Psychology Commons^™

Providing Care For Many In The Context Of Few Resources: Secondary Traumatic Stress, Burnout And Moral Distress Experienced By Healthcare Providers In Rural Uganda, Lauren Michelle Dewey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the context of the global nursing shortage, and particularly in low-resource settings, nurses are at an increased risk for work-related stress problems like secondary traumatic stress (STS), burnout, and moral distress. These three work-related mental health consequences, sometimes associated with absenteeism and intent to leave the profession, could potentially contribute further to the shortage of nurses. This two-part study is a longitudinal examination of the work-related mental health consequences experienced by healthcare providers in rural Uganda. In Study 1, participants (n=208; 159 students and 49 experienced health workers) completed self-report, psychosocial measures at baseline and 134 of the students …

Observational Assessment Of Empathy In Parent-Child Verbal Exchanges And Their Influence On Child Behavior, Patty Carambot

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Empathy, the ability to both experientially share in and understand others’ thoughts, behaviors, and feelings, is vital for human adaptation. Deficits in empathy development have implications across the lifespan for the development of prosocial behavior, social functioning, mental health disorders, and risk for antisocial behavior (e.g., Guajardo, Snyder, & Petersen, 2009; Moreno, Klute & Robinson, 2008). In light of these societal and individual burdens, it is imperative to foster and strengthen the development of this ability early in life to prevent or ameliorate such negative outcomes. This type of prevention can take a variety of forms, but parent and child …

Medication Management In Pediatric Chronic Illness: Should Patient Anxiety Be Considered?, Claire J. Hoogendoorn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Introduction: There is growing support that psychological symptoms can impact various aspects of disease, well-being, and medical treatment for those with a chronic illness like Crohn’s disease (CD). Yet, almost no studies have examined whether psychological symptoms can influence management or efficacy of patient medication regimens. The aims of this project were to examine whether anxiety predicted pediatric patients’ level of medication management, medication prescription changes, and corticosteroid prescription and duration.

Method: A total of 105 pediatric patients ages 8-18 (M=14.5, SD=2.3) completed a validated anxiety questionnaire during a GI office visit (baseline). Prescribed IBD …

The Relationship Between Lexical Performance And Regional Gray Matter Volumes: A Longitudinal Study Of Cognitively Healthy Elderly, Jungmoon Hyun

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study investigated the longitudinal relationship among aging, performance on lexical tasks, and regional gray matter volumes over 2-7 years. A total of 137 older participants who remained cognitively normal were administered four lexical tasks at each time point: the Boston Naming Test (BNT), Vocabulary Test, Semantic- and Phonemic-Fluency task. In addition, they underwent repeated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning acquired within two months of the lexical tasks. The average interval between time points was 2.36 years (range 1.50-7.64) and the average number of time points was 2.65 times (range 2-5).

Results indicated that age differentially affects lexical task performance …

Let Fall: Hysteria And The Psychoanalytic Act, Matthew W. Oyer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This text proposes to examine the contemporary crisis of psychoanalysis by taking seriously feminist critiques of the theory’s phallocentrism, but arguing that the phallus cannot be metaphorically or metonymically replaced by any substitutive term, as most revisionist theories of psychoanalysis have sought to do. Castration is the central psychoanalytic concept, though the theory always seeks to cover it over. In order to develop a psychoanalysis that can confront this castration that is always repressed and yet, in its persistent return, continuously disrupts the continuity of psychoanalytic theory, a detour is proposed, returning to the origins of psychoanalysis and taking hysteria …