Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Clinician Perspectives On Fistula Mental Health, Victoria K. Leonard

Doctoral Dissertations

Background – Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury caused by prolonged labor that leads to stillbirth and incontinence, spurring social exclusion and isolation. These layers of trauma put women with fistula at great risk for psychological suffering, which has profound negative socioeconomic impacts on them, their families, and communities. This study captured treatment as usual at Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT), the country’s largest provider of fistula care.

Method – Improving holistic fistula treatment requires engaging the clinicians who care for women with fistula. This study aimed to investigate the training, beliefs, and treatment approaches of nurses and …

An Exploration Of The Contributions Of Parenting Styles And Peer Relationships On The Emotional Expression Of Second-Generation Indian-Americans, Smitha M. Kashi

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation used a qualitative analysis methodology to study the contributions of parenting styles and peer relationships on the emotional expressivity of second generation Asian Indian-Americans. Seven participants participated in a 60 - 90 minute long semi-structured interview and the content was analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Most previous research regarding this topic has been conducted on White American or European individuals and does not take into consideration the many intersectionalities that second-generation Indian-Americans hold. Many participants discussed the lack of direction they experienced in regards to learning about their emotions and disclosed that college and young adulthood provided …

An Exploration Of Adult Children’S Attachment To Their Parents Across Two Cultural Groups: Indians In India And Indians Who Immigrated To The United States, Vilasini Meenakshi Arun

Doctoral Dissertations

Typically, attachment theory has been studied and explored with western populations. Individuals seeking mental health treatment within the United States include western and nonwestern cultural groups and research, theories and interventions that apply to diverse populations are necessary. Attachment relationships are often a part of, or reasons for clients to seek therapy either overtly or covertly, thus allowing research on attachment to better inform treatment plans and practice. An attachment relationship between a parent and child can be influenced by several factors and may change over the course of development, but little is known about this process among Indians …

Understanding Mental Health Provider's Experiences Of Burnout, Vicarious Trauma, And Vicarious Resilience From The Provider Perspective, Lauren Beheler-Romero

Doctoral Dissertations

The physical and psychological impacts on mental health providers as a result of burnout, vicarious trauma, and vicarious resilience have not been researched extensively. This study examined burnout and vicarious trauma among mental health providers in New Mexico given the high need population and low access to resources. This qualitative study, employed individual interviews, examined the lived experiences of seven mental health providers who are currently employed in the state of New Mexico in order to better understand the impact of burnout, vicarious trauma, and vicarious resilience. Inclusion criteria for participants included providing mental health services to children and families …

Evaluating The Client Base And Housing Outcomes Of A Community Based Organization Serving Unhoused Adults, Emi Caprio

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a well-documented, bidirectional relationship between mental health and housing instability. When coupled with the complex historical, societal, and political factors contributing to houselessness, the result is a unique set of mental health needs within this community. Despite this, there is a low rate of mental health service utilization and a dearth of research on how to tailor services to meet the needs of unhoused individuals. Additionally, first-hand perspectives are often omitted, as this population is seen as “hard to reach”. The goal of this two-phase mixed-methods program evaluation was to better understand the demographic and mental health profiles …

Help Seeking Experiences Of Asian American Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mellanie Kristelle Roxas De Guzman

Doctoral Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has become more widely understood and accepted by the general and professional populations. However, self and social stigma related to ASD persist and continue to negatively impact help-seeking behaviors. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews guided by an ecological systems model, to explore the lived experiences of 11 Asian American (AsAm) parents residing in the greater San Francisco Bay Area with a child with ASD. A thematic analysis framework was utilized. A total of six themes and six subthemes emerged from this study and included: (1) comparisons, (2) stigma, (3) resilience, (4) support for services, (5) …

The Impact Of Irrational Beliefs On Dysfunctional Decision-Making In B2b Salespeople, Barron W. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

The complexity of the contemporary business-to-business (B2B) sales landscape requires salespeople to respond faster, be more knowledgeable, and add more value to buyer interactions than ever before. As such, B2B salespeople must carefully consider the impact of their decisions since they have the potential to directly impact organizational revenue and bottom-line outcomes. The present research utilizes rational-emotive behavior theory to examine judgment and decision-making in B2B salespeople. Research questions are presented and tested with a sample of 306 B2B salespeople using structural equation modeling. The results of the analysis reveal that irrational beliefs lead to dysfunctional emotions, and in turn, …

Demands At Work: The Moderating Influence Of Motivation On The Relationship Between Challenge Demands And Employee Work Engagement, Lauren R. Dinnat

Doctoral Dissertations

Work engagement is a popular topic due to the positive outcomes linked to it. For example, engaged workers are shown to be more productive workers and better organizational citizens. The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Theory has been the most widely accepted explanatory model for work engagement due to its flexibility to be applied to all work environments. While the JD-R does not argue that motivation is fixed, it does not account for moment-to-moment changes in motivation. A state theory of motivation that examines how motivation may impact the relationships between demands and work engagement has yet to be examined. This study …

Exploring The Relationships Between Motivations, Beliefs, Emotions, And Behaviors In The Context Of Organizational Change Readiness, Sidney Taylor Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations

Organizational change is an inevitable and key feature of an organization’s lifecycle, especially in today’s constantly shifting technological, cultural, and corporate landscapes. However, organizations often struggle to adapt, and change initiatives rarely succeed. Because of this, organizational change readiness has become a popular area of study in the field of industrial-organization psychology. Change readiness in the organizational context has been redefined several times over the past four decades, with recent efforts focused on developing a comprehensive definition and corresponding instrument of measurement for the concept. Change readiness at the individual level is intended to evaluate the psychological state in which …

Creating Whole Inclusive Worlds: The Impact Of Social Media Usage On Black Gender Expansive Millennials’ Experiences Of Social Support And Identity Development Processes, Meredith J. Holmes

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the processes of finding community and developing one’s own intersectional racial and gender identity through the social media (SM) experiences of 8 Black gender expansive (GE) adults located around the United States. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology and an intersectional theoretical framework, the research questions guiding the study were: “What is the relationship between Black gender expansive people, social media, and community?” and “What is the relationship between Black gender expansive people, social media, and identity development?” The researcher’s findings from in-depth interviews with participants included three major themes: A) Positive Resilience-Supporting Experiences on SM, …

Resilient Af: Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Women Of Color Psychologists In Forensic Mental Health Settings, Carisse A. Cronquist

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the lived experiences of women of color psychologists who identify as ethnic-racial minorities. This qualitative study used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to understand the narrative experience of the participants from their perspective. A total of four participants took part in this study. All participants identified as cisgender women psychologists currently working in a forensic mental health setting and identified as an ethnic-racial minority. In the lived experiences of the participants, three themes, and several subthemes, emerged: challenges, self-preservation, and strengths / resilience. The results showed that women of color psychologists working within forensic mental health settings face …

The Association Between Uncertainty, Reproductive Distress, And Avoidance In Assigned Female At Birth Adolescent And Young Adult (Aya-F) Cancer Survivors, Devon Ann Pons

Doctoral Dissertations

Family building and fertility is a complex component of survivorship for assigned female at birth Adolescent and Young Adult’s (AYA-F’s), often accompanied by a mix of cognitive uncertainty, emotional uncertainty, reproductive distress, and avoidance. These psychological components present in survivorship for AYA-F’s can impact coping, identity development, and individualized care plans throughout survivorship. This novel examination of data from a cross sectional study shed light on the associations between reproductive distress, uncertainty, and avoidance and how they are experienced differently by various subgroups within the sample.

Results demonstrate that reproductive distress fully mediated the association between emotional uncertainty and avoidance, …

The Walking Threat: Traits Of Pathogen Avoidance, Pathogen Threat Proximity And Functional Flexibility, Lahai Alexander Massaquoi Wicks

Doctoral Dissertations

The threat of infection to humans is unwavering, and it is increased through social interaction, which human life is based around. This has been demonstrated through the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, where social distancing was recommended to prevent the spread of the virus. Therefore, it is important to understand both the behavioral and physiological defenses that we possess against illness. However, the characteristics of the relationship between the behavioral immune system (BIS) and the physiological immune system (PIS) are still murky. This dissertation sought to better understand how the BIS considers the costs of mounting an immune response via functional flexibility …

The Role Of Awe In Risk-Taking And The Exploration Of The Unknown, Matthew Thomas Richesin

Doctoral Dissertations

Much has been learned about awe through scientific inquiry in the last twenty years, however, few researchers have looked to understand the adaptive function. Recent work has suggested that the function of awe is cognitive in nature. This view argues that the function awe plays is linked to how individuals respond to uncertainty. This approach proposes that awe should be linked to various epistemic dispositions such as curiosity, impulsivity, intolerance to uncertainty, and existential thinking. It further suggests that awe will have a distinct effect on risk-taking behaviors compared to fear and curiosity. The current project consists of three studies …

Bridging Biological Systems With Social Behavior, Conservation, Decision Making, And Well-Being Through Hybrid Mathematical Modeling, Maggie Renee Sullens

Doctoral Dissertations

Mathematical modeling can achieve otherwise inaccessible insights into bio-logical questions. We use ODE (ordinary differential equations) and Game Theory models to demonstrate the breadth and power of these models by studying three very different biological questions, involving socio-behavioral and socio-economic systems, conservation biology, policy and decision making, and organismal homeostasis.

We adapt techniques from Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) epidemiological models to examine the mental well-being of a community facing the collapse of the industry on which it’s economically dependent. We consider the case study of a fishing community facing the extinction of its primary harvest species. Using an ODE framework with a …

Discriminative Nursing Care Practices Towards Patients With Opioid Use Disorder In The Hospital Setting: How Knowledge And Social Attitudes Impact Care Delivery, Jeanne Adam Bernier

Doctoral Dissertations

Discriminative nursing care (DNC) practices towards patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) is a current phenomenon negatively affecting patient care and patient outcomes. It leads to delays in care, insufficient pain control, and feelings of guilt and shame, and it is linked to self-isolation, social isolation, social rejection, and even unemployment and housing disruption which perpetuate a dangerous cycle of inequity that is hard to overcome. In some cases, OUD stigmatization even increases morbidity and mortality rates. OUD stigmatization and discrimination are real problems in today’s health care climate due to the vast number of people affected by OUD and …

Introjection, Mentalization, Ego Functioning, And Lacan’S “Name Of The Father”, Chloe T. Cohen

Doctoral Dissertations

Psychoanalytic literature has traditionally focused on the theoretical explanations of psychological phenomena rather than empirical research to support those ideas. One such theory is Lacan’s “Name of the Father” (NOF), which recast Freud’s Oedipal situation, positing its representation in language use and situating it even earlier in psychological development. Lacan suggested that the NOF construct (establishing psychological structure and preventing psychosis) was best represented by metaphor use and linguistic structure. The current study attempted to measure the NOF construct (1955) through linguistic structure and metaphor use. We examined the relationship between an indirect measure of NOF functioning and overall personality …

Rapport And Collective Attention: How We Predict Others Will Share Knowledge, Andrew S. Heim

Doctoral Dissertations

When we observe people playing cooperative games together, there are several factors such as their rapport, attention, and theory of mind reasoning ability that might influence the information we think they will prioritize. On the one hand, we might expect players to clear up uncertain information. On the other hand, we might expect them to instead share information that is unknown to their partner. Participants observed two players in a cooperative game and predicted how the players would choose to go about prioritizing the sharing of information. We found that participants generally chose to discuss private knowledge. Additionally, it appears …

The Role Of Psychological Distance On The Antecedents And Consequences Of Political Outgroup Moral Derogation, Phillip P. Mcgarry

Doctoral Dissertations

Political polarization in the United States has continually increased at least across the past 40 years. Political partisans now regard out-party members as immoral. I employed three experiments (Experiment 1: n = 1070; Experiment 2: n = 402; Experiment 3: n = 392) to explore the antecedents and consequences of moral derogation in an inter-party context using the Ultimatum Game (UG) paradigm. Psychological distance was manipulated in Experiment 3, by randomly assigning participants to play the UG either in the same room or an adjacent room as a confederate. Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 were conducted online and served as …

Associations Between Early Childhood Sleep, Memory Function, And Brain Development Across The Nap Transition, Sanna Lokhandwala

Doctoral Dissertations

Preschool-age children often distribute their sleep across a midday nap and overnight sleep. Skipping the nap is suggested to increase the duration and depth of deep sleep (i.e., slow wave activity; SWA). Moreover, missing the midday nap has been shown to impair learning processes. This may be because children’s brains at this point in development are immature, necessitating the intervening nap period to strengthen memories before they are forgotten. Nonetheless, at some point during the preschool years, many children begin transitioning naturally out of napping. It is unclear whether the memory benefits of overnight SWA after a skipped nap depend …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Ethnic-Racial Minority Former Foster Youth Who Identify As Queer, Cristian A. Lemus

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore the lived experiences and meaning making of former foster youth of color who identify as both ethnic-racial minorities and as either gender or sexual minorities. A total of three participants took part in this study. All participants identified as a former foster youth with at least one foster care placement in the United States, as an ethnic-racial minority, and as a gender or sexual minority. In the lived experiences of the participants three themes, and several subthemes, emerged: identity, cultural prejudice, and power dynamics. The findings supported the hypothesis former foster …

Early Diagnosis Methods For Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review, Megan Denise Mccarthy

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: This systematic review aimed to comprehensively synthesize existing literature on early detection methods for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children birth to 3 years, that lead to an effective and reliable early diagnosis in children 2 to 3 years of age.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted across multiple electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO following PRISMA guidelines. Studies reporting on early detection methods for ASD in infants and toddlers within ages 0 to 3 years that lead to early diagnosis of children ages 2 to 3 years were eligible for inclusion. Data extraction and quality assessment were …

Opioid Use And Borderline Personality Disorder Features: Implications For Postpartum Maternal Self-Efficacy, Andrea Gorrondona

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study sought to understand and explore the experiences of pregnant individuals who use opioids as previous research has mainly focused on identifying potential negative implications (Ryan, Marsh, Testa, & Louderman, 2006; Choi & Ryan, 2007; Grella, Needell, Shi, & Hser, 2009; de Bernabe et al., 2004). The initial sample included 178 total participants recruited from a high-risk pregnancy clinic during their pregnancy. Borderline features, approximation of borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnosis (determined using a cutoff score of self-reported features, Kurt & Morey, 2001), opioid use status in pregnancy, and postpartum opioid use status were evaluated as potential predictors …

Collective Autonomy Restriction: A Theoretical Model And Empirical Investigations, Adrian Rivera-Rodriguez

Doctoral Dissertations

Collective autonomy refers to a group’s freedom to define and practice their own cultural and social identity without interference from other groups. According to the “threat and defense” hypothesis of collective autonomy restriction, group members are motivated to defend their collective autonomy from outside restriction. However, the psychological processes that influence advantaged vs. disadvantaged group members perceptions of collective autonomy, as well as the specific strategies they use to protect collective autonomy, have yet to be articulated. This dissertation presents three manuscripts that examine the social conditions and psychological processes that shape advantaged and disadvantaged group members’ perceptions of collective …

The Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Stigma In Higher Education: Investigating Barriers To Institutional Access And Social Inclusion, Hannah K. Chimowitz

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the collateral consequences of criminal record stigma within the realm of higher education, an important institutional domain that is recognized as facilitating social mobility and providing opportunities for individuals with criminal histories. I develop an integrative theoretical framework and present two empirical studies. Study 1 investigates the relationship between criminal screening in undergraduate admissions applications and campus crime rates, as well as Black undergraduate enrollment rates. Using the Common Application's removal of criminal history questions as a natural experiment, I employ propensity score methods and estimate a series of latent growth curve models using structural equation modeling. …

The Fear-Avoidance Model And Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms In University Students, Michael Broggi

Doctoral Dissertations

Ten to 20% of individuals who sustain a concussion continue to experience symptoms outside the typical window of recovery. Pre-morbid and post-injury anxiety are risk-factors for persistent post-concussion symptoms (PCS). However, mechanisms linking anxiety and persistent PCS are unclear. The fear-avoidance model of disability could add clarity to associations between anxiety and persistent PCS. This study examined if factors of the fear-avoidance model (e.g., catastrophic thinking, fear of symptoms, anxiety sensitivity) would mediate the association between persistent PCS and maladaptive coping responses (e.g., avoidance, limiting activities) following concussion. To achieve this aim, university students (N = 43) with resolved …

Professional And Personal Humility In Relation To Between-Therapist Differences In Effectiveness, Heather Muir

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: Research demonstrates that mental health clinicians vary in their general effectiveness—the “between-therapist effect.” Thus, it is important to identify determinants of such differences in order to understand and cultivate the therapist characteristics or actions that reliably foster better patient outcomes. To date, several of such variables have emerged empirically. For example, therapists who exhibit higher versus lower levels of professional self-doubt (PSD; a critical questioning of one’s skills as a clinician) have been shown to achieve better interpersonal outcomes with their average patient. Although arguably counterintuitive, the beneficial influence of PSD may make sense if, instead of simply reflecting …

Working With Other Immigrants Brings The Parts That I Lost Back To Me: The Experiences Of Latin American Immigrant Therapists Working With Latin American Immigrant Populations, Elizabeth P. Rivera

Doctoral Dissertations

Therapists who work with traumatized populations are vulnerable to experiencing trauma indirectly. This experience may be exacerbated for those who have experienced trauma themselves. As LatAm immigrant populations have often experienced trauma at the various migration phases, therapists who are LatAm immigrants and work with LatAm immigrant clients may also experience secondary traumatization as an inherent part of their work. While the research on secondary trauma spans decades, there is a dearth of literature on the experiences of LatAm immigrant therapists specifically. This qualitative dissertation study begins the conversation of what the lived experiences of LatAm immigrant therapists are via …

Mental Health And Experiences Of Pregnancy Among Black Women And Birthing People With Type 1 Diabetes (T1d), Madeleine E. Marcus

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explored the potential effects of intersections of oppression (i.e., anti-Black racism, diabetes discrimination, and sexism) on mental health and pregnancy experiences among Black women and birthing people with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). Previous studies about pregnancy and T1D have included mainly white, cisgender women. Three participants qualified for inclusion in the present study and participated in semi-structured interviews, which the researcher analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) framework. Participants described feeling uncertain about whether aspects of their pregnancy experiences were related to obstetric and/or medical racism. Similarly, participants sometimes seemed uncertain about how racism may affect their …

The Effects Of Acculturation, Marianismo, And Religiosity On Pregnancy Related Anxiety In Latina Women, Jennifer M. Zanoli

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a dearth of information about pregnancy related anxiety (PRA) in Latina women, yet a growing body of literature demonstrates adverse birth outcomes for mother and infant due to PRA. This study examined the association between acculturation, religiosity, marianismo, parity, and a Latina pregnant woman’s relationship with her healthcare provider with PRA in Latina women aged 18 and above. Acculturation was expected to be the more robust factor amongst the independent variables.

Participants in this study (n = 53) were Hispanic, Chicano, Latino or had a Latin or Spanish heritage, over the age of 18, pregnant at the …