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Neil Martin, Georgia Southern University, Forest Dr, PO Box 8011, Stateboro, GA 30460 (as of 4/30/15)
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Abstract
Depression ranks among the top health concerns on college campuses and impairs students' functioning across numerous domains including academic, social, and personal areas, and there is still an urgent need for a model that can provide comprehensive understanding of the development and treatment of depression.. The Internal Family Systems (IFS) model is introduced to bridge this gap. The current study aimed to make contributions to mental health literature by advancing our understanding of IFS theory (specifically, the concept of Self) in predicting depression, providing a framework for promoting a non-pathological model of depression, and adding to the body of empirical IFS research. Data were collected from a sample of college students at Georgia Southern University and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) via an online survey. Students completed the IFS Scale and the 10-item Center for Epidemiology Depression Scale (CES-D 10). A significant, inverse correlation was found between the Self variable and depression outcomes. In addition, a stepwise regression was performed in which Dissociating, Self-Critical, Anxious/Pessimistic, Addictive/Impulsive, and Raging Protectors were found to contribute the most unique variance to depressive symptoms. Mediation analysis was then conducted and identified three types of the previously mentioned Protectors as significantly mediating the relationship between Self and depression. Implications for IFS theory as well as direct clinical applications are discussed.
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This dissertation examines the use of IFS in 203 diverse college students with depression. The IFS Scale and Center for Epidemiology Depression Scale (CES-D 10) were used to analyze the correlation between Self and depressive symptoms across college students from two different universities. Mediation analysis identified the three major Protector types, which significantly impacted depression. A thorough introduction is provided discussing the prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder, symptomology, and the high correlation between college students and depressive symptoms. The effect of depression on college students is described, including the academic, social, and behavioral consequences. A brief background of IFS is presented, including a discussion of Parts, Self, and goals of therapy. Martin describes the goals of this research as expanding the understanding of IFS, bridging the gap between the non-pathologizing IFS and the pathologizing DSM approaches, and providing a way to begin to empirically test the validity of IFS. The second chapter provides an extensive literature review of IFS, the Pyschoanalytic model, Person-centered model, Jungian model, and how the Self qualities of compassion, connectedness, and confidence relate to depression. A comprehensive discussion of varying dimensions of the Self and how it relates to other psychological constructs is provided in order to examine how these concepts can be integrated to promote better outcomes when treating depression. A description of the methodology is provided, including discussing the creation of electronic surveys, analysis methods in SPSS, the breakdown of the IFS Scale subscales and the use of bivariate correlations to examine relationships between those subscales and depressive symptoms, and statistical tests run. The results of the study, including all raw data, are provided and discussed in detail. Important findings include gender and rural vs. urban differences with regards to specific Protectors as well as a strong, inverse correlation between Self and measure of depression. A thorough discussion of these findings, including information from the literature, is provided. The IFS Scale subscale findings are analyzed and discussed in depth, specifically involving the relationship between different Protectors and the role they play in mediating the relationship between the Self and depression. This empirical study is an important examination of the components of IFS with regards to depression. It serves to provide empirical evidence that there is a strong correlation between high levels of Self and lower symptomology. Additionally, it provides evidence of the interaction of certain Protector types and the impact they can have in increasing symptoms of depression. Clinicians may find this research helpful in identifying patterns in symptomology. While the data was self-reported, which increases the potential for bias due to social constraints, this study may serve as an initial step for future researchers who plan to develop more rigorous evaluation methods. Additionally, researchers will find a large and thorough literature review.