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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Comparing Short-Term, Intensive Therapy To Traditional, Long-Term Therapy, Laura Gonzalez, Sean Kruckenberg

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health diagnosis that occurs following a traumatic event, and military veterans are at higher risk of exposure to hazardous or life-threatening situations that may result in psychological trauma. PTSD sufferers experience symptoms such as distressing memories, nightmares, flashbacks, hypervigilance, and heightened arousal. Individuals with PTSD also experience higher rates of depressive and substance use disorders, involvement with the justice system, and self-harm and suicide. Many agencies, such as the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) provide treatment PTSD, however most programs experience dropout rates as high as 36%. Recent studies have shown that …

The Impact Of Sexual Assault Disclosure Reactions On Interpersonal Factors And Mental Health, Lindsey Chesus

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Sexual victimization is experienced by about 20% of women and two percent of men (Black et al., 2011). Disclosure of these incidences is high, with about 90% of survivors speaking out at least once about their assault (Ullman & Peter-Hagene, 2014). Though disclosure rates appear high, common reactions given by formal (e.g. law enforcement) and informal (e.g. a friend) sources are negative and counterintuitive to survivor growth (Ullman & Brecklin, 2002). Often studied with military veterans and suicide, perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belonging are tied to social disconnect and perceived rejection from interpersonal support systems, and often follow stressful life …

The Role Of Sexual Self-Schema And Psychological Distress In The Relationship Between Sexual Victimization And Sexual Functioning And Satisfaction, Alexandra Medina

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Sexual assault (SA) has been associated with various negative psychological consequences for survivors. Recent studies have shown an association between the history of sexual assault and sexual dysfunction among female survivors of sexual victimization. Specifically, sexual assault survivors experience difficulties with aspects of sexual functioning, sexual satisfaction, and sexual self-schemas (Rellini & Meston, 2011). The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between sexual victimization severity and sexual functioning and sexual satisfaction. In addition, we tested a sequential mediational model in which sexual self-schema followed by depressive and PTSD symptoms would mediate the relationship between sexual victimization …

The Effectiveness Of Therapeutic Interventions On Symptoms Of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Sean Howell

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Despite a plethora of research documenting the effectiveness of various therapeutic interventions on the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), there continues to be ambiguity insofar as which approaches or combination thereof are most effective at improving adverse manifestations of this disorder. This lack of clarity is further confounded when other variables and nuances pertaining to variations of PTSD (i.e. military, sexual trauma, childhood abuse, etc.) are factored into these comparisons. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the impact of various interventions on improving the symptoms of PTSD. This study also examined the variances which …

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (Cbt) For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd) On Veterans And Its Relationship To Suicidal Thoughts, Peggy Erwin

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research project demonstrates the importance of the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and its relationship to the frequency of suicidal thoughts in veterans through the use of the positivist paradigm. The correlation that was found showing that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy does reduce the frequency of suicide ideation through the collection of quantitative data, and the understanding of Cognitive Learning Theory it is this study offers clinicians another tool to combat suicide in veterans.

The Influence Of Self-Efficacy In The Relationship Between Variants Of Self-Blame And Psychological Distress, Andrea Barrera

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Sexual assault has consistently been found to be associated with depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology. Research shows that self-blaming attributions are directly linked to distress (Walsh, & Foshee, 1998; Walsh & Bruce, 2011). More specifically, the type of self-blame (i.e., behavioral and characterological) an individual associates with their experienced sexual assault, may influence their perceptions of avoidability of future assault and post-assault recovery. However, the role of self-efficacy in the relationship between behavioral and characterological self-blame in PTSD sexual assault survivors has been unexamined. The purpose of the proposed study is to assess the influence of self-efficacy in …

Treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Aging Veterans: What Works?, Heather Renee O'Dell Lewis

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious condition with debilitating symptoms which affects military veterans and has been understudied in the older population. Aside from treating the veterans of the Vietnam War and World War II, as service members from more recent conflicts age, the mental healthcare system needs to be able to treat them with empathy and effective therapies. As there is a need for future research focusing on this population, this paper reviews the current literature and utilizes Grounded theory to further the research related to PTSD in aging veterans. A selection of mental health clinicians with experience …

Mental Health Services For Military Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Crystal Lynn Toscano, Kanika Aisha Roberts

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has affected millions of veterans who have served in the United States Military. PTSD causes severe impairments in one's mental health, and is correlated with homelessness, substance abuse, and unemployment. Recently, the United States Department Veterans Affairs has been funded more to improve services of mental health and other health care services. Specifically, this study was interested in exploring the perceptions that veterans have of the quality of services that have been provided for PTSD.

Results indicated that the participants who utilized services felt individual and family therapy services were most helpful in reducing PTSD symptoms. …

Social Work Students’ Knowledge Of Veterans’ Needs And Issues, Sylvia H. Samy

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The veteran population is under-served. Due to the current circumstances of increased deployment and the rate of returning soldiers from current wars (Iraq and Afghanistan); there is an increased demand for competent social workers to provide them with services. Furthermore, the Department of Veteran Affairs is the number one employer of social workers. Hence, measuring the knowledge of social work students is essential to explore their competence of working with the veteran population. The study presents an exploratory research method, using a quantitative approach. Further, students’ knowledge was measured in ten domains: Benefits and Services, Service Related Disabilities, PTSD/Trauma, Childcare, …