Digital Commons Network^™

Computer-Based Brief Motivational Intervention For Medication Adherence In Schizophrenia, Robert Kender

Wayne State University Dissertations

Despite the documented efficacy of medication treatments for individuals suffering from schizophrenia, many individuals suffering from this disorder are unable or unwilling to adhere to their medication regimen. This may be due to the inability of providers to differentially address the individual motivation levels of their patients. The few interventions that have shown promise are both costly and difficult to disseminate. The current study is a randomized controlled trial which utilizes motivational interviewing, delivered with an interactive computer based delivery system to address attitudes about adherence. Feasibility, acceptability and efficacy were examined as outcomes. While both feasibility and efficacy were …

The Effects Of Web-Based Interactive Emotional Disclosure On Stress And Health: A Randomized, Controlled Study, Jonathan Beyer

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop and assess the relative effectiveness of two novel alternatives to standard written emotional disclosure for coping with stressful traumatic experiences. In addition to standard emotional disclosure and time management writing control conditions, two guided feedback conditions were created with a goal of enhancing the disclosure paradigm by eliciting the most effective components of disclosure writing. All of the writing conditions in the study utilized the internet for both completion of the writing and receipt of feedback in the indicated conditions. The guided conditions included a feedback writing condition in which guidance was …

Evaluating Outcomes And Response Profiles Of A Psychological Treatment For People With Chronic Pain, Amanda J. Burger

Wayne State University Dissertations

Chronic pain is a leading cause of suffering, disability, and high health care costs. Traditional treatment approaches such as medical or cognitive-behavioral interventions have produced variable and often limited results. Research has suggested

that increased rates of stressful life events, emotional disorders, and emotion regulation deficits contribute to the development and maintenance of chronic pain problems that lack clear, peripheral, biological causes. This study examined the effectiveness of an

innovative, emotion-focused treatment that directly targets patients' unresolved stress and emotional avoidance and sought to identify predictors of treatment outcome. Additionally, this study explored the effects of a novel, emotional assessment …

The Role Of Employment Status, Work Disruption, Leisure, And Resources In The Mental Health Of Demenita Caregiving Daughters, Lisa Jones Ficker

Wayne State University Dissertations

Employment has been consistently identified as a role strain among dementia caregivers. This study sought to examine the patterns and context of employment and work disruption among dementia caregiving daughters and learn the extent to which work disruption influences mental health through hypothesized reductions in financial resources and leisure activities. This study was a cross-sectional design that extracted data of 486 daughter caregivers from a dataset that gathered information from Caucasian, African American, and Latina dementia caregivers at six research sites across the nation.

Results indicated that caregiving daughters who were employed reported the lowest number of depressive symptoms and …

The Influence Of Religion And Spirituality On Rehabilitation Outcomes Among Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors, Brigid Waldron-Perrine

Wayne State University Dissertations

The long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury affect millions of Americans, many of whom report using religion and spirituality to cope. Little research, however, has investigated how various elements of the religious and spiritual belief systems affect rehabilitation outcomes. The present study sought to assess the use of specifically defined elements of religion and spirituality as coping resources in a sample of traumatically brain injured adults. Furthermore, various mechanisms by which religion and spirituality may affect outcome were explored.

The sample included 88 adults with brain injury from 1 to 20 years post injury and their knowledgeable significant others (SOs). …

Awareness Of Deficit And Driving Simulator Performance After Stroke., Carolyn A. Scott

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

AWARENESS OF DEFICIT AND DRIVING SIMULATOR PERFORMANCE AFTER STROKE

by

CAROLYN A. SCOTT

December 2010

Advisor: Dr. Lisa J. Rapport

Major: Psychology (Clinical)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Fifty-four stroke survivors completed a driving evaluation. Measures included predicted, postdicted, and actual performance on a driving simulator evaluation and a modified Biber Cognitive Estimation Test. Survivors nominated a significant other to serve as a knowledgeable informant about their abilities. Awareness of deficit was assessed via survivor-significant other difference scores on the Awareness Questionnaire. Five predictors (age, stroke severity, and awareness of cognitive, behavioral/affective, and motor abilities) reliably distinguished between survivors who …

Trajectories Of Emotion Regulation Into Middle Childhood: An Investigation Of Attachment, Temperament, And Language, Julie Elizabeth Braciszewski

Wayne State University Dissertations

The development of emotion regulation continues to be considered a cornerstone to adaptive child development. However, studies have yet to integrate early relationship, child-centered factors, and socio-demographic factors, from infancy through middle childhood, in an attempt to look at emotional regulation development over time. By utilizing latent growth curve modeling, the current study aimed to extend understanding of how child-centered factors (temperament and language skill) and socio-demographic factors (gender, ethnicity, and family resources) affect the development of emotion regulation from 3rd to 6th grades, within the context of early attachment relationships. Stability in emotion regulation in the general sample, as …

Assessment Of Memory Function And Effort Using The Wechsler Memory Scale - 4th Edition, Justin B. Miller

Wayne State University Dissertations

Even the most psychometrically sound measures are sensitive to the level of effort put forth by the examinee and their intent. This is especially true for measures of memory functioning that are a common target of negative response bias and withholding effort. The aim of the present study was to develop methods for detecting these behaviors for the current edition of the Wechsler Memory Scale, 4th Edition (WMS-IV) using a community sample of healthy adults coached to simulate traumatic brain injury (TBI) and a sample of bona fide TBI survivors. The primary analytic strategy involved generation of prediction models to …