Digital Commons Network^™

Review Of "The Strengths-Based Guide To Supporting Autistic Children: A Positive Psychology Approach To Parenting", Robert J. Oliverio

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Relationships Between Burnout, Isolation, Secondary Trauma, And Self-Compassion In Mental Health Providers, Michael Underiner, Rodger K. Bufford, Mary Peterson, Daniel Rodriquez

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Burnout is a common challenge among mental health professionals.

It is the main catalyst for professional misconduct (Morse, et al., 2012) and common among mental health professionals (Prime, et al., 2020; Sampiao, et al, 2021; Simionato & Simpson, 2018).

COVID-19 increased social isolation, decreased social support, and strained family systems among mental health practitioners increasing risk (Prime, et al., 2020; Sampaio, et al., 2021). Social distancing also diminished systemic resources and increased reliance on personal resources for coping. Ongoing vicarious trauma increased, thus fostering burnout (McBride, et al., 2020; Shoji et al., 2016). Self-compassion is proposed as a possible solution …

The Adult Moral Injury Scale: An Initial Validation Study, Robert Wingerter

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Moral injury (MI) is a construct that has gained significant traction over the past decade and holds great implications for the etiology, nosology, and treatment of trauma. MI literature is currently limited by established measures of MI which share various strengths and weaknesses, and there has been a call in the literature to address measurement of MI (Griffin et al., 2019). In this study we propose a new measure of MI, the Adult Moral Injury Scale (AMIS), and will conduct initial validation of this measure. The AMIS is designed to be a content valid measure of MI symptoms in the …

Impacts Of Stigma On Female Service Members, Alisha Weatherly-Kershaw

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

There are a variety of factors that prevent people from seeking mental health treatment. The stigma associated with mental health disorders or seeking treatment is a primary deterrent. This stigma is particularly impactful within the armed forces when they are assessed for fitness for duty. Because most research examines stigma’s impact on male military members, this study aims to identify the type of stigma that creates the most significant barrier to female service members seeking mental health treatment. Results indicate that stigmatizing perceptions of service members significantly impact female service members holding negative views towards seeking treatment.

The Relationship Of Religious Coping To Adverse Childhood Experiences And Expression Of Traditional Masculinity, Jake D. Bigon

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Men are subject to a variety of physical, mental, and social challenges (Garside & Klimes-Dougan, 2002; Lawson et al., 2015; O’Neil, 1981; Pleck, 1995, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have also been a major predictor of negative health outcomes (Felitti et al., 1998, p. 251). While many studies have observed the correlation of masculinity and these negative health outcomes, few have sought to understand the relationship between masculine presentation and ACEs. Religious coping has been seen to reduce distress and contribute to posttraumatic response (Pargament et al., 2000; Prati & Pietrantoni, 2009; Fallot & …

Relative Impact Of Human & Natural Trauma On Psychological Functioning, Javeen Lynette Beard

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Trauma, both natural and human induced, affects numerous people daily, often significantly impairing their quality of life. Human trauma and the subsequent quality of life has been extensively examined, but natural trauma remains largely overlooked. This study compares the quality of life following human and natural trauma. Because no suitable measure could be located, a 12-item Natural Disaster Assessment (NDA) was developed. Reponses were rated on a 7-point continuum from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Participants were recruited using Mechanical Turk. Among 136 participants, 56 were male (41.2%), 79 were female (58.1%), and one identified as other (0.7%). Participants completed …

Relationships Between Burnout, Isolation, Secondary Trauma, And Self-Compassion In Mental Health Providers, Michael Underriner

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Experiencing burnout as a mental health provider is a growing concern with a number of personal and professional issues related to it; organizational and self-directed interventions are often used to combat the issue (Morse et al., 2012). With the onset of coronavirus (COVID-19), mental health providers face more isolation at work due to social distancing measures and more instances of hearing trauma reports from their patients. Self-compassion might be a solution to address the concerns stated above (McCade et al., 2021; Richardson et al, 2018). Participants in this study were members of a state psychological association, many of whom are …

Increasing Conceptual Clarity Of Act Interventions For Burnout: A Novel Workshop For Women In Ministry, Lydia Hogan

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The purpose of this study is threefold; to address a gap in the literature concerning mechanism of change of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) interventions for burnout, to create an evidence-based burnout intervention for women in ministry, and to propose a theory of burnout etiology and recovery. Participants in this novel 6-week online ACT-based workshop showed significant improvement in burnout, particularly those who endorsed higher pre-intervention burnout. Change in burnout scores was inconsistently mediated by changes in psychological flexibility across dimensions of personal burnout, work burnout, and client burnout as measured on the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Findings of this study …

Trauma-Informed Care In Native American Education: Compassion Satisfaction, Secondary Traumatic Stress, Burnout, And Resilience As Mediating Factors To Implementation, Peter Tissell

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

With increased awareness and discussion of trauma-informed care, both within the educational setting and the Native-American community, this study went about developing a training series on trauma and resilience for educational and residential staff at a Native-American boarding school. This study sought to identify the effectiveness of this training series on improving participant’s attitudes towards trauma-informed care, while also assessing individual characteristics including Resilience, Burnout, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Compassion Satisfaction as possible predictors of trainees’ attitudes. Results determined the training series did not significantly change trainees’ attitudes on trauma-informed care. Additionally, while resilience and secondary traumatic stress proved to …

Videoconference Administration Of The Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, Zachary T. Stine

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Neuropsychological assessments rely on standardization, reliability, validity, and normative data to increase the accuracy of clinicians’ interpretations (Lezak et al., 2012). One particular assessment that focuses on examining comprehensive executive functioning is the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS; Delis et al., 2001). Videoconference is gaining in use to provide services within multiple healthcare domains to increase access to care and convenience, potentially reduce costs, and sustain patient satisfaction (Brearly et al., 2017). The literature has shown support for the growing field of telehealth neuropsychology (Brearly et al., 2017); however, many neuropsychological assessments, such as the D-KEFS, have not been normed …

Virtuous Dialogues: A Study On Wisdom And Quiet Ego In Church Settings, Jeffrey A. Dunkerley Ii

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

An individual’s ability to balance the identity of self with the identity of the other, Quiet Ego, consider situations from various perspectives (Reflective Wisdom) and reflect on emotional reactivity (Affective Wisdom) are influential components to engaging in dialogue. The context for dialogue within the United States is increasingly impacted by the backdrop of polarization and defensiveness, impacting one’s ability to develop and maintain the characteristics above. The Christian Church in the United States is not immune to the shifts in dialogue and are experiencing similar difficulties with dialogue seen in the broader society. Virtuous Dialogues is a training curriculum that …

Covid-19 And Fall Rates In Older Adults: Longitudinal Study On The Impact Of Covid-19 On Geriatric Fall Rates In A Care Facility, Britton Holman

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Falls in the geriatric population are continuing to increase around the world. Along with this, COVID-19 caused significant distress and changes in many older adult populations living in care facilities. Our study used archival data to determine if an association existed between fall rates at a specific care facility before COVID-19, during COVID-19, and during an outbreak of COVID-19 at the facility. An analysis of variance and Bonferroni’s post-hoc analysis was conducted, which found falls tended to be lower during outbreaks at the facility compared to pre-COVID-19 times. Reasons for this finding may be due to restrictions on activities and …

Retention Rates In Medication For Opioid Treatment: The Effects Of Social Determinants Of Health, Melissa Flores

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Background. Medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD), the use of pharmacotherapy, behavior, and psychotherapy, has been implemented in the treatment of opioid use disorders. MOUD seeks to retain patients in treatment to stabilize medication management and implement coping skills, and many studies have described an association between retention and recovery. Social Determinants of Health (SDH) are important to consider in efforts toward retention in MOUD programs. Method. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of SDH on retention rates in MOUD, specifically evaluating a program that uses a Collaborative Community Approach Model (CCAM), which aims …

Inner Work Community: Shadow Work As Spiritual Formation, Michael Simmons

Doctor of Leadership

The NPO statement surrounding this doctoral project is that A theological, practical, and community-centered framework for shadow work is disconnected from Christian spiritual formation. This doctoral project is the culmination of a three-fold process: discovering the need for shadow work in the context of spiritual formation, designing multi-faceted virtually-based opportunities to address this need among individuals and groups, and delivering those opportunities via online courses, one-on-one shadow work, and digital content such as essays, articles, and podcasts. My vocational context is my unofficial organization, and MVP, Inner Work Community, which provides these opportunities. Inner Work Community is extended through partnerships …

Racial Healing In The Church: The Usefulness Of The Interpersonal Process In Therapy Model, Winston Seegobin

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Racial disunity is a major challenge facing the Christian church. This article examines psychological factors that contribute to and maintain both racial disunity and racial unity through the lens of the Interpersonal Process in Therapy model (Sullivan, 1968; Teyber & Teyber, 2017). It looks at how early interpersonal relationships in childhood influence interpersonal relationships as adults and how the therapeutic relationship as a healing influence can be applied to racial healing as adults. Spiritual factors that contribute to and maintain racial disunity and racial unity are also discussed. Understanding that it is the relationship that heals, specific strategies such as …

Military Chaplains’ Provision Of Psychological Assistance To Soldiers In Ukraine, Artem Makovskyi

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This article presents the results of a theoretical analysis of and the author's personal practical experience with the work of military chaplains in providing psychological assistance to Ukrainian servicemen. Researchers in the field of psychology of religion have identified a number of functions of religion,--namely communicative, regulatory, integrating, ideological and compensatory--on which the pastoral activity of a military chaplain can be analyzed in their provision of psychological assistance to combatants. A comparison of the tasks facing military psychologists and military chaplains is carried out based on legal documents. Emphasis is placed on those moments where they can functionally complement each …

Spiritual Well-Being Scale (Swbs): Measuring Spiritual Well-Being In International Contexts, Rodger K. Bufford, Raymond F. Paloutzian

Faculty Publications - Psychology Department

The Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) is a 20-item measure of self-perceived spiritual health. Developed in the 1980s, it includes 2 subscales with 10 items each. Responses are made on a 6-point continuum from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree with no neutral point; 9 of the items are negatively worded to minimize response biases. The US samples show good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Content validity was established in construction. Expected correlations with religion and spirituality indices, social and psychological mea-sures, and physical functioning and demonstration of expected group differences support criterion validity. Factor analysis commonly shows 2 factors corresponding to …

Personality And Flourishing In Seminarians: A Single Case Study, Kylee M. Peterson

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

This research study utilized a single case design to meet the dual need of applying personality research to clinical populations (Costa Jr, 1991) and the necessity of creating a formative assessment for first-year master and doctoral students to facilitate flourishing in a complex profession. This was done with the primary aim of evaluating the effectiveness of the formative assessment program pilot across stake holders including the executive dean of a Portland seminary, psychologist consultant, and ministry students. The method for this pursuit was an explanatory single case study which includes reviewing quantitative & qualitative student feedback survey data and interviews …

Cook's "The Asperkid’S Secret Book Of Social Rules:The Handbook Of (Not-So-Obvious) Neurotypical Social Guidelines For Autistic Teens (10th Anniversary Edition)" (Book Review), Amber C. Wessies

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Checking In On "Check-Ins": A Phenomenological Look At Personal Disclosures In Quasi-Supervision Groups, Aaron Stusser

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how clinical psychologist trainees experience personal disclosures within an academic, clinical supervision-style groups (labeled quasi-supervision). Centering around an initial call-for-disclosure present in supervision environments colloquially called a check-in, this two-phase qualitative study utilized interviews and a member-checking survey with sixteen 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-, and 4th-year doctoral psychology students attending quasi-supervision groups. These groups, structured like group clinical supervision settings but differing in primary focus (practitioner versus client) and lack of access to client records, offered valuable insight into the purpose of personal disclosure within supervisory settings. Questioning centered around obtaining phenomenological …

The Wisdom In Questions, Dane C. Joseph

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

This essay reflects an educational psychologist's thoughts on pursuing wisdom during a pandemic and multiple social and economic justice crises through their lived experiences. These experiences eventually place people, circumstances, and faith at the center of wisdom while embracing questioning over certainty and answers.

The Influence Of Personality And Trauma On The Outcomes Of Sex Offender Treatment In An Outpatient Setting, Nicholas R. Rogers

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Sex offenders in the United States invoke a negative reaction in a majority of people. Often, there is a stigma about the character and personality of an individual who would commit such acts. These perceptions have largely kept the development of treatment modalities limited when compared to other psychological problems. One area that continues to need research is in the factors that contribute to the outcomes of treatment for sex offenders. The present study investigated the relationships between perceived historical trauma, personality, and treatment completion in an outpatient group of sexual offenders. We hypothesized that (1) sexual offenders who completed …

Agenesis Of The Corpus Callosum: Developmental Trajectories Through Childhood, Kristin Eddy

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) is a congenital brain malformation that affects the area of the brain responsible for interhemispheric transfer of information (Paul, 2011). Individuals with AgCC tend to have specific deficits resulting from reduced interhemispheric transfer for sensory-motor information, cognitive processing speed, and deficits in complex reasoning and novel problem-solving (Brown & Paul, 2019; Mangum, 2018; Miller et al., 2018). There are indications that those with AgCC also struggle with communication skills during early stages of life (Badderudin et al., 2007) and social interactions during adolescence (Paul et al., 2007). The purpose of this study is to …

Impact Of A Recreational Outdoor And Adventure Program On Adolescent Well-Being, Mitchell J. Fritz

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

This study used an archival dataset to investigate the effects of a recreational outdoor and adventure program (ROAP) on overall adolescent well-being. Successful ROAPs have been found to increase overall well-being as well as other factors such as increased self-efficacy, peer involvement, connectedness to nature, and decreased stress. This study examined 34 high school to college age individuals who participated in a summer ROAP. Five crews completed a 28-day canoe trip in northern Minnesota, and one crew completed a 37-day canoe trip near the Brooks Range in Alaska. Participants completed pre-trip, post-trip, and 45-day follow-up surveys measuring overall well-being, self-efficacy, …

Emotional Cpr (Connect, Partner Respond): Outcome Evaluation Of A School-Based Intervention For Child And Adolescent Suicidality, Elisabeth Wise

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Introduction. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a universal, school-based program (Emotionally- Connect, Partner, Respond [E-CPR]) that seeks to improve adolescent attitude, confidence in ability to respond to a peer in crisis and ability to identify adequate crisis intervention skills. Methods. E-CPR includes a didactic portion with emphasis on knowledge and attitudinal components and role play activities to enhance skill-building. To test the effectiveness of E-CPR a comparison group was gathered using an online survey platform. Results. There was a significant difference in pre-test to post-test scores for the participants such that attending E-CPR increased …

Mental Health Literacy Among University Educators, Danni Ewing

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Mental health literacy is a term originally coined the in 1990s that refers to the recognition, prevention, and management of mental illness. Poor mental health literacy can delay or prevent treatment (Godfrey Born et al., 2019; Tay et al., 2018). Higher mental health literacy increases help-seeking behaviors, positive attitudes towards treatments, and improves health outcomes (Jorm, 2012; Rüsch et al., 2011). The current study aimed to explore the mental health literacy of university educators to support student mental health. The study used an electronic survey to collect demographic data, information related to teaching and mental health experience, and responses to …

Comparing Cognitive And Behavioral Profiles In School-Aged Children With Specific Learning Disorder And Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Anna Van Asselt

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Two of the most common childhood disorders are Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), frequently co-occurring, and both impacting academic performance. Given the overlap between these disorders on cognitive and behavioral/emotional factors, assessment research has explored how they are differentiated on standardized tests. The present study investigated cognitive functioning and behavioral/emotional functioning in school-aged children with SLD (n = 31), ADHD (n = 17), and ADHD + SLD (n = 18). The archival data for this study consisted of 66 students from a rural community. Results indicated that students with SLD demonstrated more difficulty with auditory processing …

Shaul's "The Asd And Me Picture Book: A Visual Guide To Understanding Challenges And Strengths For Children On The Autism Spectrum" (Book Review), Susanah J. Wilson Hanson

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Relational Variables Associated With Self-Reported Political Idealogy, Dalton Young

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

This dissertation examined the relationship between self-reported political ideology and the relational variables of attachment, shame, and grace. Previous research on political ideology has focused on conservatism, as well as morality and personality differences across the political spectrum. This study combined two samples of 155 adult participants gathered through Qualtrics and 79 undergraduate students. Each participant completed a demographics questionnaire, Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Feeney et al., 1994), Dimensions of Grace Scale (DGS; Bufford et al., 2017), Duke University Religion Index (DUREL; Koenig et al., 1997), and Internalized Shame Scale (ISS; Cook, 1988). Additionally, 19 of the undergraduate students completed …

The Relationship Between Therapist Adverse Childhood Experiences, Personal Therapy, Resilience, And Treatment Outcomes, Elizabeth J. Nunez

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

With the development of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) questionnaire, Felitti et al. (1998) established that childhood trauma has a wide-ranging impact on adult health. Subsequent studies have identified a myriad of relationships between childhood adversity and negative physical, psychological, social, vocational, educational, and developmental outcomes in adulthood (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020; Hughes et al., 2017; Kalmakis & Chandler, 2015). New research has uncovered higher rates of ACEs among those in helping professions (Butler et al., 2018; Harris, 2019; Thomas, 2016), but it is unclear how these experiences impact their work as helpers. This study investigated the …