Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Validating The Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders Scale, Charmeka. Whitehead

Dissertations

This study investigated the reliability and validity of the Attitudes Toward Sex Offenders Scale (ATS) measurement by assessing attitudes of counselors in training towards juvenile sex offenders. The specific aims of this study were to determine (a) internal consistency of the ATS, (b) construct validity of the ATS based on exploratory factor analysis, and (c) the degree to which this instrument has convergent and discriminate validity. The intellectual merit of this study was to provide appropriate scale validation of the ATS so that it might be used to assess attitudes of mental health professionals who work with juvenile sex offenders. …

A Molecular Analysis Of Training Multiple Versus Single Manipulations To Establish A Generalized Manipulative Imitation Repertoire, Breanne K. Hartley

Dissertations

This study evaluates the necessity of training multiple versus single manipulativeimitations per object in order to establish generalized manipulative-imitation. Training took place in Croyden Avenue School's Early Childhood Developmental Delay preschool classroom in Kalamazoo, MI. Two groups of 3 children each were trained to imitate in order to determine the most appropriate number of manipulations required (per object) to establish a generalized manipulative-imitation repertoire. Three children received single-manipulations training, and 3 children received multiple-manipulations training. It was anticipated that the multiple-manipulations training group would acquire a greater amount of generalized manipulative-imitation because the training required that the children discriminate between …

Attachment Anxiety And Avoidance: Relationship To Body Image And Exercise Behavior, Kathryn Louise Brown

Dissertations

This study was designed to investigate the role of attachment anxiety and avoidance in predicting persons' body image, body appreciation, and obligatory exercise behavior. Two hundred and twenty eight participants (100 men and 128 women) completed the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994), Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ; Cash, 2000), Body Appreciation Scale (BAS; Avalos et al., 2005), and Obligatory Exercise Questionnaire (OEQ; Pasman & Thompson, 1988). Results provided at least partial support for many of the hypotheses. The current study replicated results from previous research pertaining to the relationship between attachment and body image. However, the results …

A Longitudinal Examination Of Outcomes Related To Emotional Abuse In Children, Lauren Seale Fryer

Dissertations

Emotional abuse has been linked to both intemalizing and extemalizing outcomes in adults and children, even after controlling for the presence of physical and/or sexual abuse in childhood (Braver, Bumberry, Green, & Rawson, 1992; Gibb et al., 2001; Kaufman & Cicchetti, 1989; Kim & Cicchetti, 2006). The developmental/organizational perspective, as well as attachment theory, suggests that emotional abuse occurring in childhood will result in disrupted views of subsequent relationships, leading to maladaptive outcomes such as aggression, depression, and low self-esteem (Cicchetti & Toth, 1995). The current study examined these relations in an archival sample of lowincome urban children ages 5 …

A Psychometric Evaluation Of The Revised Optimism-Pessimism Scale Of The Mmpi-2, Ginger Burge Debrule

Dissertations

The present study tested the psychometric properties of the Revised Optimism-Pessimism Scale (PSM-R) of the MMPI-2. This scale purportedly measures the respondent's explanatory style on a dimension of optimism and pessimism. Participants included 92 college undergraduates and 2,729 participants from archived outpatient data. The PSM-R is a reliable measure, based on test-retest reliability and internal consistency. However, the construct validity of the measure is questionable. Evaluation of the PSM-R items suggests that the items are not all related to the optimism-pessimism construct. In addition, convergent validity of the PSM-R was assessed using measures of attributional style, dispositional optimism, hope, depression, …

The Effect Of Holland's Person-Environment Fit On Trait Anger, Interpersonal Conflict At Work, And Workplace Aggression, Aimee Chantelle Pseekos

Dissertations

This study examined the effect of Person-Environment fit, as defined by Holland's (1997) theory, on trait anger, interpersonal conflict at work, and workplace aggression in a sample of employees in the United States. Job satisfaction was also examined with regard to concurrent and discriminant validity information for this sample. Results indicated that there was not a statistically significant effect of Person- Environment fit on trait anger, interpersonal conflict at work, or workplace aggression. The concurrent and discriminant validity of findings was supported through relationships between job satisfaction, Person-Environment fit, and workplace aggression. Limitations and implications for further research related to …

Informed Consent As A Predictor Of Working Alliance And Perception Of Counselor/Psychotherapist, Scott E. Kerby

Dissertations

Client informed consent is an important component and ethical dimension of counseling and psychotherapy required by each of the mental health professions. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which informed consent in counseling/psychotherapy may relate to client perceptions of the working alliance, measured by the Working Alliance Inventory - Short Version (WAI-S) (Tracey and Kokotovic, 1989), and clients' general opinion of the counselor/psychotherapist, measured by the short form of Counselor Rating Form (CRF-S) (Corrigan and Schmidt, 1983). In particular, the study investigated: (1) how discussion and understanding of informed consent related to client perceptions of …

Phenomenological Study Of Resilience In The Lives Of White, Midlife Lesbian Psychologists In Clinical Practice, Melissa A. Lidderdale

Dissertations

The unique experiences and adversities encountered by midlife lesbian therapists have not been directly investigated. How the midlife lesbian women in this study were influenced by their individual experiences and cultural changes, both in general society and within the mental health profession, are paramount to more fully understanding the adversities, support, and resilience that they experienced while becoming psychologists. Due to the scarcity of empirical literature pertaining to the therapist's experience of resilience and the paucity of empirical literature related to resilience in lesbians, phenomenological research methods were chosen for this study. The goal of this study was to provide …

The Comparative Efficacy Of Dosed, Enhanced Dosed, Prolonged Exposure, And Mindfulness In The Reduction Of Anxiety, Sophie Rubin

Dissertations

Exposure-based treatments have proven effective in treating a range of fears and phobias and can be accounted for by mechanisms described in behavioral theory. Enhanced dosed and dosed-only exposure are promising new behavioral approaches for treating fears and phobias. Fifty participants with speech anxiety were randomly assigned to a prolonged exposure condition (PE), a dosed-only exposure condition (DE), a positively enhanced dosed exposure condition (PDE), a negatively-supplemented dosed exposure condition (NDE), or a mindfulness enhanced dosed exposure condition (MDE). End of session results for all of the enhanced groups resulted in significantly lower subjective ratings of discomfort than the non-enhanced …

Acceptability Of Interventions To Staff In Long-Term Care Settings For Older Adults: Comparing Ratings And Hierarchical Selection, Jonathan C. Baker

Dissertations

Older adults and their caregivers generally prefer behavioral interventions over medications in treatment acceptability studies (Osterkamp, Mathews, Burgio, & Hardin, 1997). However, previous acceptability studies have primarily examined ratings, which did not force the responder to select between treatment options. Additionally, recent advances in behavioral treatment technologies (Carr & LeBlanc, 2003) and pharmacotherapy (Schneider, 1999) warrant revisiting treatment acceptability for older adults. The present investigation examined treatment acceptability of behavioral, pharmacological, and sensory interventions using a treatment acceptability rating scale, treatment selections, and direct report of treatments used in a six-month window. Fifty-six staff from nursing homes in the Mid-West …

Training The Execution Of Single-Case Research Methodology Skills In An Early And Intensive Behavioral Intervention Setting, Jessa R. Love

Dissertations

Early and intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for children with autism is a fruitful area for conducting research on clinically relevant problems in an attempt to investigate some of the unanswered questions about which procedures are most effective and efficient. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that therapists providing these services have received adequate training in conducting relevant single-case design research in this area. Providing such therapists with the skills needed to implement single-case design research protocols could improve the use of the scientist-practitioner model in these settings and greatly expand the base of scientific knowledge in the area.

Behavioral Skills Training (BST; …

Investigating The Effects Of Observer Presence And Feedback On Individuals' Work-Related Behavior, Angela R. Lebbon

Dissertations

Direct observation procedures have been widely used by applied behavior analysts to examine the effects of various interventions, however, recent research examining the effects of the observer's presence on behavior has found that participants behave in ways that are not representative of their behavior in the absence of an observer. Furthermore, recent research has demonstrated that both reactivity and habituation are idiosyncratic and it remains unclear which variables mediate reactive effects with individuals. Researchers have discussed the necessity of identifying and measuring reactive effects in order to discover variables (e.g., discriminative stimulus properties) that may mediate reactive effects. Previous research …

The Relations Among Parental Monitoring And Warmth, And Adolescent Externalizing And Internalizing Distress: The Effects Of Parent And Adolescent Perception Of Neighborhood Danger, Jonathan Goldner

Dissertations

Parental monitoring and warmth have traditionally been studied in the context of white, middle-class families. This paper adds to recent research that has begun to explore what levels of these parenting behaviors are optimal for the prevention of adolescent psychopathology in impoverished, urban high crime areas. It also takes into account parent and child perceptions of neighborhood danger. This study employs a longitudinal design, with data collected at two times points one year apart, among a sample of 240 African American young adolescents and their parents in urban, high crime neighborhoods. It aims to study parental monitoring, parental warmth, parent …

Gender Differences In Antecedents To Academic And Personal Well-Being In Urban Youth: What Is The Role Of Social Support?, Erin Caskey

Dissertations

Urban youth are an important, yet understudied population. Moreover, the vast majority of existing research has focused on negative outcomes. Recently, there has been a trend in the field of adolescent research toward creating models that attempt to understand and explain why some members of at-risk populations are able to overcome adversities and to achieve successful adaptation. The present study investigated the relationships between perceived social support, gender, academic outcomes, and personal well-being in urban youth. Overall, perceived social support was found to be related to many outcome variables for males and females. Gender differences were found in the relationships …