Psychology Commons^™

Data-Driven Approach To Dynamic Resting State Functional Connectivity In Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Carissa Weis

Theses and Dissertations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a heterogenous psychological disorder that may result from exposure to a traumatic event. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), symptoms of PTSD have been associated with aberrations in brain networks that emerge in the absence of a given cognitive demand or task, called resting state networks. Most previous research in resting state networks and PTSD has focused on aberrations in the static functional connectivity among specific regions of interest (ROI) in the brain and within canonical networks constrained by a priori hypotheses. However, dynamic fMRI, an approach that examines changes in brain network characteristics over …

Mindfulness And Technology: Evaluating An Online Mindfulness Intervention For Symptoms Related To Sexual Assault, Erica Catherine Johnson

Dissertations

Sexual assault has been found to increase the risk of distressing psychological symptoms including PTSD, depression, somatization, drug and substance use, lower quality of life and experiential avoidance. As such, interventions for reducing the distress and negative impacts of sexual assault are of importance. Mindfulness is of particular interest as it addresses one of the prominent factors known to maintain psychological distress after trauma, experiential avoidance (Polusny et al., 2004; Merwin et al., 2009). Furthermore, an online mindfulness-based intervention can increase the accessibility and reduce the barriers to treatment. A within subjects repeated measures open clinical trial design was used …

Exploring The Maladaptive Cognitions Of Moral Injury, Rachel L. Martin

Dissertations

Moral injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are two prominent mental health problems that affect military personnel. Moral injury results when the individual is exposed to a situation or event that violates their moral code; however, PTSD results when there is a substantial threat of harm. Moral injury is a relatively new construct within the literature with research starting in the late 2000s. Although distorted cognitions are core components of PTSD symptomatology, there has been no research of cognitions in moral injury. The current study sought to differentiate PTSD and moral injury using the specific maladaptive cognitions associated with trauma …

Military Sexual Trauma In Veterans: Consequences, Treatment, And Therapeutic Implications, Chelsey Siville

Dissertations

Amongst Veterans served within the Veterans Affairs healthcare system, approximately 1 in 50 men and 1 in 3 women have experienced military sexual trauma (MST). While every individual is different, a common characteristic or identity amongst those who have served is that of a warrior – someone perceived as strong and ready to defend both their country and fellow soldier. Experiencing military sexual trauma can create a painful and discrepant identity as well as impact almost all domains of functioning. Unfortunately, trauma is an all too common occurrence in the lives of many service members and the multifinality of trauma …

The Role Of Coping Behaviors And Intoxication In Trauma Symptomology Subsequent To Sexual Victimization, Danika Martine Charles

Theses and Dissertations

College women are at an elevated risk for sexual victimization compared to the general population. One possible reason for the increase risk of sexual victimization on college campuses is that college is inherent with greater freedom and less supervision. This unsupervised environment may encourage students to explore alcohol and other drug use and abuse and engage in risky sexual behavior, which are risk factors for sexual victimization. Sexual victimization is defined as unwanted behaviors and tactics that range from oral, anal, vaginal contact or penetration where the perpetrator uses force, intimidation, or coercion. Sexual victimization is often conceptualized in terms …

Neurobiological Mechanisms Of Cognitive Processing Therapy For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Brain Network Approach, Tessa Vuper

Dissertations

Psychotherapy research is increasingly targeting both psychological and neurobiological mechanisms of therapeutic change. This trend is evident in and applicable to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment research given the high nonresponse rate of individuals with PTSD who undergo cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). A review of the literature investigating neurobiological mechanisms of CBT in PTSD reveals inconsistent results that fail to fully support dual process or learning models of CBT effects in the brain. However, network-based models of psychopathology provide a new framework from which to understand both mental disorder symptoms and therapeutic mechanisms. The current study investigated a) whether brain networks …

Exploring The Experience Of Psychological Distress For Young Adults With Cancer: Implications For A New Diagnosis Of Medical Traumatic Stress, Audrey Ryan

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how a serious medical diagnosis, such as cancer, can act as an acute or prolonged trauma. This was explored through the lived experiences of psychological distress of young cancer survivors. Participants were 12 men and women who had been diagnosed with cancer within the past seven years when they were between the ages of 18 and 39. From these interviews several themes emerged that describe the phenomenon of what I have termed medical traumatic stress.

Trauma from a medical event does not currently meet criteria for PTSD in the DSM-5 …

The Role Of Perceived Heterosexism In Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity Among Trauma-Exposed Sexual Minority Individuals, Natalie M. Cereseto

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis employed structured posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) assessments, a micro-longitudinal 30-day daily diary assessment, and multilevel modeling to investigate the unique and interactive effects of traumatic stress and daily sexual minority-related discrimination on PTSD symptoms and negative affect in a diverse sample of 38 trauma-exposed SM individuals.

Ptsd Symptom Interaction Among Victims Of Interpersonal Violence: A Network Analysis, Robert Graziano

Dissertations

Along with numerous combinations of symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked to high dropout and non-response rates in treatment. Poor treatment response may be due to an inaccurate conceptualization of PTSD. One newer approach to the conceptualization of psychopathology is network theory. Network theory posits that symptoms both directly and indirectly reinforce each other, with connections between symptoms varying in strength. Previous studies of network theory and PTSD have found intrusive symptoms to be highly central, but have not included samples of individuals traumatized by interpersonal violence. Because trauma type has been shown to predict symptom presentations, this represents …

Examining The Factor Structures Of The A-Des And Ptci To Identify Unique Predictors Of Ptsd Symptom Clusters In Maltreated Youth, Amanda Howard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research on childhood posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has increased over the past decade. Youth who experience maltreatment are more likely to exhibit symptoms of PTSD. At present, the literature largely focuses on youth who have experienced general trauma or PTSD symptoms, while maltreated youth are understudied. To date, no studies have examined the psychometric properties of the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES) or the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI) in a sample of maltreated youth. Predictors of childhood PTSD for maltreated youth remain unknown. The present study was the first research study to date to examine the factor structures of the …

Does Counselor Type Affect A Manualized Treatment?, Cynthia C. Kay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This quantitative study was to determine whether there are differences in client treatment outcomes based upon the type of counselor who conducted an empirically supported treatment called Seeking Safety for persons diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder. Many studies show that counselors’ personal attributes impact treatment; however, this study added to the literature by focusing on a standardized treatment for the co-occurrence disorder of substance use and posttraumatic stress disorder. Archival data from an outpatient treatment facility was used. Clients were provided integrated services, which included psychological and substance use treatment. The participants/clients were men and women …

Factors Affecting Commitment For Military Couples, Laura Villalobos Garza

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The reintegration process for combat veterans is challenging not only for soldiers but also for their spouses and family members. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine factors affecting relationship commitment in military couples in which a service member has shown signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Sternberg’s triangular theory of love provided the framework for the study. Independent variables were passion, intimacy, age, and social support, and the dependent variable was commitment. Survey data were collected from 116 participants using Sternberg’s Triangular Love Scale and the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale. The results of multiple linear regression …

Writing And Well-Being: Comparing Varied Expressive Writing Tasks On Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms And Life Satisfaction, Zena Dadouch

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Frontline treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been extensively researched, and there is significant support for their efficacy in decreasing PTSD symptomatology and improving life quality. However, the treatments seem to be burdensome, as a significant minority does not improve or drops out before the continuation of treatment. This pattern could be explained partially by the time commitment, cost of and access to treatment, and the resulting emotional overload. Therefore, it is useful to explore other avenues that could lead to improvements in symptomatology and well-being and that are more accessible and manageable. One possible direction is expressive writing …

Confusing Conversations: Assessing Traumatic Stress In Young Children, Jennifer Lela Moniz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Early detection and interventions are important for the prevention of negative long-term effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Current evaluations of PTSD in young children rely heavily on caregiver reports, and there are few self-report measures for children under 8 years old (Mash & Barkley, 2007). This study examined the construct validity of the Post Traumatic Symptom Inventory for Children (PT-SIC), a self-report measure of PTSD symptomatology for young children, through a comparison of results with the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC), an empirically supported caregiver measure of child PTSD symptomatology. Results of the Spearman correlation indicated that …

Dissociation And Metacognition: A Mixed Methods Analysis, Richard E. Nalbandian

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Dissociation commonly occurs as a defense against trauma and can be understood as a breakdown in metacognition. The present research investigated the relationship between trauma, dissociation, and metacognition in subjects with PTSD, a trauma-related disorder. Specifically, we investigated a potential inverse relationship between metacognition and dissociation in participants who have undergone psychoanalytic therapy. Participants were patients admitted to the Austen Riggs Center, who consented to be a part of the Follow Along Study (FAS), a longitudinal investigation spanning 15 years. Quantitative and qualitative analyses examined differences in themes of dissociation across initial and follow-up-clinical interviews. Quantitatively, all subscales for metacognition …

Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms In Sexual And Non-Sexual Trauma: Comparisons On Symptom Severity, Disgust, And Contamination Concerns., Jaime Murtagh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A number of emotions have been identified as contributing to the experience of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), including fear and disgust. Given the high rates of comorbidity between PTSD and OCD, research has suggested that disgust may be a likely link between these disorders. The current study examined the relation between contamination disgust, trauma symptom severity, and contamination related-OCD (C-OCD) symptoms in a sample of sexual and non-sexual trauma survivors (N = 206). Specifically, it was proposed that sexual trauma survivors would endorse more severe PTSD symptoms, higher levels of disgust, and more C-OCD symptoms. …