Date of Award

8-2019

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Meredith Elzy

Second Advisor

Ed Callen

Third Advisor

Maureen Carrigan

Abstract

Emotional invalidation (EI) occurs when an individual degrades or does not acknowledge another individual’s emotions (Linehan, 1993). While much of the literature emphasizes a relationship between childhood EI and BPD, the current study examined the relationship between childhood EI and behavioral inhibition (BI) as a symptom of anxiety. In a counterbalanced order, participants watched three videos in which an individual was invalidated, validated, or received a neutral emotional response. Following each video, participants completed the modified Perceived Emotional Invalidation Scale (PIES). Participants then completed the following measures: Invalidated Childhood Environments Scale (ICES), Adult Measure of Behavioural Inhibition (AMBI), and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI): Perspective Taking (PT). The main hypothesis stating that characteristics of trait behavioral inhibition and self-reported childhood emotional invalidation would predict current perceptions of emotional invalidation in each video condition was not supported. Results demonstrated that participants were able to identify the presence or absence of emotional invalidation in each condition, but their perceptions could not be predicted based on the other variables examined. Possible explanations for these unexpected findings are discussed.

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