Psychology Commons^™

Equality In Times Of Uncertainty: Economic Downturn And Body Image Messaging Toward Women, Ritsa Giannakas

Honors Theses

A vast body of literature indicates that the economy and the status of women are interlinked, with higher levels of economic well-being tending to correspond with advancements in women’s rights. However, little of this research has investigated the changes in the wellbeing of women as it pertains to their physical and mental health, especially as it pertains to exploring the impacts of economics on eating disorder rates and societal messaging toward women. This thesis investigates a novel theory linking economic uncertainty and downturn to the spread of pro-eating disorder content online, positing that economic uncertainty may coincide with a “conservative …

Mental Health Applications As A Resource For Reducing Access Disparities? A Case Example From A Disaster Mental Health App, Laura Perez-Villagomez

Honors Theses

Past research indicates Latinx individuals underutilize mental health services when it comes to addressing their mental health concerns, but often fail to mention the barriers to underutilization. Systemic barriers to seeking care largely fall under two larger umbrellas: cost and availability. A focus on whether disparities observed in traditional mental health services persisted for a trauma-focused app that recruited participants from the 2017 Hurricane outbreak provides us a unique outlook on a comparative analysis of utilization and engagement between the applications, Bounce Back Now (BBN) and Enhanced Usual Care. BBN is made up of four major components including tracking, …

Job Stress Moderates The Effects Of A Mindfulness Intervention On Early Childhood Teachers' Emotion Dysregulation, Emily J. Starr

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Addressing the current crisis of early childhood (EC) teacher turnover is essential for supporting the development of young children. Teacher attrition remains a concern for policymakers globally, and in the United States, early childhood teachers frequently cite job stress and lack of support as reasons for leaving the field. For over 40 years, researchers who study childcare have been concerned about the consequences of work-related stressors. Even if these stressors do not result in turnover, EC teachers’ psychological well-being may be impacted, leading to increased emotion regulation difficulties and more frequent negative teacher-child interactions. Young children’s emotional development is significantly …

Stress Arising From The Covid-19 Pandemic: Impacts On Coparenting Quality And Child Internalizing And Externalizing Problems, Michelle R. Ebrahim

Honors Theses

Since emerging in late 2019, the highly contagious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused worldwide disruptions, with major shutdowns in school, work, and other aspects of life. These stressors uniquely impacted families with young children. The present study investigated the impact of the pandemic on family functioning and risk for child internalizing and externalizing problems during the first year after the pandemic. The study included three waves of data collection from a larger longitudinal study aimed at understanding how couples navigate the prenatal-postpartum transition and the impacts of the family on early child development. We found that family pandemic-related stress was …

The Combined And Unique Roles Of Ptsd And Polyvictimization In Predicting Delinquency Among Adolescents, Joana Reyes

Honors Theses

As a supplement to previous research understanding the relationship of polyvictimization to delinquent behaviors, these analyze question the mediating role of PTSS between the two factors. A cascade model was used to understand the factors relationship, in which they influence each other independently and as a group. Therefore, it has been found that polyvictimization leads to an increase in the likelihood of delinquent behavior, PTSS was also expected to play a role in this cascade model. Analyzes found that PTSS does influence delinquency, yet not in each Wave of data.

Approaches For And Barriers To The Long-Term Execution Of A Recovery-Oriented Rehabilitation Model Of Treatment In A Community Day Psychiatric Rehabilitation Setting, Sarah Fischer

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation explores the process of creating, implementing, adapting and evaluating a program of care that is composed of specific program features that promote the acquisition of independent living skills, prosocial behavior, progress toward personal recovery goals, and more integrated community living. This program was created and implemented at a community mental health agency that provides integrated mental health care services for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI).

The goals of this dissertation were to (1) compare initial and long-term fidelity to the psychiatric rehabilitation model in order to establish the program’s ability to prevent drift, (2) explore the culture …

Metacognitive Function In Moderate To Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, Grace Amadon

Honors Theses

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to the brain caused by a bump, blow, jolt to the head. Individuals with TBI demonstrate decreased awareness of their own potential deficits and functional abilities. These deficits have critical implications for recovery as self-awareness is important for those recovering from TBI in the implementation and engagement of rehabilitative processes after TBI. The following study analyzed 18 individuals with TBI approximately 11 years post injury to document metacognitive functioning after injury. Participants completed a metacognitive working-memory paradigm where they made judgements of their future and past performance on identifying a target shape and …

Symptom Presentation Of Sexually Abused Youth: Associations With Abuse Attributions, Brittany Biles

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Child sexual abuse (CSA) outcomes are heterogeneous. Some victims display a combination of externalizing behaviors (e.g., aggression) and internalizing symptoms (e.g., depression), while others present with minimal symptoms (Domhardt, Munzer, Fegert, & Goldbeck, 2015). Among the factors that have been explored as relating to CSA outcomes are child characteristics (e.g., age; Dube et al., 2005), abuse-specific variables (e.g., abuse severity; Stroebel et al., 2012), and family variables (e.g., familial social support; Ryan, Kilmer, Cause, Watanabe, & Hoyt, 2000). Although much of the literature supports these factors as contributing to outcomes following CSA, conclusions have been inconsistent. Research has begun to …

Examining The Influence Of Childhood Trauma On College Alcohol Use And Mental Health: A Comparison Between United States And Philippines, Irenea Soetjoadi, Jessie Tibbs, Antover Tuliao, Dennis Mcchargue

UCARE Research Products

College students who have experienced trauma might use alcohol as a way to escape from their problems as drinking is a common way to forget the problems and create feelings of relaxation. Though the existing research has found that childhood trauma negatively impacts future alcohol use in many individuals, the specific patterns of these relationships across different cultures are not well understood. In this study, we investigate how these relationships vary across United States and Philippines. We hypothesized that college students who experience childhood trauma will report more mental health symptoms and greater alcohol consumption. Furthermore, we tested the ability …

Exploring Alcohol Use, Cannabis Use, And Desire To Dissociate In College Female Victims Of Sexual Violence, Gabrielle Krause, Jessie Tibbs, Antover Tuliao, Dennis Mcchargue

UCARE Research Products

Almost 20% of undergraduate women experience some type of completed sexual assault before graduating college. Experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, has been shown to increase difficulties with emotion regulation, and both PTSD symptoms and emotion regulation difficulties have been associated with marijuana-use coping motives (Bonn-Miller et al., 2011). Additionally, prior research has found that emotion dysregulation predicts alcohol involved sexual assault (AISA) in the short term, and alcohol problems increases the risk for AISA in the long term (Messman-Moore et al., 2014). This suggests a cyclical relationship in coping drinking motives. This study seeks to further examine …

Emotion Recognition In Individuals With Moderate To Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, Megan Jones

Honors Theses

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant problem in the United States. TBI often results in behavioral and psychosocial deficits. While an overall impairment in emotion recognition has been observed, some research suggests that negative emotions (anger, sadness, fear) in particular, are more difficult to recognize after sustaining a TBI. Along with impairments in emotion recognition, individuals with TBI are likely to have cognitive deficits due to increased anxiety after sustaining a TBI. The purpose of these studies was to gain a better understanding of emotion recognition after an individual has sustained a TBI. The aim of study one was …

Digital Addiction: A Conceptual Overview, Amarjit Kumar Singh, Pawan Kumar Singh

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Digital addiction referred to an impulse control disorder that involves the obsessive use of digital devices, digital technologies, and digital platforms, i.e. internet, video game, online platforms, mobile devices, digital gadgets, and social network platform. It is an emerging domain of Cyberpsychology (Singh, Amarjit Kumar and Pawan Kumar Singh; 2019), which explore a problematic usage of digital media, device, and platforms by being obsessive and excessive. This article analyses, reviewed the current research, and established a conceptual overview on the digital addiction. The research literature on digital addiction has proliferated. However, we tried to categories the digital addiction, according …

Recent Trends, Current Research In Cyberpsychology: A Literature Review, Amarjit Kumar Singh, Pawan Kumar Singh

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Cyberpsychology refers to the study of the mind and behavior in the context of interactions with technology. It is an emerging branch, which has focused on the psychological aspects connected to the increasing presence and usages of technology in modern lives. This paper traces recent advancement and trends of Cyberpsychology is an emerging domain of knowledge and goes on the give a literature review of the same. An analysis of the recent research and literature covering 300 most relevant research papers from the period of 2012 to 15, August 2019 was conducted to determine and shape the research pattern based …

Factors Associated With Return To A Child Advocacy Center For A Subsequent Sexual Abuse Allegation: A Longitudinal Analysis, Jessica Pogue

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Child sexual abuse is a widespread problem impacting substantial numbers of youth (Finkelhor, Shattuck, Turner, & Hamby, 2014). There are many factors that make telling someone about sexual abuse difficult for children, which can mean disclosures are delayed and children are at-risk longer. After initial victimization, there is increased risk for children to experience subsequent sexual abuse victimization (Pittenger, Pogue, & Hansen, 2018). Using the framework of Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model, the present study examined predictors to distinguish children who are at the highest risk of returning to a Child Advocacy Center (CAC) for a subsequent sexual abuse referral. It also …

Sleep-Wake Problems And Daytime Sleepiness As Predictors Of Emotion Regulation Strategies: A Longitudinal Study In Early Adolescence, Megan Toney

Honors Theses

Objective: Research has analyzed the association between poor sleep and emotion regulation abilities, yet most studies have focused on adult samples which may not generalize to youth. The present study examines how sleep problems and daytime sleepiness in early adolescence were associated with specific forms of emotion regulation later in adolescence.

Methods: A group of 109 children from a larger longitudinal study on cognitive development completed questionnaires at two separate timepoints. Cognitive tasks and survey-based measures were completed at the first point of data collection (M_age = 11.90, SD = .91, range = 10-14). Approximately 10 months later, …

It's Not Just A Dog: The Role Of Companion Animals In The Family's Emotional System, Cassandra Leow

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Past studies have looked into the role of companion animals in families. This study intended to explore the role of companion animals in the family’s emotional system through the lens of Bowen Family Systems Theory. Data from a study on companion animal loss and grief were used. A qualitative phenomenological approach was adopted to analyze the data from interviews. Three primary themes emerged from the data: balanced family emotional system, response to relational anxiety and role of the absence companion animal. The first theme suggested that human family members and companion animals developed a balanced family emotional system through companion …

The Wounded Warrior: Resilience Factors Minimizing Suicide Risk In Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Christina Hein

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Veterans experience high rates of both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal behaviors when compared to the general public. Moreover, PTSD is a significant predictor of suicidal behavior among clinical and non-clinical adult populations. Joiner’s Interpersonal-Psychological Theory (IPT) of suicide (Joiner et al., 2005) identifies three etiological factors that greatly increase risk of suicide, with PTSD potentially increasing risk of suicide by exacerbating these three components of IPT. Conversely, prior work has also identified resilience factors that may serve to buffer against the risk of suicide, particularly by counteracting the three components of IPT. These resilience factors fall into primary …

Anxiety And Depression During Childhood And Adolescence: Testing Theoretical Models Of Continuity And Discontinuity, Joseph R. Cohen, Arthur R. Andrews, Megan M. Davis, Karen D. Rudolph

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study sought to clarify the trajectory (i.e., continuous vs. discontinuous) and expression (i.e., homotypic vs. heterotypic) of anxiety and depressive symptoms across childhood and adolescence. We utilized a state-of-the-science analytic approach to simultaneously test theoretical models that describe the development of internalizing symptoms in youth. In a sample of 636 children (53% female; M age = 7.04; SD age = 0.35) self-report measures of anxiety and depression were completed annually by youth through their freshman year of high school. For both anxiety and depression, a piecewise growth curve model provided the best fit for the data, with symptoms …

The Mascs We Wear: Masculinity Contingency And Sexual Bystander Attitudes, Cody L. Meyer, Sarah Eagan, David Dilillo, Sarah J. Gervais

UCARE Research Products

• This study found that men whose masculinity is central to their self-worth are less likely to engage in bystander behaviors • Further suggests that gender socialization might predict bystander behaviors in men Future Research: • If this effect is a function of gender, does it still occur within queer, trans, and/or genderqueer populations? • Is there a more ecologically valid way to test these questions? (Virtual Reality Technology?)

Impact Of Child Sexual Abuse On Non-Abused Siblings: A Review With Implications For Research And Practice, Alayna Schreier, Jessica K. Pogue, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Research has widely supported the numerous negative outcomes for victims of child sexual abuse (CSA), but little attention has been paid to the experiences of non-abused, non-offending siblings following the victim's disclosure. This review presents evidence indicating that this overlooked sibling population merits both clinical and research attention. Siblings may experience significant emotional and behavioral responses to the victim's disclosure due to changes within the family system. A sibling's internalizing and externalizing behaviors can increase family distress post-abuse, while a supportive sibling can contribute to the victim's recovery. The current state of clinical services for siblings is described. Services including …

Defining Dimensions In Schizotypy: Factor Structure Replication And External Validation Of The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire – Brief Revised Updated (Spq-Bru)., Elaina Montague

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Background: Schizotypy is a construct that captures quantitative dimensions of the psychosis continuum from clinical to non-clinical expressions. The purpose of this study was to determine the factor structure and criterion validity of a newly revised self-report measure, the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire–Brief Revised Updated (SPQ-BRU; Davidson, Hoffman, & Spaulding, 2016) for predicting later cognitive-perceptual experiences in college undergraduates.

Method: The data analytic sample was comprised of 2,474 undergraduate students (female = 71.9%) attending a university in the Midwest. First, we aimed to identify a model of best fit by comparing latent measurement models of schizotypy using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). …

Sleep, Executive Control, And Psychopathology In Children: A Longitudinal Study And An Examination Of Brief Sleep Treatment, Katherine M. Kidwell

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Researchers have acknowledged that poor sleep is not merely a symptom of psychopathology but also a contributing factor to the development of psychopathology in children (Walker & Harvey, 2010). However, more research is needed to explicate the associations among sleep, executive control (EC), and psychopathology. Specifically, there are few studies using longitudinal designs and limited research on how treating sleep can improve mental health symptoms. This dissertation provides a conceptual framework for the associations among sleep, EC, and psychopathology. The conceptual framework is bolstered by two studies. Study 1 is an examination of early sleep problems and preschool EC as …

Predicting Sexual Revictimization In Childhood And Adolescence: A Prospective Examination Using Ecological Systems Theory, Samantha L. Pittenger

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Child sexual abuse is a prevalent problem in the United States and is associated with revictimization: a victimization episode perpetrated by a different individual and occurring subsequent to initial abuse experiences (Barnes, Noll, Putnam, & Trickett, 2009). While evidence shows that 20-39% of sexual abuse victims report revictimization within childhood or adolescence, much of the research to date has focused on its occurrence in adulthood. Thus, there is a limited understanding of the pathways to revictimization and its associated outcomes for youth. The present study examined predictors of sexual revictimization within childhood and adolescence using ecological theory, which includes individual, …

Mediators Of The Relationship Between Depression And Alcohol-Related Harm: The Role Of Alexithymia, Impulsivity And Negative Reinforcement Outcome Expectancies, Andrew Brauer Mcgrath, Dennis E. Mcchargue Ph.D.

UCARE Research Products

Background and Objectives: The prevalence of alcohol misuse on college campuses is a considerable problem. Depression is commonly found to be related to increases in alcohol related harm; however, not frequently found to be directly related to increases in alcohol use. This pattern suggests that there are factors related to depression that exaggerate alcohol problems other than the association between depression and the amount of alcohol used. This study examined the relationship between depression and alcohol related harm in college binge drinkers, focusing on emotional, behavioral, and cognitive variables believed to mediate the association. The roles of alexithymia, impulsivity, and …

Psychological Distress And Revictimization Risk In Youth Victims Of Sexual Abuse, Samantha L. Pittenger, Alayna Schreier, Katie Meidlinger, Jessica K. Pogue, Kate Theimer, Mary Fran Flood, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Psychological distress, including depression and anxiety, has been associated with increased risk for sexual revictimization in youth who have experienced child sexual abuse. The present study utilized assessment information from treatment seeking youth with histories of sexual abuse to explore specific risk indicators for revictimization—risk taking, social problems, maladaptive cognitions, and posttraumatic stress—that may be indicated by self-reported distress. The relationship between initial levels of distress and change in symptoms over a 12-week course of treatment was also explored. Participants were 101 youth referred to a child-focused therapeutic group for victims of sexual abuse, 65 youth referred to an adolescent-focused …

Exposure And Responses To Pre-Incident Behavior In A College Student Sample, Brandon A. Hollister

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Campus threat assessment has included gathering, assessing, and intervening in situations with pre-incident behavior. However, with limited general population examination, concerns regarding the prevalence, assault correspondence, and reporting of pre-incident behavior exist. With an undergraduate student sample (n = 1,063), this dissertation utilized a survey regarding exposure and response to campus safety concerns. In comparison to students not witnessing concerns, students seeing problematic behavior had higher self-reported antisocial history and campus connectedness. Students witnessing physical assault were more likely to see multiple pre-incident behaviors, multiple incidents of pre-incident behavior, threatening statements, and threatening gestures from the perpetrator than students witnessing …

The Impact Of Sexual Violence On Intimate Relationship Dynamics: A Grounded Theory Study, Nicole M. Lozano

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study intended to develop a theory that explains the relationship dynamics of opposite-sex couples in which the female partner has been sexually victimized as an adult outside of the couple relationship. Four couples participated in the study sharing their experiences of disclosing the assault, communicating about the assault, physical intimacy, and salience of the assault to the relationship. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach the model emerged from the data. Overall, the women decided to disclose because they felt secure in their current intimate relationship. Disclosure happened for one of two reasons: (a) either to test the relationship and …

Examining The Role Of Antisocial Personality Disorder In Intimate Partner Violence Among Substance Use Disorder Treatment Seekers With Clinically Significant Trauma Histories, Rita E. Dykstra, Julie A. Schumacher, Natalie Mota, Scott F. Coffey

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study examined the associations among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) diagnosis, and intimate partner violence (IPV) in a sample of 145 substance abuse treatment-seeking men and women with positive trauma histories; sex was examined as a moderator. ASPD diagnosis significantly predicted both verbal and physical aggression; sex moderated the association between ASPD diagnosis and physical violence. PTSD symptom severity significantly predicted engaging in verbal, but not physical, aggression. Overall, these results suggest that an ASPD diagnosis may be an important risk factor for engaging in IPV among women seeking treatment for a substance use …

A Comparison Between Telehealth And Face-To-Face Brief Alcohol Interventions For College Students, Sarah Christine King

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Problematic alcohol use is a common occurrence among college students. While empirically supported interventions exist, their access is typically limited to those who attend large universities. In the health care field there has been an expansion of services provided via telehealth to increase client access to treatment. However, the evidence is mixed regarding the effectiveness of face-to-face versus telehealth interventions and there is a gap in the literature regarding the use of telehealth interventions for brief alcohol interventions in college students. As such, the purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a well-validated brief alcohol screening and …

Avoidance As An Explanatory Mechanism For Poor Outcomes In Treatment For Substance Use Disorders, Andrew Oakland

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are prevalent and lead to significant impairments in people's lives in a variety of ways. One area which has gained attention is that of SUDs and their high comorbidity with mood and anxiety disorders. Many theories exist as to why these conditions often occur together, and the self-medication hypothesis is one that has perhaps the most research and general support behind it. The self-medication hypothesis states that individuals use substances to reduce negative affect which creates a feedback loop of negative reinforcement. Individuals then develop problematic substance use in addition to emotional dysregulation. One recent theory …