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A Qualitative Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Graduate Students With Histories Of Mental Health Diagnoses Navigating Clinical Psychology Doctoral Programs, Hannah Flanery

Dissertations and Theses

In general, graduate students experience unhealthy stress levels throughout their graduate careers. Clinical psychology doctoral students experience additional stressors related to intensive training in providing psychological-related services to clients. There is a gap in the literature in understanding how clinical psychology doctoral students with a personal history of mental health effectively navigate highly stressful graduate programs. This dissertation explored the experiences of clinical psychology Ph.D. students who 1) have a history of mental health diagnoses and 2) experience current psychological distress as they manage educational/training demands and administer psychological interventions to clients. A phenomenological qualitative approach was utilized to fully …

Bisexuality, Biphobia, And Its Effects On Sexual Identity, Religious Identity And Mental Health: Examining Clinical Implications, Diana Ramirez

Dissertations

Bisexuality is a sexual orientation, sometimes known as “bi,” that includes sexuality in which certain people are attracted to more than one sex and gender. Bisexuality differs from other sexual- and gender-nonconforming experiences (McInnis et al., 2022). According to Ross et al. (2018), bisexuality is frequently described as an invisible sexual orientation, and only in the last 20 years has research on biphobia and bisexuality increased (McInnis et al., 2022). Experiences unique to bisexuality include bisexual invisibility from a societal level (Dyar et al., 2015), bisexuals are more prone to experience sexual orientation instability (Bostwick et al., 2014), and bisexual …

Social Exclusion And Negative Affect: The Impact Of Mentalized Affectivity, Anna Voicu

Honors Program Theses

Social exclusion has been widely associated with feelings of anxiety, depressed mood, anger, and hostility. Previous literature indicates that mentalized affectivity (MA), a sophisticated form of emotional regulation, may be effective in mitigating emotional experience after social exclusion. In light of this research, our study sought to examine the predictive value of mentalized affectivity and inclusion/exclusion on emotion. Participants (N = 170) completed measures of mentalized affectivity and positive and negative affect, in addition to playing a virtual ball-tossing game that would randomly assign them to an inclusion or exclusion condition. Multiple regression analyses revealed that mentalized affectivity predicted both …

Sharing The Medicine Of Resilience: Honoring The Work Of Dr. Gyda Swaney, Matthew Martin Croxton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

American Indians are a unique population that have been historically understudied in psychology. However, research in this field with this population has been growing and researchers are beginning to explore facets of American Indian mental health. There is a movement for American Indian psychologists themselves to conduct this research and to begin to develop culturally adapted and Indigenous research frameworks. There have been many Native psychologists who have helped push this work forward. One such Native psychologist was Dr. Gyda Swaney (Salish) who was a professor at the in the Psychology Department at the University of Montana and directed and …

School Related Criminal Acts, Interpersonal Problems, And Classroom Behaviors As A Function Of The Proportion Of Black Students And Black Teachers, Leanne Zaire

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

This study’s purpose was to investigate school-level behavioral outcomes in relation to the proportion of Black teachers and students in U.S. schools. Negative school outcome and academic achievement gaps are well-documented. However, many of these studies utilized small, localized populations; my research used national data and focused on the problem behaviors in school. Drawing from Critical Race Theory, I hypothesized that a greater proportion of Black teachers would reduce school student problems and negative behaviors (e.g., student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms). After receiving a restricted-use license, I utilized data from 25,818 schools from the National Teacher …

The Deaf Community And Their Preferences In A Clinical Psychological Setting, Alexandra Alonso

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The focus of this study was to examine the Deaf community and their preferences for both a psychologist and the language utilized in a clinical psychological setting. The study gave each participant a mock profile for a psychologist and then asked participants to answer questions on their perceptions of the psychologist provided. A total of 22 participants who identified as Deaf, deaf, hard-of-hearing, or as an individual with hearing loss were surveyed. Results indicated that participants randomly assigned to the Deaf psychologist had higher rates of satisfaction and trust over participants who were assigned to other psychologists. The study also …

“It’S Right Below The Surface”: Clinicians’ Experiences Of Shame In Therapy Work With Adult Clients With Body Shame, Body Image Concerns, Or Eating Disorder(S), Tess Carroll Keeley

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Shame–understood as a feeling in which one believes that they are inadequate, or wrong to their core–is a painful emotional experience that seems to be at the crux of many mental health concerns. Despite the pervasiveness of shame as an emotional experience, little research has demonstrated if shame is a clinical theme in therapy, and if so, how it is identified and treated. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore if, and how, shame manifests during therapy sessions with clients who are experiencing eating disorders and/or body image concerns. A secondary purpose was to discover how clinicians’ training …

Contributions Of Social Support To Mitigate The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Pediatric Depressive And Irritability Symptoms, Alexandra Mactavish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior research, including my initial research on the mental health of children inSouthwestern Ontario, highlighted the broad, widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of adults, children, and youth, globally, including the potential for social support to attenuate the harmful impact of the pandemic. Social support, one’s belief that others will help in times of need, may protect against the impact of myriad life stressors on the development of psychopathology. The present study examines the potential for social support to mitigate the longitudinal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s irritability and depressive symptoms. Families (N = …

Biological Mechanisms Linking Stress And Anhedonia, Colin Stanton

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Evidence from research across species suggests that stress exposure is linked with anhedonia (loss of pleasure and/or decreased motivation). However, the mechanisms through which stress might impact anhedonia remain unclear. Chapters 1 and 2 of this dissertation review putative etiological pathways from stress to anhedonia and discuss stressor characteristics that could inform experimental models of stress-induced anhedonia. Chapter 3 describes an attempt to identify which types of stress are most associated with anhedonia using stress interview data from multiple datasets. Unexpectedly, we found no credible effects on anhedonic symptoms for stressor chronicity, severity, dependence on behavior, or interpersonal focus. Instead, …

Specifying And Targeting Cognitive-Affective Dysfunctions In Antisocial Individuals, Allison Mary Stuppy-Sullivan

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Antisocial behavior includes a wide range of behaviors that violate social norms, from criminal acts to substance misuse. The adverse consequences of antisocial behavior produce a great physical and emotional burden on perpetrators, victims, and family members. This burden is not addressed adequately, with incarceration being the most common intervention for antisocial behavior. When individuals who chronically engage in antisocial behavior are offered therapeutic treatments, the majority neither complete nor benefit from them. One reason existing treatments do not fully address antisocial behavior is because they do not consider or target cognitive-affective dysfunctions driving such behavior, and mechanistic research, to …

Essays On Behavioral Industrial Organization And Welfare., Priyanka Kothari Dr.

Doctoral Theses

Many traits of economic agents are well studied and understood by psychologists that are yet to be captured by economic theory. This thesis, in the field of behavioral economics, is yet another attempt at unifying the different approaches of the two well-established disciplines - we ask what does economics predict of the behavior of economic agents ... once the psychology behind their decisions is accounted for. In a nutshell, this thesis is about the implications of choice-making among available alternatives.We begin with the idea that an economic agent only derives satisfaction from what he consumes without worrying at all (let …

Exploring Emotion Regulation And Altruism When Experiencing Compassion Fatigue From Humanitarian Crises, Including Covid- 19., Saniya Tabani

Theses and Dissertations

Despite knowledge of devastating statistics, it has been observed that when hundreds, or even millions are suffering in large-scale crises, including genocides, refugee crises, and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, humans seem unable to process and comprehend the magnitude of that suffering on an emotional level. While the expectation is that compassion should increase proportionally with the number of people suffering in catastrophes, prior research has shown a negative relationship such that as need increases, donations decrease. Some factors that may impact this include the identifiable victim effect, use of emotion regulation strategies, specific cognitive processing styles, and compassion fatigue. …

Assessment Of Psychological Functioning In Retired Firefighters, Jordana Simone Pepper

Theses and Dissertations

The past decade has witnessed a significant increase in clinical attention directed to mental health problems in firefighters. The basis for heightened activity in this area is the convergence of evidence indicating that firefighters demonstrate significantly high levels of psychological disorders such as depression and PTSD (Henderson et al., 2016). A previously unexplored risk factor for psychopathology in firefighters is active retirement. Retirement can lead to a decline in psychological functioning, as well as a decline in a person’s self-concept clarity through group loss (Slotter, Winter & Soto, 2015). This loss has the potential to cause, or enhance, feelings of …

A Meta-Analysis Of Fmri Studies On Emotion Processing In Major Depressive Disorder, Madison Morocco

Master's Theses

The processing of an emotional stimulus involves a multi-step process that includes appraising and identifying a stimulus as well as producing an affective state in response. Many individuals with depressive disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD) experience impairments related to emotion processing, likely caused by changes in the structure and function of brain regions important for emotion processing. However, the precise neural differences underlying emotion processing impairments in MDD remain unclear given conflicting findings in the neuroimaging literature. This lack of clarity has hindered the development of novel neurostimulation treatments for MDD, which require targeting of specific brain areas. …

Taking It To Heart: Trauma And Cardiovascular Risk In Court-Involved People Of Color, Tanya Erazo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research supports that racial disparities in health persist in the United States, with cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular disease remaining particularly high in low-income, communities of color (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013; Winkleby, Jatulis, Frank, & Fortmann, 1992). Public health literature often focuses on sociodemographic variables when assessing for health disparities without considering trauma or forensic populations. This dissertation provides an overview of literature that examines cardiovascular disease and its relationship to trauma, particularly in low-income, communities of color, and forensic populations. Although the dissertation culminates in providing results for an investigation …

Disordered Eating In Gender Minority Adults: An Evaluation And Integration Of The Gender Minority Stress And Resilience Model And The Tripartite Influence Model, Laura Ann Muratore

Master's Theses

Gender minority individuals experience elevated rates of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in comparison to cisgender individuals; however, research assessing why this health disparity exists is limited. To address this gap, the present study investigated gender minority stress and resilience factors as proposed in the gender minority stress and resilience model (GMSR), sociocultural influence factors as proposed in the tripartite influence model of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating (TI), and an integration of these two theoretical frameworks in efforts to better explain disordered eating etiology for gender minority individuals. Results of regression analyses demonstrated that the integration of GMSR and …

Dark Tetrad Responses To Moral Dilemmas, Kayli Wrenn

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Dark Tetrad consists of four socially malevolent personality traits: psychopathy, sadism, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. The current study assessed the relationships among each dimension of the Dark Tetrad and moral decision making using sacrificial moral dilemma vignettes. Participants (n = 212 undergraduates) completed two measures of each of the four Dark Tetrad constructs then read a series of 16 sacrificial moral dilemma vignettes. These dilemmas manipulated whether the participant would personally perform the sacrifice and described either the disgusting or sad emotional consequences of the sacrifice. After each vignette, participants rated the moral rightness/wrongness, moral permissibility, and behavioral intention to …

Neurocognition In Individuals At High Familial Risk For Major Depressive Disorder, Rachel Gaia Venezia

Theses and Dissertations

Neurocognitive deficits may qualify as vulnerability markers in individuals at risk for developing MDD. We examined the extent to which characteristic neurocognitive difficulties in MDD may be apparent in early to late adolescence in the offspring of a parent with MDD, as well as the extent to which other factors, such as a history of comorbid diagnoses (e.g., ADHD), a history of MDD, and a current depressive episode, might confound to these differences. Offspring of patients with MDD (n=184) and a healthy normative sample (n=88) were compared on measures assessing attention, working memory, impulse control, and visual memory. The two …

Psychometric Analyses Of A Comprehensive Neuropsychological Battery For Retired Nfl Players, Kimberly Ethridge Fitzgibbon

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined psychometric properties of the NFL Concussion Battery used to examine neuropsychological functioning in retired NFL players who were part of the NFL’s concussion settlement. This battery assesses multiple areas of cognitive functioning; executive functioning, language, processing speed, attention and memory. The study included 117 participants who were male with at least 16 years of education. The sample was 75.9% African-American and average age was 47. All participants completed the entire battery and passed the majority of effort measures. Those that did not pass the majority of effort measures or complete the entire battery were excluded.

T-test analyses …

The Effects Of Sleep Restriction On Biological, Psychological, And Neurocognitive Measures Of Health, Margaret S. Lorenzetti

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic sleep restriction impacts a significant proportion of the population, even though health is optimized following a minimum of seven hours of sleep. A preponderance of the literature examining the effects of sleep loss focuses on males and total sleep deprivation. Sleep restriction paradigms provide more ecological validity, as they are more consistent with sleep loss characterized in epidemiological studies. Moreover, enhancing the understanding of sleep loss among women, who are generally the gender most likely to encounter negative health as a result of poor sleep quality, is crucial. Thus, this investigation aimed to examine sleep restriction amongst a female …

Breaking Away: The Role Of Homeostatic Drive In Perpetuating Depression, Jonathan Tory Toole

Theses and Dissertations

The brain can be considered a complicated system of feedback mechanisms that maintain physiological homeostasis. Through psychological activity, neurochemicals act as homeostatic regulators. This study proposes that these components are part of a regulatory system that is capable of supporting multiple homeostatic regimes that, in turn, give rise to self-sustaining psychological behaviors. This project hypothesizes that such alternate regulatory programs may play a role in perpetuating psychological dysfunction. Interactions within and between components of the neurotransmitter network are represented as a set of discrete logic circuits. Neurotransmitter levels are linked to psychological constructs such as depression based on current literature. …

Uncovering The Depression Treatment Gap: The Role Of Motivation To Change, God Image, And Religious Affiliation, Cyrus Chiasson

Master's Theses

Research analyzing factors that are indicative of treatment seeking for depression is warranted. In the United States, approximately 70% of individuals with depression do not receive treatment. The aim of the current study is to evaluate motivation to change, God image, and religious affiliation as predictors of current treatment engagement for depression. Motivation to change has previously been evaluated as a predictor of treatment outcome for depression but not as a predictor of current treatment engagement. Additionally, previous research indicates religious involvement is associated with less depressive symptomology but is in turn related to negative views towards mental health treatment …

Examining The Use Of Hebephilia And Paraphilia Non-Consent In Sexually Violent Predator (Svp) Evaluations, Nicole Graham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sexually violent predator (SVP) legislation requires, in part, that an individual has a mental abnormality which causes difficulty in controlling sexual behavior. Previous research has found paraphilia not otherwise specified (NOS) to be one of the most prevalent diagnoses proffered in SVP evaluations. Since these studies, however, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) has updated the paraphilia NOS diagnosis in two ways. First, this diagnosis has been divided into two new diagnoses—other specified paraphilic disorder (OSPD) and unspecified paraphilic disorder. Second, OSPD requires an added specifier to indicate the individual’s source of sexual arousal. To date, no study has systematically …

Relationship Of Proximal Predictors Of Success In A Psyd Program On Alumni Distal Factors, Nicole Fontenot Ford

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Due to the new Standards of Accreditation (SoA) by the American Psychological Association (APA), implemented in 2017, there is minimal research to evaluate how proximal competency factors within clinical psychology programs relate to distal outcomes of alumni. This study consisted of 65 doctoral psychology graduates who completed an APA alumni survey 2 and 5 years after graduation. Findings showed strong positive relationships between faculty mentoring, foundational knowledge, program support and clinical training. Results showed proximal factors of faculty mentoring significantly predicted graduates would be employed as psychologists, while program support (peers and faculty) significantly predicted lifelong learning of alumni. Career …

Demographic, Legal, And Clinical Predictors Of Long-Term Trial Competency Restoration, Jonathan F. Shook

Theses and Dissertations

Trial competency is the foremost context in which forensic evaluators interact with criminal courts in the United States, and court-ordered restoration to competency (RTC) substantially contributes to hospitalization via the criminal justice system. Predictors of restoration to competency (RTC) have been extensively studied to date, yet few studies have been conducted with RTC patients in a long-term setting. The present study aimed to examine predictors of successful restoration for defendants who underwent RTC from a long-term inpatient facility in Texas from 2012 to 2017. Patients (N = 261) were compared across retrospective demographic, clinical, and criminogenic factors via binary logistic …

"Stretched Thin": Pregnancy And Motherhood In Clinical And Counseling Psychology Doctoral Programs, Kimberlee Yalango

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Given that women now earn the majority of psychology doctoral degrees in the United States (Aud et al., 2012), there needs to be consideration of unique social and systemic difficulties that women may face during their studies. One particular issue of importance is women's choice to become pregnant and start families during their graduate education. Despite the challenges of becoming pregnant during a doctoral program and balancing the roles of mother and student, there has been limited research that examines this phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of women who become pregnant during their time …

On The Relationship Between Resilience, Meaning, And Hardiness: A Bi-Factor Exploratory And Confirmatory Analysis, Lauren Weathers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Meaning in life, resilience, and hardiness have been conceptualized in a variety of ways. Some researchers theorize that these constructs share significant overlap. The goal of the current study was to examine how much overlap exists between these concepts. Three thousand and ten participants from a university in the Midwest and a university in the South completed measures of meaning in life, resilience, and hardiness. It was hypothesized that some items from these measures would create a unidimensional model while some items would create multidimensionality. Hypotheses that incorporated both models were important as there is disagreement within the literature with …

Doing Hard Things In The Context Of Values: Values Intervention As An Establishing Operation For Approach Behavior In The Presence Of Aversive Stimuli, Emmie Hebert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aversive control is an umbrella term for behavioral contingencies influenced by the removal or avoidance of aversive stimuli. When individuals are engaging in behavior that is under aversive control the behavior becomes relatively insensitive to changes in the environment outside of trying to escape or avoid the aversive stimulation. Teaching individuals to increase behavioral and psychological flexibility around potentially aversive stimuli is a goal of a therapeutic perspective called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT therapists and trainers use values to motivate their clients to engage in meaningful behaviors despite ever-changing and often aversive contexts. The aim of the current …

Professional Identity Development In Blended Clinical Psychology Doctoral Students, Lindsay Nolan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As online graduate programs gain popularity, it has become more important to understand how students enrolled in these programs develop their professional identities. Researchers have demonstrated that there are both benefits and drawbacks to participation in blended learning programs (which incorporate in person and online instruction). It is not known how students enrolled in blended clinical psychology PhD programs experience the in-person portion of these programs and what their experiences mean for their professional identity development. This study examined the perceived impact of one part of an online clinical psychology doctoral program, the in-person classroom experiences, on the professional identity …

Is It Racism, Colorism, Or A Pigment Of Your Imagination? A Study On The Invisible Color Line, Yolanda Rodriguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Participants were 324 self-identified ethnic/racial minority adults recruited from a southern university in the United States and an online community (MTurk workers) primarily ranging in age from 18-30 (78.4%). Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and a measure for each of the variables of interest. A moderated mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS (Hayes 2013) model 8. It was hypothesized that acculturation modality (X) would predict skin lightening behaviors and attitudes (Y) through three mediators (M1: Discrepancy scores M2: Satisfaction with Skin Color and M3: Desire to Change Skin Color). Psychological well-being was predicted to be a moderator (W) of the …