Master's Thesis Defense in Psychology

Ásta Guðrún Birgisdóttir is defending her Master thesis about Seasonal Symptoms in Relation to Rumination, Negative Habitual Thinking, Seasonal Natural Disasters, Risk Perception, and Disaster Anxiety. She is the 5th student graduating from the Research Master in Psychology at the University of Akureyri.

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine seasonality as the underlying concept of Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) first, from a cognitive psychology perspective, focusing on rumination and negative habitual thinking, and secondly, to examine the relation between seasonal symptoms, rumination, risk perception, and disaster anxiety depending on the exposure to seasonal and non-seasonal natural disasters that might differentially trigger rumination and seasonal symptoms. To this end, two studies were conducted in the form of digital psychological questionnaires.

In the first study, a total of 151 participants with self-reported high rates of seasonal symptoms reported greater ruminative tendencies (p<.001) and increased habitual characteristics of negative thinking (p<.001) than participants with low rates of seasonal symptoms. Longitudinal analysis over summer and winter measurements revealed that these differences were stable over seasons. We found no increase in sad mood or state rumination among high seasonal group in the dark winter season as compared to controls.

In the second study, among a total of 335 participants there were 252 participants who had experienced natural disasters in the past or who lived under the threat of natural disasters. We found that all participants who were exposed to natural disasters or their threat to happen had a higher risk perception for natural disasters than the control group. Disaster anxiety was increased only among individuals who had their safety threatened because of a natural disaster (p<.001). Individuals who lived under the threat of seasonal disasters or who had their safety threatened by seasonal disasters had a lower risk perception for non-seasonal disasters as compared to controls (p<.001). There was also a significant association between the experience of seasonal symptoms and disaster anxiety (p<.001).

Our results are in line with the dual vulnerability hypothesis model of SAD and prior research suggesting that cognitive vulnerability factors are present all year round. The research also confirms the critical impacts of compromised safety due to natural disasters on mental health and that the type of disaster risk exposure affects the risk perception for different types of natural disasters.

Supervisors: Yvonne Höller (UNAK), Lada Zelinski (UNAK) og Ragnar P. Ólafsson (UÍ)

All welcome!