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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Structural Models Of Comorbid Anxiety And Depression In A Primary-Care Older Adult Sample: Effect Of Medical Illness Severity, Threat, Chronicity, And Progressiveness On Model Fit, William Michael Palmer Sep 2007

Structural Models Of Comorbid Anxiety And Depression In A Primary-Care Older Adult Sample: Effect Of Medical Illness Severity, Threat, Chronicity, And Progressiveness On Model Fit, William Michael Palmer

Dissertations

Recent research suggests that anxiety disorders may be more common in later life than previously thought. Among other factors, the presence of comorbid mood disorders and medical illness confounds accurate assessment and diagnosis of these conditions in the elderly. There have been few studies, however, examining the structural relationships between anxiety and depression with older-adult samples, and even fewer have considered the effect of medical illness on these relationships. This study examined three established structural models of anxiety and depression, using a clinical sample of older adults seeking treatment in a primary-care setting (N = 2,163). It was hypothesized that …


Using Structured Employment Interviews To Predict Task And Contextual Performance, Brian M. Bonness Jul 2007

Using Structured Employment Interviews To Predict Task And Contextual Performance, Brian M. Bonness

Dissertations

This study investigated the extent to which structured interviews predict task and contextual performance dimensions. Participants recruited from undergraduate business courses at a mid-sized, Midwestern university participated in a structured interview and received performance assessments from three separate rating sources (self-assessment, performance assessment exercise, peer/supervisor assessors). Study results showed that the contextual performance dimensions of the interview significantly predicted contextual performance ratings provided in peer/supervisor assessor questionnaires and predicted these ratings above and beyond the prediction of the task dimension of the interview. Conversely, the task dimension of the interview did not predict task performance in any of the performance …


Constructing Meaning Through Religious Coping: Rebuilding The Shattered Assumptive World Of Mothers Bereaved By Homicide, Accident, And Illness, Laura Thea Matthews Jul 2006

Constructing Meaning Through Religious Coping: Rebuilding The Shattered Assumptive World Of Mothers Bereaved By Homicide, Accident, And Illness, Laura Thea Matthews

Dissertations

Researchers have begun to examine the theory that religion may help bereaved individuals to provide meaning to an otherwise inconceivable event. In addition, work by Janoff-Bulman (1989; 1992) and others (see Kauffman, 2002) has spawned a growing understanding that bereavement forces individuals to restructure and rebuild previously held assumptions about the self and the world. This study examined mediator-moderator effects of positive and negative religious coping on relationships between grief intensity and world assumptions in 117 mothers bereaved by the death of a child (homicide, illness, or accident). Mothers with higher grief intensity rated the world as less meaningful and …


The Effects Of Rumination On Problem-Solving Self-Efficacy And Self-Efficacy For Controlling Upsetting Thoughts In The Context Of Depressive Symptoms, Christina Marcia Gilliam Jul 2006

The Effects Of Rumination On Problem-Solving Self-Efficacy And Self-Efficacy For Controlling Upsetting Thoughts In The Context Of Depressive Symptoms, Christina Marcia Gilliam

Dissertations

Two cognitive variables that are of interest in their role in depression are self-efficacy and rumination. Self-efficacy refers to individuals¿ own appraisal of their ability to successfully accomplish a domain of tasks (Bandura, 1977). Rumination, as defined by Response Styles Theory (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991), refers to the process of repetitively and passively thinking about negative emotions, consequences, and symptoms of distress. Although the relationship between these two constructs and depression has been examined in both experimental and correlational studies, there has been minimal research on the relationship between self-efficacy and rumination among depressed individuals. The present study was intended to replicate …


Is Rumination General Or Specific To Negative Mood States? The Relationship Between Rumination And Distraction And Depressed, Anxious, And Angry Moods In Women, Jessica Lauren Jul 2006

Is Rumination General Or Specific To Negative Mood States? The Relationship Between Rumination And Distraction And Depressed, Anxious, And Angry Moods In Women, Jessica Lauren

Dissertations

Rumination has been found to play a role in negative affect by either maintaining or increasing depressive, anxious, and angry moods, whereas distraction has been found to decrease these negative moods. This experiment tested the hypothesis that the effect of rumination occurs across mood states and is not specific to one type of negative mood, using both Nolen-Hoeksema¿s Response Styles Theory (RST; 1991), and Bower¿s Associative Network Theory (1981; ANT). The impact of rumination and distraction on depressed, anxious, and angry mood states were examined in 90 women at the University of Missouri ¿ St. Louis. Participants were randomly placed …


The Impact Of Sexual Abuse And How Children Cope: Different Perspectives From Caretakers And Children, Megan M. Schacht Jul 2006

The Impact Of Sexual Abuse And How Children Cope: Different Perspectives From Caretakers And Children, Megan M. Schacht

Dissertations

Child sexual abuse is a complicated stressor with a broad range of associated symptoms. It has been suggested that the coping techniques children utilize may act as a mediating variable in the relationship between child sexual abuse and subsequent difficulties. Until recently, child sexual abuse sequelae were assessed in a piecemeal fashion, with individual tests for each symptom domain and reporter. However, recent developments in the area of trauma assessment have provided researchers with complementary caretaker- and self-report measures to assess a broad range of trauma-related symptoms (i.e., the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children [TSCYC] and the Trauma Symptom …


Female Hormonal Influences On Stress- And Drug-Induced Reinstatement Of Extinguished Amphetamine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference, Melissa Elaine Bleile May 2006

Female Hormonal Influences On Stress- And Drug-Induced Reinstatement Of Extinguished Amphetamine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference, Melissa Elaine Bleile

Dissertations

One Animal paradigm used to study addiction is conditioned place preference. CPP is achieved when an animal develops a preference for environmental stimuli previously paired with subjective effects of a rewarding drug. Women may experience greater drug sensitivity than men, most likely due to estrogen levels. The purpose of this experiment was to assess the effects of female sex hormones on drug sensitivity and their interaction with the primary factors causing relapse, stress or drug re-exposure. Female rats were ovariectomized and received replacement hormones to control circulating hormone levels. These groups of animals were tested for amphetamine (AMPH)-induced CPP and …


Self-Deception And Other-Deception In Personality Assessment: Detection And Implications, Mary Lynn Starke May 2006

Self-Deception And Other-Deception In Personality Assessment: Detection And Implications, Mary Lynn Starke

Dissertations

The present study utilized multiple methods of detecting self-deception and other-deception and explored potential implications for organizations hiring individuals exhibiting these tendencies. Participants were 242 undergraduate business students who completed self-ratings of extraversion and agreeableness under both ¿answer honestly¿ instructions and ¿answer as if you are applying for a job¿ instructions. Additionally, they completed the impression management and self-deceptive enhancement scales of the BIDR, the fake good scale and the good impression scale of the CPI, and took part in a role play with a trained observer. Individuals who knew the participants well provided ratings of participants¿ adjustment, integrity, interpersonal …


Exploration Of Ideal Body Image Among African-American Women, Shannon Denise Nickens Aug 2005

Exploration Of Ideal Body Image Among African-American Women, Shannon Denise Nickens

Dissertations

Body image dissatisfaction is a pervasive problem, most notably among women, that is neither well understood nor well defined. Inconsistent and overly narrow definitions of body image make it difficult to draw conclusions regarding the degree and type of dissatisfaction across cultural and/or various ethnic groups. Thus far, research has largely focused on size, shape, and weight concerns, ignoring physical features that may be salient to women belonging to non-Caucasian ethnic groups. This study explored African-American (AA) preferences for weight, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and salient physical appearance attributes, as well as their identification with the ¿thin¿ ideal, racial identity salience, …


The Role Of Embeddedness Factors In Predicting The Paths Of The Unfolding Model Of Voluntary Turnover, Lynn R. Kalnbach Jul 2005

The Role Of Embeddedness Factors In Predicting The Paths Of The Unfolding Model Of Voluntary Turnover, Lynn R. Kalnbach

Dissertations

A great deal of research has been conducted to determine the relationship between the job satisfaction of employees and the likelihood of their leaving or intending to leave an organization. However, research addressing other reasons why employees may leave their organizations has been lacking. Lee and Mitchell (1994) created the unfolding model of turnover to better define and classify the process employees go through in making decisions to leave their organizations. This model suggests that many people decide to leave their jobs/organizations for reasons other than job dissatisfaction.

In a separate stream of research, Lee and Mitchell and their colleagues …


The Interactive Roles Of Gender And Ethnicity In African-American Women's Mental Health, Dianna Nadine Moses-Nunley Apr 2005

The Interactive Roles Of Gender And Ethnicity In African-American Women's Mental Health, Dianna Nadine Moses-Nunley

Dissertations

Abstract For African-American women, female gender and African-American (AA) ethnicity combine to create experiences of discrimination, discrimination related stress, and mental health issues that are not encountered by individuals who occupy only one of these status variables. Gender and ethnicity also influence socioeconomic status, an additional variable affecting the experiences and issues that AA women uniquely encounter. The first goal of this study was to examine the ways in which the combined social statuses of gender and ethnicity influence the discriminatory experiences and mental health of AA women. The second goal was to determine the ways in which AA women¿s …


Effects Of Disability Disclosure And Acknowledgment On Ratings Of Interviewees With Visible Disabilities, Lisa Lynn Roberts Oct 2004

Effects Of Disability Disclosure And Acknowledgment On Ratings Of Interviewees With Visible Disabilities, Lisa Lynn Roberts

Dissertations

While some authors stress the benefits of disclosing one's disability prior to the interview in order to eliminate interviewer surprise, attention-related research suggests that such disclosure is likely to result in self-focused thinking by the interviewer, reducing the ability to judge performance accurately. Similarly, verbal acknowledgment of a visible disability during an interview has been predicted to reduce interviewer anxiety, yet some authors contend that acknowledgment is a violation of the rules of interviewing and adds to discomfort. The present research addressed the question: What are the effects of an applicant's pre-interview disability disclosure and disability acknowledgment during the interview? …


Personality Measurement In The Prediction Of Positive And Negative Police Officer Performance, Brian P. Enright Jan 2004

Personality Measurement In The Prediction Of Positive And Negative Police Officer Performance, Brian P. Enright

Dissertations

Police officer selection research has revealed a number of relationships between scores on psychological tests and performance on the job. Although a few of these predictor scales have been consistently linked with job performance, many still require further investigation. It was proposed that the personality scales most consistently linked to job performance concern two broad constructs including: (1) prosocial personality characteristics, and (2) level of psychological distress. Guided by findings from the police outcomes literature and research regarding the factor structure and intercorrelation of MMPI and CPI scales, it was proposed that Scales 4 and 9 from the MMPI and …