Psychology Commons^™

Treatment Preferences And Outcome In A Randomized Controlled Trial For Depression Comparing Supportive-Expressive Therapy To Medication And Pill Placebo, Sophia Elsie Winter

Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research regarding the relationship between patient treatment preferences on outcome has been equivocal, with some studies finding a significant relationship between preference match and outcome, and others finding no such evidence. This study examines the effect of patient treatment preference match on outcome using data from a previously published randomized controlled trial comparing supportive-expressive therapy (SET), to antidepressant medication plus clinical management, and to pill-placebo plus clinical management. The original study included 156 participants receiving treatment at the Center for Psychotherapy research at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. This study is the first to examine the relationship …

Intra-Individual And Cross-Partner Associations Between The Five Facets Of Mindfulness And Relationship Satisfaction, Katherine Allison Lenger

Masters Theses

Research has established that mindfulness may be useful to individual and dyadic wellbeing among both early-stage and long-term relationships. Nonetheless, it remains unclear which mechanisms of mindfulness are most relevant to relationship satisfaction among long-term married couples. Furthermore, although previous research suggests that an individual’s total mindfulness is not related to his or her partner’s relationship satisfaction, we have yet to determine whether any specific facets of mindfulness may evidence a significant cross-partner association with relationship satisfaction. The present study seeks to address these gaps in the literature using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Data were collected from 164 …

Relationship Qualities: Investigating The Nature Of Self-Identified Couple Strengths And Language Use During A Strengths Interview, Katie Cassandra Wischkaemper

Doctoral Dissertations

Research and practice in couple therapy has been influenced by positive psychology, and other factors, to create a nuanced viewed of relationship health. Relationship strengths are thought to be informative of overall relationship health, possibly even more so than relationship concerns (Gable, Gonzaga, & Strachman, 2006; Sullivan, Pasch, Johnson, & Bradbury, 2010). The present project explored the association between self-identified relationship strengths and couple satisfaction. Then, the study examined the association between self and partner pronoun use and level of couple satisfaction during an interview about relationship strengths.

Aim 1 replicated Gray and colleagues’ (under review) project which examined the …

Effects Of Bullying And Victimization On Friendship Selection, Reciprocation, And Maintenance In Elementary School Children, Marisa Lynn Whitley

Masters Theses

This study examined the effects of elementary school children’s bullying and victimization experiences on their friendships over time. The majority of children experience acts of aggression or bullying before the end of elementary school, and bullying and peer victimization is associated with academic, social, behavioral, and psychological difficulties. This study used social networks analysis (R SIENA 4.0) to examine whether peer reports of forms of bullying and victimization (i.e., overt and relational) affect the likelihood of friendship selection, reciprocation, and maintenance in 2^nd-4^th grade children. Children (N = 143) from the Midwestern region of the United …

Does Hypnosis Facilitate Primary Process Mentation? An Inquiry Into The Psychoanalytic Theories Of Hypnosis And Thinking, Gyrid Lyon

Masters Theses

The distinction between primary and secondary process mentation is an important part of the psychoanalytic model of cognitive functioning. Primary processes are most characteristic of unconscious thought, loose associations, dreams, and reverie; and secondary processes predominate during the waking, conscious life of most mature adults and are characterized by logical thinking and planning. It has been theorized that one characteristic of the hypnotic state is that it facilitates an increase in primary process mentation. The present study tests this theory using a recently developed, brief, and nonverbal measure of primary process mentation: the GeoCat. Specifically, the current study tests the …

Observing Parenting In The Context Of Maternal Borderline Personality Disorder And Adolescent Symptomatology, Rebecca Meredith Mahan

Masters Theses

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe and chronic disorder characterized by a distorted sense of self, fear of abandonment, and difficulties forming and maintaining relationships. Two empirically supported developmental antecedents of offspring borderline features include invalidating parenting practices and maternal BPD. Recent research found that parental psychological control is one type of invalidating parenting behavior that is related to maternal borderline symptoms. The current study observed maternal psychologically controlling behaviors among a sample of 56 adolescents ages 14-18 and their mothers, who were divided into groups of those diagnosed with BPD (n = 28) and those who did …