@article{lipsey_burnette_becker_baker_mccrimmon_billingsley_2023, title={A growth mindset intervention to improve mental health in adolescents during COVID-19}, volume={10}, ISSN={["1751-9004"]}, DOI={10.1111/spc3.12894}, abstractNote={AbstractCOVID‐19 poses a considerable threat to adolescent mental health. We investigated depression rates in teens from pre to post‐COVID. We also explored if leveraging a growth mindset intervention (“Healthy Minds”) could improve adolescent mental health outcomes during the pandemic, especially for adolescents experiencing the most distress. In Study 1, we recruited youth from schools in a rural southern community (N = 239) and used a pre‐post design. In Study 2, we recruited an online sample (N = 833) and used a longitudinal randomized control trial design to test the effectiveness of Healthy Minds. Across both studies, there is evidence of higher rates of depression in youth during COVID‐19, relative to pre‐pandemic numbers. In Study 1, the intervention effectively changed psychological and behavioral processes related to mental health, especially for adolescents experiencing greater COVID‐19 stress. However, in Study 2, the intervention failed to impact depression rates or symptoms at follow‐up.}, journal={SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS}, author={Lipsey, Nikolette P. and Burnette, Jeni L. and Becker, Whitney and Baker, Levi R. and Mccrimmon, Jordyn and Billingsley, Joseph}, year={2023}, month={Oct} }
 @article{babij_earl_becker_hoyt_burnette_marston_crispin_2023, title={Mindsets of Mental Illness: What Are the Implications for Stigma?}, volume={10}, ISSN={["2376-6964"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000482}, DOI={10.1037/sah0000482}, journal={STIGMA AND HEALTH}, author={Babij, Alexandra D. and Earl, Sydney and Becker, Whitney and Hoyt, Crystal L. and Burnette, Jeni L. and Marston, Anna and Crispin, Kendall}, year={2023}, month={Oct} }
 @article{hoyt_burnette_billingsley_becker_babij_2023, title={Mindsets of poverty: Implications for redistributive policy support}, volume={9}, ISSN={["1530-2415"]}, DOI={10.1111/asap.12367}, abstractNote={AbstractBelief systems impact poverty reduction efforts, as they can enhance, or diminish, support for redistributive economic policies. We examined the predictive utility of mindsets about the changeability (growth mindsets) or the stability (fixed mindsets) of the nature of poverty in society. We conducted six studies, two pre‐registered, using both cross‐sectional (N = 763) and experimental methods (N = 1361). Growth mindsets of poverty in society predicted greater support for redistributive policies, in part through decreased blame, although there was also a small but unreliable negative indirect effect through social class essentialism. The three experimental studies, each using a different approach, were successful in manipulating mindsets of poverty. However, only the approach leveraging system justifying beliefs had implications for blame, essentialist beliefs, and indirect consequences for policy support. We discuss potential implications of this work for leveraging multiple belief systems to optimally promote support for policies designed to abolish poverty.}, journal={ANALYSES OF SOCIAL ISSUES AND PUBLIC POLICY}, author={Hoyt, Crystal L. and Burnette, Jeni L. and Billingsley, Joseph and Becker, Whitney and Babij, Alexandra D.}, year={2023}, month={Sep} }
 @article{javidi_widman_maheux_mccrimmon_evans-paulson_becker_2023, title={PACT: Developing and Evaluating a Digital Sexual Consent Program for Youth}, volume={5}, ISSN={["1559-8519"]}, url={https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2023.2208560}, DOI={10.1080/00224499.2023.2208560}, abstractNote={Understanding affirmative sexual consent is crucial for violence prevention and health promotion, yet few adolescents receive adequate consent education. The current study aimed to evaluate the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a brief online program designed to teach adolescents information and skills about communicating and interpreting affirmative sexual consent (PACT: Promoting Affirmative Consent among Teens) in a randomized controlled trial with a national sample of 833 U.S. adolescents (ages 14-16; 42% White, 17% Asian, 17% Black, 13% Latinx; 53% girls, 31% boys, 12% non-binary; 45% heterosexual; 29% sexually active). PACT, grounded in health behavior change and persuasion theories, was developed using feedback from youth advisors and usability testers. Participants considered the program generally acceptable. Compared to youth who completed a control program, PACT was efficacious at shifting three measures of affirmative consent cognitions (i.e., knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy) from baseline to immediate posttest. Youth who completed PACT also demonstrated more accurate affirmative consent knowledge at 3 months post-baseline. PACT's effects on consent cognitions were generally similar among youth with various gender, racial/ethnic, and sexual identities. We discuss next steps for this program, including the possibilities of expanding to include additional concepts and tailoring to address the unique needs of specific youth.}, journal={JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH}, author={Javidi, Hannah and Widman, Laura and Maheux, Anne J. J. and McCrimmon, Jordyn and Evans-Paulson, Reina and Becker, Whitney}, year={2023}, month={May} }
 @article{becker_burnette_hoyt_2022, title={Coping in the time of COVID-19: Mindsets and the stories we tell}, volume={10}, ISSN={["1559-1816"]}, DOI={10.1111/jasp.12936}, abstractNote={AbstractAcross two studies (N = 803), we explored how meaning‐making systems (i.e., mindsets and narrative identity) are related to each other as well as to coping in the wake of challenges faced during the COVID‐19 pandemic. In Study 1, we find that struggle‐is‐enhancing, relative to struggle‐is‐debilitating, mindsets predicted stories defined by elements of personal control with opportunities for growth (agency) and an emphasis on the positive, rather than on the suffering (redemptive). Stronger enhancing mindsets and agentic as well as redemptive narratives predicted more adaptive coping, including less negative affect, less avoidance, and positive expectations for future success. In Study 2, we replicated these fundamental findings and explored relations with wellbeing. Struggle‐is‐enhancing, relative to debilitating, mindsets related to greater wellbeing as did agency and redemptive stories. Overall, creating meaning from struggle, crafting tales with more positive themes, and using active coping show promise for future work focused on enhancing social, emotional, and psychological wellbeing.}, journal={JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY}, author={Becker, Whitney and Burnette, Jeni L. and Hoyt, Crystal L.}, year={2022}, month={Oct} }
 @article{hoyt_billingsley_burnette_becker_babij_2022, title={The implications of mindsets of poverty for stigma against those in poverty}, volume={11}, ISSN={["1559-1816"]}, DOI={10.1111/jasp.12947}, abstractNote={AbstractBelief systems, which can feed, or diminish, stigma are important predictors of poverty reduction efforts. In the current work, we focused on mindsets, which are beliefs about the changeability (growth mindsets) or the stability (fixed mindsets) of the level of poverty in society. We conducted six studies, two preregistered, using both cross‐sectional (N = 763) and experimental methods (N = 1361). First, we found support for our prediction that mindsets of poverty can serve to justify economic inequities. To this end, we explored the relationship of these mindsets with system justifying ideologies, we conducted experimental studies designed to motivate, or not, justification processes, and we examined the association between mindsets of poverty and stigma toward those disadvantaged within the economic system. Next, building upon a rich literature on mindsets, we explored the mechanisms by which mindsets predict stigma. Growth mindsets of poverty predicted less stigma, in part, through lower levels of essentializing those in poverty and blaming dispositional factors for economic inequality. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this work for efforts to counter negative attitudes and promote support for those living in poverty.}, journal={JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY}, author={Hoyt, Crystal L. and Billingsley, Joseph and Burnette, Jeni L. and Becker, Whitney and Babij, Alexandra D.}, year={2022}, month={Nov} }
 @article{hoyt_burnette_nash_becker_billingsley_2021, title={Growth mindsets of anxiety: Do the benefits to individual flourishing come with societal costs?}, volume={11}, ISSN={["1743-9779"]}, url={http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85121605392&partnerID=MN8TOARS}, DOI={10.1080/17439760.2021.2006762}, abstractNote={ABSTRACT Believing anxiety can change is a predictor of wellbeing, in part, because such beliefs – known as growth mindsets – predict weaker threat appraisals, which in turn improves psychological functioning. However, feeling a sense of personal threat facilitates social activism, and thus growth mindsets may undermine such action. Across six studies (N = 1761), including cross-sectional and experimental approaches (3 pre-registered), growth mindsets predict flourishing, including wellbeing, resilience, and grit. We find that growth mindsets indirectly predict reduced activism against social threats through reduced threat appraisals, which are critical motivators of activism. The total effect linking growth mindsets to activism was not robust. Overall, Bayesian meta-analytic summary effects reveal that growth mindsets of anxiety are critical components of psychological flourishing, broadly defined. Mindsets are also consistently linked to weakened threat appraisals across a variety of social threats from gun violence to natural disasters. Although helpful for resilience, these dampened threat appraisals impair social action.}, journal={JOURNAL OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY}, author={Hoyt, Crystal L. and Burnette, Jeni L. and Nash, Emma and Becker, Whitney and Billingsley, Joseph}, year={2021}, month={Nov} }