Psychology Commons^™

Health Behaviors As Mediators Of Caregiver Physical Health, Michaela Clark

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Informal caregivers provide the bulk of care to older adults in the United States (Ali et al., 2021). Informal caregivers include family, friends, and neighbors, many of whom do not have any formal training for this role. There are costs associated with taking on a caregiving responsibility, such as scheduling appointments, helping with medications, household tasks, and even financial support (Rha et al., 2015). Many of these informal caregivers lack the coping skills necessary to manage the challenges associated with caregiving (Xu et al., 2021). Many also take on this role despite the personal costs on one’s own health, time, …

Response Maintenance By Mediated Reinforcement With Forced Alternation Of Reinforcement Opportunities, Kento Yasukawa

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Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of mediated reinforcement –reinforcers delivered to either of two co-actors by the responses of the other co-actor, but independently of the responses of the co-actor receiving the reinforcer– on the maintenance of responding of the co-actors. In each experiment, using a discrete-trials procedure, responding and receiving reinforcers alternated between co-actors. In Experiment 1, the alternation followed each reinforcer. Also investigated in this experiment were the effects of the presence and absence of social stimuli and of the role of reinforcement delays on individual responding. The number of consecutive reinforcer deliveries to either …

Impacts Of Error Rate And Therapist Appearance On The Accuracy Of Fidelity Data Collection, Marisela A. Aguilar

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Procedural fidelity is the extent to which a procedure is implemented as designed. Analyzing procedural-fidelity data can improve treatment outcomes. Fidelity data are generally collected by a supervisor or trained data collector using a checklist that operationalizes each component of the procedure and accounts for errors in implementation of the components. However, little is known about variables that may affect the accuracy of supervisor-collected data generally, and even less is known about variables that may affect the accuracy of procedural-fidelity data. Therefore, the current studies explored the extent to which Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) accurately detected programmed fidelity errors …

Cue Reactivity In Electronic Cigarette Users With Sign-Tracking Or Goal-Tracking Behaviors, Polina Krom

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Polina Krom

Cue reactivity is an important predictor of addiction course and relapse. However, cue reactivity is only observed after an addiction develops. As such, it is unclear to what degree cue reactivity represents a state stemming from the addiction process versus a trait-like propensity towards developing cue-reward associations. Work in animal models has pointed to important individual differences in trait-like inclination to attribute incentive salience to reward-predictive cues that is associated with addiction-relevant behavioral and neurobiological features. These individual differences manifest as sign-tracking (ST) and goal-tracking (GT) behaviors during Pavlovian conditioning. Little research has attempted to translate ST and …

Effects Of Brief-Signal Number And Location On Responding Maintained By Delay Of Reinforcement, Firdavs Khaydarov

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The purpose of the present series of experiments was to examine the effects of the number, type, and location of brief signal(s) occurring during, but not throughout, a delay period, on responding maintained by the delay of reinforcement. In each experiment, a tandem variable time (VT) 60-s fixed interval (FI) 9-s schedule was used as a baseline condition of an immediate reinforcement against which delay conditions were examined. For the delay conditions, a chained variable interval (VI) 60-s fixed time (FT) 9-s (delay period) schedule was used, and the imposition of the brief signal (blackout) during the delay period was …

Sexual Orientation, Age, And Race: An Intersectional Approach To Health Disparities, Laura E. Bernstein

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Sexual orientation, age, and race are all identity-based variables that can contribute to health disparities (Dannefer, 2020; Meyer, 2003; Forde et al., 2019). The minority diminished returns (MDR) theory states that marginalized identities (i.e. race and sexual orientation) dampen the positive impact education has on physical and mental health (Assari, 2018). Some evidence suggests that health disparities narrow in older sexual minority adults (Nelson & Andel, 2020a) but this question has not been asked with nationally representative data, and research with older sexual minorities is limited. The present study explored whether 1) age dampens or exacerbates disparities in self-rated health …

On The Role Of Task Preference And Work Removal For Identifying Escape Functions, Brian Patrick Long

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Abstract

On the Role of Task Preference and Work Removal for Identifying Escape Functions

Brian P. Long

Students within the public school system may exhibit severe challenging behavior to escape from academic demands. Procedures to identify the reinforcers that maintain challenging behavior, such as functional analysis, may improve the probability of treatment success. Functional analysis involves manipulating contingencies to determine if positive (e.g., attention following challenging behavior) or negative (e.g., escape from aversive events such as task demands) reinforcers may maintain challenging behavior (Iwata et al., 1982). The absence of evocative tasks could produce inaccurate results when testing for effects …

The Effect Of Face Interpretation Training On Social Anxiety Symptoms, Grace L. Wheeler

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According to cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD), individuals place excessive importance on gauging others’ reactions (e.g., facial expressions) to their social performance. Facial interpretation bias modification (FIBM) was developed to shift interpretations of ambiguous faces. The current study uses FIBM to test whether face interpretation is causally related to SAD symptoms in an unselected adult sample. Participants (N=139) were randomized to 1 of 3 conditions (positive, negative, accurate) in a single-session, online study. Pre- and post- intervention measures of face interpretation and SAD were completed. In line with hypotheses, individuals in the positive condition interpreted faces more positively …

Effects Of Development On Hpa Function Following Pubertal Stress, Brittany D. Elliott

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For women, two of the greatest risk factors for affective disorders are adversity experienced during puberty and later becoming pregnant. We have created a translationally relevant mouse model where we address these complex risk factors. Previously, we discovered that pregnant mice (dams) that experienced chronic variable stress (CVS) during puberty display a blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) response when exposed to an acute stressor. Interestingly, this alteration only first becomes apparent during pregnancy, which is a sensitive period for these effects due to normative neuroendocrine changes. Further investigation of the mechanisms underlying this dysfunction revealed altered gene expression in the paraventricular nucleus …

Evaluation Of Renewal During Differential Reinforcement With Asymmetrical Choices And A Context Fading Mitigation Technique, Kacey R. Finch

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Successful clinical behavior analytic treatment often results in decreases in challenging behavior and increases in appropriate behavior. These reductions in challenging behavior are often achieved by implementing differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA; Petscher et al., 2009). One variation of DRA to decrease challenging behavior is differential reinforcement with asymmetrical choices, which are two or more concurrently available response options associated with differential outcomes (Fisher & Mazur, 1997; Kestner et al., 2023). However, responding that was previously reduced sometimes reemerges. Specifically, renewal is the reemergence of a previously reduced response following a context change. The first two experiments evaluated renewal …

Exploring The Conceptualizations And Utilizations Of Learning Theories In Sport Settings, Kevin R. Lou

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The purpose of this study was to identify how integrating learning theories into the design of a formal university course helps facilitate students’ resources, goals, and orientations (Schoenfeld, 2011) of learning theories for their future career work in coaching, sport psychology consulting, or other sport-related professions. Sixteen students signed up for a fifteen-week fall semester course at a Mid-Atlantic university in America and were asked to annotate, create, and reflect upon examples of future work in their desired fields for their three major written assignments in the course. Students reflected on their learning experience through pre-and-post semi-structured interviews and most …

Relationships Among Racism, Dental Care-Related Fear/Anxiety And Dental Care Utilization Among Black And African American Women In Appalachia, Kalo Sokoto

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This dissertation is a study of the implications of racism in oral health care settings for dental care-related fear/anxiety, and dental care utilization. One in five adults in the US have experienced discrimination while receiving health care. Even though racism is the most reported type of discrimination in health care, little is known about its impact on dental outcomes. There is a paucity of prior studies measuring experiences of racism in dental settings. The current study proposed the application of Krieger’s Ecosocial Theory of Health Equity to explore relationships among racism in oral health care settings, dental care-related fear/anxiety, and …

How Do College Student-Athletes’ Understanding And Expectations Of Mindfulness And Self-Compassion Change Through An Intervention?, Blake Costalupes

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In the last two decades, mindfulness has permeated sport, exercise, and performance psychology (SEPP). Mindfulness research in SEPP primarily focuses on the efficacy of manualized protocols on various outcomes related to performance and wellbeing; how athletes understand this complex construct, though, is largely unexplored in the literature. Additionally, some researchers suggest that the potentially paradoxical adoption of mindfulness in Western psychology may be contributing to limited outcomes, low engagement in, and poor adherence to mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). In addition, the exploration of self-compassion as a mechanism for change through mindfulness practice has increased in recent years, making it an important …

Drivers Of Change In Mindfulness- And Acceptance-Based Interventions With Athletes: Investigating The Influence Of Dosage, Readiness, And Attitudes, Thomas O. Minkler

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Mindfulness- and Acceptance-based interventions (MABIs) are being used with increasing frequency with sport participants. Research suggests that such interventions may promote sport performance and impact performance-relevant factors, although the current quality and quantity of research is low. Specifically, questions about intervention engagement (i.e., dosage), potentially impacted by stage of change and attitudes toward sport psychology, need clarification. The present study utilized a multi-method, quasi-experimental longitudinal design with female- and male- identified NCAA collegiate athletes to investigate the effects of an MABI. Specifically, one NCAA Division II team (n = 16) and three NCAA Division III teams (n = …

Internalized Heterosexism, Shame Proneness, And Disclosure In Clinical Supervision Among Sexual Minority Supervisees, Christian Joseph Carey

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Sexual minority supervisees face unique struggles including prejudice, discrimination, and heterosexism, which may impact their psychological well-being and development within the supervisory experience through shame proneness and reduced disclosure. This study aims to explore the challenges facing sexual minority trainees and contribute to the empirical knowledge of multicultural supervision. Thus, this study proposes two mediation models for the hypothesized relationships among internalized heterosexism, shame-related withdrawal, shame-related negative self-evaluation, and disclosure in supervision. A total of 170 supervisees identifying as sexual minorities completed an online survey. The primary analysis included a three-step linear regression and confirmatory analysis for mediation. The results …

The Mental Health Outcomes Of First-Generation Collegiate Clients Compared To Their Non-First-Generation Peers, Cassandra Rose Homick

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Numerous research studies have investigated the mental health concerns and needs of college students. However, there is a need for additional research to understand the unique presenting mental health concerns of first-generation college students at university counseling centers in the US. The current study was a non-experimental exploratory research study that utilized secondary data analysis to examine and compare the sociodemographic profiles, mental health needs, and presenting problems of first-generation students compared to their non-first-generation peers at university counseling centers (UCCs) in the US. In Part One of the study, comparisons were drawn between first-generation and non-first-generation collegiate clients on …

Cue Reactivity In Non-Smoking Electronic Cigarette Users, Ashley E. Douglas

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Electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) are among the most popular nicotine products in the United States, particularly among youth and young adults. Many individuals who use ECIGs report an interest in quitting or unsuccessful quit attempts. In addition to nicotine dependence, one factor that may contribute to continued ECIG use is an individual’s response to ECIG-related environmental stimuli, or cues. Existing research demonstrates that exposure to ECIG cues increases craving for ECIGs among cigarette smokers, including those without previous ECIG experience. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of ECIG cue exposure in experienced ECIG users with minimal smoking history, …

Living Your Best Life: The Mindful Pursuit Of Student-Athlete Thriving, Andrew Augustus

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Thriving, or the concurrent experience of healthy well-being and high-level performance, may serve as a valuable construct when studying the optimal student-athlete experience and mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been shown to positively impact well-being and performance. The purpose of the present study began to examine the impact of an MBI for improving student-athlete experiences of thriving via a quasi-experimental longitudinal design. NCAA Division II student-athletes (n = 55) from three sports were randomly assigned to either a control or a 7-session MBI. While comprehensive measures of thriving did not yield significant change for those in the MBI relative to …

Effects Of Aripiprazole Alone And In Combination With D-Amphetamine On Probability Discounting In Sprague-Dawley Rats, Paige Currie

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Pharmaceuticals are helpful tools in aiding individuals with psychiatric diagnoses. Sometimes, the drug’s side effects can be more severe than the initial problem. Maladaptive behaviors, like pathological gambling, overeating, and substance abuse, are important to consider during the prescription of different pharmaceuticals, particularly those used to treat Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals with these diagnoses are often prescribed: stimulants, like d-amphetamine (d-AMP; for symptoms associated with ADHD), and antipsychotics, like aripiprazole (ARI; for symptoms associated with ASD). These drugs in combination could influence maladaptive behavior, including risky choice (probability discounting). The present study …

Personality And Academic Performance In College, Jacob E. Alderson

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Despite mounting evidence for the role of personality in predicting college level academic performance, there are aspects of this association that are still unexplained. With a sample of U.S. undergraduates at a large Appalachian university, this study sought to further establish what is already known about the association between personality and grade point average, credits earned, and retention rates by testing for both linear and quadratic effects. Results showed linear positive effects of conscientiousness, negative linear effects of openness and nonlinear effects of neuroticism for GPA. However, personality traits were not associated with either retention or credits earned. These findings …

Utility Of An Emotion Coding System For Parent-Child Interaction Therapy With Toddlers, Christopher Kyle Owen

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Numerous efficacious early interventions target and alter caregiver-child interactions to promote optimal social-emotional outcomes for young children (Bagner et al., 2014). However, research has primarily relied on the use of caregiver report to assess caregiver-child emotion-focused practices, revealing the need for a behavioral observation assessment (Zinsser et al., 2021). Preliminary evidence suggests that Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with Toddlers (PCIT-T) is a well-received and efficacious intervention for reducing disruptive behaviors, improving child internalizing and externalizing behavior, reducing parental stress, and increasing parental sensitivity (Kohlhoff et al., 2021; Kohlhoff, Cibralic, & Morgan, 2020). PCIT-T strives to train caregivers to interact with their …

Understanding And Evaluating Stereotypes Towards Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Symptom Subtypes, Gabriella T. Ponzini

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Public stigma has detrimental impacts on those with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Yet, stereotypes associated with OCD are poorly understood. Given the heterogeneity of OCD symptom presentations, a conceptualization of stereotypes associated with symptom subtypes is warranted to inform stigma reduction efforts.

In Study 1 (N = 60), participants read one of five vignettes on OCD subtypes (Symmetry/Just Right, Contamination, Sexual, Harm/Aggression, or Scrupulous) prior to responding to Internet-delivered open-ended questions. Study 1 methods followed the qualitative description framework, such that data were derived from participant responses and findings were presented using participant language. Prior to final coding and …

Profiles Of Positive And Negative Risk-Taking Among Asian And Non-Asian American Emerging Adults, Yea Won Park

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Emerging adults can engage in both positive and negative risk-taking. Based on recent previous research that identified various risk-taking profiles (Duell et al., 2022), the current project extends the literature in several ways. The purpose of this study was to (1) identify profiles of risk-taking behavior among US college students, (2) examine how correlates of cognitive values and interpersonal factors relate to risk-taking groups, and (3) investigate the role of cultural values in risk-taking profiles among Asian and non-Asian American college students. The sample was 401 participants recruited from universities in the US. Latent Profile Analyses indicated that 4-profile solution …

Examining The Relationship Of Race On Students’ Perceptions Of Safety And Concealed Campus Carry On A University Campus, Whitney H. Mascaro

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Previous literature suggests that students who feel unsafe in their academic settings experience harmful academic, social, and psychological ramifications. With an alarming increase in school shootings, violence, and media coverage, the political discourse surrounding gun violence and strategies to ensure safety on college campuses has become increasingly polarized. States like Texas, Georgia, and Colorado have passed bills allowing students to carry concealed handguns on university campuses. At the time of this study, the state legislature in West Virginia passed a similar bill known as the Campus Self-Defense Act (Senate Bill 246, 2021). College students who identify as Black, Indigenous, People …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Intimate Partner Violence In Gender Minority Populations, Claire Mason Mccown

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Childhood adversity has been linked to numerous health and mental health concerns in adulthood (Felitti et al., 1998). Among the many outcomes associated with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), victimization and perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) remains a public health crisis. Research has found that those identifying as gender minority individuals are disproportionately impacted by IPV (Messinger, 2017; Peitzmeier et al., 2020). Further, gender minority individuals experience equivalent, if not higher, rates of ACEs when compared to their cisgender counterparts (Baams, 2018; Juárez-Chávez et al., 2018; Schnarrs et al., 2019; Tobin & Delaney, 2019). While many factors contribute to the …

Associations Among Executive Functioning, Family Functioning, Adolescent Responsibility, And Adherence In Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Cecily Newel Conour

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Background: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a common cause of chronic pain for adolescents in the United States. Adherence to the treatment regimen is a significant concern, particularly for adolescents. Barriers to adherence are varied, but include cognitive factors, such as forgetting. Parent involvement is associated with increased adherence in this population, though adolescent involvement is less studied. Family functioning is associated with adherence to medication regimen across pediatric chronic illnesses, including IBD treatment regimen. To better inform clinical care, this study aims to understand the relations among adolescent’s responsibility, executive functioning, family functioning, and adherence. Methods: The current study …

Evaluation Of Commission And Omission Errors During Differential Reinforcement Of Other Behavior, Lindsey M. Hronek

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Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) is a reinforcement schedule that commonly includes the delivery of a reinforcer following an interval during which a target behavior did not occur and extinction (i.e., the reinforcer is withheld following any instances of the target behavior). Although interventions using DRO schedules can decrease target behavior when implemented as designed, little is known about the efficacy of DRO interventions when they include fidelity errors. A growing field of literature has demonstrated different ways fidelity errors can affect the outcomes of other interventions (e.g., DRA, response cost, and skill acquisition). One study by Foreman et …

Parent And Adolescent Report Of Helicopter Parenting: Examining Reporter Discrepancies And Associations With Adolescent Depression And Anxiety, Avneet Batra

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Research is replete with studies on Helicopter Parenting (HP) and its association with depression and anxiety (Cui et al., 2019; Schiffrin et al., 2014; 2019). However, most of the studies have focused on college students’ reports on helicopter parenting and there is relative dearth of studies with adolescents or with parents’ reports of HP (Pistella et al., 2020; Schiffrin et al., 2019). The current study aims to fill the gap in the literature by including both parent and adolescents’ perspectives on helicopter parenting, assess its unique association (parent and teens HP reports) with teen depression and anxiety both concurrently and …

The Effect Of Sequential Stimuli On Variable-Interval Schedule Performance And Resurgence, Amanda K. Miles

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Resurgence, or the recurrence of a previously established but not currently occurring response given a worsening of current conditions, is a systematic phenomenon with clinical implications; thus, understanding the variables that impact resurgence is important. Investigations into the impact of discriminative stimuli on resurgence have yielded mixed results about whether the stimuli associated with extinction mitigate or prevent resurgence. The current experiments were conducted with sequential stimuli, that is, two or more stimuli occurring in a fixed sequence, that allowed determination of the effect of discriminative stimuli across a continuum of reinforcement conditions (from most temporally distal to most proximal …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Pcit-Toddler, Circle Of Security, And Waitlist Controls To Improve Child And Caregiver Emotion Regulation, Robin Choi Han

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Emotion regulation is an important developmental task during toddlerhood that is associated with positive psychosocial outcomes (Zeman et al., 2006). The development of adaptive emotion regulation during early childhood occurs largely within the context of a supportive caregiver-child relationship (Morris et al., 2007). Thus, parent-mediated interventions are a promising medium through which emotion regulation problems in toddlers can be treated. However, few interventions specifically designed to treat behavioral and emotion regulation difficulties are available for children in the toddler age range, and these interventions have yet to establish a solid evidence base supporting their efficacy. To fill this gap in …