Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Neurologists Look At Causes Of Baffling Brain Condition, Maggie Freleng

Capstones

It can be hard getting help for someone with mental illness, but almost impossible when that person doesn't think they are sick. At at least half of people with schizophrenia, for example, insist that the voices they hear are real. People who do not know they are ill often refuse therapy and medication -- and their symptoms can spiral out of control. Doctors call this lack of awareness anosognosia. Neurologists are trying to discover what causes this baffling condition--and how to treat it.

Building Capacity Through The Use Of A Strategic Prevention Framework System In Communities, Duncan Meyers

Theses and Dissertations

The Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) is a planning and implementation model that mobilizes communities to collaborate on developing and implementing an evidence-based prevention system. This model follows a structured five-step process with two cross-cutting elements (cultural competence and sustainability) that emphasizes building capacity of coalitions to strategically plan, implement, and sustain evidence-based prevention services to reduce adolescent substance use. This study utilized a repeated cross-sectional design. Participating youth were in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 and lived in one of 27 counties in a Southeastern state that was funded through the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s SPF State Incentive …

A Theory-Guided Investigation Of Proposed Factors That Influence The Relationship Between Cybervictimization And Psychological Adjustment In Late Adolescents, Melissa K. Hord

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cybervictimization is related to negative psychological adjustment (e.g., Tokunaga, 2010); however, not all cybervictims report negative outcomes, and it is not clear what factors may influence vulnerability. One possibility is that cybervictims’ attributions regarding technology-based communication impact their emotional adjustment. Those who make hostile intent attributions in ambiguous situations are more likely to experience negative outcomes (e.g., Crick & Dodge, 1994), and the inherent ambiguity of electronic communication may be particularly susceptible to misinterpretation. In addition, how individuals respond to cyber experiences may serve to either protect or damage their emotional well-being. Furthermore, those who are high in rejection sensitivity …

The Impact Of Sports Dropout On Adolescent Functioning, Brittany Skiles Cook

Theses and Dissertations

Sports is the most commonly participated in extracurricular activity during adolescence. Aligned with the Positive Youth Development theoretical framework, previous research has shown that sports participation offers youth a context rich in resources found to promote positive adjustment into adulthood. However, around one third of the youth participating in sports drop out each year, and little research has examined the impact of sports dropout on indicators of youth adjustment. This study examines the relation between sports dropout and academic achievement, self-esteem, depression, perceived school climate, perceived support from adults in school, and alcohol use. The moderating effect of sports engagement …

Mathematical Modeling Of Stress Management Via Decisional Control, Matthew J. Shanahan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Engaging the environment through reason, humankind evaluates information, compares it to a standard of desirability, and selects the best option available. Stress is theorized to arise from the perception of survival-related demands on an organism. Cognitive efforts are no mere intellectual exercise when ontologically backed by survival-relevant reward or punishment. This dissertation examines the stressful impact, and countervailing peaceful impact, of environmental demands on cognitive efforts and of successful cognitive efforts on a person’s day-to-day environment, through mathematical modeling of ‘decisional control’. A modeling approach to clinical considerations is introduced in the first paper, “Clinical Mathematical Psychology”. A general exposition …

Investigating Construct Validity Of The Cyber--Peer Experiences Questionnaire, Kendall Moore

Theses and Dissertations

With electronic technology becoming increasingly important in all aspects of modern life, traditional forms of relating with others have crossed into the cyber realm. Within that context, both positive and negative aspects of relational behavior have advanced in ways still largely underexplored in the research literature. One such area, termed “cyberaggression,” has recently gained momentum as a research focus. Given the numerous mental health sequelae from being involved in cyberaggression, such as anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation, there is a clear and compelling need for more research in this area. To date, however, there remains little consensus on the conceptualization …

Do Discipline Style And Parenting Self-Efficacy Interact To Predict Observed Child Behavior? Outcomes From A Representative Sample Of Mothers With Young Chilren, Emily Noel Neger

Theses and Dissertations

Both parenting style and parents’ sense of their own parenting self-efficacy (PSE) have been found to predict child behavior outcomes in young children. Parents who engage in lax or overreactive parenting practices or who lack confidence in their parenting abilities are more likely to have children who display disruptive and noncompliant behavior. Until now, very little research has examined whether an interaction exits between these two constructs in predicting child behavior outcomes. The current study looked to fill this gap and assess whether a significant moderation relationship exists between parents’ parenting style and PSE in predicting observed child behavior. A …

The Effects Of Mindfulness On Affect And Substance Use, Alicia D. Carter

Honors College Theses

Previous studies have explored the impact of mindfulness on Big 5 personality traits, personality disorders, suicidal ideation, and alcohol use; additionally, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been used to treat individuals suffering from depression and anxiety. However, the practical application of mindfulness has been complicated by contradictory findings in the literature and inconsistent conceptualizations of the construct. The current study sought to investigate potential relationships between types of mindfulness, facets of mindfulness, substance use, and affect. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires related to mindfulness, correlates of neuroticism (i.e., depression, anxiety, and subjective happiness), and drinking-related consequences. Correlational analyses revealed significant …

Color Me, Please: How Color-Emotion Pairs Affect Our Perceptions, Russell T. Rogers

Honors College Theses

Color-emotion pairings are part of everyday experience, and they develop in early childhood. Emotional experiences are typically much stronger when emotional stimuli (e.g., pictures or videos) are paired with sensory stimuli (e.g., sights or sounds). Since the presence of these sensory stimuli seems to heighten the emotional experience of emotion-evoking visual stimuli, it should be the case that such pairings will allow the manipulation of color-emotion pairings through the presence of a color (a visual stimulus) during an emotional situation (such as watching a video). In this study (N = 44), we paired both a positive and negative video …

The Perpetration Of Adulthood Animal Abuse And Intimate Partner Violence In Men And Women Arrested For Domestic Violence, Jeniimarie Febres

Doctoral Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs at devastatingly high rates in the United States. The current interventions for perpetrators of IPV are limited in their effectiveness. Research regarding characteristics of perpetrators of IPV may provide needed insights about their aggression in order to inform more effective treatments. This cross-sectional study employed the newly developed Interactions with Animals Scale, an original measure of a form of aggression that lacks comprehensive examination despite its demonstrated association with IPV, adulthood animal abuse (AAA). The prevalence, frequency, initiation, motivation, type of animal victimized, and recency of AAA was obtained from a sample of men ( …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Psychological Distress And Risky Sexual Behaviors Among A Treatment-Seeking Opioid-Dependent Population, Hayley M. Smith

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Substance abusing populations are at an increased risk for disease transmission and have higher rates of psychological comorbidity compared to the general population (e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2012a; Chaudhury & Singh, 2009; Des Jarlais, Semaan, & Arasteh, 2011; Goodwin & Stein, 2013). Numerous studies have implicated the interaction of psychological distress and risky sexual behaviors in the increased risk of disease transmission, however, several studies have not found this association. It has been suggested that there may be curvilinear relationship between psychological distress and risky sexual behaviors but this theory has yet to be tested. The …

Grandiose And Vulnerable Narcissism: Where Do The Emotional Differences Lie?, Katherine E. Wolven

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Narcissism can be conceptualized as existing on a continuum between grandiose and vulnerable phenotypes (Pincus & Lukowitsky, 2010). Previous studies found differences between narcissistic phenotypes in terms of behavioral task performance (Wallace & Baumeister, 2002) and emotional reactions to threatening conditions (Besser & Priel, 2010; Zeigler-Hill, Clark, & Pickard, 2008); however, research on emotion dysregulation was lacking in narcissistic populations. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to explore the subjective and objective emotional differences between the grandiose and vulnerable phenotypes of narcissism. In a laboratory manipulation, participants (N=63) completed self-report questionnaires, read emotionally-evocative vignettes describing achievement failure and …

Developing Interpretation Training For Modifying Thought-Action-Fusion Associated With Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms, Stephan Gordon Siwiec

Theses and Dissertations

In obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), obsessions are in part caused by the belief that simply having a thought can increase the chance of an event occurring or represents a person’s morality. This phenomenon is Thought-Action-Fusion (TAF) and is common in OCD. Challenging these beliefs through Interpretation Training (IT) has been used in past research to modify negative interpretations, and lessen the distress and grief associated with them. The current study examined whether three sessions of computerized IT, challenging TAF obsessional thoughts, can impact TAF strength and OC symptoms. Thirty-nine non-clinical students were randomized to either: (1) an active condition (TAFMOD), where …

Interrupting The Conspiracy Of Silence: Historical Trauma And The Experiences Of Hmong American Women, Ia Xiong

Theses and Dissertations

The Hmong have endured a history of oppressive and traumatic experiences. The Secret War was particularly significant as it resulted in genocide, dislocation, and oppression for the Hmong. In addition, the Hmong experience and their involvement as U.S. allies remained largely a secret for several decades. Current research suggests that Hmong Americans experience a high prevalence of mental health issues including depression, anxiety, and substance abuse as well as other health disparities. The purpose of this project was to explore how a history of massive group trauma and secrecy maintained about the Hmong may contribute to the current conditions of …

Individual Differences In Anxiety Sensitivity And Emotional Avoidance: Potential Links In The Association Between Internalizing Problems And Peer Victimization, Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chronic peer victimization has been linked to short- and long-term problems such as anxiety, depression, and aggression (Hawker & Bouton, 2000; Reijntjes, Kamphuis, Prinzie, & Telch, 2010; Reijntjes, Kamphuis, Prinzie, Boelen, van der Schoot, & Telch, 2011). Most children are able to escape the role of stable victim, but some struggle to end victimization and the negative trajectory associated with it. The present study explored individual differences in anxiety sensitivity and emotional avoidance, developmental vulnerabilities that heighten children’s risk for internalizing problems, as possible predictors of children’s level of peer victimization. Participants were 677 fourth-grade students and their teachers. Multi-informant …

An Evaluation Of The Validity Of A Script-Driven Imagery Procedure Among Traumatic Event Exposed Adolescents, Emily Renae Mischel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Extensive research suggests script-driven imagery procedures employed with traumatic event-exposed adults produce reliable reactions that map onto contemporary models of posttraumatic stress, including increased physiological (Carson et al., 2000; Orr et al., 1998; Ramón et al., 2006) and negative affective (Pitman et al., 1987) responses to trauma scripts. Therefore, such procedures can be utilized in a controlled, laboratory-based setting, supporting mechanism-oriented research designed to better understand the nature, correlates, and consequences of traumatization and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Unfortunately, only one study has begun to evaluate the validity of script-driven imagery procedures for use with youth, making further investigation of …

Child Routines And Self-Regulation As Mediators Of Parenting Practices And Externalizing Problems In Preschoolers, Lovina R. Bater

Master's Theses

Studies clearly indicate that parenting practices relate to child externalizing behaviors, although the mechanisms underlying this relation are less well understood. Researchers suggest that daily routines are one way through which parenting practices relate to externalizing behaviors, allowing children to regulate their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors accordingly, potentially promoting development of appropriate self-regulatory behaviors. Self-regulation is also a possible route through which child routines inversely relate to externalizing behaviors. These relationships have been tested in school-age and older children, yet self-regulatory abilities are known to develop during the preschool period. This study examined child routines and self-regulation as serial mediators …

The College Experience: Exploring The Relationship Between Sleep, Executive Function, And Alcohol Use, Evelyn R. Conner

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Individual And Relational Role Balance Scale (Irrbs): A Preliminary Scale Development And Validation Study, Jennifer Lynn Bishop

Masters Theses

During emerging adulthood, young people begin the process of balancing individual and relational role commitments. Whereas development within specific domains, primarily career and relationship (work and love), have been explored separately, it is important to understand how emerging adults divide their attention across multiple individual (i.e. education, employment, athletics, organizational membership) and relational (i.e. friendship, family relationship, romantic partnership) domains during this period and how perceived balance impacts psychosocial functioning in terms of life satisfaction, well-being, and mental health. This study reports on the preliminary scale validation of the Individual and Relational Role Balance Scale (IRRBS) using a college student …

Effect Of Maternal Borderline Personality Disorder On Adolescents’ Experience Of Maltreatment And Adolescent Borderline Features, Gretchen Kurdziel

Masters Theses

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a severe mental illness characterized by dysfunction and instability across a variety of domains including interpersonal relations, behavior, emotion, and cognitions. The current study assessed maltreatment in the adolescent offspring of mothers’ with BPD, who may be more at risk for experiencing maltreatment compared to adolescents who do not have a mother with the disorder. Participants were adolescents age 14-18 years (M = 15.78, SD = 1.21) who were a part of a larger study examining offspring of mothers with BPD. Groups were divided into adolescents whose mothers’ were diagnosed with BPD (n = …

Development And Validation Of A Survey Of Knowledge Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Laura Katherine Hansen

Master's Theses

As autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is more commonly diagnosed, having knowledge of the disorder becomes increasingly important for educators, parents, and the general public. Previous research regarding knowledge of ASD, focused mainly on knowledge possessed by those in the educational field, has found that individuals may perceive themselves as possessing average knowledge regarding ASD but have low actual knowledge (as defined by the researchers) regarding specific aspects of the disorder (Williams et al., 2011). Studies support the notion that there is a general lack of knowledge of different aspects of ASD among teachers; however, there has been little research regarding …

Examining The Association Between Psychotropic Medication And Suicidal Desire And Risk, Brittney L. Assavedo

Master's Theses

The primary aim of this study was to examine the relationship between components of suicidal desire and psychotropic medication. Specifically, the usage of psychotropic medication, the usage of specific classes of psychotropic medications and the amount of psychotropic medication utilized and differences in feelings of perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness and overall suicide risk were examined. The present study utilized pre-collected data consisting of 225 patients with substance use disorder undergoing residential treatment for substance dependence. It was posited that individuals utilizing psychotropic medications would exhibit higher mean levels of thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and suicide risk relative to individuals not …

Impartialist Ethics And Psychic Disintegration: A Talking Cure, Roman Nakia Briggs

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation deals with integrity understood as a state of the psyche. Its primary interlocutor is Professor Bernard Williams, and its point of departure is my interpretation of his Objection from Integrity to impartialist moral theories. Against Williams, I hope to show that the active adherent of impartialist ethical systems (e.g., act utilitarianism) may retain both moral integrity and integrity. In demonstrating this, I make use of a variant of Roy Schafer’s action language approach to psychoanalysis, and what I call practical aestheticism.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy And Adolescent Patient Treatment Dropout, Danessa Mayo

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Attrition in mental health treatment is an area of concern among the adolescent population, especially with patients engaged in deliberate self-harm. The purpose of this study was to examine the treatment attrition rate for adolescents with deliberate self-harm in an adapted dialectical behavior therapy intensive outpatient program. A total of 141 adolescents previously enrolled in the program were available for the study. Results demonstrated a 31.9% dropout rate. Graduates indicated greater improvement of overall distress from baseline to post-treatment than dropouts. Dropouts attended an average of 12 treatment sessions. Several factors were examined to identify potential predictors of patient treatment …

Executive Functioning Outcomes Among Self-Harming Adolescents Receiving Dbt-A, Alphonso A. Smith

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Changes in WM, GM, and neural activation in networks involving the PFC underlie the development of EFs during adolescence; however, adolescents with DSH have impaired EFs in the areas of inhibition, emotion regulation, shifting, and interpersonal functioning. DBT-A has been shown to be effective in treating these youth and the skills of mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and “walking the middle path” are suited to treat their impaired EFs. As such, this study examined EF changes in adolescents receiving DBT-A and discussed implications for treatment and brain-behavior relationships. Ninety-three adolescents from a 16-week DBT-A program for DSH were …

Memory Deficits In Older Adults: Evaluating Spaced Retrieval With Multiple Probe Techniques, Christopher Walmsley

Dissertations

Difficulties in recognizing and remembering the names of individuals are a common behavioral symptom of major neurocognitive disorder. A number of behavioral strategies have been proposed to improve memory deficits, including spaced retrieval, an intervention that emphasizes delayed recall of target information. Unfortunately, many of the studies that report beneficial effects of spaced retrieval use a very limited range of outcome measures, thus calling into question the magnitude and generality of any reported memory improvement. This study reports on the impact of spaced retrieval using four older adults with cognitive impairment living in an assisted living facility. All participants demonstrated …

Implementation Of A Staff Management System To Increase Consumer Engagement In Group Homes, Jeana L. Koerber

Dissertations

A multi-component staff management system was implemented in three residential group homes for adults with disabilities to examine if it would increase consumer (resident) engagement in leisure activities. The design was a non-concurrent and concurrent multiple baseline design across homes. Participants included consumers who lived in the homes and the direct care staff (DCS) who worked with them: a total of 35 participants. Sessions were an hour in length and occurred twice a day, Monday through Friday. The study lasted approximately 17 weeks in each group home.

There were four phases: (phase A) baseline assessment of consumer engagement and affect, …

The Relationship Between Counselor Trainees’ Personal Therapy Experiences And Client Outcome, Bonnie L. Vanderwal

Dissertations

Research on mental health professionals’ use of personal psychotherapy indicates that a majority of practitioners have participated in their own personal therapy for both personal and professional reasons (Bike, Norcross, & Schatz, 2009; Norcross & Connor, 2005). Psychotherapists typically suggest that engaging in their own personal therapy has aided in their professional development and clinical effectiveness in their work with clients (Orlinsky, Norcross, Ronnestad, & Wiseman, 2005); however, researchers have been unable to conclude that such evidence exists (Clark, 1986; Greenberg & Staller, 1981; Macaskill, 1988; Macran & Shapiro, 1998; Orlinsky, Norcross et al., 2005). Studies often included psychotherapists already …

Executive Dysfunction Is Predictive Of Clinical Symptomatology In 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, Chinonyere Kemdirim Bello

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

By adulthood, 25%- 30% of individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22qDS) develop a psychotic disorder, often schizophrenia, and it is not understood why. Given the known genetic etiology of this disorder and the greatly elevated risk for development of schizophrenia, this group offers the possibility of defining a seemingly homogenous maturational pathway to psychosis. Neurocognitive deficits have been increasingly recognized as an important dimension of schizophrenia, particularly in the executive domain. Thus, we assessed multiple aspects of executive cognition in 22qDS, in order to: 1) characterize performance across this domain as compared to age-matched healthy controls; and 2) determine whether …

Comparison Of Text Analysis Programs For Identification Of Emotional Expression, Michelle Mcdonnell

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Studies have show that written emotional expression assists in the recovery and alleviates the pain associated with traumatic experiences, cancer diagnoses, and chronic illnesses. Written interventions have been developed to utilize this emotional coping approach. Unfortunately, evaluation of participants and patients written text is time consuming and subjective to the coder. Researchers have developed computational text analysis programs in an attempt to find an alternative to human coders for text analysis. The current study will utilize data from previous research performed by Owen et al., (2005) entitled Randomized Pilot of a Self-Guided Internet Coping Group for Women With Early Stage …