Research and Publications - Department of Psychology

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Browsing Research and Publications - Department of Psychology by Author "Abel, Madelaine R."

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    Co-Reminiscing With a Caregiver About a Devastating Tornado: Association With Adolescent Anxiety Symptoms
    (American Psychological Association, 2020) Abel, Madelaine R.; Vernberg, Eric M.; Lochman, John E.; McDonald, Kristina L.; Jarrett, Matthew A.; Hendrickson, Michelle L.; Powell, Nicole; University of Kansas; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    This study explores the association between caregivers' style of co-reminiscing with their adolescents about an EF4 tornado and youth anxiety symptoms several years following the disaster. Caregiver reward of their children's emotional expression, defined as attending to and validating emotionally salient content, is generally associated with adaptive youth psychosocial outcomes. However, caregiver reward of youth recollections that are centered around the youth's negative emotional expression could be an indicator that both caregivers and adolescents are engaged in co-rumination regarding negative emotional experiences. This process may contribute to relatively higher levels of anxiety over time. Adolescents (N = 169) drawn from an ongoing study for aggressive youth (ages 12 to 17; 82% African American) provided individual recollections about their experiences during a devastating tornado 4 to 5 years following the disaster. Caregivers and youth then co-reminisced about their tornado-related experiences. Individual youth recollections were coded for negative personal impact and use of negative emotion words; caregiver-adolescent conversations were coded for caregiver reward of negative emotional expression. Youth who noted more negative personal impacts and used more negative emotion words were higher in parent-rated youth anxiety, and these associations were moderated by caregiver reward of negative emotional expression. The associations between youth recollection qualities and anxiety emerged only when caregivers exhibited high levels of reward of negative emotional expression. These patterns were generally stronger for girls compared to boys. Findings suggest that excessively discussing and rehashing negative experiences, especially several years after the disaster, may be a risk factor for anxiety among disaster-exposed adolescents.
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    Trajectories of Tornado-Related Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms an Pre-Exposure Predictors in a Sample of At-Risk Youth
    (American Psychological Association, 2019) McDonald, Kristina L.; Vernberg, Eric M.; Lochman, John E.; Abel, Madelaine R.; Jarrett, Matthew A.; Kassing, Francesca; Powell, Nicole; Qu, Lixin; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; University of Kansas; Baylor College of Medicine; University of North Carolina School of Medicine; University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
    Objective: The current study examined how severity of disaster exposure and predisaster individual and family characteristics predicted trajectories of disaster-related posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in children over 4 years following a devastating EF-4 tornado. Method: Participants (n = 346; 65% male; 77.5% African American) were 4th-6th-graders and their caregivers. from predominantly low-income households, who were already participating in a longitudinal study of indicated prevention effects for externalizing outcomes when the tornado occurred in 2011. Latent class trajectory analyses were used to identify disaster-related PTSS trajectory groups across the 4-year postdisaster period. Results: Three groups were identified: (1) a group that declined (recovery) in PTSS over time (15.90%); (2) a group that was stable and low in PTSS over time (76.87%); and (3) a group that was stable and high (chronic) in PTSS over time (7.23%). Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that greater tornado exposure predicted membership in the declining trajectory group relative to the low-stable group. Positive parenting and pretornado caregiver trauma exposure also moderated how disaster exposure, particularly perceived life threat, predicted PTSS trajectories. Conclusions: Some youth reported elevated disaster-related PTSS repeatedly for 4 years following a devastating tornado. Consistent with the concept of equifinality, results suggest that there are several pre-exposure risk factors that may increase risk for a chronic PTSS trajectory following disaster exposure.