Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Perceived Parenting Style, Adolescent Family Life Satisfaction, And Self-Esteem As Predictors Of Adolescent Substance Use, Megan Cox

Masters Theses

This study was conducted to identify predictors of adolescent substance use. Eighty-seven junior high school students completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Adolescent Family Life Satisfaction Index, Parental Authority Questionnaire, and the Michigan Alcohol and Other Drug School Survey. When examining self-esteem, adolescent family life satisfaction, and perceived parenting style, it was found that the authoritarian father parenting style was the best predictor of total adolescent substance use and, more specifically, tobacco use. Self-esteem and the authoritarian father parenting style were found to be the best predictors of adolescent alcohol use. Furthermore, the authoritarian father parenting style was significantly correlated with …

Personality Variables Of Adult Children Of Alcoholics In A Treatment Sample As Measured By The Personality Research Form-E, Tamara K. Young

Masters Theses

There has been much personality research in the area of Adult Children of Alcoholics with varying results. This study examines personality variables in archival data of alcoholic clients in a residential treatment center with the use of the Personality Research Form-E (Jackson, 1984). A comparison was made between groups of non-ACOA clients and those with alcoholic parents in the areas of aggression, defendence, dominance and desirability. No significant differences were found between groups. Two other hypotheses were generated concerning male participants only. No significant differences were found for the trait of autonomy; however, male ACOA alcoholic participants were found to …

An Evaluation Of Pre-Intake Attention On Kept Intake Appointments In An Outpatient Setting, Lauren Roberts

Masters Theses

The present study attempted to reduce the no-show rate for scheduled intake appointments at a local CMHC through the use of two interventions. Thirty-seven subjects who called for an intake appointment were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: an Orientation and Standard Intake Procedure or an Orientation and Modified Intake Procedure. Both treatment groups were compared to a Base Group consisting of intake appointments scheduled during the same time period the previous year. Individuals assigned to OMIP revealed a reduction in the no-show rate from 51% during baseline to 36%. Individuals assigned to OSIP did not reveal similar …

Mmpi Profiles Of Sexual Perpetrators, Steven G. Vaupel

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare MMPI scores of 60 men referred for assessment and/or counseling at community mental health facilities. No MMPI protocols were excluded due to elevated validity configurations (70T or above). Forty of the referrals were referred for suspected child sexual abuse. Twenty of the referrals admitted (Admitter) to sexually abusing a child at the time of referral and twenty did not admit (Nonadmitter) to sexually abusing a child when referred. A control group of the remaining twenty subjects were referred for various offenses, none of which included sexual offenses against children. Significant differences were …

Family Problems In The Background Of Mental Health Professionals, Linda Elaine Mccarter

Masters Theses

It has been proposed by some that students choose to study in mental health related fields in an effort to find solutions for their own personal emotional or family problems. Some believe that those who assumed or were assigned a family role of the good or parentified child (a role which requires that the needs of others be placed ahead of one's own) are over-represented among mental health professionals. Others contend that there are no significant differences in family background between psychotherapists and other individuals with a similar level of education. Little empirical investigation has addressed these issues. Studies which …

Effectiveness Of A Video Recorded Ocean Scene Technique As A Relaxation Therapy, David M. Ford

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a video recorded ocean scene as a relaxation technique by comparing it with an established method, progressive relaxation training (Jacobson, 1938) on their ability to affect the following physiological measurements: systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse, and respiration.

Thirty female elementary school teachers participated in this study and were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: Video Recorded Ocean Scene Group, Progressive Relaxation Training Group, and Self Directed Relaxation Group (used as control). The general protocol for each treatment group consisted of a forty minute session with …

Assertiveness Training With Mildly Mentally Retarded Institutionalized Persons, David Larry Bokor

Masters Theses

Assertiveness training is a psychological intervention strategy designed to develop the skills of individuals who fail to defend and express their rights, feelings, or beliefs in a straightfoward manner.

Currently there is no set procedure regarding the composition of assertiveness training when modified to suit the needs of various populations. However a vast majority of professionals do employ effective basic techniques, i.e. behavior rehearsal, coaching, feedback, and social reinforcement to shape assertive request and refusal behavior.

Low intelligence limits the mentally retarded person's ability to cope with emotional difficulties. Individuals that recognize their limitations often experience feelings of inadequacy, frustration, …

Analogic Communication As A Method Of Facilitating Change, Patricia Ann Tennery-Williams

Masters Theses

This thesis focused on nonverbal communication and the ways in which it may be employed to facilitate change in the context of psychotherapy. The anthropological, psychological, and medical literature was reviewed, and an overview presented of the relevant research on nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication forms a critical dimension in the overall communication in the psychotherapeutic interaction. The importance of the therapist’s recognition of nonverbal behaviors characteristic of particular personality structures as well as the functions of nonverbal messages was examined. The utilization of meaningful nonverbal behavior by the therapist can greatly facilitate the client's change into more healthy and constructive …

Comparative Effects Of Two Avoidance Paradigms Upon Ethanol Self-Selection, Richard O. Shellenberger Ii

Masters Theses

Twelve adult male rats were given free access to a two bottle free-selection of tap water or a 10% ethanol/tap water solution in the home cage for a period of 140 consecutive days with the alcohol consumption data in the form of mg absolute ETOH/g subject weight collected daily. This study incorporated three stages. Phase I was a 40 day period of alcohol acclimation with alcohol consumption during the second 20 days constituting the baseline consumption rate. Mean baseline alcohol consumption was used to block subjects into three groups. The second phase of the study consisted of an 80 day …

Interpersonal Communication As A Function Of Subject Representational Mode, Joseph Adrian Williams

Masters Theses

The study investigated aspects of a communications model of psychotherapy advanced by Grinder and Bandler. Subjects were thirty male and female undergraduate introductory psychology students at Eastern Illinois University during the summer of 1977. The subjects ranked a set of tape recorded statements for "understandability". These statements were presented in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic representational modes. Subject ratings provided a measure of which representational modes communicated most effectively to them. Three independent judges rated transcripts of recorded samples of the subject's actual language usage to determine the representational modes utilized by the subjects. Analysis of the ratings resulted in a …

Resettlement Problems Of Prisoners-Of-War Of The Japanese In World War Ii And The Chinese Communists In Korea, Allen Hanegan

Masters Theses

The readjustment problems that were encountered by the prisoners-of-war (POWs) were caused by their identification problems, the chief aspect of which was their defensive isolationism. These problems produced further difficulties for the individual POW in the behavioral category and for the entire POW group in their underlying distrust of the outside world. These also produced confused reactions, paranoid syndromes, and a lack of participation in military and civilian affairs, and were expressed in the POWs as fearful withdrawal and belligerent negation with anti-social overtones. These problems were more marked in the case of the Korean War prisoners than in the …

Irrationalism In Affective And Cognitive Personality Types, Steven F. Mcarthur

Masters Theses

Psychologists generally consider personality to be a collection of characteristics and traits. These characteristics are manifested through two domains: affect (emotion) and cognition (thinking). Evidence has shown affect and cognition to be closely related.

Psychotherapy modalities can be categorized along a continuum, from highly rational and logical (cognitive) on one end, to highly affective on the other.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between cognitively and affectively oriented persons and irrational thoughts or ideas as defined by a highly rational therapy modality (Rational-Emotive Therapy) in an effort to determine a treatment of choice for these persons. …

Hour House And The Practicum Student: Suggested Guidelines, Stan G. Harris

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Videotape Feedback And Its Effects On Two Communicational Modalities, John Joseph Benda

Masters Theses

The present study was concerned with the applicability of various videotape feedback procedures on two communication modalities. The communication modalities studied dealt with the visual and auditory orientation of 80 college students.

The vast and, for the most part, positive findings associated with videotape feedback have fascinated therapists for the last couple of years. However, for the most part, videotape feedback has been used with individuals without taking into consideration the different ways these individuals communicate and/or learn. The purpose of the present experiment was to analyze the various aspects in which individuals communicate. Once their communicational modality was established …

A Didactic Method Of Preparation For Encounter Group Participants, Lawrence H. Bergmann

Masters Theses

The utilization of group procedures has mushroomed in the past ten years. While developing in part from group psychotherapy, involvement in groups has become a movement in its own right. Encounter groups, marathons or other intensive group experiences are no longer seen as a "second-best" treatment but a useful technique to be added to the tools of the psychotherapist. However, the rapid development of these treatments have often exceeded a strong theoretical rationale and the negative consequences have become increasingly evident. Preparation for individual therapies has been shown to be one method for improving outcomes and avoiding undesirable consequences. However, …

A Comparison Of Self Ratings Of Change Done Dependently And Independently, Pamela P. Irwin

Masters Theses

A total of 243 Mental Hygiene and Introductory Psychology students completed ratings of adjustment in January of 1976. In May of the same year, 65 of the original Mental Hygiene students and 110 of the Introductory students completed the post-testing under one of four procedures. The post-testing procedures were: 1) dependent testing (defined as post-testing with awareness of pre-testing results) with an option to change their original test; 2) independent post-tesing which was the traditional method; then completion of dependent rating; 3) testing of their recall of original ratings, then dependent testing; and 4) dependent testing without the option to …

Systematic Relaxation Training And The Process Of Methadone Detoxification, Dennis Crowley

Masters Theses

This study examined the completion and noncompletion of methadone detoxification of two groups of subjects enrolled in a heroin treatment program. Twenty-six subjects who had been addicted to heroin for a minimum of two years and were receiving methadone were randomly assigned to an experimental and control group. The experimental group was assigned a series of relaxation training sessions. Each subject, at the outset, was receiving 18-22 mg of methadone daily. Two counselors conducted the relaxation training which began at the 18-22 mg dosage level.

Completion of methadone detoxification was defined by the following criteria. (1) The subject ceased to …

A Didactic Group Therapy Program For The Treatment Of Depression, John J. Hansen

Masters Theses

A study was conducted to examine the pretest - posttest change scores on the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale between an experimental group and control group of geriatric subjects. From a total of 22 subjects tested, eleven were randomly chosen for the experimental group and eleven were randomly chosen for the control group. All subjects were residents of a self-care unit of a nursing home. The subjects used in the experimental group were involved in ten sixty-minute didactic group therapy sessions, while the control group subjects were not treated. A t - test was used to determine the differences between the …

The Social History Questionnaire As A Predictor Of Therapeutic Outcome, Susan E. Suter

Masters Theses

One of the most critical problems encountered in clinical practice concerns the outcome criteria used for predicting therapeutic improvement. At present, there is no single outcome criteria that is universally accepted as evidence of improvement. Representative studies by Lubarsky et al (1971) have emphasized the magnitude of this problem by citing the many patient variables that may effect the outcome of a therapeutic relationship.

The importance of this therapeutic relationship in terms of time and committment on the part of both the therapist and the client, necessitates some objective means for first, the development of an instrument that can measure …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Loneliness And Differential Diagnosis In A Rural Mental Health Center, Kathryn Dunscomb

Masters Theses

The review of the literature discussed loneliness in general and specified three seperate forms of loneliness; social, psychic, and existential. The relationships between loneliness, social interaction, and pathology were discussed. 139 clients were given the Belcher Extended Loneliness Scale - Revised prior to therapy. They were assigned one of six diagnostic categories to determine loneliness score (LS), diagnostic, and sex interactions. An analysis of variance found a significant difference (p <.0001) between the diagnostic categories’ LS. The schizophrenic’s and the neurotic’s LS s were significantly higher (<.05) than the remaining categories. The males had significantly (p <.036) higher LS than the females. It was also hypothesized that the degree of loneliness would increase the lower the diagnostic developmental level. The hypothesized order was not consistent with the results. Further research was recommended.

The Social History Questionnaire As Related To Length Of Stay In Psychotherapy: A Cross-Validation, Robert Crowley

Masters Theses

The purpose of the present study was to cross-validate the Terminator-Remainer subscale of the Social History Questionnaire (Jachim, 1972). The subjects were 72 clients from a mental health clinic. Two groups were used in the study (N = 72 and N = 36). Both groups were divided into Terminators and Remainers.

A point biserial correlation between the score on the Terminator-Remainer subscale and the criterion groups was significant (N = 72: rpb = .24, p < .05; N = 36: rpb = .38, p < .05). Predictive validity was established.

No relationship was found between being a Terminator or a Remainer and sex (x² = 0.07, N …

The Social History Of Therapists And Their Clients, As Related To Outcome Of Therapy, Howard A. Bernstein

Masters Theses

The present study was concerned with the concept of therapist-patient pairing or similarity-dissimilarity. From previous research, it appears that certain therapist types work better with certain client types.

In the current study, three therapists and twenty-four clients were used to develop the concept of pairing further using social history as a basis. The results indicate that global similarity generally leads to more positive outcome. However, we are unable to draw any firm conclusions, primarily due to the small sample size. It does appear that social history may be a useful area to continue investigations in the area of pairing.

The Social History Questionnaire As Related To Length Of Stay In Psychotherapy, David P. Jachim

Masters Theses

A serious problem encountered in clinical practice concerns the large proportion of clients who begin therapy but for various reasons terminate treatment after only a few interviews and without the consent of the therapist. Representative studies by Kurland (1956), Haddock and Mensch (1957), and Rosenthal and Frank (1958) have emphasized the severity of this problem by indicating that most mental health clinics face the possibility of losing half of their therapy clients prematurely.

This problem necessitates some objective means for identifying potential terminators and remainers prior to their entering therapy. Such a technique would permit a more efficient utilization of …

A Review Of Pertinent Studies On Alcoholism With Particular Reference To The Family, Robert S. Reed

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.