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Articles 1 - 15 of 15
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Virtual Reality Supplement To The Peers Social Skills Intervention For Adolescents With Asd, Kevin Ambrose
Virtual Reality Supplement To The Peers Social Skills Intervention For Adolescents With Asd, Kevin Ambrose
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
The purpose of this study was to replicate findings of the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relation Skills (PEERS) parent-assisted social skills training program for a diverse group of adolescents with historical autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses in an urban locality. Additionally, this study sought to pilot a 3D multi-user virtual environment for adolescent participants and an online learning community for parent coaches; both hypothesized to reinforce the social skills curriculum. A randomized controlled trial of PEERS was completed with 12 adolescents diagnosed with ASD with some participation from their caregivers. Results show that participants who received the …
A Pilot Feasibility Trial Of Mindfulness And Modification Therapy For Males Who Use Aggression, Jenny Mitchell
A Pilot Feasibility Trial Of Mindfulness And Modification Therapy For Males Who Use Aggression, Jenny Mitchell
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Physical aggression incurs substantial harm to victims and witnesses, particularly when it occurs within close relationships such as family, friendships, or intimate partnerships. Men who use aggression against partners and other adults frequently experience high levels of psychopathology, including depression, posttraumatic stress symptoms, anxious/insecure attachment, paranoia, bipolar disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, personality disorders, and substance abuse, which contribute to use of aggressive behaviors. However, existing treatments for aggression often do not address these symptoms. It is important that treatments for aggression are grounded in theoretical literature and backed by empirical support in order to increase treatment engagement and effectiveness. Treatments …
Anomalous Self-Experiences And Aberrant Salience In Schizotypy, Victoria Martin
Anomalous Self-Experiences And Aberrant Salience In Schizotypy, Victoria Martin
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Within this investigation, the self-disorder hypothesis of schizophrenia was assessed via an illusory perceptual paradigm. It has been proposed that alteration of basic (minimal) selfhood may underlie cognitive and perceptual disturbances in psychosis (Sass, 2014). Disturbed corporeality (i.e., anomalous experience of one’s body) is an identified component of basic self-disturbance. As it is difficult to empirically capture the spontaneous occurrence of anomalous bodily experiences as they arise, the Pinocchio Illusion (PI) has been employed to capture variations in the plasticity of bodily self-experience (specifically, body boundary plasticity) (Michael & Park, 2016). The PI paradigm provides for the sensations of arm …
Coercive Control And Trauma-Coerced Attachment In Commercial Sexual Exploitation: A Mixed-Method Examination, Kendra Doychak
Coercive Control And Trauma-Coerced Attachment In Commercial Sexual Exploitation: A Mixed-Method Examination, Kendra Doychak
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Commercial sexual exploitation (i.e., sex trafficking) can lead to myriad negative consequences for its victims, including exposure to coercive control and the development of trauma-coerced attachments. Scholars have offered theoretical conceptualizations of the relation between coercive environments and traumatic attachments, but this relationship is rarely empirically examined. The current study used data from 68 semi-structured interviews with former victims of sex trafficking to first, formally identify coercive control and second, empirically classify trauma-coerced attachment in this population. Mixed-method analysis were used to identify associations between coercive control and TCA in order to better explain how this abuse dynamic leads to …
Serial Position Effect Profiles And Their Neuroanatomical Correlates: Predictors Of Conversion To Alzheimer's Disease, Isabelle K. Avildsen
Serial Position Effect Profiles And Their Neuroanatomical Correlates: Predictors Of Conversion To Alzheimer's Disease, Isabelle K. Avildsen
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
The current study was designed to determine whether targeted, premorbid, neuropsychological measures of the serial position effect (SPE) can detect and explain risk for later development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study tested the utility of SPE measures in healthy controls (HC) and individuals already diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD. Aim 1 was to determine whether these sensitive, valid neuropsychological measures can explain disease risk. SPE of list-learning are highly sensitive cognitive markers that capture important elements of both linguistic and amnestic mechanisms of encoding, learning, and retrieval. Using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), we …
Ssri-Induced Emotional Blunting: A Study Of Cognitive Changes In Pharmaceutically Treated Depression, Carly Tocco
Ssri-Induced Emotional Blunting: A Study Of Cognitive Changes In Pharmaceutically Treated Depression, Carly Tocco
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Objective: In recent years, approximately 12.7% of the American population are on a prescribed antidepressant medication. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are a widely used pharmacological treatment for depressive and anxiety disorders, primarily due to their tolerance levels, mild side effects in comparison to other antidepressants, and broad range of clinical indications. However, there are still numerous concerns about SSRIs’ ability to improve depressive symptoms without adding side effects such as sexual dysfunction, gastrointestinal upset, and a restricted range of emotions. Although patients typically claim that they have less emotional pain while on SSRIs than they do during a depressive …
The Social Construction Of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (Pmdd), Raya Balabanova
The Social Construction Of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (Pmdd), Raya Balabanova
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
The creation of psychiatric diagnoses, otherwise known as psychiatric nosology, is a complex endeavor, one involving a great deal of social construction. One diagnosis in particular, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), exemplifies the different factors that go into the creation of psychiatric labels. After decades of research, activism, and debates, PMDD was included in the diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM-5), which is widely used by clinicians in the U.S. This thesis aims to describe how the symptoms described by PMDD caught the attention of the medical profession and how PMDD was shaped into the diagnosis it is today. The introduction of …
The Impact Of Cannabis Use On Neuropsychological And Neural Biomarkers Of Treatment Response In Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Melanie B. Thies
The Impact Of Cannabis Use On Neuropsychological And Neural Biomarkers Of Treatment Response In Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Melanie B. Thies
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Cannabis use among patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD) is at significantly greater levels than in healthy populations but the impact of cannabis on neural mechanisms of clinical improvement is poorly understood. Cognitive functioning and neural connectivity are disrupted as a result of both SSD and cannabis use, and research indicates that neuropsychological capacity and connectivity of the striatum, a region involved in salience and reward processing, may be integral to effective antipsychotic drug (AP) treatment response. Despite this overlap, no previous research has investigated the effect of cannabis on the brain functions implicated in AP treatment response. The present study …
Investigating Young Adult Cancer Survivors' Perspectives On Their Future And Interpersonal Relationships, Zeba N. Ahmad
Investigating Young Adult Cancer Survivors' Perspectives On Their Future And Interpersonal Relationships, Zeba N. Ahmad
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
For many young adults (YA, aged 18-39) who have recently survived cancer, planning and working towards goals for the future is a fraught process. Prior research consistently identifies the challenges of survivorship, including: rebuilding personal identity, accepting the impact of cancer-related interruptions on personal goals, navigating new roles in significant close relationships, and initiating new relationships as a survivor. However, there is limited research describing the mechanisms underlying these persistent challenges, which poses difficulties when tailoring evidence-based psychological intervention. The present study consolidates both established and newly hypothesized survivorship challenges into a novel conceptual model, hypothesizing that they are interrelated, …
The Impossible Situation? Impasse As Psychotherapeutic Paralysis, Possibility, And Progress, Leo Cancelmo
The Impossible Situation? Impasse As Psychotherapeutic Paralysis, Possibility, And Progress, Leo Cancelmo
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Psychotherapeutic impasse has long been understood in the clinical literature as treatment stagnation and even failure, both from one-person and two-person psychodynamic perspectives. However, there is a dearth of empirical research that delves deeper to understand this complex and rich phenomenon. Using semi-structured interviews with nine psychodynamic therapists speaking about individual adult patients, this study examined experiences of impasse to better understand treatments that become embroiled in a kind of paralysis. Qualitative analyses revealed dyads where patients were conceptualized as struggling chronically with negative feelings about themselves and others, and who experienced traumatic personal histories. Impasse in and of itself …
Exploring Social And Emotional Functioning In Emerging Adult Survivors Of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Sara Babad
Exploring Social And Emotional Functioning In Emerging Adult Survivors Of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Sara Babad
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
As many as two thirds of adults in the United States have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and 60% of these individuals have experienced multiple, or cumulative ACEs. ACEs are associated with a range of outcomes, including social, emotional, and cognitive changes, health risk behaviors, psychopathology, worse physical health, and early death. Although some ACEs effects have been well-researched, social and emotional changes have received minimal attention in the literature in general. Research on ACEs effects in emerging adults (ages 18 to 25), an already vulnerable population, is also limited. Furthermore, there is debate in the field as to which …
Countertransference And The Patient's Experience: Exploring How Engagement With Affect Is Related To Short-Term Psychotherapy Outcomes, Ariel R. Westerman
Countertransference And The Patient's Experience: Exploring How Engagement With Affect Is Related To Short-Term Psychotherapy Outcomes, Ariel R. Westerman
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Background: Therapist focus on affect in the here-and-now can facilitate a patient’s emotional experience as well as expression of affect, both of which are associated with better outcome over the course of treatment (Diener et al., 2007). A therapist’s use of her own experience of the patient can serve as a signal to intervene in the here-and-now. While “countertransference” was historically seen as an obstacle to a therapist’s neutrality and therefore efficacy (Freud, 1910), shifts in the field toward a two-person psychology model led some to reconsider it as a potential source of clinical data (Winnicott, 1947; Heimann, 1950; Racker, …
Making Sense Of Pre-Symbolic Trauma: A Qualitative Study On The Lived Experiences Of Adults Who Were Born Extremely Prematurely, Noia Efrat
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
The psychological experiences of adults (n=5) who were born at or before the threshold for extreme prematurity (weeks) was examined using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, Flowers & Larkin, 2009). Subjects were interviewed to learn about how their extreme prematurity has become organized and integrated on the levels of fantasy, identity and personality. Results showed that dysregulation and the propensity to self-contain on both somatic and affective levels were common themes across cases, supporting current research connecting the ongoing impacts of prematurity to the context of overstimulation and fundamental absence in the first months of life in the NICU. Despite …
"A Fallen Woman": The Use Of Metaphor In Psychoanalysis, Matthew Schneider
"A Fallen Woman": The Use Of Metaphor In Psychoanalysis, Matthew Schneider
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
This study sought to understand the use of a central metaphor in a psychoanalytic treatment and its relationship to the process of change for the analysand. In linguistics, a metaphor is a word, phrase or idea that stands in for another idea. In psychoanalysis the relationship between conscious and unconscious conflictual material can share similar metaphorical connections as conscious thoughts or behavior often stands in for an unconscious wishes. The presence of a word or phrase that appears in speech in the context of particular affective moments in an analysand’s experience could be understood to be linked to unconscious processes …
Reducing Fear Overgeneralization With Safety Learning: Attention Bias As A Moderator, Boyang Fan
Reducing Fear Overgeneralization With Safety Learning: Attention Bias As A Moderator, Boyang Fan
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health condition and affect one out of nine individuals around the world. Fear generalization is a neurocognitive mechanism thought to maintain and exacerbate anxiety, and thus is an important target of therapeutic interventions. Yet, intervention research and practice place relatively little emphasis on its importance. Given that a significant proportion of individuals do not respond to extant treatments of anxiety disorders, a strengthened focus on fear generalization may inform the development and personalization of new treatment approaches. Recent notions have linked fear generalization to failures in distinguishing between signals that predict the occurrence …