Clinical Psychology Commons^™

From Burnout To Occupational Depression: Recent Developments In Research On Job-Related Distress And Occupational Health, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Renzo Bianchi

Publications and Research

Job-related distress has been a focal concern in occupational health science. Job-related distress has a well-documented health-damaging and life-threatening character, not to mention its economic cost. In this article, we review recent developments in research on job-related distress and examine ongoing changes in how job-related distress is conceptualized and assessed. By adopting an approach that is theoretically, empirically, and clinically informed, we demonstrate how the construct of burnout and its measures, long favored in research on job-related distress, have proved to be problematic. We underline a new recommendation for addressing job-related distress within the long-established framework of depression research. In …

Sleeping With The Enemy: Examining The Relationship Between Sleep And Pain In Post-9/11 Veterans, John L. Schwartz Jr.

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

United States veterans are a diverse group of individuals, yet as a result of their service, they share a unique set of customs, traditions, and values. Post-9/11 veterans are more likely to experience elevated levels of pain and poor sleep quality compared to their civilian counterparts; however, little is known about how beliefs related to veterans’ pain impact their sleep and how levels of pain acceptance influence the sleep-pain association. This study examined relationships between sleep and pain in a sample of 102 post-9/11 veterans. Results support associations between pain and sleep identified in other populations. Positive correlations were found …

Mental Health Treatment In Juvenile Correctional Facilities: Utilizing Assessment To Inform Treatment, Sarah Riccio

Dissertations

Youth in juvenile correctional facilities face a wide range of mental health difficulties. Over the years, the juvenile justice system has prioritized the need for providing appropriate and effective treatment services to youth throughout their detainment. Despite these ongoing efforts, treatment practices in juvenile correctional facilities continue to fall short. This study will first focus on assessment practices within these facilities and the impact current practices have on diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of comprehensive evaluations for informing diagnosis and determining the individual treatment needs of detained youth. An integrated approach to assessment will …

Oral Budesonide Is An Effective Alternative To Prednisone For Treatment Of Autoimmune Hepatitis, Natanie J. Anilovich

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A clinical decision report using:

Manns MP, Woynarowski M, Kreisel W, et al. Budesonide induces remission more effectively than prednisone in a controlled trial of patients with autoimmune hepatitis. Gastroenterology. 2010;139(4):1198-1206. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2010.06.046

for a patient with autoimmune hepatitis developing septic arthritis secondary to prednisone therapy.

Who Needs To Be “Burned-Out”? Time For A New Approach To Job-Related Distress, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Burnout is a popular indicator of job-related distress, notably in research on the ill-being of medical professionals. The burnout construct is, however, plagued by definitional and measurement problems. Often unnoticed, these problems undermine findings and conclusions emanating from burnout research. The definitional and measurement problems affecting the burnout construct hamper knowledge growth, waste resources, and impede our ability to make informed decisions and take effective action to support personnel. It is time for occupational health specialists to abandon the idea of burnout and focus on occupational depression.

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Psychological Outcomes Of Mobile Guided Resonant Frequency Breathing In Young Adults With Elevated Stress During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Al Amira Safa Shehab

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Deep breathing practices have shown promise in reducing stress, anxiety, and depression in different populations, including young adults. Specifically, resonant frequency breathing can exert an impact on stress response systems through the vagus nerve and the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This may induce reductions in stress and improvement in emotion regulation. Young adults, including college students, tend to be at a higher risk for psychological distress, as they face several psychosocial challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed new and unique stressors that resulted in higher levels of stress and emotional symptoms and it has been shown that this may have placed …

Gender-Based Violence Survey, Alyssa J. Madhani

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

My research output shows the theoretical and practical skills gained from this internship. It also showcases some of the key learning from the survey- recognizing critical expertise in gender-based violence work.

Social Cognition Across Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review, Jina C. Kim

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Social cognition refers to the cognitive processes involved in social interactions. Deficits in social cognition may play a role in the onset and maintenance of eating disorders (ED). The goal of this review was to examine the current literature on social cognition across EDs, specifically, anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED).

The search revealed 79 studies which were organized according to six domains of social cognition: alexithymia, theory of mind, empathy, social processing, emotion recognition, and emotion processing. Most studies examined AN, finding evidence for deficits in some domains of social cognition. Literature on BN …

Enhancing Discharge Preparation For Adults With Substance Use Disorder Within A Residential Treatment Facility, Piper Virva, Susan Macdermott, Becki Cohill, Karen Park

Summer 2021 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

The community reintegration process is a vital aspect of the recovery journey, which requires sufficient planning and preparation prior to discharge from treatment (Read & Stoffel, 2019). Individuals enrolled in a residential treatment program for SUD indicated that higher levels of assistance and preparation during the transition to community living and involvement in comprehensive discharge planning would better prepare them for community reintegration (Manuel et al., 2017). Historically, the role of occupational therapy (OT) with this population has been to facilitate the resumption of meaningful roles, identify supportive habits and routines, and address executive functioning deficits related to SUD (Champagne …

Patient Reported Outcomes In Sickle Cell Disease Examined Within A Conceptual Model, Swapandeep Mushiana, Marsha Treadwell Phd, Sherif M. Badawy Md, Ms, Liliana Preiss Phd, Allison King Md Mph Phd, Barbara Kroner Phd, Yumie Chen Bs, Jeffrey Glassberg, Victor Gordeuk Md, Nirmish Shah Md, Angie Snyder Phd Mph, Theodore Wun Md

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: To examine the relations between patient reported outcomes (PROs) within a conceptual model for adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) ages 18 – 45 years enrolled in the Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium (SCDIC) registry. We hypothesized that patient and SCD related factors and barriers to care would independently contribute to functioning as measured using the PRO domains. Additionally, pain and other SCD related complications are expected to impact the relation between the variables. Methods: Participants completed a 48-item survey that included socio-demographics and PRO measures, such as social functioning, pain impact emotional distress, and cognitive functioning. …

A Secondary Data Analysis Of The Prevalence Of Reported Dementia And Subjective Cognitive Decline Across U.S. National Surveys, Matthew C. Picchiello

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Within the United States, many large-scale, nationally representative studies exist with the goal of tracking and monitoring aspects of health. These studies are often used to establish the prevalence of dementia and subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in the population. The goal of the current study is to examine how different population-based studies probe respondents about conditions related to cognitive impairment, and to assess similarities and differences in point estimates. We reviewed eight studies and identified comparable items related to dementia and SCD. We calculated design-appropriate point prevalence estimates and compared weighted estimates across studies, finding a wide range and statistically …

Exploration Of Patient Variables And Characteristics Best Suited For Medical Marijuana Treatment For Anxiety And Depressive Disorders, Corey Gazoo

Dissertations

Individuals with posttraumatic stress, anxiety and depressive disorders are currently being prescribed medical marijuana as a treatment in many states across the United States. However, marijuana is still considered a schedule one narcotic by the Drug Enforcement Administration and federal government, which provides several barriers and challenges to conduct research such as approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and following guidelines from the National Institute on Drug Abuse issued by the DEA. Additionally, individuals prescribed medical marijuana for mental health disorders are not always thoroughly instructed on the type of medical marijuana, the dosage, and how frequently to …

Why Do People Engage In Eating Disorder Behaviours?, Abbigail Kinnear

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Eating disorders (EDs) are serious mental illnesses often with poor prognosis. Personalizing evidence-based treatments based on an individual’s reasons for engaging in ED behaviours – or the functions of EDs – may improve treatment outcomes; however, no validated measures assessing these functions exist. The goal of this study was to complete the initial steps in developing a measure of ED functions. Individuals who engage in ED behaviours (n = 16) and clinicians who treat EDs (n = 14) were interviewed, and a thematic analysis was conducted to determine key functions of EDs. Four main functions of EDs were …

The Relationship Between Emotion Regulation And Substance Use Treatment Attrition, Melanie Ruth Roys

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Severe substance use disorders are characterized by chronic cycles of relapse; however, individuals who complete substance use treatment are less likely to experience relapse. Research has focused on trying to identify factors that predict treatment dropout to help improve treatment outcomes. Most of this research has focused on examining demographic and patient-specific factors, with little success in reliably predicting treatment attrition. There has been less focus on investigating transdiagnostic factors that span across discrete psychological diagnoses and demographics. The present study sought to determine if self-report and behavioral measures related to emotion regulation predicted inpatient substance use treatment dropout above …

Social Injustice And Pediatric Health: Pediatric Covid-19 Guidelines Are Exacerbating Health Disparities, Sneha Thamotharan

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Fewer cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations have been reported in children. This has impacted the prioritization of pediatrics in understanding the infection, transmission, and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 in children. Unfortunately, COVID-19 rates are higher among racial and ethnic minoritized children. Simultaneously unfolding during this pandemic is a national outcry to address systemic injustice, including institutional racism in healthcare which are driving these disparities. Aligned with social justice, this paper reflects on how Pediatric COVID-19 guidelines may be exacerbating existing health disparities among racial and ethnic minoritized youth, as well as urges for and provides possible ways to culturally tailor current …

Clinicians' Use Of Mhealth Applications In Interventions For Substance Use Disorders, James Daniel Bender

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine how clinicians are identifying, evaluating, and utilizing mHealth apps as treatment adjuncts with their clients who have a substance use disorder. A sample of 93 participants (20 males, 72 females, and 1 not listed) completed measures of demographics and inquiries about their use and evaluation of mHealth apps in their practices. Clinicians who work at mental health centers and private practicing clinicians were recruited. The majority of the sample (71%) reported that they had not utilized mHealth apps with their clients who have a substance use disorder diagnosis. Participants who have attended …

Examining Treatment Acceptability Of An Eight-Week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Protocol, Blake William Palmer

Dissertations

The goal of this study is to examine whether levels of perceived stress, experiential avoidance, personality traits including openness to experience and agreeableness, and demographic variables will predict the treatment acceptability (indicated by responses on the Treatment Acceptability and Adherence Scale) of an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. This study collected data in the Spring of 2019. The final number of participants in the study was 116 (40 females, 76 males, Mage = 36, age range: 22-69 years). Participants completed measures including the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), the agreeableness and openness to Experience domains …

Negative Urgency's Influence On State-Level, Emotion-Based Changes In Alcohol-Related Cognitions, Noah Wolkowicz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project expanded on the Acquired Preparedness Model of Risk (APMR) by examining how Negative Urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly in negative emotional states, affects emotion-based changes in alcohol cognitions to produce risk for alcohol use. The APMR prioritizes the role of outcome expectancies as the means through which traits such as NU, convey alcohol use risk. However, this model treats these cognitions as static and often fails to assess their valence; further, alcohol-cognitions fluctuate in response to negative emotions and may become more salient during these states. Therefore, this study examined: 1) how NU impacts negative emotion-based, …

Cerebellum-Seeded Functional Connectivity Changes In Trait-Anxious Individuals Undergoing Attention Bias Modification Training, Katherine Elwell

All NMU Master's Theses

Anxiety and anxiety related disorders are increasing at a drastic rate in the past decade, with the NIMH reporting that 31.1% of U.S. adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Anxiety is commonly characterized by increased attention bias to threat. Attention Bias Modification (ABM) is a new treatment used to reduce individual’s attention bias towards threat. The extent to which ABM leads to underlying neural changes is still unknown. The cerebellum is a neglected brain structure, with new research provides evidence that cerebellum’s functional connectivity and shared networks with threat processing regions has a direct …

Investigating Social Support As A Moderator Of The Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Alcohol Use And Problems, Sterling Mckenzie Hubbard

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Unresolved childhood trauma, known as adverse childhood experiences (ACES), have been found previously to lead to a plethora of health disparities and increase the risk for problematic substance use, particularly alcohol use. However, protective factors, such as social support have been found to buffer against these consequences. The goal of this study was to highlight the connection between ACES and problematic alcohol use. Additionally, the aim was to investigate perceived social support as a moderator between ACES and problematic alcohol use and to examine the domains of social support and how they individually moderate the association between ACES and social …

Body Dissatisfaction And Disordered Eating Among College Women’S Social Networks: An Investigation Of Perceived Changes Following A Dissonance-Based Body Image Intervention, Rachel I. Macintyre

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Body dissatisfaction is associated with numerous health consequences and is pervasive among college women. Effective interventions exist that reduce body dissatisfaction in college women by helping them resist sociocultural pressures to conform to the appearance ideal, such as the Body Project. Yet research is limited on whether social and behavioral processes help participants reduce their engagement in sociocultural appearance-ideal messages and contribute to the intervention’s effectiveness. The primary purpose of the present study was to examine these social and behavioral processes, including the changes in college women’s social networks associated with their participation in the Body Project. Undergraduate and graduate …

The Relationship Of Hope To Goals And Psychological Outcomes In Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer: A Test Of Hope Theory, Kelly A. Hyland

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background. Hope is an important positive psychological construct that may help to explain how individuals cope in the context of life-threatening illness. Snyder’s hope theory states that humans are goal-oriented, and that goals link hope to psychological outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship of hope to emotional well-being, meaning and purpose in life, and positive and negative affect in a sample of patients with advanced stage lung cancer. The study also sought to identify how hope relates to patients’ goals and to explore whether goal characteristics and progress in achieving goals mediated the relationship …

Telehealth Best Practice: A Call For Standards Of Care, Donna S. Sheperis, Arielle Smith

Journal of Technology in Counselor Education and Supervision

Teletherapy is an approach to working with clients that mental health providers have used in some form for years. However, the onset of COVID forced the provision of therapy into teletherapy almost exclusively for a period of time. Currently, mental health providers conducting therapy virtually are not required to be trained in telehealth and are operating without consistent uniform standards of practice. This manuscript pulls from the current literature and guidelines across counseling, psychology, psychiatry, family therapy, and social work to provide a Proposed Standards of Practice for Telehealth. Such standards benefit mental health counselor by grounding practice in common …

Language As The Medium: A Literature Review. Harnessing The Prolific Power Of Dramatic Language As A Therapeutic Tool In Drama Therapy, Edward Freeman

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Language in and of the theatre, with its palate of variegated writing styles and playwrights from throughout time, has the potential to be harnessed, focused, and systematized for use as a therapeutic tool within drama therapy – the field’s artistic medium. Drama therapy could benefit from having a specific medium germane to its artform which has the potential to provide practitioners with a common resource and means of communication, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning, as well as align the field with other creative arts therapies. Language encompasses all forms of human communication – speaking, writing, signing, gesturing, expressing facially – …

Bringing The Body Into Art Therapy: The Use Of Touch And Body Awareness In Creative Healing, Janna Corsetti

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The focus on the use of healing touch and body awareness in art therapy is critically lacking. Despite the research supporting the use of body-oriented techniques in clinical therapy, there is little research related to this use specifically in art therapy. Research reveals that healing touch and body awareness can be instrumental in healing trauma, if done with the proper training and boundaries in place. The first form of attachment and comfort for children is that of touch. Therefore, it is imperative to acknowledge the power of touch and body awareness when healing from traumatic experiences. The purpose of this …

Exploring Tactile Art-Making With Deafblind Students And Their Families: An Opportunity For Creative Play, Alice Rodgers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The impact of a deafblind diagnosis on an individual’s mental health and the well-being of the family involved can be profound. However, current research and available literature for the mental health treatment and therapy practices of deafblind persons and their families is limited (Kyzar et al., 2016; “WFDB Global Report 2018,” n.d.). This thesis used the Leeds Family Psychology and Therapy Service principles (Leeds FPTS) and the Expressive Therapies Continuum with established deafblind teaching strategies to facilitate an original arts-based community project entitled: “Things We Like.” This project provided an opportunity for deafblind students (ages three to 22) and their …

Knowing What We Know: Leveraging Community Knowledge Through Automated Text-Mining, Justin Gardner, Jonathan Tory Toole, Hemant Kalia, Garry Spink Jr., Gordon Broderick

Advances in Clinical Medical Research and Healthcare Delivery

No abstract provided.

Reiki For Recovery: Incorporating Japanese Health Practices To Increase Contemporary Resiliency In American Health, Leif Peterson

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Japanese health practice of Reiki attempts to maximize the latent ability of the human system to heal itself. The Reiki system, established over a century ago, combines multiple Asian health traditions, experimenting with practices that maximize the natural processes of the body to perform its own repairs. Reiki encourages healthy behaviors that balance the mind and body, return the human system to a lowered stress level, and allow for an optimal recovery state for the patient. This paper illustrates how this Japanese health-affirming method can be integrated and utilized within existing health and medical practices. An area that is …

Factors Associated With Suicide Screenings For An Autism Spectrum Disorder Population In A Pediatric Medical Setting, Cheng Qian, Dawn Greathouse

Research Days

Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at least 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than those without ASD (Kolves et al., 2021; Richa et al., 2014). Core features of ASD (e.g., deficits in communicating emotions, difficulty with change) are associated with known suicide attempt antecedent events, and rates of co-occurring mental health concerns (e.g., depression) that increase suicide risk are higher than in the general population (Richa et al., 2014). However, mental health clinicians perceive patients with ASD to be at lower risk for suicide, and report lower self-efficacy in screening in this population (Jager-Hyman et al., …

Bmi And Associated Variables In A Pediatric Gender Clinic Sample, Mirae J. Fornander

Research Days

Background: Studies of transgender/gender diverse (TGD) youth indicate a high prevalence of overweight/obesity and concern for unhealthy weight control behavior.

Objectives/Goal: Describe BMI and the association of medication use, well-being, and recreational activities in treatmentnaïve pediatric TGD patients.

Methods/Design: Chart review of 302 patients (age 3-19, 73.5% sex assigned at birth (SAB) female; 85.8% white) from 2017-20. BMI was calculated by age and SAB using CDC growth charts. Parents reported medication use. Parent and self-reported Pediatric Quality of Life (PEDS-QL) Well-Being and activities were surveyed electronically.

Results: By BMI category, 3.3% were underweight (BMI85% and 29.5% fell >95%. Overweight and …