Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Reasons For Stigma Surrounding Emotional Support Animals And How It Can Be Addressed, Natalie Helms

Honors Theses

Multiple factors that influence how emotional support animals (ESAs) are perceived will be investigated in this study, including how the stigma surrounding mental illness has the potential to affect how a person views using ESAs as a treatment for anxiety.

Effects Of Music Exposure On Autobiographical Memory In Alzheimer's Patients: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Gregory Vance

Honors Theses

The progression of Alzheimer’s disease is primarily characterized by a loss of memory concerning past events, as well as a lack in ability to create new memories. While this spans across many subsets of memory, such as recognition, recall, and autobiographical memory, there seems to be a lesser impact on musical memory in those with Alzheimer’s. Multiple studies have suggested that exposure to music and introduction of music therapy can even improve other aspects of memory in Alzheimer’s patients. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to examine the relationship between music exposure and autobiographical memory specifically. A pool of electronic …

A Comparison Of Stigma Levels For Individuals With Psychological Disorders And Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities, Isabella E. Wood

Honors Theses

This study compared nine aspects of stigmatization (blame, anger, pity, help, dangerousness, fear, avoidance, segregation, coercion) amongst schizophrenia, binge eating, and intellectual disabilities. The overall MANOVA was significant, F(18, 183) = 89.95, p < .001, Wilks’ Lambda = .10. When the results for the dependent variables were considered separately, all nine dependent variables reached significance (p < .001). Schizophrenia scored highest in all categories except blame and pity. Blame was the highest for binge eating and pity was the highest for intellectual disabilities. Efforts to reduce stigmatization must be tailored to each disorder.

Surface-Eroding Drug Delivery Films For Sequential And/Or Intermittent Release Of Psychoactive Drugs, Jason Price

Honors Theses

ABSTRACT JASON BLAKE PRICE: Surface-Eroding Drug Delivery Films for Sequential and/or

Intermittent Release of Psychoactive Drugs For patients with psychiatric diseases, adherence to medication schedules, medication

errors, and abuse are common issues. Promising new forms of therapy for these patients, such as micro-dosed lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), where patients receive 10-20% of a full dose every third day, present further drug delivery challenges. Sequential or intermittent release of drugs from an implanted device could ensure long-term drug compliance, automate drug dosing during the life of the implant, and eliminate potential for abuse and medication errors. To this end, we generated …

Dancing With Down Syndrome: A Look At The Effects And Benefits Of Dance Movement Therapy On The Emotional Well-Being And Overall Quality Of Life For Individuals With Down Syndrome, Jenna Snyder

Honors Theses

This thesis examines how combining the creativity of dance with the functionality of physical therapy can allow individuals with Down syndrome to not only be stimulated physically and cognitively, but also to help them to continue to lead very fulfilling and productive lives. Given the positive effects dance has on individuals with Down syndrome, it is expected that the expressive art form of dance movement therapy would be an optimal approach to increase and improve the emotional well-being and overall quality of life for this population. The literature review consists of an analysis of existing literature and personal interviews with …

Enduring Chronic Kidney Disease: An Investigation Of Psychosocial Factors And Life Satisfaction In Older Adults Receiving Dialysis Treatment, Bailee Sobotka

Honors Theses

Chronic kidney disease is a condition during which the kidneys begin to shut down and no longer filter blood efficiently. Once the disease has progressed far enough, dialysis treatments are mandatory to sustain life. To further understand how older adults receiving dialysis treatments cope with their disease, psychosocial factors were evaluated to investigate possible correlations with life satisfaction using a Life Satisfaction Index Z (LSI-Z). Expected correlations with life satisfaction were sociability, financial satisfaction, importance of spirituality, and activities of daily living scores. Interviews were conducted with 30 dialysis patients and results were analyzed using various statistical measures. Significant correlations …

The Influence Of Social Context On Communication And Restricted And Repetitive Behaviors In Autism, Shannon Campbell

Honors Theses

Two of the most salient features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are impairments in communication and engagement in restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs). The goal of this study was to identify the effects of social context on both the occurrence of RRBs and social language performance in children with ASD. In this study, we defined the social context of a situation based on the primary focus (object or conversation) and the initiator of the interaction (child or experimenter). We performed a frequency count of RRBs as well as a mean length of utterance (MLU) analysis for play tasks with variations …

Le Diagnostic Social De L'Autisme : Un Examen Du Processus De Diagnostic De L'Autisme En France, Mary Katherine Mackenzie

Honors Theses

Autism is a set of developmental disorders that cause social, behavioral, and communication deficits. This disorder is found throughout the world although its prevalence varies considerably between countries. These international differences in autism rates are inconsistent with scientific evidence that suggests there is a genetic basis for the disorder. This inconsistency indicates that autism rates are not representative of actual variation in prevalence. An analysis of these variations suggests that international divergences are caused by the different social structures that influence the process of diagnosing autism in an individual country. This theory holds that the manifestation of autistic symptoms is …

Mental Illness: A History With Respect To The Care And Treatment Of The Mentally Ill Law And Public Policy And The Stigma Attached To The Affliction, Raisa Anwer

Honors Theses

This thesis contains the exploration of mental illness starting with how mental illness is defined today. The history of mental illness in America reveals a gross neglect of those afflicted with “madness,” as it was usually referred to. This thesis will focus on the treatment of the mentally ill from the 1900s to present day. There is an inherent stigma attached to mental illness and as modern and as civilized as the United States claims to be, it should be noted that mental illness is still as much taboo even today, rife with stories of the mentally ill being constantly …

Gender, Self-Esteem And Athleticism As They Predict Binge Drinking Behaviors Among College Students, Catherine O'Brien

Honors Theses

There is a plethora of research focusing on athleticism, self-esteem and alcohol consumption but few studies have aimed to find a connection between these three dimensions. While much of the previous research focused on just two of these dimensions, the present study aims to uncover how these dimensions influence and impact one another. Students from Union College participated in a survey-based study in which they were asked to complete three surveys, one for each dimension. These surveys were used to identify level of athleticism, self-esteem and binge drinking behaviors among athletes and non-athletes at Union College. Based on previous research …

Examining The Effects Of Exercise On Stressed Individuals Alcohol Expectancies, Maria Magavern

Honors Theses

The current study examined the effect of exercise habits on alcohol expectancies and drinking behaviors. Previous research has suggested that under times of stress, individuals, especially without alternative effective coping mechanisms, often turn to alcohol (Cooper, Russell, Skinner, Frone, & Mudar, 1992). Exercise and alcohol produce many of the same psychological effects and both serve as stress reducers (Brown, Read, Marcus, Jakicic, Strong, Oakley, Ramsey, Kahler, Stuart, Dubreuil, & Gordon, 2010). The Discounting Principal reveals a tendency to discount all other causes when there is support that a given cause is already known to be responsible for a given event …

Is There A Relationship Between Hopelessness And Religious Problem-Solving Skills?, Eroshini Goonesekera

Honors Theses

Students from a small liberal arts college completed the Beck Hopelessness Scale (81-JS) and the short form of the Religious Problem-Solving Scale. The Religious Problem-Solving Scale consists of three subscales: collaborative, self-directive and deferring. A Pearson Correlation was conducted between the BHS score and each subscale of the Religious Problem-Solving Scale. The Bl IS score and the self-directing score were positively correlated. However the correlation of the BHS score and the collaborative and deferring scales were non-significant.

Psychosomatic Disorders, C. David Claybrook

Honors Theses

The term psychosomatic is derived from two Greek words, "psyche" meaning mind and "soma" meaning body. The concept embodies the principle that the mind is closely integrated with the body, that they are inseparable. A psychosomatic illness, therefore, is an illness that has its foundations in the mind but is manifested or has its symptoms in the body. It is important to realize that these illnesses are not merely in the rampant imagination of the sick person's mind. They are very real and often painful organic disorders. The distinguishing factor in psychosomatics is that they are precipitated, to a major …