Browsing by Author "Woodin, Erica M."

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Natural course of behavioral addictions: a 5-year longitudinal study
    (BMC Psychiatry, 2015-01-22) Thege, Barna Konkolÿ; Woodin, Erica M.; Hodgins, David C; Williams, Robert J
    Background: Resolving the theoretical controversy on the labeling of an increasing number of excessive behaviors as behavioral addictions may also be facilitated by more empirical data on these behavioral problems. For instance, an essential issue to the classification of psychiatric disorders is information on their natural course. However, longitudinal research on the chronic vs. episodic nature of behavioral addictions is scarce. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to provide data on prevalence, substance use comorbidity, and five-year trajectories of six excessive behaviors—namely exercising, sexual behavior, shopping, online chatting, video gaming, and eating. Methods: Analyses were based on the data of the Quinte Longitudinal Study, where a cohort of 4,121 adults from Ontario, Canada was followed for 5 years (2006 to 2011). The response rate was 21.3%, while retention rate was 93.9%. To assess the occurrence of each problem behavior, a single self-diagnostic question asked people whether their over-involvement in the behavior had caused significant problems for them in the past 12 months. To assess the severity of each problem behavior reported, the Behavioral Addiction Measure was administered. A mixed design ANOVA was used to investigate symptom trajectories over time for each problem behavior and whether these symptom trajectories varied as a function of sex. Results: The large majority of people reported having problematic over-involvement for just one of these behaviors and just in a single time period. A main effect of time was found for each problem behavior, indicating a moderately strong decrease in symptom severity across time. The time x sex interaction was insignificant in each model indicating that the decreasing trend is similar for males and females. The data also showed that help seeking was very low in the case of excessive sexual behavior, shopping, online chatting, and video gaming but substantially more prevalent in the case of excessive eating and exercising. Conclusions: The present results indicate that self-identified excessive exercising, sexual behavior, shopping, online chatting, video gaming, and/or eating tend to be fairly transient for most people. This aspect of the results is inconsistent with conceptualizations of addictions as progressive in nature, unless treated.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Perceptions of conflict at the transition to parenthood: Exploring adult attachment pairings as predictors of emotional flooding
    (Family Process) Morgan, Sean D.; Woodin, Erica M.
    Understanding how attachment styles between partners relate to the dysregulation of emotions during couple conflict has received little attention, especially over the transition to parenthood. This research investigated how combinations of expectant couples' attachment styles jointly predict emotional flooding, which is a form of interpersonal emotion dysregulation. Using a sample of 98 mixed-gender couples residing in Canada, we used multilevel modeling to examine actor effects (e.g., one's attachment insecurity predicting their own flooding), partner effects (one's attachment insecurity predicting flooding in their partner), and interactions between partners to examine its association with emotional flooding at the third trimester of pregnancy and across early parenthood. Longitudinally, couples were followed from the third trimester to 4?years postpartum to explore how attachment pairings predicted changes in flooding across parenthood. Attachment anxiety in men predicted their own propensity to become flooded during conflict, as well as their partner's flooding. An interaction was seen at the third trimester, such that men who were avoidantly attached reported greater flooding when their partner was high in anxiety compared to low in anxiety. Finally, men's flooding was associated with greater increases over time when high avoidance in men was paired with low avoidance in women, whereas flooding showed the smallest increase when both partners reported low avoidance. Findings suggest that the fit between each partner's attachment styles can improve understanding of the emotional mechanisms experienced during conflict, especially during the often-stressful period of early parenthood.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Ten priorities for research addressing the intersections of brain injury, mental health and addictions: A stakeholderdriven priority‐setting study
    (Health Expectations, 2024) Kennedy, Cole J.; Woodin, Erica M.; Schmidt, Julia; Breese Biagioni, Janelle; Garcia-Barrera, Mauricio A.
    Objectives: The purpose of this study was to engage key stakeholders in a health research priority-setting process to identify, prioritize and produce a community-driven list of research questions addressing intersectional issues on mental health and addictions (MHA) in acquired brain injury (ABI). Methods: A multiphasic health research priority-setting process was co-designed and executed with community-based stakeholders, including researchers, health professionals, clinicians, service providers, representatives from brain injury associations, policy makers and people with lived experience of ABI and MHA, including patients and their family members. Stakeholders' ideas led to the generation of research questions, which were prioritized at a 1-day workshop. Results: Fifty-nine stakeholders participated in the priority-setting activity during the workshop, which resulted in a rank-ordered list of the top 10 questions for research addressing the intersections of ABI and MHA. Questions identified touched on several pressing issues (e.g., opioid crisis, homelessness), encompassed multiple subtypes of ABI (e.g., hypoxic-ischaemic, mild traumatic), and involved different domains (e.g., identification, intervention) of health research. Conclusions: This community-driven health research priority-setting study identified and prioritized research questions addressing the intersections of ABI and MHA. Researchers and funding agencies should use this list to inform their agendas and address stakeholders' most urgent needs, fostering meaningful improvements to clinical services. Patient or Public Contribution: An 11-person working group comprised of people with lived experience, service providers, researchers, healthcare professionals and other key stakeholders collaboratively developed and informed the scope, design, methodology and interpretation of this study. Over 50 community-based stakeholders contributed to the research priority-setting activity. One co-author is a person with lived experience.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    "We" versus "you and me": Couples who view themselves as a team have a smoother transition to parenthood
    (University of Victoria, 2026) English, Gracie; Woodin, Erica M.
    Background: The transition to parenthood is a period of vulnerability in which many couples experience decreases in relationship functioning. We-ness, or the degree to which couples view themselves as part of a team, may play an important role in couples' ability to adapt to the demands of parenthood. The objective of this study was to investigate if we-ness predicts couple and individual outcomes over the transition to parenthood. Method: 97 mixed gender couples completed an oral history interview and questionnaires during the third trimester of pregnancy, and questionnaires were repeated at 1, 2, and 4 years postpartum. Results: Multilevel modeling analyses demonstrated that couples' we-ness during pregnancy was associated with higher prenatal relationship satisfaction, better expectations about co-parenting cohesion, lower depression levels, and lower levels of intimate partner violence. In addition, lower levels of prenatal we-ness longitudinally predicted increases in intimate partner violence during the first four years of parenthood. Hostile attributions were not a significant mediator of wellbeing and we-ness links, however it was independently predictive of depression, satisfaction, and co-parenting over time. Stress was not a significant moderator of the we-ness and hostile attribution link but it was independently predictive of hostile attributions at pregnancy and over time. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that couples who view themselves as a team have higher levels of prenatal wellbeing and a lower risk of intimate partner violence during early parenthood, suggesting that we-ness could be a beneficial factor to target among couples experiencing the transition to parenthood.
 
University of Victoria Libraries

We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.