Psychology Commons^™

Religion's Impact On Sexual Experiences And Attitudes Among Women: Exploring Sexual Satisfaction And Sex Guilt, Maria Lytle

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Sexual satisfaction has been linked to higher self-esteem, marital stability, and general relationship satisfaction. The combination of religious values, sex attitudes, and experiences of sex guilt have been shown to significantly impact women’s sexual satisfaction. Two theories of religious values have been defined: identification, a religious perspective which considers sexuality to be a valuable and sacred experience, as well as introjection, which views sexuality as inherently sinful and a symptom of human weakness. This study included 85 female participants; they completed a survey on their experiences of sexual satisfaction, sex guilt, religion (identification or introjection), and sex values. The findings …

Preventing Burnout: The Role Of Personality And Awareness In Early Career Mental Health Professionals In Acute Settings, Whitney J. Standal Schollars

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Burnout among health professionals had been increasing over the last decade, but amidst the global impact of COVID-19, burnout has contributed to a national health care crisis (Bednar, 2019; Sklar et al., 2021). Due to increased demand and patient acuity, entry-level mental health professionals (MHPs) in acute settings are specifically at risk (Morse et al., 2012; Simpson et al., 2018). Moreover, unique variables related to personality disposition and emotional vulnerability from trauma can create a predisposition for burnout (Alarcon et al., 2009). This study explored the impacts of personality and emotional awareness curriculum on managing stress amidst crisis work and …

Prenatal Polysubstance Exposure (Ppe) And Adhd: Comparison Of Behavior Profiles In Children And Adolescents, Rana Tanios

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Previous research reveals pervasive polysubstance use during pregnancy, with widespread neurological, cognitive, and behavioral deficits that have lasting implications for both adults and children with prenatal polysubstance exposure (PPE; Behnke et al., 2013; Forray, 2016). Early PPE identification leads to improved long-term outcomes. However, identifying PPE is difficult due to underreported use, absent dysmorphic features, and behaviorally similar profiles to other psychiatric conditions, with ADHD identified as the most common referral and most prevalent diagnosis assigned for children with PPE (Chasnoff et al., 2010). Despite similar behavioral symptoms, emerging data reveal a specific neurological profile for PPE distinct from ADHD, …

The Role Of Hope, Resilience, Religious Coping And Religious Problem Solving In College Students’ Development, Vanessa M. Campo

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

As students attend their chosen college or university day to day stressors and challenges can become overwhelming. The stressors that come with new collegiate expectations and demands can increase the importance for colleges and universities to foster students’ development. Programming or courses that increase students’ hope, resilience, and religiousness could make their college experience much better and more enjoyable. This study hypothesized the following: a will be positive correlation between hope, resilience, and positive religious coping, a positive correlation between religious coping and the collaborative subscale of the religious problem-solving scale, and that religiousness will be higher at George Fox …

The Effects Of Psychoeducation On Emotion Regulation In High School Athletes, Kami Naber

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Approximately one in five adolescents between ages 12 and 18 suffer from at least one diagnosable mental health disorder. Health professionals have referred to the current rising need for mental health treatment as an epidemic. Current approaches to meeting the rising psychological needs of adolescents are proving to be insufficient. Emotion regulation has been identified as a key element in lowering levels of psychological stress, yet many adolescents have inadequate emotion regulation skills. A particularly appropriate modality to train adolescents in the skills necessary to regulate distressing emotions, may be psychoeducation, an evidence-based therapeutic intervention that provides training and information …

The Effect Of The Political Climate On Latinos’ Wellbeing, Magda E. Mendoza Soto

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The presidential election of Donald Trump significantly influenced various aspects of the population of the United States. Given Trump’s emphasis on anti-immigrant policies, it is essential for professionals and practitioners to better understand how the Latin population is experiencing and responding to today’s political climate. Participants in this study ranged in age from 18 to 64 and were from Latin descent, which consists of persons, cultures, or countries related to the Spanish language, culture, people, or to Spain in general. Ninety-six participants completed the quantitative measures including The Adult Hope Scale (HS), Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the …

Awe In The Helping Professions: Approaching Well-Being For Graduate Trainees Through Transcendent Emotion, Anna Forcelle

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Graduate school is a unique season of life involving high demands and high pressure, leaving adult degree-seeking students vulnerable to stress and negative health outcomes. Students seeking degrees in helping professional programs face additional risks due to the unique amounts of compassion required to engage in others-oriented work, leaving them susceptible to compassion fatigue and burnout. With a recent resurgence in the literature on the self-transcendent emotion of awe, which is associated with greater well-being, this present study sought to examine if experiences of awe can help sustain well-being and reduce the risk of compassion fatigue in helping profession graduate …

Deployment Stress And Parenting Self-Efficacy Among Spouses Of Members Of The Armed Forces, Luisa E. Miller

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Deployment in the Armed Forces has a ripple effect on the family unit. Research suggests deployment impacts the psychological well-being of military spouses and children. The spouse who stays behind plays an important role in maintaining homeostasis while adapting to the absence of the deployed servicemember. The present study aimed to understand whether there is an association between deployment stress and parental self-efficacy. The study examined these variables in 115 military spouses of active and reserve units whose servicemembers are currently on deployment or deployed within the last two years and who are parents to children between the ages of …

Experience Of Loss And Resilience In Persons With Chronic Pain, Lauren Abshire

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Chronic pain is one of the most common concerns people seek medical treatment for, yet it is historically difficult to treat. The current best evidence practice in chronic pain treatment is through a multidisciplinary team with psychologists implementing cognitive behavioral therapy or acceptance commitment therapy. These approaches are efficacious in decreasing pain-related behaviors and improving mood and quality of life. Resilience has also been shown to mitigate the impact of chronic pain. However, the sense of loss or grief related to the experience of chronic pain has been inadequately explored in the research literature and may be related to poor …

Psychometric Validation Of The Brief2 Spanish Version On A Latin Community, Natalia Rich-Wimmer

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Since the early 2000s, the Hispanic population residing in the United States has dramatically grown by 55% (Puente et al., 2015), which increases the importance of understanding how cultural differences may affect neuropsychological test performance. Research demonstrates that pervasive differences exist between the Hispanic community and the dominant culture (Burton et al., 2012). Thus, altering the perception of normative behavior among children (Kärtner et al., 2011). The relative differences in developmental expectations may unfairly disadvantage Hispanic children and potentially lead to the over-pathology of minorities (Burton et al., 2012). The present study aimed to address the potential differences on the …

C.H.A.N.G.E.: Strengthening Resiliency In Pregnancy, Joanna L. Harbets

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Pregnancy and childbirth is a biologically, socially, and psychologically complex period in a woman’s life (Anda, 2010). Carrying an infant in the womb is made even more difficult if a mother has endured her own trauma, potentially transmitting a vulnerability to her child’s development through maternal behavior and emotions (Hudziak, 2018). Additionally, the transition to parenthood is a general life stressor which often activates her attachment system. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and trauma may also interfere with her ability to bond with her child (Main, 2000). Although the complexity of pregnancy and motherhood can be daunting, a mother’s resilience may …

Living In The Crucible: A Qualitative Look At Psychologists’ Perspectives On The Development Of Their Intersectional Lgb-Christian Identities, Colby Hampton

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Current research has become increasingly focused on examining the nature of intersectional identities. The intersectional identity of being both LGBT and Christian is difficult to maintain. Both communities are often in conflict, and this can create a great amount of distress. Many individuals who struggle to hold the intersectional identity of being LGBT and Christian choose one identity and drop the other. For this study, I examined the experience of psychologists who are able to hold both identities of being LGBT and Christian. I was interested in discovering resiliency factors, and whether graduate psychological training influenced participants’ ability to hold …

Social Network Analysis As A Predictor Of Communication Patterns In A Small Group, Consuela Hegeman

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Few studies have examined interdisciplinary collaboration in primary care using social network analysis. The present study seeks to examine connections among leadership in the Interprofessional Primary Care Institute (IPCI) in order to measure the effect of changes in the network over time, effect of work group collaboration, and centralization on communication patterns within the group. This study involved a secondary analysis, using data from Gathercoal et al.’s (2019) social network analysis (SNA) of the IPCI, and follow-up data collection. Data were gathered via an online survey, meeting records, and collateral information about IPCI. Social connections within the network, specifically eigenvector …

Golf Brain: A Neuropsychological Study Of Performance In Competition, Taylor S. Broughton

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Golf, as a sport, has been described by its masters as a mental game first and a technical skill second. Many players logged countless practice hours only to find suboptimal performance in tournaments; when it matters the most. I investigated the relationship between executive functioning specific to decision-making under anxious arousal and golfers’ performance under anxious arousal. I used a repeated measures design including variety of executive functioning tests to examine participants’ abilities. Participants were recruited from western Oregon including collegiate golfers and university students, and were grouped into non-golfers and golfer groups based on whether they played golf and …

Reliability Analysis Of The Basc-3 Srp With American Indian/Alaska Native Adolescents, Nathan Higa

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

With a vastly growing diverse population, the current focus on diversity-informed assessment has led to research on whether established instruments are reliable to utilize with specific populations. The American Indian/Alaska Native population (AI/AN) is often a group that is underrepresented in various assessments. The BASC-3 is an important assessment in psychoeducational evaluations thus, the goal of the study is to determine whether the BASC-3 is a culturally reliable assessment to use with AI/AN in educational setting.

Utilizing the computer program Cocron we compared Cronbach alpha levels across three groups (Native Americans, White, manualized clinical sample) and conducted t-test to compare …

Adhd Performance On Nonverbal Measures Of Set Shifting And Working Memory, S. Hans Stoltzfus

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The relationship between language and cognition is an area of inquiry among many psychologists (Pellicano, 2010; Russel, 1996). The connection between thoughts, verbal language, and nonverbal communication turned researchers towards the relationship between language and executive functioning. Executive functioning (EF) is described as tasks involving working memory, inhibition, and set shifting (Miyake and Friedman (2012)). Despite studies demonstrating the correlation between language deficits and lower executive functioning there is not consensus on the directionality of the relationship (Kuhn, et al 2014; Boting et al., 2017). Data from the Leiter International Performance Scale, Third Edition (Leiter-3) (Roid, et al., 2013) were …

Influencing Attitudes Of Youth And Law Enforcement, Megan Church

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

No abstract provided.