Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Female Adolescent Trauma Survivors Worldviews: Is This A Defining Moment In My Life Or Does This Moment Now Define My Life?, Carey Lynn Sorenson

Theses and Dissertations

What is your life experience? Do you feel you have taken an active role in your life experiences or do you feel as though life "just happens to you"? Trauma is an event that comes into one's life, without invitation, and can alter the meaning and value of every event thereafter. Many times, exposure to trauma can leave one feeling like he or she is a passive participant in life and that his or her efforts are fruitless.

This researcher tapped into the worldview of sixteen adolescent trauma survivors by conducting qualitative interviews to gain an understanding of how their …

Parents' Treatment Of Their Children's Pain At Home: Pharmacological And Non-Pharmacological Approaches, Ayala Y. Gorodzinsky

Theses and Dissertations

During childhood, individuals often experience pain on a daily or nearly daily basis (American Academy of Pediatrics and American Pain Society, 2001). Pain can be treated using pharmacological or non-pharmacological techniques. This study will focus on the techniques provided by parents, since parents most often treat children's painful experiences at home (Finley, McGrath, Forward, McNeill & Fitzgerald, 1996). The processes involved in parental decision-making regarding which techniques to use include a combination demographic, availability and perceived need factors (Andersen, 1995). Seven hundred and fifty-six parents of children 6 to 17 years completed a survey regarding use and effectiveness of pharmacological …

Early Indicators Of Academic Difficulties In Children With Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Kelly M. Janke

Theses and Dissertations

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic neurocutaneous disorder, with an estimated incidence of 1 in 3,000 persons. It is phenotypically variable disorder associated with elevated rates of intellectual disability and learning disabilities, attention problems, speech and language impairment, and executive functioning deficits. Research investigating the presentation of NF1 in preschool-age children is limited, but the data available indicate that cognitive difficulties are present and can be identified at an early age. There is also evidence from the general population that early neuropsychological deficits can be used to predict concurrent and later learning difficulties. The goal of the current study …

The Therapeutic Expression Of Anger: Emotionally Expressive Writing And Exposure, Cory James Patrick

Theses and Dissertations

The following reports on multiple studies in a line of research examining the use of emotionally expressive writing as a means of altering the experiences of state anger and negative affect. This line of research has also sought to develop an iterative economic version of the prisoner's dilemma game as a behavioral measure of changes in state anger. Preliminary studies demonstrated evidence that expressive writing about an angry memory does trigger initial activations of state anger and negative affect but that subsequent repeated writing does lead to reductions in activation of state anger and negative affect. The current study sought …

The Effects Of Preventative And Restorative Safety Behaviors On Contamination Fear, Amy Rachel Goetz

Theses and Dissertations

Recent research suggests that safety behaviors may not preclude cognitive change or treatment gains in exposure-based therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, it is relatively unknown what categories of specific behaviors may be detrimental to the therapeutic process. Some researchers argue that classifying safety behaviors based on their function may be the best solution. The current study sought to examine the extent to which different safety behaviors enhanced or weakened treatment outcomes for contamination fear and washing symptoms. Fifty-one non-clinical students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) exposure with no safety behaviors (NSB), (2) exposure with preventative …

Refinement And Pilot Testing Of A Culturally Enhanced Treatment For Depressed African-Americans, William Michael Bowe

Theses and Dissertations

A multitude of evidence suggests that while African Americans are adversely impacted by depression, they still experience significant health disparities in the receipt and acceptability of treatments for the disorder. This study, conducted in two phases, was an initial attempt to address some of these disparities. Phase 1 explored the acceptability and feasibility of implementing a group behavioral activation psychotherapy that incorporated culturally adapted components to address specific risk and protective factors for depression experienced by African Americans. Overall, adequate levels of feasibility were obtained for the organic recruitment of participants from community nursing centers in Milwaukee and the administration …

Validation Of The Behavioral Activation For Depression Scale - Short Form (Bads-Sf) With Spanish-Speaking Latinos, Maria Magdalena Santos

Theses and Dissertations

Accumulating empirical support for Behavioral Activation (BA) for depression's efficacy has drawn attention to its promise as a treatment modality with ease of dissemination. Given its pragmatic approach, it may be well-suited to address depression in communities that have been traditionally hard to reach, such as those inhabited by Latinos in the U.S. BA for Latinos (BAL) with depression has garnered support as a viable treatment option. Further treatment evaluation will require the use of a validated measure of activation, which is the treatment's hypothesized mechanism of change, to measure treatment progress and outcome. Kanter and colleagues developed the Behavioral …

Relations Between Fine Motor Skill And Parental Report Of Attention In Young Children With Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Christy Casnar

Theses and Dissertations

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is one of the most common genetic disorders presenting in approximately 1 in 3,000 live births. NF1 is a highly variable condition with a large number of complications. A common complication is neuropsychological problems, including developmental delays and learning difficulties that affect as many as 60% of patients. Research has suggested the children with NF1 often have poorer fine motor skills and are at greater risk for attention difficulties than the general population. Furthermore, recent research is beginning to demonstrate a relationship between fine motor skills and attention in older children; however, very little research has …

Subgrouping Individuals With Generalized Social Phobia: A Classification Based On The Pattern Of Attentional Bias, Jennifer Turkel

Theses and Dissertations

Findings on the pattern of attentional biases in social phobia are mixed. Specifically, some support hypervigilance, some support avoidance, and others evidence an even more complex pattern of vigilance-avoidance. Despite the seemingly contradictory directions of attentional allocation, vigilance and avoidance do not need to be mutually exclusive. They may instead exist within the same person over an extended temporal course of processing. The primary aim for the current study was to examine whether individuals with generalized social phobia characterized by hypervigilant vs. avoidant patterns of attention bias would display different profiles of social anxiety symptoms and their related cognitive and …