2020, Vol.6, No.1

Clinical Psychology in Korea: Research and Practice 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.83

pISSN : 2466-0787
https://journal.kci.go.kr/cpkjournal

While difficulty with emotional regulation is well-known to be one of the mechanisms contributing to onset and maintenance of various mental disorders, difficulties in controlling both positive and negative emotions are also gaining attention. One of the self-reporting measures of difficulty in controlling positive emotions is the Responses to Positive Affect questionnaire (RPA). This study aimed to develop an extended version of the RPA by adding five questions reflecting dampening of strong positive emotion and intended to confirm its construct and incremental validity. The application of the exploratory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation model (ESEM) to 298 cyber university students resulted in a three-factor structure for the extended RPA: positive rumination, dampening, and extinguishing strong positive emotion (the 5 additional questions comprised this factor). After performing confirmatory factor analysis in the separate sample of 227 cyber university students, the suitability of the three-factor model was deemed appropriate. We also performed a hierarchical regression analysis to see if the extended RPA contributed to the explanation of the mechanism of the pathology above the previous version. As a result, the 'extinguishing strong positive emotion’ subscale made a significant additional contribution to the explanation of bipolar disorder and difficulty in controlling positive emotions beyond the existing RPA, supporting an incremental validity. Finally, this study’s clinical implications and limitations were presented, as well as suggested directions for follow-up research.

This study investigated deficits in decision-making in binge drinking (BD) college students, using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Prospect Valence Learning (PVL) model. Based on the Korean version of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT-K) and Alcohol Use Questionnaire (AUQ) scores, BD (n = 40, 19 males and 21 females) and non-BD (n = 40, 6 males and 34 females) groups were determined. The IGT consisted of four cards, with two disadvantageous cards (A and B) resulting in a net loss, and two advantageous cards (C and D) resulting in a net gain. Decision-making ability was measured by the total net score and block net scores of the IGT. The PVL parameters, including feedback sensitivity, loss aversion, learning and response consistency, were estimated with the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling scheme using OpenBUGS software in the BRugs package, which works from within R. The Mann-Whitney U-test was then used to analyze PVL parameters. The BD group exhibited a significantly lower total net score and block net score in the third block of the IGT, and selected the B card more frequently than the non-BD group. Additionally, the BD group had significantly lower values for feedback sensitivity, loss aversion, and learning parameters of the PVL model. Significant positive correlations between the total net score of the IGT and the values of the four PVL parameters were observed in all participants. These results indicated that college students who engeged in BD experienced deficits in decision-making, possibly explained by their failure to learn the expected value of each card and apply the experiences of previous trials to the present trial.

This study investigated the mediating roles of self-blame and perfectionistic self-presentation on the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and social anxiety to form an integrated understanding of the related cognitive mechanisms. A total of 347 undergraduate students completed questionnaires assessing the tendencies of socially prescribed perfectionism, social anxiety, perfectionistic self-presentation, and self-blame. Using structural equation modeling, the results indicated that self-blame and perfectionistic self-presentation sequentially mediated the effect of socially prescribed perfectionism on social anxiety. Additionally, self-blame partially mediated the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and perfectionistic self-presentation, and perfectionistic self-presentation partially mediated the relationship between self-blame and social anxiety. Furthermore self-blame demonstrated larger mediating effects than other mediating paths. These findings suggested that interventions to prevent individuals with socially prescribed perfectionism from developing social anxiety symptoms (e,g., compassion-focused therapy) should focus on reducing self-blame and perfectionistic self-presentation. The study’s limitations and future directions for research were discussed.