Psychology Commons^™

The Relationship Between Frequency Of Yoga And Meditation On Ptsd Symptoms In Individuals Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence, Kimberly Polignani

Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has become a growing phenomenon in the United States,

affecting nearly 13% of the population. The adverse mental health outcomes from people who experience IPV are prevalent and more than half have a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, therapeutic techniques for PTSD appear to be feasible for IPV survivors and their mental health issues. Complementary and alternative medicine has become a widely accepted approach for PTSD. Being two complementary and alternative medicine techniques, yoga and meditation are effective forms of therapy in many diagnoses, including PTSD. This study utilized a not-for-profit organization called the …

The Underlying Psychophysiology Of Pedophilic Disorder And The Implications For Treatment Approaches, Tonise Florexil

Dissertations

Sexual crimes are a persistent and significant social dilemma that continues to plague our society (Lee, Jackson, Pattison, & Ward,2002). Past research has made considerable advancements in terms of the types of interventions that clinicians can utilize when they work with individuals who have a history of child sexual offenses. However, current literature lacks an understanding of the risk factors that influence the development of Pedophilic Disorder. A history of sexual trauma also affects families. The children of traumatized individuals have more adjustment difficulties than their counterparts who did not have a parent(s) with a sexual trauma history. This clinical …

A Phenomenological Investigation Of Women’S Infertility And Miscarriage Grief Experiences, Tristan Mcbain

Dissertations

Infertility and miscarriage are reproductive losses that often produce grief reactions in affected women. This phenomenological study investigated the grief experiences of infertility and miscarriage through the ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief frameworks in order to better understand both the obscurity of reproductive loss and how the resulting grief may be invalidated.

Sixteen women volunteered to participate in this study and each fell into one of the following three categories: women affected by infertility without miscarriage (4); women affected by miscarriage without infertility (4); and women affected by infertility and miscarriage (8). A phenomenological hermeneutic approach was utilized to uncover …

Same-Sex Sexual Coercion Among Women: The Impact Of Minority Stress On Perpetration And Victimization Experiences Of Women Of Diverse Sexual Identities, Allison Kirschbaum

Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to investigate women’s experiences with same-sex sexual coercion perpetration and victimization. Specifically, I sought to explore the role that the stress of living as a sexual minority plays in these experiences as well as to determine whether the psychological variables of perceived powerlessness, psychological distress, social support, and alcohol use mediate the relationship between minority stress and perpetration and victimization experiences. Data were collected online from self-identified women and individuals assigned female at birth who reported experiencing genital sexual contact with another woman (N=339). Of the cisgender women in the sample, 31.6% reported …

G.I. Jane Fem Etran Goes Corporate: An Exploration Of Post-9/11 Female Combat Veterans Transitioning To A Civilian Career, Tumona Austin

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this multiple-case study was to explore the experiences of post- 9/11 female combat veterans transitioning from military service to civilian careers, using the Schlossberg transition model factors of situation, self, social support, and strategies.

Methodology: This multiple-case study identified and interviewed post-9/11 female combat veterans transitioning from active-duty to civilian career. Respondents were purposively chosen based on specific criteria and expert panel recommendations.

Findings: Examination of case-study interview data and artifacts from the 3 post-9/11 female combat veterans indicated nine major findings:

1. The factor of situation clearly outweighed the other Schlossberg factors in impact.

2. …

Physician Stress: Is The Electronic Health Record To Blame?, Zack Ward

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the potential relationship between Family Medicine physician burnout and the electronic health record. To do so, this study utilized the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory to assess burnout among physicians, along with specific questions regarding usage of the electronic health record and measurement of physician perceptions of the electronic health record. Members of the Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians were sent two separate invitations to participate in the study twice over a one-month period via email.

The study yielded no significant differences in Family Medicine physician demographics and their degree of burnout, or the …

A Collaborative Perspectives Approach For Understanding Effective Care Coordination In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rachel Severs

Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes significant impairment in social and communication areas. The severity of the disorder can often result in a substantial degree and amount of service access and expenditures relating to a child’s needs. This study examined the experiences of how family caregivers and service providers of children with ASD view service delivery using a basic qualitative research design. For the study, 10 participants (five family caregivers and five service providers) were enrolled and interviewed. Interview data were collected and coded to produce a qualitative analysis of the experiences of these individuals who …

Redefining Burnout: Exploring Common Conceptualizations And The Neurophysiology Of Chronic Stress To Establish An Integrated Allostatic Model, Danny A. Guzzi

Dissertations

Burnout is a widely researched stress-related phenomenon associated with numerous adverse outcomes for employees and organizations. Unfortunately, burnout is not well understood and research to this point has been flawed due to a lack of consensus on the definition, dimensionality, and context of the construct. Prevalent conceptualizations of burnout have been criticized for being arbitrarily developed without solid theoretical foundation and for failing to clearly distinguish burnout from depression or other work-related conditions such as compassion fatigue, secondary traumatization, and vicarious traumatization. The current project first examines relevant literature to identify commonalities among prevalent burnout conceptualizations. Then relevant stress research …

The Influence Of Stressful Life Events On The Development Of Type 2 Diabetes, Joshua Minks

Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between distress and the development of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the presence of established risk factors. Distress secondary to mental health disparities, stressful life events, and work conditions has been shown to promote insulin resistance and the development of T2DM.

Subjects (N=79) diagnosed with T2DM within the previous six months were recruited from SSM Health Centers and VA Medical Centers in the greater St. Louis area. They completed the Recent Life Changes Questionnaire, ENRICHD Social Support Instrument, and a demographic survey and analyses were conducted to determine differences between the veteran …