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Relationships Among Depression, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Forgiveness, Meaning In Life, And Spirituality In Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence, Shannon Marie Rogers Dec 2014

Relationships Among Depression, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Forgiveness, Meaning In Life, And Spirituality In Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence, Shannon Marie Rogers

Doctoral Dissertations

One hundred twenty nine survivors of interpersonal violence completed a paper-and-pencil survey to evaluate depression, PTSD, forgiveness, meaning in life, and spirituality. Five self-report measures were completed including: the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale, the PTSD Checklist – Stressor Specific version, the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory, and the Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale. The majority of the participants were female and Caucasian. Significant correlations were found between PTSD and presence of meaning, as well as depression and both presence of and search for meaning. However, hierarchical multiple regressions results indicated that depression and the two meaning in life subscales contributed …


Ptsd Symptomology And Relationship Dysfunction: Is Emotional Reactivity The Culprit?, Kristin Lytle Dec 2014

Ptsd Symptomology And Relationship Dysfunction: Is Emotional Reactivity The Culprit?, Kristin Lytle

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Emotional numbing, a symptom of PTSD, has been found to be strongly associated with relationship dysfunction (Erbes et al., 2011; Monson et al., 2012; Riggs et al., 1998; Solomon et al., 2008). It is thought that emotional numbing can negatively impact relationships, yet there is limited understanding of the mechanisms of emotional numbing. Information processing theory developed by Litz and Gray (2001) suggests that emotional numbing is not a generalized response to all emotions and is actually specific to positive emotions. They believe that people with PTSD actually experience heightened negative emotions which then lead to emotional numbing to positive …


Posttraumatic Outcome Of Intimate Partner Violence: An Examination Of Risk Factors, Joye L. Henrie Dec 2014

Posttraumatic Outcome Of Intimate Partner Violence: An Examination Of Risk Factors, Joye L. Henrie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Not all individuals who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization experience clinically significant negative outcomes following IPV exposure. For those that do experience negative outcomes, researchers need to identify the mechanisms through which they develop and the manner in which negative symptoms may develop differentially across individuals. This paper provides a review of risk factors associated with negative outcomes following IPV victimization. Accumulated lifetime maltreatment experiences and maladaptive cognitions are both proffered as potential risk factors for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) outcomes following IPV exposure. A community sample (N = 244) of adult females was recruited to assist in elucidating …


Exploring The Inner Experience Of Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Stacy Reger Dec 2014

Exploring The Inner Experience Of Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Stacy Reger

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Military veterans have returned from combat changed by exposure to trauma for as long as history has been recorded. The field of psychology contains a vast literature describing and attempting to understand Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and its detrimental effects on the lives of individuals with the disorder. Despite the volume of study dedicated to PTSD in the literature, in-depth accounts of the lived experience of individuals with PTSD are rare. The current study utilized Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES), a method based on apprehending high-fidelity accounts of momentary inner experience, to explore the inner experience of eight Operation Iraqi Freedom …


Transnational Gestures: Rethinking Trauma In U.S. War Fiction, Ruth A.H. Lahti Aug 2014

Transnational Gestures: Rethinking Trauma In U.S. War Fiction, Ruth A.H. Lahti

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the need to "world" our literary histories of U.S. war fiction, arguing that a transnational approach to this genre remaps on an enlarged scale the ethical implications of 20th and 21st century war writing. This study turns to representations of the human body to differently apprehend the ethical struggles of war fiction, thereby rethinking psychological and nationalist models of war trauma and developing a new method of reading the literature of war. To lay the ground for this analysis, I argue that the dominance of trauma theory in critical work on U.S. war fiction privileges the "authentic" …


At Risk For Ptsd: The Public Health Implications Of Trauma, Madeline Peyton Aug 2014

At Risk For Ptsd: The Public Health Implications Of Trauma, Madeline Peyton

Master's Projects and Capstones

The fieldwork experience is the summation of six semesters of graduate level public health training. At commencement, students are to be proficient in basic data analysis and epidemiological principles, in how environmental risks impact health, and demonstrate strong program planning, evaluation and leadership skills. Throughout, students are encouraged to focus their academic work on an area of public health that interest them and on a problem that they hope to impact in their professional work. I continued in an area I began as an undergraduate student of medical anthropology and explored the systems that interact to influence mental health of …


The Effect Of Self-Compassion Training On Trauma-Related Guilt In A Sample Of Homeless Veterans In Transitional Housing, Philip Held Aug 2014

The Effect Of Self-Compassion Training On Trauma-Related Guilt In A Sample Of Homeless Veterans In Transitional Housing, Philip Held

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the effects of a four-week long self-administered self-compassion training on trauma-related guilt in a sample of homeless veterans in transitional housing. Changes in self-compassion, trauma-related guilt, resilience, PTSD severity, and general distress in the self-compassion intervention group (N = 13) were studied and compared to a coping with stress (control) group (N = 14). Participation in the four-week long self-administered self-compassion training led to significant reductions in trauma-related guilt. Both interventions seemed equally effective at reducing trauma-related guilt. The results from this study lay the foundation for the use of self-compassion training as an effective …


Hardiness, Social Support, Parental Stress, And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms In Recent Service Members, Victoria Jane Tomassetti-Long Aug 2014

Hardiness, Social Support, Parental Stress, And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms In Recent Service Members, Victoria Jane Tomassetti-Long

Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated a link between PTSD symptomatology (PTSS) and parenting stress in veterans. As the literature on veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is increasing, there has been a call to identify variables which may contribute to positive outcomes in these service members (e.g., Cornum, Matthews, & Seligman, 2011). Hardiness is a personality variable that describes an individual’s sense of commitment, control, and challenge in light of life stress and has been identified as a protective factor against the development of psychological symptoms and parenting stress in combat veterans. Social support also seems to have benefits …


Identifying Maltreated Youths At Heightened Risk For Posttraumatic Symptoms, Emma H. Ross Aug 2014

Identifying Maltreated Youths At Heightened Risk For Posttraumatic Symptoms, Emma H. Ross

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Childhood maltreatment is associated with increased risk for lifetime and current PTSD (Davis & Siegel, 2000; Widom, 1999). This study examined a model of PTSD in which dissociation, depression, and posttraumatic cognitions related to heightened PTSD symptoms for maltreated youths. This study then evaluated the model's fit across variations in intelligence, gender, age, ethnicity, and maltreatment type. Participants (n=360) included youths from Department of Family Services-related sites in Las Vegas. The first hypothesis was that the model would display goodness-of-fit across various indices. The second hypothesis was that the model would better fit youths with below average intelligence (FSIQ = …


Have You Hugged A Soldier Today? Veterans Struggle With Invisible Wounds Of War From Vietnam To Afghanistan, Gabe Mora Jun 2014

Have You Hugged A Soldier Today? Veterans Struggle With Invisible Wounds Of War From Vietnam To Afghanistan, Gabe Mora

History Theses

the misinformation about Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in American society has lead to the stigmatization and discrimination of veterans since the war in Vietnam. PTSD was not a formal diagnosis until 1980, resulting in negative public perception of veterans suffering with this mental illness. Even today as research and information about the disorder has become increasingly available to the public, veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are facing the same discrimination's as the veterans of Vietnam during their transitions back to civilian life.


How Coping, Ptsd And Treatment Preferences Interact?, Martha Mae Golubski Jan 2014

How Coping, Ptsd And Treatment Preferences Interact?, Martha Mae Golubski

ETD Archive

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder characterized by symptoms of intrusive recollection, avoidance or numbing, and hyper arousal following being exposed to a traumatic event involving threatened or actual death or serious injury (4th ed., text rev, DSM-IV-TR American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Those with PTSD, employ a variety of coping strategies to deal with the symptoms following their trauma exposure. Across studies, it has been found that coping styles which are active have a positive effect on both physical and psychological health (Gil & Caspi, 2005 Lazarus & Moskowits, 2004 Olff, Langeland, & Gersons, 2005). However, avoidance coping …


Exposure Dose, Trauma Type, And Attrition In Ptsd Efficacy Studies, David R. Phillips Jan 2014

Exposure Dose, Trauma Type, And Attrition In Ptsd Efficacy Studies, David R. Phillips

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Both treatment outcome studies and meta-analyses document the efficacy of multiple cognitivebehavioral methods for treating PTSD. These reports have demonstrated that exposure-based therapies such as Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) consistently match or exceed their nonexposure counterparts in regard to efficacy. Yet the issue of attrition remains a significant concern for exposure-based therapies specifically. The present study compared the relationship between exposure therapies, exposure dose, trauma type, and attrition rates. A comprehensive literature search located 32 studies that met search criteria (i.e., random assignment to groups, use of a control group, …


Long-Term Outcomes Of Prolonged Exposure And Naltrexone For Patients With Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Alcohol Dependence, Shelley Avny Jan 2014

Long-Term Outcomes Of Prolonged Exposure And Naltrexone For Patients With Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Alcohol Dependence, Shelley Avny

Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of research is examining effective treatment(s) for individuals with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence (AD). However, treatments for this comorbid population have been inadequately studied in the longer term. This study represents a long-term follow-up assessment of a randomized controlled trial that compared combined therapy (prolonged exposure + naltrexone) with monotherapies (prolonged exposure or naltrexone) for patients with PTSD and AD (see Foa, Yusko, McLean et al., 2013). Attempts were made to contact 120 participants 5-10 years after the original trial to assess the maintenance of treatment gains. Nineteen individuals were located and agreed …


A Latent Profile Analysis Of Posttraumatic Stress And Depressive Symptoms In Adolescents, Shawn A. Wilson Jan 2014

A Latent Profile Analysis Of Posttraumatic Stress And Depressive Symptoms In Adolescents, Shawn A. Wilson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study examines how posttraumatic stress (PTS) and depressive symptoms co-occur during early adolescence. Data for participants in the present study were drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. A latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted on the data from 818 adolescents aged 11 to 14 who self-identified as Black, Latino, or White. A three-class solution was selected as an optimal fit for the data based on fit indices and ease of interpretation. The LPA indicated that PTS and depressive symptoms tended to co-occur in a dimensional manner, with the classes differing only in terms of the …


Examining The Role Of Unit Cohesion As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Warfare Exposure And Ptsd, Shaina Gulin Jan 2014

Examining The Role Of Unit Cohesion As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Warfare Exposure And Ptsd, Shaina Gulin

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of warfare exposure and unit cohesion on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology among male and female National Guard and Reserve service members deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. National Guard and Reserve soldiers and female service members have been shown to be at greatest risk of psychological distress, and thus identification of resiliency factors among this population is worthy of further study. An emerging body of research has identified unit cohesion as a potentially modifiable protective factor against the deleterious effects of warfare exposure; however, such research is in its …