Psychology Commons^™

The Role Of Family Dynamics In Receiving Autism And Neurodevelopmental Services: A Needs Assessment, Bianca Kalia

Master's Projects and Capstones

This study aims to document the effects an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) diagnosis, or other behavior disturbances has on the family unit as a whole. Through this analysis, we can develop measures that are personalized for the child with autism as well as the caregiver and family unit.

Loss, Grief, And Racial Health Disparities During Covid-19: Same Storm, Different Boats, Joyce Yang, Sierra Carter

Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Socially Just Trauma-Informed Responses To Covid-19 With Undocumented Communities, Daniela Dominguez

Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Xenophobia And Racism Against Asian Americans During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Mental Health Implications, Hsiu-Lan Cheng

Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Introduction To The Issue: Evaluating The Psychological Impact Of Covid 19, Saera R. Khan, Christine J. Yeh

Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship

Evaluating COVID 19 in its entirety is an enormous undertaking--one which will take many years and many scholars from every academic discipline to fully convey the impact of this disaster. In this three-part Special Issue of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship, we present current understandings of the immediate impact of COVID 19. The authors of these contributions participated in a webinar series produced by the University of San Francisco’s Center for Teaching Excellence and Center for Research, Artistic, and Scholarly Excellence in March through May 2020. Scholars from various academic sub-disciplines were invited to discuss the impact of …

"Made Of Queer Magic": Understanding The Experiences Of Pregnancy For Queer Women, Lindsey Rogers

Doctoral Dissertations

Queer families are deciding to use donor insemination or medically assisted reproductive treatments to become pregnant and start their families. Previous research indicates that the process of using medically assisted reproductive treatments may be a stressful experience for queer families due to cisheteronormativity within the system. In addition, research has also revealed that stress during the process of conceiving can impact mental health experiences during pregnancy. However, there is a lack of research on the specific mental health experiences of pregnancy for queer women. The present study used a qualitative research design guided by constructivist grounded theory to examine the …

Self-Efficacy In The Transition To Parenthood, Nicole Marsden

Doctoral Dissertations

The transition to parenthood is considered both an exciting and inherently stressful time. The related changes and challenges may be associated with increased levels of anxiety and depression. Parental self-efficacy (PSE), or parents’ perceived ability to succeed at parenting-related tasks and challenges, may be both a product and predictor of mental health during this time. There is little research on the relationship between general self-efficacy (GSE) and PSE, although theory suggests that GSE may influence PSE. This quantitative study utilizes a longitudinal and dyadic design to examine the relationship between GSE, PSE, and mental health across the transition to parenthood …

Experiences Of Latinx's Adult Transition To The U.S. And The Clinical Implications That Arise In Acclimating Into The Dominant Culture: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Gabriela Olavarrieta

Doctoral Dissertations

There has been a significant gap in the literature regarding the lived experience of the Latinx adult transition to the United States and the clinical implications that arise in acclimating to the dominant culture, particularly under the Trump Administration. The approach for the current research examined Latinxs’ adulthood transitions to the United States, experiences of acculturative stress, including instances of discrimination as well as their experiences acclimating or assimilating into the dominant culture. This study also examined what seeking, or being unable to seek, mental health services looked like in the current sociopolitical climate. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was utilized to …

A Qualitative Evaluation Of The Phoenix Project: A Strengths-Based, Trauma-Informed Care Intervention For African American, Transitional Age, Young Adults Living In San Francisco’S Public Housing Community, Lena Miller

Doctoral Dissertations

A QUALITATIVE EVALUATION OF THE PHOENIX PROJECT: A STRENGTHS-BASED, TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE INTERVENTION FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN, TRANSITIONAL AGE, YOUNG ADULTS LIVING IN SAN FRANCISCO’S PUBLIC HOUSING COMMUNITY

Abstract

Persistent community violence has had a profound and destructive impact on many urban communities throughout the country. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resulting from community violence is becoming an increasingly frequent diagnosis of African American youth and young adults residing in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point (BVHP) community (San Francisco Department of Public Health, 2012). The Phoenix Project was designed to specifically address and heal symptoms of trauma and facilitate resilience among youth and young …

Minority Stress, Social Support, And Mental Health Among Lgbqp+ Religious Disaffiliates, Kate Jablonski

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study investigated the association between four minority stress processes (victimization, internalized heterosexism, rejection sensitivity, and disclosure of sexual orientation identity) and symptoms of depression and anxiety among lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, pansexual, or otherwise non-heterosexual (LGBQP+) disaffiliates from non-affirming religions, and whether social support mediated these relationships. A nonexperimental, cross-sectional, correlational design was used. Participants were recruited through Reddit, a popular social-networking site, and completed an online survey that assessed experiences of minority stress, perceptions of social support, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Participants were 161 non-religious, US-born, cisgender, LGBQP+ Reddit-users who identified as having disaffiliated from …

An Exploration Of Social Networking Use And Mental Health In Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, Gender Non-Binary, And Gender Fluid Persons, Jennifer Trimpey

Doctoral Dissertations

Social networking sites (SNS) allow for rapid information sharing in online spaces. Research in the general public suggests that extended SNS use corresponds with poor mental health outcomes such as depression and anxiety. Research regarding SNS use in LGBT populations seems to promote interpersonal connectedness. While such studies tend to include gender non-conforming persons (GNC), this group often represents a minimal proportion of participants. This study sought to explore SNS and mental health in persons identifying as GNC. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data to develop a substantive theory regarding SNS and mental health in this …

Clinical Work With Adult Male Incest Survivors: Therapeutic Themes And Perspectives, Kathryn B. Rosenberg

Doctoral Dissertations

For psychotherapists, encountering clients who have experienced sexual trauma or abuse is inevitable, whether or not the abuse is disclosed to the therapist; however, mental health professionals receive extremely limited (if any) training on how to identify or effectively support adult clients who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Many people who experienced CSA, especially those who identify as male, remain isolated and invisible in their suffering as adults even within therapeutic spaces, facing what feel like insurmountable barriers – both internal and external – to getting help. When sexual abuse is intrafamilial, these barriers are both amplified and …

Estimating Predictors Of Mental Well-Being Through Analysis Of Children’S Drawings: The Case Of Syrian Refugees, Stephanie Smith

Master's Theses

There are currently over 65 million individuals that have been forcibly displaced globally. The cumulative trauma that comes from the refugee experience and exposure to violence has proven to have long-term negative psychological outcomes and thus negative impacts on human capital in the long run. Given that over 50% percent of the global refugee population are children, the ability to efficiently and accurately assess their mental well-being is of critical importance. Using data from over 2000 refugee children in Jordan, I use machine learning techniques to find key predictors of psychological distress, PTSD, and exposure to violence found in children’s …

Hollywood Media And The Model Minority Myth: The Representation Of Asian American Masculinity And Its Effects, Khanhlinh Le

Master's Projects and Capstones

Asian Americans are becoming one of the largest growing minority groups in the United States, almost surpassing the Latinx community. Asian Americans, however, are rarely ever represented in Hollywood films and are limited to stereotypical roles. Asian American actors have a difficult time finding roles playing characters that are three-dimensional and complex. While both Asian American men and women face this challenge, it seems that in Hollywood films and television shows, Asian American males are even less represented than females and are typically portrayed as the quiet nerd, sexy doctor, martial arts expert, or the villain. These media stereotypes impact …

Choices: An Evaluation Of A Program Aimed At Reducing Criminogenic Thinking Among Incarcerated Women, Alexa Carbajal

Doctoral Dissertations

It is widely understood that incarceration rates in the United States is staggering and that little is understood about the effectiveness of treatment modalities used in jails to curb rates of recidivism. It was the goal of this program evaluation to utilize qualitative and quantitative research methods to determine what the strengths and weaknesses are of the Women's Choices Program (a substance use treatment program in a Bay Area jail). The results obtained from the study informed suggestions for program development.

Playing Devil’S Advocate: A Conceptual Replication Of Hirt Et Al. (2003), Bresh Merino, Ed Munnich, Milo Martinez

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

In the field of psychology, it is important that we foster unbiased judgments in our students and encourage them to engage with material on a critical level. The proposed study is a conceptual replication of Hirt et al. (2003), investigating whether considering alternative hypotheses about the results reduces explanation and overconfidence biases for questions about psychological research. Our proposed replication will also consider whether the benefits of counterfactual thinking were transferable, meaning once individuals are prompted to think counterfactually in one domain, they should show reduced biases when considering an unrelated domain. If these debiasing effects generalize to psychological information, …

The Application Of Biracial And Monoracial Asian American Stereotypes, Tyler Rydeen, Isabelle Moore

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Previous research suggests that the biracial stereotype (across all biracial groups) consists of the following characteristics: biracial people are unusually good looking and they struggle to fit in (Skinner, Perry, & Gaither, 2019). This general biracial struggle to fit in has been also described as “confused over their identity” and has been attributed as the reason for why they are judged as less trustworthy, less socially accepted (Chelsey & Wagner, 2013), loyal to their group (Albuja, Sanchez, Gaither, 2017), and socially awkward (Remedios, Chasteen, & Oey, 2012) and less warm (Sanchez & Bonam, 2009) than their monoracial peers. Compared to …

Why Not Both: A Qualitative Analysis Of Alternative Outcomes, Megan Schneider, Dana-Lis Bittner, Milo Martinez, Bresh Merino, Wilson Cobb

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Scientific thinking relies on consideration of alternative possible outcomes to research. We considered whether 1. engaging with psychological research results—some of which were surprising—in a learning phase transferred to consideration of alternative outcomes for a different set of research studies in a test phase, and 2. whether transfer was heightened by predicting results before learning the actual outcomes (foresight), as opposed to indicating what one would have predicted after learning the actual outcomes (hindsight). One indication of transfer would be decreased confidence in the outcome one believed to be true, but we did not observe this trend. However, we did …

How Do Children And Adolescents Reason About Excluding An Unhelpful In-Group Member?, Sabrina Ortiz, Madison Badua, Alizée Jean Jacques

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Past research indicates children and adolescents reason about excluding ingroup members by referencing concerns for how the group functions (Hitti, Mulvey, Rutland, Abrams, & Killen, 2013). Less is known about how children and adolescents reason about exclusion of ingroup members whose actions come at a cost to one’s own group. The current study examined reasoning for excluding an ingroup member who helps an outgroup at varying levels of need for each group. / The current study examined 189 responses from 4th and 8th graders, using three scenarios of varying need for water when on a camping trip: 1) in-group needs …

Musical Expertise Generalizes To Superior Temporal Scaling In A Morse Code Tapping Task, Matthew A. Slayton, Juan L. Romero-Sosa, Katrina Shore, Dean V. Buonomano, Indre Viskontas

Psychology

A key feature of the brain’s ability to tell time and generate complex temporal patterns is its capacity to produce similar temporal patterns at different speeds. For example, humans can tie a shoe, type, or play an instrument at different speeds or tempi—a phenomenon referred to as temporal scaling. While it is well established that training improves timing precision and accuracy, it is not known whether expertise improves temporal scaling, and if so, whether it generalizes across skill domains. We quantified temporal scaling and timing precision in musicians and non-musicians as they learned to tap a Morse code sequence. We …

Cruzando Fronteras: Liberation Psychology In A Counseling Psychology Immersion Program, Daniela Domínguez, Belinda Marie Hernandez-Arriaga, K. P. Sharon

Psychology

Using testimonio research, this study explores the immersion experiences of 15 counseling psychology students enrolled in an immersion program in Huejotal, Huaquechula. Based on core concepts of Liberation Psychology, this immersion program sought to increase students’ critical consciousness through conscientization, deideologization, denaturalization, and problematization. A thematic analysis of written testimonios includes coding, checks for internal validity, and the generation of important themes across student participants. Results revealed six themes: reclaiming identity; journeying with “nuestros ancestros and familias [our ancestors and families]”; “los niños [the children] as teachers”; cultural wealth; “comunidad como familia [community as family]”; and “cruzando fronteras [crossing borders]” …

Leveraging The Power Of Mutual Aid, Coalitions, Leadership, And Advocacy During Covid-19, Daniela Domínguez, Dellanira García, David A. Martínez, Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga

Psychology

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the norms, patterns, and power structures in the United States that privilege certain groups of people over others. This manuscript describes COVID-19 as an unprecedented catalyst for social transformation that underscores the need for multi-level and cross-sectoral solutions to address systemic changes to improve health equity for all. The authors propose that the American Psychological Association and its membership can initiate systemic change, in part, by: (a) supporting mutual aid organizations that prioritize the needs of vulnerable communities; (b) leveraging the efforts and strides APA psychologists have already made within the association, in …

Career Barriers And Coping Efficacy With International Students In Counseling Psychology Programs, Daniela Domínguez, Hsiu-Lan Cheng, Lisa De La Rue

Psychology

This study uses Lent, Brown, and Hackett’s (1994) Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) as a framework for understanding the career barriers and coping efficacy experienced by master’s counseling psychology international students. Grounded in SCCT, we described coping efficacy as international students’ perceived capability to navigate career barriers. Using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis (2006), we explored the career barriers and coping efficacy of 12 master’s counseling psychology international students. The first focus area, “international journey with multiple barriers,” includes five themes: interpersonal stress; language barriers; financial pressures; advising concerns; and visa and immigration-related stress. The second focus area, “agents of …

Finding The Middle Path Between Dependence And Autonomy: Recent Trainee Experiences In Dialectical Behavior Therapy Supervision, Helen Valenstein-Mah, Joyce Yang, Jennifer Staples, Elizabeth Neilson

Psychology

Originally published in DBT Bulletin Volume 3, Issue 1 pages 28-32 (2020). The DBT Bulletin is published by DBT California.