Digital Commons Network^™

Perceptions Of The Veterans Administration And Mental Health Treatment Seeking Intentions Among Veterans, Hilary Hines

Dissertations

Among the veteran population there is a trend of underutilizing mental health services despite the higher number of veterans with mental health diagnoses. Though previous research has examined barriers to mental health care such as stigma and a warrior mentality, there may be additional barriers that emanate from the system to which veterans are entitled and encouraged to use, the Veterans Administration (VA). This study examined the mediational relationships among perceptions of the VA, attitudes about seeking mental health treatment at the VA, and intentions to seek mental health treatment at the VA among veterans. Data from 96 veterans were …

On Versus Off-Campus Living: An Exploration Of College Students' Mental Well-Being, Sameer Siddiqui

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The World Health Organization defines mental health as “a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well, and contribute to their community” (“Mental Health,” 2022). Risk and protective factors can be used to predict mental health outcomes. Both positive and negative outcomes can be predicted, respectively. The categories of these include individual, relationship, community, and societal. When examining college students, it is most reasonable to study the relationship and community factors. This study examined whether living on or off campus impacts predicted mental health outcomes in …

Mothers Of Children With Disabilities: Perceptions Of Online Peer Mentoring Support, April S. Felder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There has been a trend of increased diagnoses of childhood disabilities in the United States. Mothers who care for a child diagnosed with disabilities typically experience increased parental obligations and maternal mental health deficits that often go undiagnosed or untreated, resulting in adverse events. Researchers found that peer mentoring is an effective, nonclinical resource for addressing these mothers’ intervention needs but have not established alternative ways to increase access and delivery. The purpose of this generic, qualitative study was to explore how mothers of children with disabilities perceive online peer mentoring as an intervention resource for stress and coping. Lazarus’s …

The Influence Of Loneliness : Mental Health's Impact On Workaholism Among Graduate Students, Bhindai Mahabir

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Graduate students are the principal proponents of academia and its ecosystem. In addition to challenging curriculums, teaching and research responsibilities, caregiving demands, and lingering student loans, graduate students are also particularly vulnerable to stress. These factors all adversely affect graduate students' mental health. Using longitudinal data from 247 graduate students over the span of six months, this study examines how self-reported depression and anxiety may influence graduate students’ workaholism through increased loneliness based on the mood congruency judgment effect. Further, graduate students are often surrounded by students in the same program and classes who share similar experiences and with whom …

Educational Materials And Image Induction Increase Treatment Credibility, Zi Ling Fiona Low

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Patient-perceived treatment credibility is linked to important outcome measures including symptom reduction, therapeutic alliance, patient satisfaction, and attrition rates. However, few studies have tested strategies to enhance treatment credibility. The present study investigates the effect of brief, written educational materials and the use of an image induction prime on perceptions of credibility for cognitive behavioral therapy and psilocybin-assisted therapy for depression. Participants (N = 493) rated the perceived credibility of depression treatments before and after reading brief educational materials. Half of the participants were asked an image induction question priming the construct of open-mindedness. Results indicate that brief educational materials …

Heavy Is The Head, Elizabeth Wiles

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

"Heavy is the Head: how my mental illness made me a writer" is a collection of poetry about a journey in and through mental illness. It engages the social action issue of mental health awareness. "Heavy is the Head" tells a story of mental illness, how it was accepted, how it was used to improve, and how it can pave the road to self-acceptance.

Get Off Of Your Phone And Into Your Life : Elucidating Contributions Of Anxiety, Depression, And Psychological Inflexibility On Problematic Smartphone Use, Max Zachary Roberts

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background: Problematic smartphone use (PSU) is a growing behavioral health problem; onethat is associated with depression and anxiety. The aim of the present study was to elucidate proceses that may account for such relations, with specific attention on a multidimentional transdiagnostic construct known as psychological inflexibility (PI). Methods: Undergraduates (N = 549; Mage = 18.84, SDage = 1.26; 62.7% female) completed a survey battery assessing PI and its six component processes, problematic smartphone use, and depression and anxiety. We tested PI, and then its six component processes, as mediators of relations between anxiety and depression and PSU. We also reversed …

We All Feel Feelings, Ben Ohene

Theses and Dissertations

Consisting of three illustrated books, We All Feel Feelings is designed as a vehicle for the discussion of emotional and mental health with young boys. These books will help foster a mindset of openness and acceptance through different methods of displaying and understanding emotions.

The Effects Of Stress Mindset Interventions On University Students' Health And Functioning, Abigail Fate

Undergraduate Honors Papers

In modern society, the overwhelming cultural narrative proclaims that stress is detrimental to health and should be limited and avoided at all costs. However, recent research has demonstrated that it is one’s stress mindset, rather than their stress level, that determines the psychological and physiological outcomes. Mindsets are lenses that simplify and order the world, and have been proven to influence daily behavioral and physiological responses to create cascading effects. Recent research has demonstrated that one’s mindset about stress is the demining factor in health, performance, and productivity in response to stressful conditions, and that these mindsets can be manipulated …

An Expansion Of A Model Of Depression In Multiple Sclerosis : Emotion Regulation And Coping As Moderators Of The Relationship Between Functional Disability And Adjustment To Disease, Elizabeth W. Raffanello

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediate disease affecting the central nervous system (CNS), producing a range of physical and emotional symptoms. Psychological disorders, particularly depression and anxiety, are common in MS, but only partially accounted for by MS symptoms. The associations between common MS sequelae (e.g., fatigue, pain, disability) and mental health indicators are weak and inconsistent, suggesting the presence of moderators. This research study examined two possible moderators of the association between MS sequelae and adjustment to disease: emotion regulation and coping. Emotion regulation refers to the processes used to modulate emotional experiences. It is closely related to coping, …

Do Obsessive Beliefs Moderate The Relationship Between Obsessive-Compulsive And Depressive Symptoms?, Joanthan A. Teller

Honors Theses

There has been limited research investigating potential mechanisms that drive the association between obsessive-compulsive (OC) and depressive symptoms. Obsessive beliefs are implicated in the etiology and maintenance of OC symptoms and have been shown to correlate with depressive symptoms amongst OCD patients. I assessed whether obsessive beliefs moderate the relation between obsessive compulsive and depressive symptoms to replicate analyses from a study conducted by Teller et al. (2017). Forty-six participants with elevated OC symptoms were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Each participant completed the obsessing subscale of the Revised Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI-R), Dimensional Obsessive Compulsive Scale (DOCS), the Revised Obsessive …

Depression And Anxiety In Emerging Adults : The Impact Of Executive Function And Coping, Elisabeth J. O'Rourke

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Emerging adulthood is a developmental period marked by increased anxiety related to academic, social, and professional stressors. The ability to successfully cope with stress is strongly negatively related to mental health outcomes. Furthermore, recent studies indicate a connection between executive function impairment, anxiety and depression. The current study examines executive functioning (EF), coping, anxiety, and depression in a sample of 210 emerging adults (NMales = 131, Mage = 19.14). Additionally, the relation between EF and coping is explored. Finally, coping’s effect on the relation between EF and outcome (anxiety and depression) is investigated. The results demonstrate that males and females …

Creative Counseling Techniques For Elementary-Aged Children, Brian C. Caperton

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Research suggests widespread decline of creative ability in elementary-aged children, particularly kindergarten through 3^rd grade (Kim, 2012). The increase of mental health disorders in children, the exponential rise of technology use, and the surge of psychotropic medication use indicate the need for nuanced, divergent clinical interventions. Creative counseling fills this demand by offering children opportunities to engage in open-ended, reflective abstraction and other therapeutic processes. The author opens with an overview of creativity and psychology, conceptualizes the target population, and discusses theories, models, and interventions of creative counseling with elementary-aged children. The paper will provide clinicians with an understanding …

The Association Of Internalized Stigmas, Culture-Specific Coping, And Depression In Gay And Bisexual Black Men, Duane Glen Khan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Gay and bisexual Black men experience higher lifetime depression rates than both White and Black heterosexual men. Some social stress researchers argued that this rate may be due to having two stigmatized minority identities and therefore being at greater risk. However, gay and bisexual Black men also experience lifetime depression rates significantly below White LGB people, suggesting resilience to depression for those with these intersecting identities, race and sexuality. This study attempted to address the debate between greater risk versus resilience in gay and bisexual Black men.

Depression And Social Functioning : Examining Two Interpersonal Theories, Caroline B. Smith

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to test the specific predictions of two theories of depression and social functioning. One, the Social Navigation Hypothesis, is an adaptationist approach that predicts that depression functions to increase an individual’s ability to analyze and solve problems in their social system. The individual engages in behaviors such as feedback seeking in order to identify potential problems and develop solutions. In contrast, Interpersonal Theory predicts that depression is related to aversive social behaviors that can lead to rejection. Adult American participants (n=155) were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. They completed an online survey …

Effects Of Mild To Moderate Stress On Mental Rotation, James Frederick Bell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental rotation (MR) is the ability to mentally shift one's visual perspective of any object by changing the orientation of a mental image of that object. Research into the effects of stress on MR could be used to help improve understanding of a variety of visual-spatial tasks performed in hyper-vigilance situations. However, until the present study, there has been no research on the effects of stress on MR. The Yerkes-Dodson Law predicts performance will be improved when an individual is exposed to mild to moderate stress. The purpose of this study was to answer three research questions. The questions examined …

An Examination Of Subtypes Of Inclusive Depressive Symptoms Across Female And Male Low-Income Latino And Black Adolescents, Stephanie M. Ernestus

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The current study examined the developmental patterns of nine depression symptoms (including traditional, masculine, and somatic symptoms of depression) in a sample of low-income, urban African American and Hispanic youth at early (10-12) and late (16-19) adolescence, and examined differences between males and females depressive profiles at each stage. Additionally, this study identified predictors of latent class membership (ethnic group and stress) at each time point. For this secondary analysis of data, a total of 610 early adolescents were selected from the Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study (Cherlin, 1999; Cherlin et al., 2001), which reduced to 453 late …

Modeling Hedonic Processing And Anhedonia In Depression, Kevin Mercado

Honors College Theses

Depression is characterized by low positive emotion and a lack of pleasurable experiences, or anhedonia. Past studies have emphasized controlling negative affect, but there is an emerging trend in the depression literature to focus on positive emotion. The current study employed several psychophysiological tools, postauricular reflex, startle blink reflex, and event-related potential (ERP) components such as P3 and the late positive potential (LPP), to assess the dissociable components in positive emotion (consummatory and anticipatory processes). In addition, several different hypotheses of emotional dysfunction were evaluated to accurately model deficits in positive emotionality. A majority of the psychophysiological tools used supported …

Healthy Living Skills Education: A 12-Module Group Intervention For Individuals With Serious Mental Illness, Brette Marie Stephenson

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Serious mental illness often strikes during adolescence, a time of life when individuals typically prepare to navigate society as independent adults. Due to its symptoms and this crucial developmental interruption, people with serious mental illness often experience difficulties with acquiring and developing life skills. They often struggle to maintain financial independence or their physical health suffers as a result of poor diet and medication side effects. Most commonly, they struggle to develop competency in navigating the social demands of life and relationships. This project is a 12-module life skills group to provide support and group interventions regarding three life areas …

Factors Related To Depression In End-Stage Renal Disease Patients, Matthew Paul Mccurdy

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

High prevalence rates of depression have been well documented in patients with chronic kidney disease (Egede, 2007; U.S. Renal Data System, 2013). Furthermore, depression seems to play a major role in the mortality and morbidity rates of this population (Kellerman, Christensen, Baldwin, & Lawton, 2010; U.S. Renal Data System, 2013). Therefore this study aimed to discover factors that may influence depression in this population. Ten end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients’ depression scores were examined in relation to various sociodemographic measures. High depression scores had a significantly negative relationship with social functioning, overall quality of life, and age. A combined model …

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Maltreated Multiracial Youth, Harpreet Kaur

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lemos-Miller and Kearney (2006) first identified depression as a meditator of (1) dissociation and posttraumatic cognitions and (2) PTSD in maltreated children. In addition, they found that African American status weakened the mediating relationship, whereas multiracial status strengthened the mediating relationship. Multiracial youth in Lemos-Miller and Kearney's study experienced a stronger relationship between depression and PTSD than other ethnic groups.

The present study evaluated the Lemos-Miller and Kearney (2006) model of PTSD among a larger sample of multiracial youth. The present study sought to identify whether the Lemos-Miller and Kearney (2006) finding regarding multiracial youth could be replicated. The presented …

Receptivity Of Capital Jurors To Mitigating Factors Of Mental Illness, Intellectual Disability, And Situational Impairments In Death Penalty Decisions : The Capital Trial Analyzed As A Mitigating "Weight And Counterweight" To Premature Decisions And Pro-Death Bias, Leona Deborah Jochnowitz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research presents aspects of juror receptivity to mitigating factors of mental, cognitive/intellectual and situational impairments in capital sentencing decisions. The study examined types of mental factors, as well as the gender of defendants, the aggravating nature of the crime and victim vulnerability. An exploratory cross-tabulation analysis evaluated the percentages and relationships between juror closed-ended CJP survey responses to mental sentencing factors and mental evidence presented at trial for 38 cases. While the sample size was too small in some cells for significance testing, the percentages demonstrated patterns. A detailed qualitative analysis of 12 cases with strong evidence of mental …

Examining The Inner Experience Of Three Individuals With Major Depressive Disorder And Three Individuals With Bipolar Disorder, Janell Marie Mihelic

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) provide a description of expected experiences of individuals diagnosed with those disorders (e.g., sadness, expansive mood, difficulty concentrating). However, much remains unknown about the inner experience of individuals with these disorders which may prove crucial in understanding and treating these disorders. The present study examined the inner experience of three individuals with MDD and three individuals with BD using the Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) method (Hurlburt 1990, 1993, 2011). Results were not suggestive of any clear, consistent patterns of inner experience either within the MDD or BD groups …

An Empirically-Supported Model Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Maltreated Youth, Adrianna Wechsler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Posttraumatic stress disorder in maltreated youth is a young and burgeoning field. Lemos-Miller and Kearney (2006) were among the first to propose and test a theoretically and empirically-based model of PTSD in maltreated youth. The present study replicated and evaluated the Lemos-Miller and Kearney model within a larger and more diverse sample of maltreated adolescents. First, the Lemos-Miller and Kearney model was tested via structural equation modeling (SEM). Second, the model was evaluated across age, gender, and ethnicity. Third, trauma history, family environment (i.e., cohesion and conflict), dissociation, and trauma-related cognitions were evaluated as potential mediating variables within the model. …

The Effect Of Depressive Symptoms, Mental Distress And Empathy On Embodiment Of The Rubber Hand Illusion, David Parrick

Theses : Honours

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of depression, mental distress and empathy on the strength of the rubber hand illusion (RHI). The RHI is a perceptual illusion that is thought to occur as a result of visual capture during multimodal sensory stimulation. The RHI was induced in participants by synchronous stroking of their real hand and the visible fake hand for two minutes. Participants were then requested to complete a nine-item questionnaire on the strength of the illusion, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), which was used to screen for depressive symptoms and general mental …

Depressive Symptoms, Neuropsychological Performance, And Cognitive Complaints Among Individuals With Hiv, Andrea Lynn Hobkirk

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The rates of depression and neuropsychological impairment in HIV-positive populations are considerably higher than the general population. Consistent research suggests that depression is not related to cognitive impairment in HIV, however the majority of these studies were conducted with unidimensional or dichotomous measures of depression, weak methodologies, and small sample sizes. There is limited research suggesting that affective and somatic depressive symptoms alone may be associated with neuropsychological impairment in HIV, possibly through central nervous system dysfunction, yet no study to date has assessed this relation with an adequate sample size and a full neuropsychological battery. In addition, no study …

How Maladaptive Perfectionism Relates To Depression Among Asian International Students : Testing The Mediating Effects Of Acculturative Stress And Perceived Social Support, Jungeun Kim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study investigates how maladaptive perfectionism relates to depression among Asian international students by examining the mediating effects of acculturative stress and perceived social support. Given the recent emphasis on assessing situation-specific stress (Dunkley, Zuroff, & Blankstein, 2003) and examining the generalizability of the stress-mediation hypothesis (Hewitt & Flett, 2002; Hewitt, Flett, & Ediger, 1996) and the social disconnection model (Hewitt, Flett, Sherry, & Caelian, 2006), both direct and indirect relationships were hypothesized among the four constructs of interest, i.e., maladaptive perfectionism, acculturative stress, perceived social support, and depression. Specifically, this study tested acculturative stress and perceived social support as …

Exploring The Impact Of Meditation On Attentional Allocation To Emotion, Sychopathology, And Acute Stress, In A Community Sample With Mixed Anxiety And Depression, Nicholas Thomas Van Dam

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Attempts to define mindfulness in the clinical and psychological sciences have been marred by contradictions, inconsistencies, and controversies. In this wait-list (WL) controlled mindfulness meditation training (MMT) study, the efficacy and potential mechanisms of MMT was tested in a community sample with undiagnosed, but significant, symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress. In a pre/post design, which also included 3 month follow-up, participants completed self-report measures, participated in a psychosocial stress task (before and after which they completed self-report mood questionnaires and had physiological and salivary neuroendocrine markers collected), and completed an emotional attentional blink paradigm. Compared to WL (n = …

Intensive Mental Health Intervention And Incidence Of Discipline, Andrea Mulcay

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A new trend when dealing with behavior issues in the classroom is that of providing mental health services within the school systems. This study is researching an alternative school that offers mental health services for students that have been expelled from their home school. The purpose of this thesis is to determine if these mental health services provided within the alternative school helps reduce the amount of discipline issues in the school system. There are 77 participants, 33 receiving academic services plus intense mental health services and 44 receiving academic services plus minimal mental health services. Findings show no statistically …

Predicting Depressive Symptoms From Acculturative Family Distancing Theory : A Study Of Adult Taiwanese Parachute Kids, Hsin-Hua Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The current study applied Hwang's (2006a) theory of Acculturative Family Distancing (AFD) to adult Taiwanese parachute kids (Hamilton, 1993), partially replicating and extending Hwang et al.'s (2010) study, which tested relations among AFD, family conflict, and depression. The term parachute kids refers to individuals who immigrated to North America as children or adolescents unaccompanied by parents. It was hypothesized that greater cultural value incongruence and communication breakdown, constructs measured by Hwang's (2006b) AFD Scale, would predict greater family conflict, as measured by the Family Conflict subscale of the Social Interaction Scale (SIS-FC; Kessler et al., 1994), and family conflict would …