Psychology Commons^™

Autonomic And Behavioral Reactivity To An Acute Laboratory Stressor, Jeremy C. Peres

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Stress has been widely shown to directly influence people’s emotional and behavioral processing as well as their underlying biological systems. This project examined physiological and behavioral responses as indicators of stress and coping in the context of a psychosocial stressor in a controlled laboratory setting. We examined the association between indicators of behavioral coping and underlying physiological reactivity within participants while experiencing stress. Participants included 68 emerging adults. Physiological measures include autonomic biomarkers (e.g., heart-rate, skin conductance) at rest and during the stressor while behavioral indicators that were coded include acute verbal and non-verbal actions exhibited by participants during the …

A Practical Scale For Multi-Faceted Organizational Health Climate Assessment, Zandra M. Zweber

Master's Theses

The current study sought to develop a practical scale to measure workplace health climate in a way that has not previously been conceptualized – as a three-faceted approach from the employee perspective serving as an indicator of a healthy organization. The goal was to create a short, useable yet comprehensive scale that could translate into practical use by organizations and occupational health professionals planning workplace interventions. To accomplish this, the proposed multi-faceted organizational health climate scale (MOHCA) assesses three-facets which match up with three organizational levels: 1) organization 2) supervisor and 3) workgroup. Ten items were developed and tested on …

Towards Integration: An Autoethnography On The Development Of Identity, Kanchana Henrich

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

This thesis is an autoethnography that explores my own experience of identity development. The intention of this research was to try and find an answer as to why I have not yet been able to develop a cohesive sense of self, in which I am able to accept and embody all of my seemingly disparate parts. I have thus far in my life felt scattered, and unable to accept both the cultures into which I was born, as well as the cultures to which I am organically drawn. Through introspection, reflective writing, and interviewing family members, I have been able …

The Relationship Among Maternal Parenting Stress, Coping, And Depressive Symptoms Across Time, Karen Foren Lake

Theses and Dissertations

This study was a secondary analysis in which the relationship among maternal parenting stress, coping, and depressive symptoms over time in 161 low-income mothers who participated in an Early Head Start Pathways Project were examined. Measurements were assessed longitudinally over a 12 year period of time. Direct and indirect relationships were proposed between maternal mastery, pre-existing depressive symptoms, relationship with significant other, child behavior, child temperament, maternal parenting stress, coping, and later depressive symptoms. Results from path analyses showed that when assessed earlier in the childbearing years, mastery, depressive symptoms, relationship with significant other, child temperament, child behavior, and maternal …

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Descriptive Study, Erica Jex Gergely

Dissertations

The current study seeks to examine the program operations and treatment practices of individuals and organizations providing equine-assisted therapy services nationwide. Currently, there are several hundred programs across the United States that utilize equine-assisted therapy to treat common mental health problems in children, adolescents, and adults. Not all equine therapy programs function under the same theoretical model and therefore do not deliver treatment services using equivalent principles or techniques. In addition, program policies, procedures, and ethical guidelines of each provider vary. To date, there exists a paucity of research regarding equine-assisted therapy including both qualitative and quantitative data.

The present …

An Evaluation Of Social Capital's Effect On Depression Among Adolescents, Ezechukwu Awgu

Dissertations

Mental illness has been described as a “global burden of disease,” and depression accounts for a large part of the burden (Aslund, Starrin, Nilsson, 2010). In 2009, 35.7 percent of the adolescent population in the United States who reported past-year symptoms of a major depressive episode, for example, feelings of sadness, discouragement, loss of feelings of self-worth, and loss of interest in social activities, also used illicit drugs including marijuana, inhalants, hallucinogens, cocaine, heroin, and prescription-type psychotherapeutics for non-medical purposes (SAMHSA, 2009, APA, 1994). Additionally, substance abuse due to alcoholism was among the major causes of death for adolescents aged …

Csa Survivors: What Heals And What Hurts In A Couple Relationship, Laura S. Smedley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a significant trauma that affects a person's self-concept and the ability to form healthy intimate relationships later in adulthood. Approximately 20% of adults who experience childhood sexual abuse go on to evidence serious psychopathology in adulthood (Harway & Faulk, 2005). Besides individual disturbances, CSA survivors struggle with many relational difficulties. These difficulties are usually most pronounced among their intimate partners (Reid, et al., 1995). According to attachment theory, attachment injuries are best healed in the context of a healthy, intimate relationship (Kochka & Carolan, 2002) (MacIntosh & Johnson, 2008). Conversely, the couple relationship may be …

Couples' Process Of Healing From Infidelity While In Therapy, Jordan Mark Staples

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Infidelity is one of the most common presenting problems for couples and marriage therapists. It is widely acknowledged to be a destructive phenomenon for a couple's relationship and is one of the most difficult presenting problems to treat. Treatment models for infidelity vary and have little empirical testing. The purpose of the proposed study was to investigate the client's perspective of the process for healing from infidelity. Additionally, the proposed study looked to qualitatively assess and amalgamate participants' experience of the healing process for infidelity. Themes and relationships among these themes were identified using open, axial, and selective coding processes. …

Dance/Movement Therapy And Autism: A Case Study, Katherine Ann Porter

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

This thesis explores the development of the therapeutic relationship with a child with autism through dance/movement therapy. The characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder effect social interactions, communication, behavior and interests. This means there is difficulty engaging and maintaining reciprocal social interactions, and trouble with receptive and expressive language. The purpose of this study is to describe how movement mirroring in dance/movement therapy affects the development of the therapeutic relationship with a child with autism, through the analysis of the Ways of Seeing approach.

The data collected in this clinical case study consisted of video tapped sessions and Laban Movement Analysis …

Does Psychopathy Predict Future Risky Sexual Behavior?, Jessica Jade Fulton

Dissertations

Risky sexual behavior (RSB), such as having sex with an unknown partner, is associated with a variety of negative consequences including sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy. Previous research (e.g., Fulton, Marcus, & Payne, 2010) suggests that psychopathic personality traits as assessed by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996) are associated with RSB. Self-Centered Impulsivity (SCI), which is characterized by impulsivity, irresponsibility, and reckless behavior, was positively associated with RSB among men and women. In contrast, Fearless Dominance (FD), which is characterized by fearlessness, manipulativeness, and social dominance, was positively associated with RSB among men but not women. …

Affect Identification And Interpersonal Skills: An In-Depth Evaluation Of Social Cognition In Schizophrenia, Griffin Pollock Sutton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The presence of deficits in various sub-domains of social cognition has been investigated to a degree in individuals with schizophrenia. Some of the most commonly researched and documented deficits have included impairments in the identification of affect portrayed in faces. Research has indicated that the performance of individuals with schizophrenia on such tasks is generally impaired as compared to normal controls. However, some have questioned the generalizability of such findings to real-world situations, as day-to-day interactions generally necessitate a constant, fluid assessment of the thoughts and feelings of others and are rarely, if ever, limited to still images of others. …

Frequency-Specificity And Pattern-Specificity Of The Buildup Of Auditory Stream Segregation, David Michael Weintraub

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During repeating sequences of low (A) and high (B) tones in an "...ABAB..." pattern, the likelihood of hearing two separate streams ("streaming") increases with more repetitions of the patterns, a phenomenon referred to as "buildup". Previous studies have shown that buildup is frequency specific (Anstis & Saida, 1985) and that its biasing effects decays over several seconds (Beauvois & Meddis, 1997). No study has examined whether the frequency specificity of buildup persists for such a long duration. To address these issues, Experiment 1 tested the decay of frequency-specific and non-frequency specific buildup. The results revealed that (1) frequency-specific buildup effects …

Construct And Criterion Validity Of The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test-Spanish Version In Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury, Cristobal Neblina

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) is among the most commonly used English-language neuropsychological tests of verbal learning and memory. Previous research supports the validity and clinical utility of adaptations of the RAVLT into many diverse languages. In the United States, Hispanics represent the largest and fastest-growing ethnic minority group. As the Hispanic populace continues to grow, so does the need for empirically validated Spanish-language neuropsychological measures. In 2002, a Spanish adaptation of the RAVLT was developed in Puerto Rico (Acevedo-Vargas, 2002). However, validation studies have not been undertaken with clinical samples, and little is known regarding its psychometric …

The Ratio Of Positive To Negative Affect, Flourishing, And Health Behavior, Michael Stuart Leibow

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The ratio between positive and negative affect, known as the positivity ratio (PR) is thought to be associated with flourishing (psychological and social well-being). However, little research has been done on how PR and flourishing relate to specific health behaviors. The relationships between PR and flourishing with health behavior i.e., physical activity, and diet (fruit, leafy green vegetables [LGV] and meat intake) were investigated in this study. We examined whether PR mediated the relationship between flourishing and health behaviors, and whether flourishing mediated the relationship between PR and these behaviors. Gender and ethnic differences for the above associations were examined …

Transformation Of Stimulus Function Through Relational Networks: The Impact Of Derived Stimulus Relations On Stimulus Control Of Behavior, Samantha Rose Florentino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Relational Frame Theory research involves either of two protocols utilized to establish relational networks and functions for stimuli in those relational networks. Years of research indicate the most prevalent method involves first establishing a relational frame, conditioning one of the stimuli to acquire a particular function, and then providing a test to see if the function trained to one of the stimuli in the network transferred through the relational network to other stimuli. The less common method involves first training a particular function for a stimulus, entering that stimulus in a relational network with at least two other stimuli, and …

Effects Of Gender Composition Of Target And Sender Dyads On The Tendency To Infer Lies, Byron J. Simoneaux

Doctoral Dissertations

Lying is so common in human behavior that some have labeled it a social skill. Despite the ubiquity of lies, humans have consistently been found to be poor lie detectors. Attempts have been made to improve the accuracy of human lie detection. Unfortunately, the most successful training only improves accuracy slightly above the level of chance. Because of its importance to society, considerable effort has been aimed at developing methods to help determine when people are lying. Researching how and why humans infer that another person is lying has the potential to advance the understanding of lie detection. Researchers have …

The Effects Of Combat Exposure On Post-Deployment Coping Deficits In Oef/Oif/Ond Veterans, Alex Emerson Dryden

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

As members of the United States Military return stateside from the combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, an increasing number of veterans exposed to combat are reporting symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as other significant detrimental impacts on their ability to cope with the stressful situations they experienced in the combat arena. The purpose of the current study is to ascertain the presence of posttraumatic stress disorder in veterans returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), and Operation New Dawn (OND), the potential impairment in their abilities to cope with the combat-related stress. The …

The Relationship Between Self-Reported Cancer Pain And Personality In Black And White Older Adults Receiving Outpatient Cancer Care, Jessica Krok

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is well-established that personality not only affects physical health and longevity, but also mental health and coping mechanisms. One area of limited research is the relationship between cancer pain and personality. This study examined how personality traits affect reported cancer pain severity in older patients (N = 150) receiving outpatient treatment at a comprehensive cancer center. Participants were interviewed regarding their pain severity, personality, affect, and self-efficacy for pain management. Symptom data were collected from the Brief Pain Inventory, while personality data were gathered from the Ten Item Personality Inventory and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Self-efficacy for …

Assessing The Psychometric Properties Of A Self-Efficacy Measure Within A Patient Navigation Research Program, Mariana Arevalo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a dearth of validated self-efficacy (SE) measures in the field of preventive oncology. The objective of this study is to describe the development and validation of a measure to assess patients' perceived ability to obtain the recommended care following an abnormality suspicious for breast cancer. Guided by a social cognitive theory framework, a 51-item measure was developed to explore perceived capability to obtain follow up care under a number of barriers. A multi-step process was utilized to assess the instrument's psychometric properties. First, cognitive validity assessments with experts were conducted, and these aided in the wording refinement of …

Cyberspace And Real-World Behavioral Relationships: Towards The Application Of Internet Search Queries To Identify Individuals At-Risk For Suicide, Casey C. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

The Internet has become an integral and pervasive aspect of society. Not surprisingly, the growth of ecommerce has led to focused research on identifying relationships between user behavior in cyberspace and the real world - retailers are tracking items customers are viewing and purchasing in order to recommend additional products and to better direct advertising. As the relationship between online search patterns and real-world behavior becomes more understood, the practice is likely to expand to other applications. Indeed, Google Flu Trends has implemented an algorithm that accurately charts the relationship between the number of people searching for flu-related topics on …

An Evaluation Of The Implementation Of "The Happiest Toddler On The Block" Parenting Strategies By Young Mothers, Amye Elizabeth Bock

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Young parents and their children are considered a high-risk population as they are more likely to lack social support networks, have limited access to opportunities to enhance parenting skills, and are often financially dependent. Young children whose mothers have poor parenting skills are more likely to have persistent problem behavior. Three young mothers living in a transitional housing facility participated in this study. The purpose of this study was to determine if these mothers could implement parenting strategies that are a part of a commercially available parenting book and DVD. This study found that: (1) mothers were able to correctly …

Training And Assessment Of Toothbrushing Skills Among Children With Special Needs, Rachel A. Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The success of applied behavior analysis (ABA) interventions relies heavily on adherence to measures of social importance. One area identified by caregivers, educators, and researchers as having social importance is the area of daily living skills; particularly in populations of children with special needs. A number of studies employed the use of a task analysis to objectively measure toothbrushing, with various training procedures utilized. Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is an effective procedure used to train a variety of skills. Further, research indicates the addition of an in situ assessment promotes generalization of trained skills. The current study examined the use …

Enhancing Male Hpv Vaccine Acceptance: The Role Of Altruism And Awareness Of Male Specific Health Benefits, Katherine Bonafide

Psychology - Theses

While considerable research exists on female HPV vaccine acceptance, research is needed to clarify factors that facilitate vaccine uptake among boys and men. The benefits of male HPV vaccination exist on an individual and community level. Male HPV vaccination provides personal health protection to recipients, and can provide female health protection by minimizing transmission of HPV to sexual partners. As such, male vaccine acceptance may be enhanced by emphasizing both altruistic motives (female health protection) and personal health benefits. A sample of college-age men (N = 200; M age = 19.3; 31% Non-White) completed computer-administered surveys and were presented with …

The Association Of Diet With Affect, Patricia Ann Ford

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids have been associated with mental health yet few studies have examined whether foods protective or deleterious for cardiovascular disease affect mood. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between consumption of foods typical of Mediterranean and Western diets and fatty acids with positive and negative affect.

Adventist church attendees residing in North America completed a validated food frequency questionnaire in 2002-6 as part of the Adventist Health Study-2. A subset of these participants ^=9,121) completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in the Biopsychosocial Religion and Health Study conducted in 2006-7. …

Lesbian/Queer/Same-Gender-Loving Women Graduate Students In Mental Health Related Fields: A Grounded Theory Of Attitudes Toward Transgender Individuals, Bonnie M. Benson

Dissertations

Transgender (trans) issues are an emerging area of research within counseling psychology. As such, little is known about how individuals form their attitudes toward trans people. Despite evidence that lesbian women are one group that has held biased views of the trans population, the literature has not addressed the perceptions that lesbian women have of trans individuals. Furthermore, the campus climate literature has attended to how LGBT students experience campus discrimination, but this literature has not addressed within-group differences, that is, attitudes and interactions among LGBT members of a university community, such as those between lesbians and trans people. The …

Cybercycling For Cognitive Health: Comparing Physical Mental And Combined Exercise, Anna Scribner

Honors Theses

Several meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCT) have shown exercise to improve cognitive function in normal aging, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia (Colcombe & Kramer, 2003, O’ Leary et al., 2011). Cognitive benefit from mental exercise alone is less definitive. A recent RCT (Anderson-Hanley et al., 2012) found greater benefit from three months of virtual-reality enhanced exercise than physical exercise alone among 79 independent living older adults. The current study aimed to replicate this work. In this study, six seniors that either lived or worked at Schaffer Heights were enrolled in the study. Participants were randomized into one of …

Expressed Emotion And Attitudes Toward Body Image And Food, Toni Marie Maraldo

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

In numerous studies over the years, body image and dysfunctional attitudes toward food have shown to be related to the genesis of eating disorders. Recent research has particularly focused on the influence that families have on both the development of eating disorders as well as their impact on their child's body image and eating attitudes. In general, higher levels of expressed emotion are often found in families with children who have either anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. However, there is a lack of research on sub-clinical populations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the influence that expressed …

Pharmacy And Empathy: Evaluating The Impact Of A Pharmacy Student's Project In A Service-Learning Course, Carly D'Agostino

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Background: Empathy is taking on a larger role in the pharmaceutical field as pharmacists place emphasis on patient centered care. Service-learning courses can expose pharmacy students to future patients, allowing them to interact and develop empathy. While this study suggests service-leaming can foster empathy, further research is needed to assess the specific outcome of empathy as a result of incorporating a project in a service-learning course for pre-pharmacy students.

Objective: To evaluate the effect on a pharmacy student's empathy after completing a one-on-one patient interview project during a service-learning experience. A secondary objective is to assess tile validity of a …

Linguistic Devices, Emotionality, And Memorability Of Computer Mediated Communication, Angela M. Mion

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

I examined whether college students use shortcuts, pragmatics, and errors in text messages differently depending on their gender and the emotionality of the message. Results indicate that the prevalence of particular shortcuts differed across happy, sad, and angry messages, but gender did not influence use of linguistic devices. In a second study, I examined the emotionality and memorability of text messages versus voicemails. Results indicate that texts may be remembered better than voicemails, and happy, sad, and angry messages may be remembered differently by men and women.

A Study Of The Reasons And Functions Of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (Nssi) Among Students In Hong Kong And United Kingdom, Sze Yiu, Cindy Wong

Bachelor of Social Sciences – Senior Theses

This study examines non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in a community sample of adolescents and young adults in Hong Kong and United Kingdom. Non-suicidal self‐injury (NSSI) refers to direct, deliberate destruction of one’s own body tissue in the absence of intent to die. Apart from investigating the reasons and functions of non-suicidal self‐injury (NSSI), this study also examined the gender as well as cultural differences in self‐injurious behaviors. Functional Assessment of Self‐Mutilation (FASM) was used to examine non‐suicidal self-injury (NSSI).

Overall, 17.1% (n=46) out of 269 participants (n=269) endorsed engaging in non-suicidal self‐injury (NSSI) in the past 12 months, with more females …