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Mediators and Moderators of the Association between Stalking Victimization and Psychological Distress

Fais, Connor
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1418439579

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, Psychology, Clinical.
The current study aimed to understand moderators and mediators of the relationship between stalking victimization and mental health of the target. Learned Helplessness Theory (Seligman & Maier, 1967; Seligman, 1957) suggests that learned helplessness develops over time after chronic exposure to uncontrollable environmental stressors. Based on the Reformulated Learned Helplessness Theory (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978), which emphasizes the role of internal, global, and stable attributions for negative events in the development of depression, I predicted that the association between stalking victimization and depression would be mediated by attributional style and self-blame (Calicchia & Pardine, 1984; Janoff-Bulman, 1979). I also predicted that the association between stalking victimization and helplessness would be moderated by length of stalking episode such that longer stalking episodes would be associated with higher depression scores. The research on anxiety and stalking demonstrates conflicting results (e.g., Amar, 2006; Garnefski, & Kremers, 2007; Kraaij, Arensman, Garnefski, & Kremers, 2007). Therefore, I examined whether length serves as a moderator of the association between stalking victimization and anxiety, in an attempt to help resolve this controversy in the literature. The results indicated that global, but not stable or internal attributions for cause of the stalking significantly mediated the relationship between harassment and depression. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.
Catherine Zois, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Jackson Goodnight, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Erin O'Mara, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
67 p.
Clinical Psychology
Stalking; behavioral intrusion; victimization; harassment; helplessness; depression; anxiety; length of stalking; attributional style; global attributions; cognitive risk

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Fais, C. (2014). Mediators and Moderators of the Association between Stalking Victimization and Psychological Distress [Master's thesis, University of Dayton]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1418439579

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Fais, Connor. Mediators and Moderators of the Association between Stalking Victimization and Psychological Distress. 2014. University of Dayton, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1418439579.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Fais, Connor. "Mediators and Moderators of the Association between Stalking Victimization and Psychological Distress." Master's thesis, University of Dayton, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1418439579

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

dayton1418439579
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This open access ETD is published by University of Dayton and OhioLINK.