Understanding the role of interpersonal processes in mood disorders

描述(申请人提供)：虽然精神疾病在大学生中很常见，而且学生可以获得心理健康护理，但大多数学生没有寻求治疗(Blanco等人，2008；Rosenthal&Wilson，2008)。与精神疾病相关的污名是寻求帮助的主要障碍(SAMHSA，2006)。许多患有精神疾病的学生可能会因为他们的精神疾病而与他人产生耻辱(社会贬低和疏远)。本研究的目的是将污名研究与人际关系目标和过程研究相结合，以考察污名对心理疾病学生，特别是诊断为心境障碍和焦虑症的学生的心理困扰和求助的影响。先前的研究发现，大学生的人际目标可以影响支持性关系，并预测大学第一学期抑郁和焦虑症状的变化(克罗克等人，2010年)。具有同情心目标的学生通过更多地支持和回应他人，并获得更多支持来创造积极的关系螺旋；而具有自我形象目标的学生，专注于控制他人如何看待自己，破坏了这些积极的关系螺旋。我们假设，精神疾病水平和预期污名的组合预测了同情目标的减少和自我形象目标的增加，这产生了一种负面的支持动态，导致精神疾病学生寻求帮助的减少、痛苦的增加和学习成绩的下降。然而，我们预测，患有精神疾病的学生的室友如果有很高的同情心目标，就会中断这些消极的过程。我们在一项纵向研究中检验了这些预测。有精神病史(在进入大学前被诊断为情绪或焦虑症)的学生和他们的室友将在 他们上大学的第一学期。学生和他们的室友将完成污名的特质测量(预期的、内化的、个人的和感知的)、关系目标、心理健康病史、症状学、心理健康治疗、心理健康知识和人格变量的预测。然后，两位室友将在21天内完成关系发展的每日报告，随后立即进行后测试，在第一学期和第二学期结束时再次测量结果，包括症状学、求助和学业结果的测量。招聘伙伴使我们能够绘制关系动态图，包括增加信任、响应和披露的感觉。这种预测性的、二元性的、纵向的工作对于进行临床应用的污名研究是至关重要的。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although mental illness is common among college students and students have access to mental health care, most students do not seek treatment (Blanco et al., 2008; Rosenthal & Wilson, 2008). The stigma associated with mental illness poses a major barrier to seeking help (SAMHSA, 2006). Many students with mental illness may anticipate stigma (social devaluing and distancing) from others due to their mental illness. The objective of the current work is to integrate research on stigma with research on interpersonal relationship goals and processes to examine the effects of stigma on psychological distress and help seeking among students with mental illness, specifically students with diagnosed mood and anxiety disorders. Previous research finds that the interpersonal goals of college students can influence supportive relationships and predict change in symptoms of depression and anxiety over the first semester of college (Crocker et al., 2010). Students with compassionate goals create positive relationship spirals by being more supportive and responsive to others and receiving more support in return; whereas students with self-image goals, focused on controlling how others view the self, undermine these positive relationship spirals. We hypothesize that the combination of level of mental illness and anticipated stigma predict decreased compassionate goals and increased self-image goals, which creates a negative support dynamic leading to decreased help seeking, increased distress, and poor academic outcomes for students with mental illness. However, we predict that roommates of students with mental illness can interrupt these negative processes if they have high compassionate goals. We examine these predictions in a longitudinal study. Students with a mental illness history (diagnosed mood or anxiety disorder prior to entering college) and their roommates will be recruited during the first weeks of their first semester in college. Students and their roommates will complete a pre-test session of trait measures of stigma (anticipated, internalized, personal, and perceived), relationship goals, mental health history, symptomatology, mental health treatment, mental health knowledge, and personality variables. Both roommates will then complete daily reports of relationship processes over 21 days, followed by an immediate post-test session, measurement of outcomes again at the end of the first and second semesters, including measures of symptomatology, help-seeking, and academic outcomes. Recruiting pairs allows us to chart relationship dynamics, including feelings of increased trust, responsiveness, and disclosure. This type of predictive, dyadic, longitudinal work is critically needed to make stigma research of clinical use.