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Psychodynamic Psychotherapy For Depression: Illuminating Processes Of Change Using A Time-Series Design, Erin Irene Gray

Masters Theses

This study examined the process of change in the early stages of psychodynamic psychotherapy for three patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The three patients were in once-weekly psychotherapy at a university-based psychological clinic with supervised master’s level therapists in a clinical psychology doctoral training program. Subjective well-being and symptoms were monitored daily throughout treatment (consisting of 9, 12, and 13 sessions). Based on theory-driven models of therapeutic change (Phase Model of change: Howard, et al., 1986; Howard, et al., 1993), improvement in subjective well-being ought to occur early in therapy and prior to improvement in diagnosis-specific symptoms. Six phase-specific …

Effect Of Maternal Borderline Personality Disorder On Emotional Availability In Mother-Child Interactions, Rebecca Devan Trupe

Masters Theses

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience severe and pervasive disturbances in the development of attachment relationships, identity, and emotion regulation. Given these deficits, mothers diagnosed with BPD are likely to experience significant difficulties in parenting their children. The present study examined the effect of maternal BPD and borderline personality features on emotional availability in interactions between mothers with BPD and their 4- to 7-year-old children. In a low socioeconomic status (SES) sample of n = 35 children of mothers diagnosed with BPD and n = 35 normative comparisons, groups were compared on maternal and child emotional availability, and self-reported …

Using The Personality Assessment Inventory To Diagnose And Discriminate Between Major Depressive Disorder And Generalized Anxiety Disorder In A University Counseling Center, William Edward Nichelson Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) for diagnosing and discriminating between Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) with university counseling center clients. Participants were 1541 male and female students who received services at a student counseling center at a large university. Participants were classified as MDD, GAD, or Other Diagnosis (OD) based on the diagnosis determined by the treating clinician, and PAI profiles were compared between the three groups.

The PAI Structural Summary-Revised contains Diagnostic Consider Clusters (DCC) that were designed to identify PAI scales/subscales that are typically elevated or suppressed when …

Communication In Married Couples: Exploring The Roles Of Betrayal And Forgiveness, Nikki N. Frousakis

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explored the associations between having experienced a major betrayal, forgiveness, and communication behaviors in married couples. The first aim of the current research was to compare the communication behaviors of couples who have experienced a major betrayal and are in various stages of the forgiveness process as delineated by Gordon, Baucom, and Snyder (2005) to couples who reported never having experienced a betrayal in their current relationship. The second aim of the study was to explore whether injured partners and their spouses behave differently when discussing the betrayal event than when they are conversing about a separate problem …

Listening To Undocumented Mothers: The Experiences Of Undocumented Mexican Mothers Of High School Students Living In The U.S. And Receiving Social Services, Maria Alejandra Lopez

Doctoral Dissertations

The present dissertation is based on a phenomenological study on undocumented Mexican immigrant mothers of high school students who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years and received social services. Most of these mothers have emigrated from rural areas of the central and southern Mexican States of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Queretaro, among others. According to the participants, socio-economic conditions forced them to leave their homelands hoping to find a better life in the U.S.

Ten undocumented mothers of high school students living in the U.S. were interviewed from a phenomenological perspective. They were monolingual Spanish speakers (only one …

Functional Neuroimaging In A Pediatric Case Of Impaired Awareness, Christopher Richard N Nicholas

Doctoral Dissertations

Disorders of consciousness (DOC) occur in severe cases of neurological disease and acquired brain injury, spanning the continuum from complete unresponsiveness (vegetative state) to partial conscious awareness with only erratic voluntary behavioral responses (minimally conscious state). Assessing the patient’s level of awareness of self and their environment through behavioral evaluation is notoriously difficult and may lead to misdiagnosis if residual cognitive function goes undetected. A number of studies (Di et al., 2007; Staffen et al., 2008; Coleman et al., 2007; Qin et al., 2010) applying brain-imaging methods to measure brain activity associated with processing self-referential stimuli (stimuli related to the …

Dating Violence Victimization And Alcohol Problems: An Examination Of Social Support’S Stress-Buffering Hypothesis, Ryan Christopher Shorey

Masters Theses

Recent evidence suggests that victims of dating violence consume alcohol at greater rates than their non-victimized peers, placing them at risk for the negative consequences produced by alcohol use. Thus, research is needed that examines factors that protect victims from consuming alcohol. Toward this end, the present study sought to examine if perceived and enacted support served as stress-buffering variables of the relationship between dating violence victimization and alcohol problems among a sample of currently dating college students. Partial support was found for the stress-buffering effect of perceived support, but findings did not support enacted support as a traditional stress-buffering …

The Risk Of Responding To Acquaintance Sexual Assault: How Perceived Social Costs Affect Risk Appraisals And Behavioral Responses In College Women, Alison Megan Nathanson

Masters Theses

Evidence suggests that female victims of sexual abuse are revictimized more often than non-victimized females, placing them at risk for the negative consequences, including increased psychopathology, medical issues and interpersonal difficulties. Research is needed to protect childhood sexual abuse survivors from the risk of further sexual assault. The present study examines if victim status and perception of social costs inhibit heterosexual females’ perception of risk and behavioral response. Results indicate that victim status affects the perception of risk and that sexually abused women in a high social cost condition use less assertive behavioral responses. Implications of these findings for sexual …