relationships between physical activity, temperament and personality. The correlative relationships between physical activity and individual differences have been studied quite thoroughly. Out of the five personality traits in the Big Five personality theory extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional stability have been found to correlate with physical activity. In addition to the correlations conscientiousness, extraversion, emotional stability, and openness to experience have also been found to increase physical activity. Furthermore, the conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, as well as agreeableness of physically more active adults have been found to reduce less over time than on physically less active adults. Additionally, physical activity has been found to increase the persistence and maintain the emotional stability among children. Summarizing, certain personality traits may affect the development of a physically active lifestyle, and physical activity may respectively contribute to the development and stability of personality traits. There is a need to study the relationships between physical activity, temperament and personality since the associations and the causal connections between the phenomena are not yet precisely known. The definitions used in the studies should be unified and the measurement methods and the statistical analyses should be further developed. More longitudinal research should be conducted. Furthermore, studies focusing on the mechanisms between physical activity, temperament and personality are needed. Additionally, it is important to study the differences between different modes of physical activity in terms of how they relate to temperament and personality. These future examinations might be useful for people who design and implement physical activity interventions.

Objective. The topic of this study is classification in psychology and the aim is to introduce, why classification is important in psychology, what classification is used for in psychology and how classification is done in psychology. In addition the study introduces attributes and assumptions of the most common statistical methods used in psychology. The aim was to create a coherent totality, which can be used when either choosing a method for study or evaluating methods of previous studies. The study also describes common challenges regarding classification and ways to evaluate classification solutions. The statistical methods focus on unsupervised learning methods, which are used when the structure and number of classes are unknown. Hierarchical, centroid-based and distribution based clustering are introduced alongside with latent class analysis. For supervised learning methods, neural networks, Bayesian methods and decision trees are considered. Methods. Since this study is based on statistics, most of the literature used is considering statistical methods. In addition, studies of psychology which use methods relevant for this study are used as reference. Results. Classification in psychology is important in measuring, communicating about and understanding phenomena. It has made diagnostics, recognizing risk groups and specifying attributes and features possible. Classification has also challenges. Psychological phenomena can be heterogenetic, unstable and used parameters do not necessarily measure intended phenomenon. Classification methods are numerous and every method has its own attributes, weaknesses and strengths. And every solution is only a data dependent model. Statistical methods are in totality useful tools in psychological studies and literature. Understanding of these statistical methods enables producing accurate models and also evaluating them.