Digital Commons Network^™

Perceived Barriers And Facilitators To Mental And Behavioral Health Screening And Treatment In Primary Care For Women In Northeast Tennessee, Sarah K. Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Between one quarter and one third of all primary care patients meet criteria for at least one mental disorder. However, many women are not screened for mental disorders as recommended by the literature. Some studies suggest even lower rates of screening and treatment in rural areas. This researcher sought to identify barriers and facilitators to mental and behavioral health screening and treatment for women in primary care and solicit feedback on how to ameliorate perceived barriers. Given the limited extant data describing rural Appalachian women’s perceptions of barriers and facilitators to receiving mental health services an exploratory qualitative analysis was …

Impact Of Co-Occurring Psychiatric Disorders And Traumatic Brain Injury On Speech-Language Treatment: Speech-Language Pathologists’ Perspectives, Janis Whitney Neal

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Previous studies have associated traumatic brain injury (TBI) with higher rates of psychiatric disorders. This study investigated speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs) perspectives on the prevalence of co-occurring psychiatric disorders in the TBI population and its impact on speech-language treatment. Interviews were conducted with twelve SLPs working with a TBI population. Results revealed a lack of standard measures to assist SLPs in distinguishing between the symptoms of psychiatric disorders versus the neuropsychiatric symptoms of TBI. Also, results indicated the heavy reliance on a multidisciplinary team to provide comprehensive and individualized treatment for the TBI clientele, and the negative consequences of untreated psychiatric …

Understanding African American Male Inmates’ Decisions To Seek Mental Health Treatment While Incarcerated, Darnell A. Durrah Jr.

Dissertations (1934 -)

Incarceration in United States correctional facilities has significantly increased in the past decade (The Pew Charitable Trust, 2009). African American adult males are more likely to be incarcerated compared to all other major ethnic groups (U.S. Department of Justice, 2010). One of the current challenges experienced within correctional facilities is the need to provide appropriate mental health treatment services (U.S. Department of Justice, 2011). Studies have noted the need for such services, however, African American adult males generally are not likely to utilize these services (Morgan et al., 2004). In the general (not incarcerated) population, research has found that cultural …

Social Workers With Mental Illness : Coming Out In The Workplace, Alix M. Zamansky

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of disclosure in the workplace among social workers with mental health issues with a particular focus on the catalysts of coming out, whether stigma inhibits disclosure, and the perceived social and emotional benefits and costs of coming out. Due to the sensitive nature of the research topic, an anonymous online survey was used. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, mental health questionnaire, and a researcher-designed Outness Inventory. Thirty-six clinical social workers with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual diagnoses participated in the study, 21 of whom reported being out to someone at work …

In The Environment : Clinician Perspectives On Nature And Psychological Health, Benjamin D. White

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study explores the relationship between nature and psychological health from the perspectives of 12 clinicians from a variety of training backgrounds. During 30 to 45- minute interviews, participants were asked a variety of questions about their personal and clinical experience as they have informed their perspectives on the question: How does nature influence psychological health? Major findings of the study showed there to be a significant difference between the importance of nature in clinicians' personal lives and nature's role in clinical practice. Findings indicated that although nature was important to participants' personal psychological well-being that nature was not …

Happy Is The Woman Who Has No History : An Historical Discourse Analysis Of Women, Their Changing Roles And Society's Changing Perceptions, 1890-1920 In America, Sarah E. Pulver

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This analysis examines the historical mental health needs that emerged for women at the turn of the 19th century as a result of drastic changes in the tenor of the United States. The research explores literature pertaining to women from 1890-1920 in the United States and relates to four main topic areas as a way to examine trends and patterns in mental health needs and supports at the time in history. The Historical Research approach is well suited for this research as the specific goal of the study is to examine the historical sources for patterns and trends to better …

Strengthening The Future Of Haiti : Mental Health Needs Of Children In FonfrèDe, Haiti : A Project Based Upon An Investigation At Capracare, Jaimie A. Colica

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The Haitian earthquake of 2010 led to an influx of problems for an already struggling nation. The current study is an exploratory study on the mental health and behavioral needs of children and the supports currently in place in one rural Haitian community approximately 120 miles from Port au Prince. Thirteen adults who had caretaking roles within the community participated in in-depth interviews focused on the needs of children, supports offered and the culture of their community. Most participants pointed to a lack of basic needs being met as the culprit for children's struggles including acting out, sadness and difficulty …

Stigma Of The Mentally Ill Among University Of Tennessee, Knoxville Students, Megan Cassidy Herscher

Doctoral Dissertations

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2009), suicide kills nearly 100 people in the United States each day. Suicide rates among college-aged students are higher than among the general population; with suicide as the second leading cause of death among this age group (CDC). In addition to the heightened levels of suicide among the population suffering from mental illness, stigma compounds the issues affecting this population (Link & Phelan, 2001). In response to these issues, communities around the world have reacted with community intervention campaigns, both to combat suicide and to reduce stigma. The dissertation study will examine …

The Association Between Attachment-Related Trauma And Adult Representations Of Attachment And The Role Of Maternal Mental Health, Syreeta Scott

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Despite longstanding theoretical associations in the attachment literature between early experiences of trauma, unresolved attachment representations, and mental health symptoms, few studies have explored associations between these variables, and findings amongst current studies are inconsistent. This study aimed to examine these relationships in a high-risk sample of mothers. It also explored relationships between aspects of trauma, such as type, severity, and age of exposure in relation to unresolved attachment representations. Possible moderating effects of mental health were also examined. Data for the study were collected as part of a larger longitudinal study on women’s transition to motherhood. The present study …

Effectiveness Of Animal-Assisted Therapy: Therapists’ Perspectives, Nichole M. Budahn

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Animal-assisted therapy has frequently been used with children who have autism spectrum disorder. This study examined animal-assisted therapists’ perceptions of effectiveness of animal-assisted therapy with children who have DSM-IV mental health diagnoses. The researcher recruited self-identified animal-assisted therapists using social media sites LinkedIn and Facebook. Two therapists completed the fourteen question qualitative survey in full. Three themes were found in this study; comfort, confidence, and benefits. While this study produced definite themes, more research needs to be conducted on animal-assisted therapy and children with DSM-IV mental health disorders. Very few studies have been conducted on the impacts of animal-assisted therapy …

College Student Mental Health And Use Of Counseling Center Services, Daniel J. Hinderaker

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to learn how students at a small Midwestern college were utilizing the school’s counseling center. This quantitative study used a survey to learn about the mental health concerns and distress levels of students who had not used the college’s counseling center (

n = 127). The survey results revealed that the overwhelming majority of "non-counseled" students were aware of the counseling center and that it provided free counseling services. However, many of these students had recently experienced significant levels of concern with various problem areas, including anxiety, depression, relationships, and eating/body image. These problem …

A Practical Meta-Analysis Of Prayer Efficacy In Coping With Mental Health, Benjamin M. Kimball

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Given the large number of people who identify as religious in the United States and the large number of the overall population diagnosed with a mental illness, there is a need for linking an easily accessible practice like prayer to a common and often painful problem of managing mental health symptoms. Using a Practical Meta-Analysis, this research project examined prayer’s efficacy when used as a coping strategy to relieve mental health symptoms. A Practical Meta-Analysis is a statistical method that synthesizes findings from multiple research studies and provides a quantitative measure of an intervention’s efficacy as a whole. Of 598 …

Attitudes And Perceptions Of Mental Disorders Among Individuals From Nepal, Sonam Lama

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

The growing population of immigrants and refugees in the United States increases the need for culturally sensitive and appropriate mental health care. The purpose of this research project is to explore the attitudes and perceptions of mental disorders among individuals from Nepal who reside in the United States. Using a qualitative design, data was collected through an online survey. Thirty respondents completed the online survey. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to investigate the relationship between the participant’s level of education, their beliefs and perceptions about mental disorders and the participants’ length of stay in the United States. …

An Evaluation Of Culture-Specific Risk Factors And Emotion Regulation Strategies On Psychological Distress And Maladaptive Behaviors Among Asian Americans, Joo-Hyun Lee

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Cultural context is fundamental in cross-cultural conceptualizations of risk factors for mental health status among ethnic minorities. Existing studies indicate that acculturation level predicts psychological adjustment, but findings remain inconclusive. This study, consisting of university students of Asian descent, evaluated the relationship between acculturation level and internalizing/externalizing problems via the incorporation of more proximal measures of risk factors associated with acculturation (e.g., acculturative dissonance and acculturative stress). In addition, the predictive values of non-culture specific risk factors, such as emotion dysregulation and experiential avoidance, were examined. Acculturation-related stressors and difficulties with emotion regulation increased risk for maladjustment within the study’s …

Notions Of Spirits As Agents Of Mental Illness Among The Akan Of Ghana: A Cultural-Psychological Exploration, Annabella Opare-Henaku

Theses and Dissertations

The study explores lay conceptualizations of mental illness among the Akans of Ghana as influenced by their cultural worldview. Akan, the largest ethnic group in Ghana, is noted for the use of supernatural attributions for various health-related issues. The supernatural attributions are based on Akan ontological belief that the universe is unitary such that there is no clear distinction between physical and spiritual occurrences. This worldview guides Akans in how they deal with a wide range of issues including their mental health. Clinicians and other mental health professionals who rely solely on biomedical approaches to mental health fail to meet …

Mental Health Service Utilization Among African American Emerging Adults, Sha-Lai Williams

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Mental illness affects 25-30% of US adults ages 18 years and older in a given year. Of those individuals, about 41% fail to utilize mental health services. Research indicates that being African American and between the ages of 18 and 29 are associated with decreased rates of service utilization. Yet, less is known about the factors related to mental health service utilization among a specific subset of these groups, namely, African American emerging adults. Using empirically-tested theoretical frameworks as its foundation, this dissertation study aimed to address this gap in literature by examining specific predisposing, enabling, and need factors: e.g., …

Understanding Gendered Criminal Involvement With A Community-Based Criminal Sample: Assessing Substance Abuse And Mental Health Needs, Stacy Taylor

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explored the gendered effect of substance abuse and mental health issues on the pathways to criminal convictions with a criminal population in the community setting. The data was retrieved through a file review of a sample of 48 female and 42 male offenders who received crisis care during a one-year period, at a community corrections agency in a medium-sized urban community in Ontario. The data collected was based upon factors derived from the LSI-R (Andrews & Bonta, 1995) and the Women’s Supplemental Risk/Needs Assessment (Van Voorhis, Wright, Salisbury & Bauman, 2010). Results of the present study revealed gender …

Applying The Social Norms Approach To Help Seeking Behavior In The Military, Janette Hamilton

Theses and Dissertations

OBJECTIVE: The study assessed the applicability of the social norms approach to help-seeking behavior in the military by exploring whether Service Members are affected by perceptions of peers’ beliefs about stigma related barriers to mental health care. METHOD: Data were collected from members of the Virginia National Guard (N= 84) during Yellow Ribbon events. Using surveys, Service Members’ own perceptions and their perceptions of their peers’ beliefs about barriers to seeking psychological care were gathered. RESULTS: Participants’ own beliefs about barriers to care were positively correlated with perceptions of peers’ beliefs. Variance in help-seeking status was better accounted for by …

Predictors Of Perfectionism In Latter-Day Saint Students, Preston V. Tenney

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to gain insight into the prevalence, nature and etiology of perfectionism in a sample of devout Latter-day Saint college students at Brigham Young University. A number of variables-including self-conscious emotions, mental health, interpersonal/cognitive style, and religious orientation-were entered into multiple regression models to determine the strongest predictors of perfectionism. Participants were 245 students studying at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT in the spring of 1995. The self-conscious construct of shame demonstrated to be the strongest predictor of perfectionism followed by depression and religious fundamentalism. In addition to these findings, it was found …

Family Structure And Children's Socioeconomic Attainment In The Transition To Adulthood, Jamie Seabrook

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

With the proliferation of different family forms in many western countries over the last few decades, research investigating the influence of family structure on children’s socioeconomic status attainment has expanded dramatically, especially in the United States. The purpose of this study was to estimate the relative influence of family structure, maternal resources and family mental health on predicting children’s educational, occupational, and income attainment in young adulthood.

Data for this study were derived from a case-comparison, three-wave panel study of single-parent and two-parent families living in London, Ontario, with interviews conducted in 1993 (wave 1), 1994 (wave 2), and between …

Mental Health Practitioner’S Perspective Of Early Intervention Treatment Barriers For Young Children And Their Families, Melissa J. Mccanney

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Young children are showing an increase in behavioral and emotional disturbances. Children are showing precocious knowledge of information about drugs, sex and violence. This research project reviews previous findings for causes and intervention for these behaviors. Early intervention, family barriers and access barriers concerning mental health treatment were themes that were continuously discussed in the existing research. This study focused on those themes and surveyed 29 professionals about the family and access barriers that families and children face in regards to preschool mental health treatment. The participants were surveyed anonymously and the findings were analyzed for common themes. The results …

An Exploratory Survey Of Some Christian Leaders' Views Re: Causes And Treatment Of Mental Health And Substance Abuse Problems : "Let Go And Let God?" Or More?, Katryn A. Little

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory study was undertaken to determine the attitudes of leaders in Christian churches toward problems with mental health or substance abuse issues. As beliefs about causation of these problems may directly impact types of help offered to those suffering, leaders were also asked to identify particular types of treatment they recommended. This study was conducted in two parts. The first part involved a snowball sampling of known associates of the researcher who were asked for their help to enroll volunteers for an online survey. The survey asked about: how many and for what purpose the leaders met with congregants; …

Urban Teachers' Perspectives On Promoting Social And Emotional Well-Being In The Classroom, Sara Lipton-Carey

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study explored urban elementary school teachers' perspectives on promoting mental health in the classroom. Despite the increased research indicating the value of classroom-based mental health interventions and the growing availability of social and emotional health curricula, there is yet to be a widespread adoption of mental health promotion practices in classrooms. As there is little empirical research on what teachers believe their role is regarding the promotion of social and emotional well-being, this study attempts to reduce the research to practice gap by eliciting teachers' perspectives on this topic. Teachers increasingly need to meet the social and emotional …

Interventions That Help The Helpers: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Interventions Targeting Compassion Fatigue, Secondary Traumatic Stress And Vicarious Traumatization In Mental Health Workers, Melissa Lynn Bercier

Dissertations

Compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress and vicarious traumatization have received widespread attention in the literature due to an increased awareness of negative effects mental health workers experience when working with people who have been traumatized. Mental health workers become more vulnerable to significant stress when they work with trauma victims, which can lead to many negative consequences that can affect their own health as well as their treatment of their clients. While there is much that we are learning about the causes and outcomes of mental health workers' exposure to their clients' trauma, there has been less focus on effectiveness …

Work-Related Stress And Mental Health Of Child Care Center Workers, Sarah Lietzow Witherell

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate what factors are associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, somatization, and general psychological distress in a sample of child care center workers. A sample of 101 employees from 14 different child care centers in the southeastern Michigan area were administered questionnaires that asked about work and home life, social support, and mental health. Data was also collected from center directors regarding the type and size of the child care program and the annual turnover rate of each facility. One of the key findings of the study was that a significant number of …

Mental Health On Youtube: Exploring The Potential Of Interactive Media To Change Knowledge, Attitudes And Behaviors About Mental Health, Caroline Belser Foster

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation first examines the mental health content on the video-sharing site YouTube as a foundation for exploring the ways the mental health community (members and associates of the National Alliance on Mental Illness) have used, and may use, YouTube in the future for information seeking, social support seeking, information providing, and social support providing. Using a content analysis of a systematic sample of YouTube videos produced by the YouTube search engine for the terms 'mental health' and 'mental illness,' this study highlights types, topics and formats of mental health related content, including types of mental illnesses, as well as …

A Community Based System Of Integrated Clinical Care: Primary Care, Mental Health And Substance Use Treatment, Terri Reuvers

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Our segregated medical and mental health care system misses opportunities for early detection of physical disease. Missed opportunities lead to increased costs. Colorado’s Medicaid health plan estimates that an integrated health program will reduce costs for patients with psychiatric disorders by 10%. The cost of doing nothing may exceed $300 billion per year in the United States (NCCBH, 2010). The purpose of this Capstone project is to critically examine existing models of Integrated Primary and Mental Health care. These models will then be evaluated to identify those most compatible with rural communities in Southern Minnesota.

The Relationship Between Gratitude And Psychological, Social, And Academic Functioning In Middle Adolescence, Michelle Denise Hasemeyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Guided by positive psychology and broaden-and-build theoretical frameworks, this study utilized a correlational research design to explore the relationships between gratitude and adolescents' psychological, social, and academic well-being in a diverse sample of 499 high school students. Results of multiple regression analyses that controlled for potential effects of student demographic features on outcomes showed that higher levels of gratitude predicted more life satisfaction (β=.63, sr2=.40) , less internalizing symptoms (β= -.44, sr2= .19), more social support from parents (β=.50, sr2=.25), teachers (β=.28, sr2=.08), and peers (β=.34, sr2=.12), higher grades (β=.12, sr2=.014), and better academic self-perceptions (β=.30, sr2=.09). These relationships were …