Psychology Commons^™

A Multimedia Intervention To Increase The Likelihood That University Students In Need Will Utilize Counseling Services, Todd W. Lindsley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary objective of this study was to create and test an intervention designed to increase students’ positive attitudes toward utilizing mental health services. A review of the literature was conducted to establish the guidelines for creating an intervention that would effectively influence attitudes while being relatively easy to customize and adapt to different settings. The content of the intervention was informed by the literature, reviewed by a panel of experts, and tested with a focus group of students before being finalized. In order to test the effectiveness of the intervention, and experimental study was designed which included an experimental …

Visual Attention Bias And Body Dissatisfaction In Eating Disorders, Janet Lydecker

Theses and Dissertations

Eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa, have profound negative effects on the quality of life of both affected individuals and their families. Behavioral approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) are commonly used for the treatment of these disorders. CBT teaches skills to restructure maladaptive thought patterns as a method of altering feelings and behaviors. However, even after CBT, 50-70% of women with bulimia and 67-87% of women with anorexia report continued eating disordered thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Measuring underlying cognitive processes such as orienting, maintaining, and executive attention in individuals with eating disorder symptomatology might be an important …

Bibliotherapy And Bullying: Teaching Young Childrento Utilize Peer Group Power To Combat Bullying, Rebecca Lyn Spencer

Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a major concern for school-age children. This study compares the use of bibliotherapy and didactic instruction techniques for teaching anti-bullying strategies to young children. The study explores 36 first graders' perceptions of bullying and their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities in bullying situations. In comparison to the control group, students who were taught specific bully intervention skills, both through didactic instruction and bibliotherapy, reflected an increased understanding of bullying, used a larger bully vocabulary, and demonstrated more specific and varied actions in response to bullying from pre-test to post-test conditions. Participants in the group who received didactic …

Sexual Assault Resistance Education For University Women: Study Protocol For A Randomized Controlled Trial (Sare Trial), Charlene Y. Senn, Misha Eliasziw, Paula C. Barata, Wilfreda E. Thurston, Ian R. Newby-Clark, Lorraine H. Radtke, Karen L. Hobden, Sare Study Team

Psychology Publications

Background

More than one in six women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes, most by men they know. The situation on university campuses is even more startling, with as many as 1 in 4 female students being victims of rape or attempted rape. The associated physical and mental health effects are extensive and the social and economic costs are staggering. The aim of this randomized controlled trial is to determine whether a novel, small-group sexual assault resistance education program can reduce the incidence of sexual assault among university-attending women, when compared to current university practice of providing informational brochures. …

A Workbook To Promote Forgiveness For Ingroup Congregational Offenses, Chelsea Greer

Theses and Dissertations

Since research on forgiveness has flourished over the past three decades, multiple interventions have been developed to aid individuals in this arduous process. Two interventions in particular have been most-widely studied with diverse groups: Enright’s process model (Enright & Fitzgibbons, 2000) and Worthington’s REACH Forgiveness model (2006). Thus far, these forgiveness interventions have been led by trained professionals in an in-person group. In-person interventions pose issues of cost and attendance. In the current study, I adapted Worthington’s Christian-adapted REACH Forgiveness intervention into a self-directed workbook for Christians who have experienced an offense within a religious community. Participants (N = 52) …

A Unified Approach To Well-Being: The Development And Impact Of An Undergraduate Course, Kimbelry Erica Kleinman

Dissertations, 2014-2019

With the rise of positive psychology, there has been a burgeoning literature on the construct of well-being. Unfortunately, as is the case with much psychological research, the literature is not assimilated and integrated into a broad model for understanding psychology and human nature writ large. Connecting such research to a deep theoretical and philosophical model is particularly important with a construct like well-being because it both is a complicated and central construct for the field. There were two main objectives to the study. First, the goal was to develop a college student course on well-being that was conceptually grounded in …

Investigation Of Web-Based Motivational Interviewing To Increase Physical Activity Participation Among Adults, Sasha Karnes

Theses and Dissertations

Interventions to enhance physical activity (PA) participation are needed given the high prevalence of under-activity and inactivity (CDC, 2001) and related occurrence of negative health consequences among the general adult population (Kung, Hoyert, Xu, & Murphy, 2008). Preliminary support for a therapeutic technique called Motivational Interviewing (MI) suggests promise for application to enhance PA participation (Burke, Arkowitz, & Menchola, 2003). Given the need for interventions to enhance PA and the preliminary support for MI as an intervention to increase PA, the aims of the current study were to: (a) determine if web-based MI is effective in enhancing PA participation, and …

Four Virtues: Interventions For Goodness' Sake, Caroline Lavelock

Theses and Dissertations

Empirical interest in promoting virtues has dramatically increased over the last decade. The present study will focus primarily on the warmth-based virtues of forgiveness and humility, and the conscientiousness-based virtues of patience and self-control. I introduced participants (N = 135) to a workbook intended to promote one of these four virtues, or to promote general positivity for participants in a workbook control condition. I hypothesized that virtue workbooks would produce higher levels of the target virtue, more so than in both a non-action control condition (n = 33) and in a control condition that completes a workbook that promotes general …

Evaluation Of A Digitally Enhanced Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (Ecalc) For Use With Mandated College Students, Abigail Fried

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use has been a longstanding problem on college campuses. Despite the efforts National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the commissioned Task Force on College Drinking (2002), there has been a recent rise in the number of alcohol related arrests and violations on college campuses. Within the high-risk mandated student population, the most successful programs utilize motivational enhancement strategies, such as the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS). Likely due to financial constraints, an important issue that has been raised is the limited availability of validated methods for alcohol prevention and intervention on college campuses. …

Interdisciplinary Collaboration For Youth Mental Health: A National Study, Audra St. John Walsh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Collaboration between school- and community-based mental health professionals has the potential to result in early identification of and intervention for youth with mental health problems; however, the limited research in this area suggests that collaboration does not often occur between these professionals (Walsh, 2011). The purpose of this investigation was to collect survey data from a national sample of school psychologists in order to examine the collaborative practices of school psychologists and community-based mental health professionals on behalf of youth with mental health problems. Survey data from 327 members of 11 professional state organizations of school psychology were collected and …

Apathy In Parkinson's Disease: A Behavioral Intervention Study, London Butterfield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Apathy, a symptom reflecting motivational and self-initiation impairment, is one of the most common neuropsychiatric symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD), with an average estimated prevalence of 40-45%. Elevated apathy has been associated with a host of negative associates and consequences, including cognitive impairment, poor daily functioning, poor treatment compliance and illness outcome, reduced quality of life, and increased caregiver burden and distress. While some studies have evaluated pharmacologic approaches to the treatment of apathy, few studies have evaluated non-pharmacologic approaches and we have identified no studies that have evaluated the efficacy of non-pharmacologic treatments of apathy in Parkinson's patients despite …

Improving Routines : Self-Monitoring By Adolescents Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Meghan Ann Geary

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), though commonly diagnosed in childhood, continues to present with problematic symptoms through adolescence and adulthood (Barkley, Fischer, Edelbrock, & Smallish, 1990; Young & Amarasinghe, 2010). Despite the number of adolescents suffering from ADHD and the detrimental effects the symptoms can have on their lives, there is a paucity of research in interventions tailored to this population (Young & Amarasinghe, 2010). Additionally, an even smaller portion of this research addresses daily routines for adolescents, despite findings that maintaining routines are often very difficult for adolescents with ADHD (Bloomquist, 2005; Coghill et al., 2008; Pfiffner et al. 2007; Robin, …

A Brief Motivational Intervention For Heavy Alcohol Use In Dental Practice Settings: Rationale And Development, James A. Neff, Scott T. Walters, Abby L. Braitman, Michelle L. Kelley, Michele L. Darby, Margaret F. Lemaster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although brief alcohol interventions have proven effective in a variety of health care settings, the present article describes the development of the first brief intervention for heavy drinkers in dental practice. Elements of motivational interviewing and personalized normative feedback were incorporated in a 3- to 5-minute intervention delivered by dental hygienists. The intervention is guided by a one-page feedback report providing personalized normative feedback regarding the patient's current oral health practices, their drinking in comparison to others, and oral cancer risk associated with current smoking and drinking. Future publications will present data regarding intervention effectiveness from an ongoing randomized trial.

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Classwide Social Skills Intervention With Preschoolers And Kindergarteners, Haley E. York

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of the current study was to determine the effectiveness of a manualized, universal social skills intervention for young students. Past research on the use of universal interventions within the domain of social skills has shown great promise, and the importance of social skills has been demonstrated through their empirical relation to academic and behavioral outcomes. Additional research has shown that, overall, social skills training interventions for young children are successful and have lasting effects. These findings convey the importance and need for effective, efficient, and early social skills training interventions. As such, this study used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest …