Listening To Transgender And Autistic Voices: Reflecting On Affirming Research And Mental Health Practices, Kameron Bm Kirbyson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Those who are both autistic and transgender/gender diverse, an often-overlooked group, face difficulties accessing gender-affirming care and appropriate therapy and have higher rates of mental health complications. This study focused on listening to the voices of people who live with both of these identities through semi-structured interviewing and by centring the writer who is also autistic and transgender. Seven participants shared their experiences and highlighted issues they have come up against while trying to access care. Thematic analysis revealed several themes that were sorted into barriers and strengths. Barriers included autism symptoms, complex medical factors, interactions with institutions, traumatic events, …

Educators’ Perspectives On Teacher Mental Health And Professional Development., Sybil Hw Chan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Educator wellness is inextricably linked to their ability to teach and support students in the classroom. However, limited research has examined the factors that influence educator mental health in Canada, and the role of mental health-based professional development in these relationships. Therefore, the present mixed-method, multi-phase study examined the current knowledge, understandings, and beliefs about professional development and mental wellness for Canadian teacher candidates and associate teachers. Results from a binomial logistic regression found that higher educator psychological distress was positively correlated with presenteeism, and negatively correlated with workplace psychological safety. A reflexive thematic analysis of twelve semi-structured interviews further …

Caught Off Guard: The Fascinating Power Of Surprise In Capturing Covert And Overt Attention, Shahd Abu-Jazar

Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses

Attention is a critical mental process that allows individuals to focus on pertinent information and filter out distractors. This study's primary goal was to examine how surprise draws attention, which is significant as it may have an impact on memory and learning. This study examines the influence of surprise on attentional capture, both overt and covert, across different levels of outcome predictability in everyday situations using repeated measures ANOVAs. Building on the concept that unexpected events can trigger heightened alertness and memory encoding, we hypothesized that scenarios with less-known outcomes would elicit a stronger attentional response compared to known and …

Retrospective Pre-Post Evaluation Of A Healthy Relationships And Mental Health Promotion Program For 2s/Lgbtqia+ Youth, Nikita Kalwani

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Research has found that 2S/LGBTQIA+ youth experience disproportionately high mental health concerns and barriers to accessing support. Protective factors such as school-based support, peer support, and mental health interventions have been found to buffer this risk. The Healthy Relationships Program (HRP) for 2S/LGBTQIA+ Youth is a positive mental health promotion program that aims to build resiliency, bolster healthy relationship skills, and promote well-being among 2S/LGBTQIA+ youth. This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes, effectiveness, and feasibility of implementing this program within Gender and Sexuality/Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in secondary schools. Data from students (N = 17) and GSA advisors who …

Perceived Parental Pressure And Coping Mechanisms In Undergraduate Students, Ariel Tran

Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses

With the rising pressure and competition to succeed academically, it is common for students to feel pressured to perform at a certain level. When this pressure to perform primarily stems from parental figures, there are inconsistent studies determining the effect of parental pressure, the student’s ability to cope with those stressors, and the internalization of those pressure to succeed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to uncover the relationship between perceived parental pressure, self-oriented perfectionism and coping self-efficacy amongst first year university students. A sample of 70 female students completed a series of self-reported questionnaires that included an abbreviated …

The Relationship Between Covid-19 Social Isolation, Social Anxiety, And Locus Of Control, Phoebe B. Everest

Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses

The current study examined the post-pandemic effects of social isolation following Covid-19. The researchers were interested in social anxiety disorder (SAD) levels among young women and predicted that the personality variable of locus of control (LOC) could influence SAD levels. Participants were recruited from the only all-female university in Canada, Brescia University College (N=64). The researchers correlated the variables of interest using the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-R), Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), and Rotter’s internal-external control scale. The researchers hypothesized that there would be a negative correlation between pandemic social engagement and current levels of SAD. This hypothesis was …

Exploring The Feasibility And Outcomes Of Concurrent Parent And Child Mindfulness-Based Interventions, Melissa Read

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have shown to be effective in improving child and parent outcomes, including parental stress (Burgdorf et al., 2019; Friedmutter, 2016), child behaviour problems, and child executive functioning (Cheang et al., 2019; Donald et al., 2019; Dunning et al., 2019). The field of mindfulness has evolved to include parents and children together in programs, called parallel or concurrent parent and child MBIs. Children who have experienced adversity may be at a greater need for MBIs, as MBIs target stress and emotion regulation, areas where these children may need greater support (Bethell et al., 2016; Brenmer, 2003). As a …

Social Location & Counsellor Identity: A Reflexive Analysis Of Social Power And The Therapeutic Use Of Self, Stephanie R. Page

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

It has become widely appreciated that health and mental health are impacted by interconnected systems of inequity and individual social location. With demand for psychological services increasing in Canada, there does exist a need to better understand how social location relates to counselling. A random sample of 19 CCPA registered Canadian Counsellors were interviewed and asked about their social location. Participant responses were transcribed and qualitatively analyzed using the Six-Phase Model for Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022). One theme and two sub-themes were carved out: Participant Asset Experiences (25), Self-Identification (15), and Blind Spots (10). Findings relate to …

Exploring Food Insecurity And Its Relationships To Perceived Stress And Sleep Quality In Female Undergraduate Students, Zainah Tk Abushanab

Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses

This study investigated whether students who scored high in Food Insecurity, would have higher levels of Perceived Stress and lower Sleep Quality. Additionally, this study sought to clarify different types of stressors and their individual contribution to Sleep Quality Risk and Subjective Mental Health. The sample consisted of 65 female undergraduate students at a university in London, Ontario. A Kendall’s tau-b correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between Food Insecurity and Sleep Quality Risk. A significant positive correlation was also found a significant, positive relationship between Food Insecurity and Perceived Stress. Additionally, a significant negative relationship was revealed between …

Anxiety In Children And Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Behavioural Phenotypes And Environmental Factors, Caitlin E. Leachman Miss

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Anxiety is the most prevalent comorbidity among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The phenotypical presentation of anxiety among children and adolescents with ASD is lacking within the literature. This study sought to differentiate behavioral phenotypes associated with anxiety in children with ASD from anxiety in typically-developing children. Participants completed a series of child and parent reports measuring anxiety, depressive symptoms, ASD symptom severity, emotional problems, parental stress, and socioeconomic factors. Three distinct anxiety profiles, including moderate, high, and low, were identified. Results demonstrated that depression is the strongest predictor of high anxiety among children and adolescents with …

Barriers To Working With Low Income Clients As Experienced By Counsellors, Riley Keast

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study aimed to answer the question “what are the perceived barriers or challenges counsellors experience when working with low income clients in their practice following COVID-19?”. Participants were recruited via mass email sent to professionals registered with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), who then completed a survey via Qualtrics (n = 322). 113 Canadian counsellors from across Canada were interviewed. Data obtained from interviews was analyzed using concept mapping software GroupWisdom. Participants (n = 29) grouped the statements into seven themes including: barriers due to low income and employment, systemic barriers for clients, barriers due to …

Maladaptive Behaviour Effects On Female College Students Body Image Ideals, Amanda Z. Vetere

Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses

Abstract

This study investigates the influences of maladaptive perfectionism on female college students' body image dissatisfaction. Specifically, it looks at how maladaptive perfectionism affects social appearance anxiety and body image cognitive distortions. The sample comprised of 80 female participants from Brescia University College in London, Ontario, Canada. The Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R) (Slaney et al., 2001) was used to measure participants' maladaptive and adaptive perfectionism scores. The Assessment of Body Image Cognitive Distortion (ABCD) (Cash, 2008) scale was used to measure participants' cognitive distortions about their bodies. The Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) (Hart et al., 2008) was used to …

The Effects Of Nonverbal Communication In Online Learning Formats, Hannah Paraiso

Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses

This study experimentally investigated the effects of nonverbal communication in online learning formats, and whether there was an impact on working memory. Participants (N = 40) were randomly assigned to watch 1 of 3 different online video formats. Each video had identical slide show and audio content, but different visibility of the speaker. All videos were 10 minutes long and followed by a 15 multiple choice questionnaire based on the video content. Following the experiment, participants also completed demographic questions to obtain data on prior online learning experience, age, and undergraduate years. Results of this study indicated that there was …

Personal And Social Characteristics As Predictors Of First-Year Students' Transition To University, Emily L. Pearce Miss

Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses

The current study investigated personal (i.e., the Big Five personality traits, academic resilience, and academic engagement) and social characteristics (sense of school belongingness) as predictors of first-year students' transition to university. The study also sought to create a regression model that demonstrated the relative importance of each factor concerning a student's transition while also investigating which factors best predict one's transition overall. The sample consisted of 81 female and two non-binary-identifying students at a university in London, Ontario. A Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between a student's sense of school belongingness and a successful transition to university. …

Harm Reduction In Psychotherapy, Jillian Cramer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

With approximately 22 people dying due to opiate-related harms everyday in Canada (Government of Canada, 2023), there is a great need to offer low-barrier, evidence-based services for people who use substances across various disciplines, including healthcare, social services, and psychotherapy. This qualitative study examined the experiences of Canadian social justice-informed counsellors who work with clients who use substances from harm reduction frameworks of care. Seven counsellors were interviewed on their personal experiences implementing harm reduction in psychotherapy. Through a reflexive thematic analysis, five themes surfaced: axiology of harm reduction work, development of therapist surrounding harm reduction, main focuses of harm …

Fostering Friendship And Acceptance In An Inclusive Summer Day Camp, Emily Villani

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Historically, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) have faced barriers to social inclusion and forming friendships - essential life factors. Research has indicated the importance of reducing social barriers to inclusion and highlights the benefits of improving social skills and fostering positive attitudes about IDDs for facilitating friendship formation and inclusion. With the goal of fostering friendships, the S³ summer camp offered 22 youth (aged 9-14) with and without IDDs accessible and inclusive STEM education and a one-week social skills training package which included disability awareness lessons. Analysis examined the effects of this training package on participants’ friendship …

A Comprehensive Study Of Neural Entrainment In Developmental Language Disorder And Reading Disability, Christine Moreau

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Prior research has suggested that reading disability (RD, dyslexia) and developmental language disorder (DLD) stem from deficits in rhythmic auditory processing, specifically in synchronizing neural oscillations (Cumming et al., 2015; Goswami, 2011). Speech relies on rhythmic patterns for signaling linguistic information at multiple timescales (e.g., phonemes, syllables; Giraud & Poeppel, 2012). The disruption of regular neural entrainment is hypothesized to lead to difficulties in processing fast acoustic changes in speech, negatively affecting phonological processing, and speech segmentation. In this dissertation, I studied neural entrainment to uncover possible areas of impairment related to speech tracking, which could help inform interventions. In …

Validation Of A Virtual Auditory Space, And Its Use To Investigate How Pitch And Spatial Cues Contribute To Perceptual Segregation Of Auditory Streams, Nima Zargarnezhad

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The human auditory system can decompose complex sound mixtures into distinct perceptual auditory objects through a process (or processes) known as Auditory Scene Analysis. Pitch and spatial cues are among the sound attributes known to influence sequential streaming (Plack 2018). In this project, the fidelity of a virtual acoustic space (the Audio Dome) in reproducing precisely located sound sources with a 9^th-order ambisonics algorithm was validated. The estimated horizontal Minimum Audible Angles aligned with previously reported values (Mills 1958) homogeneously across the space, and a robust low-frequency presentation was identified. Then, the Audio Dome was utilized to test …

Development And Validation Of The Pain Resilience And Optimism Scale (Pros), Wonjin Seo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Numerous self-report questionnaires have been used in pain research to explore patients' experiences. However, these questionnaires often employ negatively worded items that can potentially worsen patients' distress. In response to the emergence of positive psychology, this thesis aimed to develop a new questionnaire that adopts a positive and strengths-focused approach, incorporating resilience, to replace the negative items found in existing tools such as the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). First, the effectiveness of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) in measuring resilience following trauma was assessed through a systematic review using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments …

Spontaneous Simulation Of Future And Past Events, Mackenzie Bain

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Spontaneous future and past events come to mind unintentionally. Previous research supports that environmental cues prompt spontaneous simulation, although the role of specific cues remains unaddressed. Previous work has found that involuntary autobiographical memories are generated in chained-event sequences, which refers to multiple, related events being generated consecutively. We addressed how event and location cues influence spontaneous future and past events, and whether future events occur in chains. In a boring vigilance task, 132 participants located a left-facing arrow amongst right-facing arrows. On 49 of 350 trials, participants encountered event or location cues. Ten times, participants audio-recorded off-task thoughts they …

Exploring How Covid-19 Impacts Relationship Dynamics Among Cohabitating Heterosexual And Female Same-Sex Couples, Mishele Kaplan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This qualitative study investigates the experiences of cohabitating heterosexual (n=10) and female same-sex couples (n=8) during the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores how these couples utilized dyadic coping and relational resilience to manage pandemic-related stressors and how their gender identities influenced their responses. Employing a phenomenological approach informed by feminist, queer, and dyadic coping theories, the study reveals that couples strengthened their bonds during the pandemic through intentional communication and novel activities. The findings of the study also highlight that societal perceptions of gender roles continue to exert pressure on individuals, but female same-sex couples demonstrated greater adaptability by challenging these …

Too Many Constructs In The Kitchen: Toward A Feature-Based Approach To Mistreatment, Sarah Carver

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The field of workplace mistreatment has grown considerably over the last two decades yet continues to be plagued by construct overload and measurement challenges. Constructs such as incivility, bullying, abusive supervision, and social undermining are definitionally distinct in terms of their frequency, intensity, and intentionality but this is seldom explicitly measured. Across three studies, we created and developed the Features of Mistreatment (FOM) measure to explicitly measure frequency, intensity, and perceived intentionality. In Study 1 (N = 282), we examined the psychometric properties of the initial 28-item FOM measure and revised the subscales to four items each. We found …

Beyond Rank Attainment: Examining The Nature And Function Of Dominance And Prestige In Teams, Lynden Jensen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Social hierarchies are fundamental to human societies, shaping group dynamics and outcomes. Ongoing debates attempt to understand their functional and dysfunctional consequences. While the conflict account of hierarchy emphasizes the potentially detrimental conflict-inducing effects of hierarchies, the functionalist account proposes that hierarchies create contexts conducive to coordination. This study investigates if team-level dominance and prestige processes might account for these diverging consequences of hierarchy with dominance fueling conflict-prone environments and prestige nurturing coordination processes. Additionally, it examines whether the inherently competitive nature of team-level dominance yields more favorable outcomes in highly competitive, zero-sum, contexts.

Across two studies, I investigated the …

Neural Responses To Magnetic Orientation Information In Songbirds, Madeleine Ir Brodbeck

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Effective navigation and orientation is essential for animals to survive. The study of migratory birds provides insights into these processes, particularly through mechanisms like the geomagnetic compass, which uses Earth's magnetic field for directional information. A brain region in songbirds relevant to this is cluster N, known for its potential role in processing geomagnetic information. Notably, cluster N appears exclusive to nocturnally migratory birds, being active solely at night, and lesion studies reveal that an intact cluster N is necessary for geomagnetic compass orientation. However, given the scarcity of empirical data concerning cluster N, substantial questions persist regarding its function. …

Developing And Validating A Measure Of Transformational Followership, Noelle Baird

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Leadership and followership are inherently interdependent, yet research has primarily focused on the unilateral influence of leaders. To advance a more balanced perspective and highlight how followers can positively contribute to the leadership process, I conceptualized and validated a measure of transformational followership. Transformational followership represents leaders’ perceptions of effective followership tendencies that enable productive, generative, and motivating engagements with and for their leader. After conducting a comprehensive literature review of both followership and leadership research, I created an initial item pool which was then subjected to rigorous testing across three distinct phases. Phase 1 leveraged feedback from organizational …

Quantifying Neuromelanin Content Across Varying Magnetic Field Strengths: A Comparative Analysis, Laiba Rizwan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Neuromelanin (NM) is an insoluble dark pigment molecule that is found in the substantia nigra of the human brain. Due to its paramagnetic nature, NM can be imaged using MRI in the form of neuromelanin sensitive contrast. This method, known as Neuromelanin Sensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NM-MRI) allows non-invasive imaging of the human substantia nigra through its by-product, NM. NM-MRI research has been mostly done using lower field strength (3 or 1.5 Tesla) MRI scans. The advent of high field strength imaging, e.g., 7 Tesla (7T) provides the opportunity to study neuromelanin production sites with higher spatial resolution and enhanced …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of Mood Induction In Virtual Reality, Julia V. Ignaszewski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mood induction procedures (MIPs) are commonly used by researchers who seek to examine affective states and their effects on other outcomes of interest. Despite their popularity, MIPs do not generate the same type of intense and influential emotions that are caused by life events, creating an empirical gap between naturalistic and experimentally manipulated emotion. Researchers have begun exploring the use of virtual reality (VR) to address these flaws, as its engaging and immersive nature could confer higher ecological validity for laboratory-induced emotions. This study compared the effectiveness of fear-elicitation via a VR cinema MIP to that of a standard film …

Investigating The Language Of Time: Evaluating The Use And Comprehension Of Before And After, Kimberley R. Henderson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Before-initial sentences are thought to be more difficult to comprehend than after-initial sentences because they structurally mismatch the temporal order of real-world events (Münte et al., 1998). Although event knowledge is known to affect how people understand before/after-initial sentences, little is known about the role of language knowledge in comprehending these sentences. A corpus analysis of before/after-initial sentences revealed that before typically is paired with a pronoun (Before he…) whereas after is paired with verb-ing (After leaving…). Participants' eyes were tracked while they read Before/After-pronoun/verbing sentences. Reading times did not match the …

Putting The 'A' In Prosocial: Development And Validation Of A Measure Of Trait Altruism, Laura K.D. Johnson Msc

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Trait altruism reflects the tendency to perform behaviours with the goal of improving another’s welfare. Altruism is commonly measured using scales that assess how frequently the test-taker has performed specific prosocial actions. However, these scales assume that these behaviours are altruistically motivated and fail to consider what is known in the literature about the attitudes, values, and emotions that characterize altruistic individuals. Accordingly, altruism research would benefit from a new scale that draws upon the large body of interdisciplinary research and follows current best practices in scale development, as summarized in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 presents a review of the …

An Exploration Of Queer Women's Relationship With The Body And Physical Activity, Jade A. Bailey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Traditional physical activity contexts are male-dominated, cis-heteronormative, and perpetuate Western beauty standards. Research has identified that queer women experience the lowest rates of physical activity participation, compared to other LGBTQ+ groups. The present study investigated the relationship between queer women’s (N = 70) body image, physical activity behaviour, and experiences. Participants completed one virtual focus group and four themes were identified: The Queer Women’s Body is Political; (in)Visibility of Sexual and Gender Identity in Physical Activity; Hypervigilance to Maintain Safety and Reduce Perpetuating Gender-Based Violence; and Desire for Spaces that Foster Safety, Belonging, and Connection. Findings revealed that queer …