Psychology Commons^™

Increasing Social Engagement In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Perspective Taking Skills Training, Robyn Devendorf

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

The current study sought to teach the perspective-taking skill, a behavior that may require training in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and contribute to an increased ability in children with ASD to engage socially. One-on-one perspective-taking intervention sessions between the examiner and a child identified with ASD took place over ten sessions. Sessions were structured with the guidance of the Social Thinking curriculum entitled, “You Are a Social Detective!”. A single-case design was employed, and results were reviewed through quantitative measures using teacher ratings on the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) at pre- and post-intervention. Additionally, use of the Goal …

Dental Fear, Anxiety, And Phobia – Behavioral Management And Implications For Dentists, Nadya Tsetsova Avramova

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Clinical management of patients with dental fear, anxiety, and phobia could be a major challenge to daily practice of dental professionals. The aim of the current review was to expand the modern consideration with respect to these issues, and therefore to discuss basic approaches and psychological techniques for management of oral health behaviors that should be employed in dentistry. This paper presents detailed description of the characteristics of dentist-patient therapeutic relationship as well as the most used techniques to cope with dental fear, anxiety, and phobia - relaxation techniques, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), hypnosis and melotherapy. We can still argue that …

Psychologists' Experiences Providing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (Cbt) To Children Via Telehealth, Carly Apar M.S.

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

Due to COVID-19, psychologists were forced to rapidly transition to telehealth. While about 1% of American Psychological Association (APA) clinicians used telehealth for most clients pre-pandemic, 92% used telehealth post-pandemic onset (APA, 2020). However, research has not yet thoroughly assessed psychologists’ experiences providing child teletherapy. This study fills that gap by exploring psychologists’ experiences providing virtual child cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This study is important for teletherapy’s potential use for children lacking access to care. Eighteen clinical psychologists who provided CBT to children (ages 7-12) were recruited by sending a flyer to the researcher’s graduate program’s alumni and training sites, child …

Living With Awareness, Courage, And Love: An Accessible Behavioral Intervention To Improve Well-Being, Emerson J. Hardebeck

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Accessing mental healthcare is difficult and has become more so as demand escalated during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In an attempt to address this problem, an established behavior therapy, Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP), has recently been adapted into a group-based format called Living with Awareness, Courage, and Love (ACL), which can be disseminated inexpensively and quickly due to its reliance on laypeople, rather than clinicians, as facilitators. This randomized-controlled trial evaluated the effects of a six-week ACL group on participants’ well-being across several domains. Compared to participants in the control group, those in the ACL intervention formed a significantly closer …

A Preliminary Evaluation Of The Unified Protocol Among Trauma-Exposed Adults With And Without Ptsd, Caitlyn O. Hood, Matthew W. Southward, Christian Bugher, Shannon Sauer-Zavala

Psychology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the Unified Protocol (UP)—a mechanistically transdiagnostic psychological treatment—provides benefit to individuals with a range of trauma histories, psychological difficulties, and diagnostic comorbidity. Using data from a sequential multiple-assignment randomized trial (SMART), this exploratory analysis included a sample of 69 community-recruited adults seeking outpatient mental health treatment. We examined reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms and changes in aversive and avoidant reactions to intense emotions—the UP’s putative mechanism—first by comparing individuals with and without trauma histories and then specifically among participants with PTSD. Findings suggest that the UP may lead to similar …

Does The Unified Protocol Really Change Neuroticism? Results From A Randomized Trial, Shannon Sauer-Zavala, Jay C. Fournier, Stephanie Jarvi Steele, Brittany K. Woods, Mengxing Wang, Todd J. Farchione, David H. Barlow

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background Neuroticism is associated with the onset and maintenance of a number of mental health conditions, as well as a number of deleterious outcomes (e.g. physical health problems, higher divorce rates, lost productivity, and increased treatment seeking); thus, the consideration of whether this trait can be addressed in treatment is warranted. To date, outcome research has yielded mixed results regarding neuroticism's responsiveness to treatment, perhaps due to the fact that study interventions are typically designed to target disorder symptoms rather than neuroticism itself. The purpose of the current study was to explore whether a course of treatment with the unified …

Study Protocol: A Multisite Trial Of Work-Related Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Unemployed Persons With Social Anxiety, Joseph A. Himle, Richard T. Lebeau, Addie Weaver, Daphne M. Brydon, Deborah Bybee, Amy M. Kilbourne, Raphael D. Rose, Katherine M. Tucker, Richard Kim, Marcelina Perez, Fonda N. Smith, Brandy R. Sinco, Scott Levine, Nicole Hamameh, Monique Mckiver, Paul T. Wierzbicki, Anni M. Hasratian, Michelle G. Craske

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

This paper provides a methodological description of a multi-site, randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a cognitive-behavioral intervention for enhancing employment success among unemployed persons whose employment efforts have been undermined by social anxiety disorder (SAD). SAD is a common and impairing condition, with negative impacts on occupational functioning. In response to these documented employment-related impairments, in a previous project, we produced and tested an eight-session work-related group cognitive-behavioral therapy provided alongside vocational services as usual (WCBT + VSAU). WCBT is delivered by vocational service professionals and is designed in a context and style that overcomes accessibility and stigma-related obstacles with …

Factors Influencing The Use Of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy With Autistic Adults: A Survey Of Community Mental Health Clinicians, Brenna B. Maddox, Samantha Crabbe, Jessica Fishman, Rinad S. Beidas, Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Judith Miller, Christina Nicolaidis, David Mandell

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) can improve anxiety and depression in autistic adults, but few autistic adults receive this treatment. We examined factors that may influence clinicians’ use of CBT with autistic adults. One hundred clinicians completed an online survey. Clinicians reported stronger intentions (p = .001), more favorable attitudes (p < .001), greater normative pressure (p < .001), and higher self-efficacy (p < .001) to start CBT with non-autistic adults than with autistic adults. The only significant predictor of intentions to begin CBT with clients with anxiety or depression was clinicians’ attitudes (p < .001), with more favorable attitudes predicting stronger intentions. These findings are valuable for designing effective, tailored implementation strategies to increase clinicians’ adoption of CBT for autistic adults.

Autistic adults have high rates of anxiety and depression (Buck et al. 2014; Croen et al. 2015), and often do not receive quality mental healthcare for these or other co-occurring conditions (Maddox et al. 2019; Roux et al. 2015; Shattuck et al. …

Patient Motivational Language As A Predictor Of Symptom Change, Hazard Of Clinically Significant Response, And Time To Response In Psychotherapy For Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Brien J. Goodwin

Masters Theses

Change-talk (CT), or self-arguments for change, has been associated with favorable patient outcomes, while counter change-talk (CCT), or self-arguments against change, has been associated with poorer outcomes. Most studies on change language have focused on the prediction of distal posttreatment outcomes, while the prediction of more proximal outcomes has remained largely untested. Addressing this gap, we examined early treatment CT and CCT as predictors of worry change trajectories, “hazard” of clinically significant response, and time to response (i.e., outcome efficiency) in CBT and CBT integrated with MI (MI-CBT) for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). We also explored whether treatment type moderated …

An Analysis And Critique Of Mental Health Treatment In American State Prisons And Proposal For Improved Care, Shelby Hayne

Scripps Senior Theses

Mental health treatment in state prisons is revealed to be highly variable, under-funded, and systematically inadequate. Existing literature exposes this injustice but fails to provide a comprehensive proposal for reform. This paper attempts to fill that gap, outlining a cost-effective, evidence-based treatment proposal, directly addressing the deficits in care revealed through analysis of our current system. In addition, this paper provides historical overviews of the prison system and mental health treatment, utilizing theoretical perspectives to contextualize this proposal in the present state of affairs. Lastly, the evidence is provided to emphasize the potential economic and social benefits of improving mental …

Efficacy Of The Unified Protocol For Transdiagnostic Treatment Of Comorbid Psychopathology Accompanying Emotional Disorders Compared To Treatments Targeting Single Disorders, Stephanie Jarvi Steele, Todd J. Farchione, Clair Cassiello-Robbins, Amantia Ametaj, Sophia Sbi, Shannon Sauer-Zavala, David H. Barlow

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: This study aimed to examine whether the Unified Protocol (UP), a transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy for emotional disorders (i.e., anxiety, mood, and related disorders), is efficacious in the treatment of co-occurring emotional disorders compared to established single disorder protocols (SDPs) that target specific disorders (e.g., panic disorder).

Method: Participants included 179 adults seeking outpatient psychotherapy. Participant age ranged from 18 to 66 years, with an average of 30.66 years (SD = 10.77). The sample was 55% female and mostly Caucasian (83%). Diagnostic assessments were completed with the Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule (ADIS), and disorder-specific, clinician-rated measures for the comorbid diagnoses …

Psychometric Properties Of The Difficulties In Emotion Regulation Scale (Ders) And Its Short Forms In Adults With Emotional Disorders, Lauren S. Hallion, Shari A. Steinmann, David F. Tolin, Gretchen J. Diefenbach

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Objective: The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a widely used self- report measure of subjective emotion ability, as defined by a prominent clinically derived model of emotion regulation (Gratz and Roemer, 2004). Although the DERS is often used in treatment and research settings for adults with emotional (i.e., anxiety, mood, obsessive-compulsive, or trauma-related) disorders, its psychometric properties are not well-characterized in this population.

Method: We examined the psychometric properties of the DERS and three popular short forms (DERS-16; DERS-18; and DERS-SF) in a large (N = 427) sample of treatment-seeking adults with one or more DSM-5 emotional disorders. …

Assessing Clinical Improvement In School-Based Treatment For Social Anxiety Disorder: Agreement Between Adolescents, Parents, And Independent Evaluators, Jeremy K Fox, Carrie Masia

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The Clinical Global Impressions of Improvement (CGI-I) scale is widely used in clinical trials to monitor clinically meaningful change during treatment. Although it is standard practice in research to have independent evaluators (IEs) complete the CGI-I, this approach is not practical in school and community settings. Few studies have explored the potential utility of other informants, such as youth and parents. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate agreement between IEs and both adolescents and parents in CGI-I improvement ratings in the context of a randomized controlled trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder, as delivered by psychologists and school …

The Effectiveness Of Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Li-Cbt) On Reducing Symptoms Of Depression In Arab Clients, Safa Ali Bait Jameel

Theses

This study examines whether an awareness of LI-CBT skills would result into the reduction of symptoms of depression in Arab clients. The study exclusively applies two techniques, behavioral activation (BA) and cognitive restructuring (CR), to clients of varying levels of depression residing in the United Arab Emirates. Utilizing a pre-test-post-test design, 50 participants (25treatment and 25control) were included in the analyses of the study and level of depression was measured using the PHQ-9. Results indicate that 76 percent of participants in the treatment group showed improvement in their level of depression, when compared to 30.4 percent of participants in the …

Sticking To The Recipe: How Do Adherence And Differentiation To A Cbt Protocol Affect Client Outcomes In Youths With Anxiety?, Ruben G. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Understanding the pathways through which treatments work to change symptom and diagnostic outcomes is important to the development and delivery of evidence-based treatments. This study assessed the extent to which adherence (therapist’s delivery of prescribed therapeutic interventions) and differentiation (therapist’s delivery of non-prescribed therapeutic interventions) to Coping Cat, a CBT program, affected client symptom and diagnostic outcomes. Method: The Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy – Revised Strategies Scale (McLeod et al., 2015) was used to characterize therapeutic interventions delivered within and outside of the Coping Cat program with youths aged 7-15 receiving treatment in one efficacy …

Patient-Therapist Convergence In Alliance And Session Progress Ratings As Predictors Of Outcome In Psychotherapy For Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Alice E. Coyne

Masters Theses

The degree to which patients and their therapists align over time on their perceptions of therapeutic processes and intermediary outcomes has generally been regarded as an important element of effective psychotherapy; however, few studies have examined empirically the influence of such dyadic convergences on ultimate treatment outcomes. This study examined (a) whether early treatment convergences in patient-therapist alliance and session progress ratings were associated with subsequent worry and distress reduction (and final posttreatment level) in psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and (b) whether treatment type and the initial (session 1) levels of perceived alliance and session progress moderated these …

Community Versus Clinical Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention In Young-Adult Spanish Population With Generalized Social Phobia, Pablo J. Olivares-Olivares, José Olivares, Diego Macià Anton, Araceli Macià, Luis Montesinos

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The study investigates how to improve the results reported by the reviews on the effects of clinical inter- ventions in adults with Generalized Social Phobia. The sample was composed of 91 participants (median age = 19.90 years, SD = 1.05) randomly assigned to three experimental conditions. The evaluations were conducted before and after treatment in all three groups and at 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up for the treatment groups. The results show (a) the effectiveness of the cognitive-behavioral strategy of detection and intervention, in a community context, versus clinical intervention both for the short and medium term; and (b) a …

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy For Adhd In College: Recommendations “Hot Off The Press”, Laura E. Knouse

Psychology Faculty Publications

ADHD leads to impairment across the lifespan including during the college years. An increasing number of studies document the academic, social, and psychological impairments associated with the disorder in college (DuPaul, Weyandt, O’Dell, & Varejao, 2009). Yet, until very recently, there were no published studies on cognitive-behavioral treatment approaches specifically tailored to college students with ADHD. Over the past year, however, four research groups have published work on skills-based cognitive-behavioral treatments for this population. My goal in this article is to briefly summarize these findings and to identify key recommendations for clinicians working with college students with the disorder that …

Cognition In Emotional Disorders: An Abundance Of Habit And A Dearth Of Control, Paula T. Hertel

Psychology Faculty Research

Emotional and other psychological disorders are categories of experience identified at least in part by the goal of having treatment plans for people in distress. Because the categories exist for such purposes, research efforts are organized to discover distinctions among the categories and between disordered and nondisordered individuals. Many of these distinctions are cognitive. When clinical scientists began experimental studies, the term “cognitive” had been used to refer primarily to conscious thoughts that characterize disorders (see Beck, 1976), but in more recent decades the term signifies an experimental approach framed according to the theories and paradigms of cognitive psychology. In …

Individual Child Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Versus Child-Parent Cognitive Behavioral Treatments For Anxiety Disorders In Children And Adolescents: Comparative Outcomes, Jessica Dahan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety disorders; such as separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia and specific phobia, are widespread in children and adolescents. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective in reducing excessive fears and anxieties in children and adolescents. Research has produced equivocal findings that involving parents in treatment of child anxiety enhances effects over individual CBT (ICBT). The present dissertation study examined whether parental involvement can enhance individual treatment effect if the parent conditions are streamlined by targeting specific parental variables. The first parent condition, Parent Reinforcement Skills Training (RFST), involved increasing mothers’ use of positive reinforcement …

Peer Support For Consumers With Psychosis, Elizabeth Ann Cook

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purposes of this project were: 1) to collaboratively adapt an existing cognitive-behavioral intervention for consumers with serious mental illness (SMI) so that it could be provided by peers, and 2) to evaluate the feasibility of the resulting group intervention and perform a preliminary analysis of its effectiveness. Focus groups consisting of 7 consumers with SMI and 9 peer providers assisted in the determination of group content and structure. Results from the focus groups suggested significant overlap between topics covered and educational strategies utilized in traditional psychosocial interventions and preferences for the peer-based group. However, participants expressed a preference for …

Psychosocial Treatment For Adult Adhd, Laura E. Knouse, Steven A. Safren

Psychology Faculty Publications

Many adults with ADHD are likely to benefit from psychosocial interventions that teach compensatory skills to manage symptoms and address functional impairment. Based on the research literature and the authors’ experience developing and implementing interventions, this chapter provides a practice-friendly overview of skills-based treatment selection and implementation, emphasizing cognitive-behavioral techniques. Principles are illustrated using case examples and adjunctive treatment options are discussed.

Trauma-Focused Involvement In Psychotherapy: Relations With Therapeutic Alliance And Symptoms Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Tess Siler Simpson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Childhood trauma is a risk factor for a wide range of psychopathology and other damaging outcomes later in life (Cohen, Mannarino, Murray, & Igleman, 2006; Saunders, 2003). Among the many treatment models developed for maltreated youth and their families, both specific and non-specific therapeutic factors such as developing a trauma narrative (e.g., trauma self-disclosure) and forming a strong therapeutic alliance have been identified as ―active ingredients‖ that contribute to positive treatment outcome (Cohen & Mannarino, 1996a, 1998a; Friedrich, 1990). The current study used data from the Aurora-Adolescent Mood Project, a community based randomized controlled trial, which evaluated the effectiveness of …

Sudden Gains In Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy For Eating Disorders, Adriane Ito De Queiroz Cavallini

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined whether or not the temporal pattern of symptom change defined as sudden gains is applicable to and has significant ramifications for understanding recovery from eating disorders. Sudden gains were defined as stable and clinically significant changes that take place between two sessions of treatment. Data for the current study were drawn from an efficacy study of CBT for eating disorders which included session-by-session measures of eating disorder symptomatology. Predictors of sudden gains were measured by an observer coded scale that included ratings of therapist use interventions, client change in behaviors and beliefs, client engagement, and homework …

Working With Depression In Lesbians, Caroline Colvin

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Competency in multicultural counseling is one of the challenges counselors face. Women are twice as likely as males to be diagnosed with depression, and some of these women are lesbians. Vulnerability factors for the development of depression in lesbians include internalized homophobia, disclosure issues, minority stress, family rejection, and lack of a sense of belonging. Effective counseling for depression in lesbians combines multicultural competency and awareness of the stages of identity development, along with exploration of both the lesbian’s level of disclosure and her degree of internalized homophobia.

Enhancing Dbt Effectiveness With A Mindfulness-Based Body Image Group In The Treatment For Eating Disorders , Andrea Lanier Erb

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

No abstract provided.

Integration Of Spirituality And Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy For The Treatment Of Depression , Jennifer J. Good

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common mental health problem that is treated by many mental health practitioners. Cognitive-behavioral therapies have proven to be effective in helping restructure the cognitions of the client, which in turn reduces depressive symptom. Research has shown that individuals with MDD who value spirituality tend to view the world in a different way than those individuals that do not hold spirituality as an important value in their life. Spiritual individuals have religious schemas, and therefore, it would be important to incorporate spirituality into the treatment setting. This pilot study utilized a manualized treatment approach that …