Browsing by Author "Adams, Melanie S., author"

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Examining shame: mindfulness-program effects and multilevel longitudinal mediation
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Adams, Melanie S., author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; MacPhee, David, committee member; Aichele, Stephen, committee member; Faw, Meara, committee member
Shame, negative self-evaluation in response to a social evaluative threat, is associated with many unwanted outcomes if it remains unresolved through coping skills. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) aim to increase mindful attention and/or self-compassion as well as emotion regulation, which are coping characteristics that may aid in approaching and resolving shame. These theoretical paths of influence require further testing as does the ability of specific interventions to mitigate shame. Additionally, to facilitate future tailoring of interventions to support those who are currently underserved, more research is needed to assess variability in individual participant response to interventions and potential causes of this variability. Two studies were conducted to address these issues in the context of shame management via mindfulness processes. Study 1 assessed whether college-student participants in the six-session MBI Learning to BREATHE demonstrated significant average reduction in internalized shame and then employed reliable change analysis to identify response and nonresponse in individual participants. Participants (N = 48) on average experienced moderate reduction in shame and could be categorized into three distinct participant subgroups based on pretest shame level and trajectory of change in shame. Responding participants experienced pronounced decrease in shame; nonresponding participants with low pretest shame did not decrease further in shame due to limited room for improvement; nonresponding participants with high pretest shame did not decrease in shame despite ample room for improvement. Testing of candidate factors as predictors of change in shame revealed that low pretest mindful attention and pre- to posttest decrease in anxiety were significantly associated with decrease in shame. Notably, shame nonresponders with both high pre- and post-intervention shame did experience significant improvements in coping characteristics (mindful attention, self-compassion, and emotion regulation). Demographic predictors of change in shame were recommended for testing in future studies with larger sample sizes. Study 2 tested theoretical paths of influence from mindful attention to shame, among others. Multiple models were tested via multilevel mediation using intensive repeated measures (1,183 observations) from daily participant surveys across six weeks. Not only were self-compassion and emotion regulation mediators of the effect of mindful attention on shame, shame itself was conversely also a mediator between mindful attention and the latter coping characteristics. These findings suggest the possibility of bidirectional processes, and that directly and explicitly addressing shame in MBI may further improve participant coping characteristics and overall benefits of MBIs.
Open Access
Positive parenting as a mediator of the association between mindful parenting and adolescent adjustment
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Adams, Melanie S., author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; MacPhee, David, committee member; Brown, Samantha, committee member
Mindful parenting is characterized by parents paying intentional, present-centered, and nonjudgmental attention to their children and their own parenting. Empirical and theoretical support points to mindful parenting as a protective factor associated with lower incidence of adolescent behavioral problems and mental health issues such as externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Likewise, positive parenting behaviors that engender close and secure parent-child relationships have been shown to be a protective factor in reducing adolescent maladjustment. The current study was guided by three aims. The first aim was to examine whether adolescent reports of mindful parenting are negatively associated with adolescent reports of internalizing and externalizing behaviors, as has been found to be the case with parent reports. The associations between mindful parenting and adolescent adjustment were found to be negative and statistically significant across parent gender and adjustment outcome. The second aim was to examine whether adolescent reports of positive parenting practices mediate the association between mindful parenting and adolescent adjustment. The third aim was to examine whether mediation differs for reports of mothers' and fathers' mindful parenting. The interrelated positive parenting behaviors of parental autonomy granting, overcontrol, trust, and reaction to adolescent disclosure were analyzed as a factor variable and entered in the model as the mediator. Associations were examined at baseline without intervention and from an adolescent perspective rather than the more common parent perspective. Structural equation modeling was conducted using Mplus to test whether positive parenting practices mediate the association between parental mindfulness and adolescent adjustment. Adolescents' perception of mindful parenting on part of their mothers versus their fathers was found to make a larger perceived contribution to overall positive parenting in the household. Results of analyzing four separate models indicated that associations differed by parent gender and adolescent adjustment outcome, with significant mediation for all models with the exception of fathers' mindful parenting paired with the outcome of adolescent internalizing behavior. The finding of no significant direct pathways in the presence of significant indirect pathways of mediation models across outcomes and for either mothers or fathers is a consistent finding bolstering preliminary indications that the contribution of mindful parenting on adolescent adjustment may indeed be mediated. Overall, results provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that positive parenting mediates the association between mindful parenting and adolescent adjustment, while providing support for the notion that patterns may differ by parent gender. A better understanding of whether positive parenting practices might act as mediators of the benefits of mindful parenting has implications for parenting intervention work that could consider pairing mindfulness instruction with lessons on these specific positive parenting behaviors to optimize the buffer to adolescent maladjustment.