Clinical Psychology Commons^™

The Influences Of Identities And Social Connectedness On Self-Objectification, Melissa Grey

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

According to objectification theory, girls and women are socialized to adopt an external observer’s view of the self. Self-objectification occurs when there is an emphasis on physical appearance and a de-emphasis and devaluation of internal and physical competence features, all of which have been related to negative psychological consequences. Trait self-objectification is chronic preoccupation with physical appearance that occurs with little or no environmental appearance cues. While self-objectification has been demonstrated in diverse samples, research suggests self-objectification is particularly prominent for women. This study investigated the relationships between different feminist and sexual identities and trait self-objectification. A sample of 187 …

Understanding The Experience Of Teenage Parents: An Empirical Examination Of Attitudes And Expectations Among Education Professionals, Janet Lynn Pietrowski

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately 10% of all adolescents between 15-19 years old in the United States become pregnant, with about half of these pregnancies resulting in birth. Several variables have been correlated with long-term outcomes for teenage mothers, including poor academic achievement, lower occupational attainment, poor mental health, and socioeconomic hardship. Social support is one factor that moderates these outcomes. This study employed the use of written vignettes to examine differences in expectations for success (educational, economic, and psychological) that educational professionals have for teenage mothers and non-mother adolescents (N=145). Vignettes were varied according to levels of social support and parenting status, with …

The Contribution Of Self-Determination Theory To An Understanding Of Psychological Distress Among Young Adults: Mediation Of Practical Involvement And Autonomy Support By Autonomy, Controlled, And Impersonal Orientations, Bradley D. Rockafellow

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The concept of autonomy, as conceptualized by SDT researchers, in relationship to the development of psychopathology has received little empirical attention. According to Selfdetermination theory (SDT; Ryan, Deci, & Grolnick, 1995), if parents facilitate, rather than undermine, the critical parenting dimensions of autonomy support, involvement, and structure, then children will develop as psychologically healthy adults. In addition, SDT would also predict that based on these critical parenting dimensions, children will develop differential inner motivational orientations (i.e., autonomy, control, and impersonal) representing varying degrees of autonomy (i.e., self determined behavior), which in turn should predict psychological distress or health. To test …

An Ecological Momentary Assessment Of Retrospective Memory Accuracy In Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Andrew T. Gloster

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Numerous studies have demonstrated the pervasiveness of inaccuracies in patients’ retrospective recall of their symptoms (e.g., Stone, Broderick, Shiffman, & Schwartz, 2004). Assessment methods that rely heavily on retrospective recall may lead to faulty clinical inferences should a patient’s recall be biased or inaccurate. Despite lingering concerns about the accuracy of retrospective recall in a variety of clinical and nonclinical populations, investigators have not studied individuals diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This is troubling given findings from laboratory studies that OCD patients may have deficits in episodic memory (Muller & Roberts, 2005). This study investigated memory accuracy in OCD patients …

Family Functioning And Coping Behaviors In Parents Of Children With Autism, Matthew J. Altiere

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

We looked at how a child with autism affects the dynamics and coping behaviors of a family. A majority of studies on families with a child with autism collect information from the mother but not the father. Therefore, this study examined the involvement of both parents from a family systems theory approach, which compares relationships among different familial variables, to determine the contributions of each individual to the developmental outcomes of the family unit. It was hypothesized that moderate levels of cohesion and adaptability would be associated with higher levels of positive coping mechanisms. Further, the more coping strategies implemented …

Attributions Others Assign To Depressed Individuals And Their Relationship To Severity Of Depressive Symptoms, Amount Of Contact, And Familiarity With Depressed Individuals, Joan E. Mcdowell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

While there has been valuable research critical for furthering our understanding of how an individual's social network affects recovery from depression, we need to know more about the interplay of other people's attributions and their relationships with depressed individuals that may impact recovery from the disorder. This research investigated causal and controllability attributions that others assign to individuals with depression by distributing a questionnaire to faculty and administrative staff at Eastern Michigan University to obtain ratings of attributions for depression. The level of intimacy within a relationship and the severity of depression were related to others' beliefs about the controllability …

The Connection Between The Decision To Join A Secular Jewish-Oriented Group And Perceived Jewish Identity: A Comparative Study Between American And Israeli Joiners, Nirit Bayrach-Avraham

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The literature about self-identity views the self as socially constructed, constantly revised, and providing the individual with a narrative of continuity despite change (Shu-Fang Dien, 2000; McAdams, 1985). In this study, identity literature and the narrative approach were used theoretically and methodologically, to explore the connections between the decision to join a secular Jewish-oriented group (SJOG), and the joiner's perceived Jewish identity among joiners in Israel and in the U.S.

It was hypothesized that joining serves to reinforce, distinguish, and renegotiate a Jewish secular identity. Additionally, differences in the group's social context were expected to manifest through identity-negotiations content.

Results …

Feminist Identity And Social Tolerance Of Mental Illness: The Influence Of Gender-Role Deviance, Susan Eileen Hamilton

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the influence of feminist identity on social tolerance of mental illness, specifically, the extent to which people with gender deviant mental illnesses (i.e. men with depression, women with antisocial personality disorder) are socially tolerated. Male and female subjects (N=260) were given the Feminist Perspectives Scale and six character vignettes describing a person with a mental illness followed by a series of questions. Subjects received a score on six subscales of the FPS (conservative, liberal feminism, radical feminism, cultural feminism, socialist feminism, and woman of color feminism), which were compared to their social tolerance scores. Results suggested that …