Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Demographic Differences In Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire And The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, Victoria Carter, Janett Naylor-Tincknell

SACAD: John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days

Empathy and social masking are traits related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Social masking, the act of camouflaging socially to appear closer to the social norm, is often utilized to conceal autistic traits, such that individuals with ASD mask more frequently than neurotypical individuals (Hull et al., 2017). However, neurotypical adults also use masking and camouflaging behaviors in routine social interactions, including actively attempting to mirror others’ moods, reflecting vocabulary and syntax, or matching facial expressions to respond appropriately (Pryke-Hobbes et al. 2023). Additionally, empathy is related to ASD traits; although, the findings are often mixed. Originally, it was thought …

Bisexuality, Biphobia, And Its Effects On Sexual Identity, Religious Identity And Mental Health: Examining Clinical Implications, Diana Ramirez

Dissertations

Bisexuality is a sexual orientation, sometimes known as “bi,” that includes sexuality in which certain people are attracted to more than one sex and gender. Bisexuality differs from other sexual- and gender-nonconforming experiences (McInnis et al., 2022). According to Ross et al. (2018), bisexuality is frequently described as an invisible sexual orientation, and only in the last 20 years has research on biphobia and bisexuality increased (McInnis et al., 2022). Experiences unique to bisexuality include bisexual invisibility from a societal level (Dyar et al., 2015), bisexuals are more prone to experience sexual orientation instability (Bostwick et al., 2014), and bisexual …

Recentering Psych Stats, Lynette Bikos

Faculty Open Access Books

To center a variable in regression means to set its value at zero and interpret all other values in relation to this reference point. Regarding race and gender, researchers often center male and White at zero. Further, it is typical that research vignettes in statistics textbooks are similarly seated in a White, Western (frequently U.S.), heteronormative, framework. ReCentering Psych Stats seeks to provide statistics training for psychology students (undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral) in a socially and culturally responsive way. All lessons use the open-source statistics program, R (and its associated packages). Each chapter includes a screencast lesson, features a workflow …

Gender As An Environmental Stressor In Individuals Genetically Predisposed To Mood Disorders: A Preliminary Analysis, Kara West

Audre Lorde Writing Prize

Given the recent ‘epidemic’ of mental health disorders, we urgently need to better understand who is suffering and how. One aspect of this that research has come closer to identifying is where symptoms and diagnoses are missed in certain individuals, especially based on gender. However, if certain genders are actually more likely to deal with certain disorders we need to understand why and where that comes from. There is a general consensus in the medical field that some individuals are simply genetically predisposed to various disorders based on sex, but there is limited evidence that sex actually determines genetic predisposition. …

Social Exclusion And Negative Affect: The Impact Of Mentalized Affectivity, Anna Voicu

Honors Program Theses

Social exclusion has been widely associated with feelings of anxiety, depressed mood, anger, and hostility. Previous literature indicates that mentalized affectivity (MA), a sophisticated form of emotional regulation, may be effective in mitigating emotional experience after social exclusion. In light of this research, our study sought to examine the predictive value of mentalized affectivity and inclusion/exclusion on emotion. Participants (N = 170) completed measures of mentalized affectivity and positive and negative affect, in addition to playing a virtual ball-tossing game that would randomly assign them to an inclusion or exclusion condition. Multiple regression analyses revealed that mentalized affectivity predicted both …

Growing Therapeutic Horticulture In The Field Of Clinical Psychology, Kelli Woodson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The connection between nature and well-being has been recognized across cultures for centuries. One way in which people have facilitated this connection over the years has been through their interactions with plants and the practice of horticulture. Research over the years has further substantiated a connection between horticultural practices and overall well-being. However, a significantly disproportionate amount of this research has been conducted within the field of clinical psychology, despite the notable clinical implications. The current dissertation aims to address this gap in the current literature by exploring this connection from the lens of clinical psychology. More specifically, the current …

"I Just Want To Be Me, Authentically": Identity Shifting Among Racially And Ethnically Diverse Young Adults, Aerika Brittian Loyd, Dulce Wilkinson Westberg, Lenisha Williams, Marisha Humphries, Alan Meca, Julie Carmen Rodil

Psychology Faculty Publications

Identity shifting represents a common but complex social, behavioral, and cognitive phenomenon. However, some forms of identity shifting originate in response to structural, institutional, and interpersonal marginalization enacted on lower status groups, such as people of color in the United States. The current study investigated ways young adults from diverse ethnic/racial groups discussed shifting to fit in with White Americans (a dominant group) in the United States and their own ethnic/racial group (a minoritized group) and elucidated self-reported motivations for shifting. Participants consisted of 764 young adults (ages = 18–23) recruited from two large public universities in the Southeast and …

Trauma Exposure And Transdiagnostic Distress: Examining Shared And Ptsd-Specific Associations, Michael L. Crowe, Sage E. Hawn, Erika J. Wolf, Terence M. Keane, Brian P. Marx

Psychology Faculty Publications

Dimensional models of psychopathology suggest that the causes and consequences of psychopathology are attributable to a combination of syndrome specific and transdiagnostic features. There is considerable evidence that trauma exposure confers risk for a wide range of psychiatric conditions, yet no previous work has specifically examined the higher-order effects of trauma exposure within a structural model. We examined transdiagnostic and PTSD-specific associations with multiple forms of trauma exposure within a nation-wide sample (N = 1,649; 50% female) of military Veterans over-selected for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A higher-order Distress variable was estimated using PTSD, major depressive disorder (MDD), and generalized …

School Related Criminal Acts, Interpersonal Problems, And Classroom Behaviors As A Function Of The Proportion Of Black Students And Black Teachers, Leanne Zaire

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

This study’s purpose was to investigate school-level behavioral outcomes in relation to the proportion of Black teachers and students in U.S. schools. Negative school outcome and academic achievement gaps are well-documented. However, many of these studies utilized small, localized populations; my research used national data and focused on the problem behaviors in school. Drawing from Critical Race Theory, I hypothesized that a greater proportion of Black teachers would reduce school student problems and negative behaviors (e.g., student verbal abuse of teachers, widespread disorder in classrooms). After receiving a restricted-use license, I utilized data from 25,818 schools from the National Teacher …

Building Bridges: A Brief School Readiness Intervention Designed To Guide Families Transitioning From Early Head Start To Head Start, Katherine A. Zambrana

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The transition into the early school years is a salient developmental milestone, which lays the groundwork for later school success. Parent involvement in children’s development and early learning experiences has been widely examined and identified as a strong predictor of children’s school readiness. Therefore, promoting positive parent involvement during the early school years and during developmental transitions is key to children’s later school success. Recognizing the importance of early school success, several programs have been developed to support children and families in the transition to kindergarten. Yet, as early as preschool, a number of children display significant behavioral and academic …

The Deaf Community And Their Preferences In A Clinical Psychological Setting, Alexandra Alonso

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The focus of this study was to examine the Deaf community and their preferences for both a psychologist and the language utilized in a clinical psychological setting. The study gave each participant a mock profile for a psychologist and then asked participants to answer questions on their perceptions of the psychologist provided. A total of 22 participants who identified as Deaf, deaf, hard-of-hearing, or as an individual with hearing loss were surveyed. Results indicated that participants randomly assigned to the Deaf psychologist had higher rates of satisfaction and trust over participants who were assigned to other psychologists. The study also …

“It’S Right Below The Surface”: Clinicians’ Experiences Of Shame In Therapy Work With Adult Clients With Body Shame, Body Image Concerns, Or Eating Disorder(S), Tess Carroll Keeley

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Shame–understood as a feeling in which one believes that they are inadequate, or wrong to their core–is a painful emotional experience that seems to be at the crux of many mental health concerns. Despite the pervasiveness of shame as an emotional experience, little research has demonstrated if shame is a clinical theme in therapy, and if so, how it is identified and treated. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore if, and how, shame manifests during therapy sessions with clients who are experiencing eating disorders and/or body image concerns. A secondary purpose was to discover how clinicians’ training …

Contributions Of Social Support To Mitigate The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Pediatric Depressive And Irritability Symptoms, Alexandra Mactavish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior research, including my initial research on the mental health of children inSouthwestern Ontario, highlighted the broad, widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of adults, children, and youth, globally, including the potential for social support to attenuate the harmful impact of the pandemic. Social support, one’s belief that others will help in times of need, may protect against the impact of myriad life stressors on the development of psychopathology. The present study examines the potential for social support to mitigate the longitudinal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s irritability and depressive symptoms. Families (N = …

Tolerance To Psychostimulant Medication Among Children With Adhd, Fiona Macphee

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Medication is the most commonly received treatment for childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with 90% of children with ADHD having received it at some point in their lives (Danielson et al., 2018). Central Nervous System (CNS) stimulant medication is a well-established short-term treatment for childhood ADHD (Pliszka, 2007). However, there is little support in the literature for long-term benefit of psychostimulants. One possible explanation for this lack of sustained effect is the development of tolerance to the drug. The current study aimed to examine possible evidence of short-term tolerance to stimulant medication, methylphenidate (MPH). Additionally, we investigated previous stimulant medication treatment …

Information Seeking Behavior And Mental Health Service Utilization: Using Big Data Tools To Examine Temporal Trends And Geographic Variations In Adhd, Xin Zhao

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Persistently low rates of children’s mental health service utilization have inspired close examination of barriers to care that point to sociodemographic and geographic disparities. Information science points to socioeconomic disparities in health information seeking (access and need) that may decrease corresponding to increasing rates of online searching in underserved communities. Three specific aims were examined: Aim 1. Examine changes in information seeking over time; Aim 2. Examine geographical variations of online searches; Aim 3. Examine the connection between state-level information-seeking variations and individual diagnoses.

The dissertation uses publicly available data and big data methods (i.e., time series analyses, machine learning …

The Integration Of Roman Catholic Traditions And Evidence-Based Psychological Services, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest, and most enduring continuous organization, secular or religious, of any kind in the world with a 2,000-plus-year history. It currently includes well over a billion people. Regardless of its size, scope, history, and impact, the Roman Catholic Church is often greatly misunderstood and people frequently maintain stereotypic and even discriminatory views about Catholics and their clerical leaders. The purpose of this article is to present the integration of the Roman Catholic tradition into psychological assessment and therapy and to provide several examples of this integration. The article highlights how this integration can be …

Exploring Emotion Regulation And Altruism When Experiencing Compassion Fatigue From Humanitarian Crises, Including Covid- 19., Saniya Tabani

Theses and Dissertations

Despite knowledge of devastating statistics, it has been observed that when hundreds, or even millions are suffering in large-scale crises, including genocides, refugee crises, and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, humans seem unable to process and comprehend the magnitude of that suffering on an emotional level. While the expectation is that compassion should increase proportionally with the number of people suffering in catastrophes, prior research has shown a negative relationship such that as need increases, donations decrease. Some factors that may impact this include the identifiable victim effect, use of emotion regulation strategies, specific cognitive processing styles, and compassion fatigue. …

Examining The Ecological Validity Of The Power Of Food Scale, Lindsay M. Howard, Kristin E. Heron, Kathryn E. Smith, Ross D. Crosby, Scott G. Engel, Stephen A. Wonderlich, Tyler B. Mason

Psychology Faculty Publications

Purpose

Appetite for palatable foods may impact eating-related behaviors in everyday life. The present study evaluated the real-world predictive validity of the Power of Food Scale (PFS) using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).

Methods

30 women who reported binge eating completed the PFS and related measures. Subsequently, during a 14-day assessment period, participants completed five daily EMA surveys of appetite and binge eating via text message and web.

Results

Results of generalized estimating equations showed that higher PFS scores were associated with higher momentary levels of hunger, eagerness to eat, and urge to eat but were unrelated to fullness, preoccupation with …

Psychological, Behavioral, And Interpersonal Effects And Clinical Implications For Health Systems Of The Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic: A Call For Research, Gianluca Castelnuovo, Andrea De Giorgio, Gian Mauro Manzoni, Darren C. Treadway, Changiz Mohiyeddini

Articles & Book Chapters

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged at the end of 2019 and was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. Both the COVID-19 emergency and the extraordinary measures to contain it have negatively affected the life of billions of people and have threatened individuals and nations. One of the main goals of clinical and health psychology during this pandemic is to investigate the behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and psychobiological responses to the COVID-19 emergency as well as to the preventive measures that have been imposed by governments to limit the contagion, such as social …

Taking It To Heart: Trauma And Cardiovascular Risk In Court-Involved People Of Color, Tanya Erazo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research supports that racial disparities in health persist in the United States, with cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular disease remaining particularly high in low-income, communities of color (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013; Winkleby, Jatulis, Frank, & Fortmann, 1992). Public health literature often focuses on sociodemographic variables when assessing for health disparities without considering trauma or forensic populations. This dissertation provides an overview of literature that examines cardiovascular disease and its relationship to trauma, particularly in low-income, communities of color, and forensic populations. Although the dissertation culminates in providing results for an investigation …

Building Resilience Through Culturally Grounded Practices In Clinical Psychology And Higher Education, Catarina Campbell, Phyu Pannu Khin

The Vermont Connection

There is no “one size fits all” approach when it comes to the process of healing, particularly for individuals who are continuously affected by the many barriers and impacts of systemic oppres- sion. This reality demands the sustained development of a praxis rooted in trauma-informed and culturally grounded care so that we may better serve our most-impacted communities (such as Black, Indigenous and People of Color [BIPOC], disability, queer, and survivor communities). As practitioners in the fields of Clinical Psychology and Higher Education, we engage in cross-disciplinary analysis so that we may amplify and share our tools for collective healing. …

Uncovering The Depression Treatment Gap: The Role Of Motivation To Change, God Image, And Religious Affiliation, Cyrus Chiasson

Master's Theses

Research analyzing factors that are indicative of treatment seeking for depression is warranted. In the United States, approximately 70% of individuals with depression do not receive treatment. The aim of the current study is to evaluate motivation to change, God image, and religious affiliation as predictors of current treatment engagement for depression. Motivation to change has previously been evaluated as a predictor of treatment outcome for depression but not as a predictor of current treatment engagement. Additionally, previous research indicates religious involvement is associated with less depressive symptomology but is in turn related to negative views towards mental health treatment …

Examining The Use Of Hebephilia And Paraphilia Non-Consent In Sexually Violent Predator (Svp) Evaluations, Nicole Graham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sexually violent predator (SVP) legislation requires, in part, that an individual has a mental abnormality which causes difficulty in controlling sexual behavior. Previous research has found paraphilia not otherwise specified (NOS) to be one of the most prevalent diagnoses proffered in SVP evaluations. Since these studies, however, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) has updated the paraphilia NOS diagnosis in two ways. First, this diagnosis has been divided into two new diagnoses—other specified paraphilic disorder (OSPD) and unspecified paraphilic disorder. Second, OSPD requires an added specifier to indicate the individual’s source of sexual arousal. To date, no study has systematically …

Relationship Of Proximal Predictors Of Success In A Psyd Program On Alumni Distal Factors, Nicole Fontenot Ford

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Due to the new Standards of Accreditation (SoA) by the American Psychological Association (APA), implemented in 2017, there is minimal research to evaluate how proximal competency factors within clinical psychology programs relate to distal outcomes of alumni. This study consisted of 65 doctoral psychology graduates who completed an APA alumni survey 2 and 5 years after graduation. Findings showed strong positive relationships between faculty mentoring, foundational knowledge, program support and clinical training. Results showed proximal factors of faculty mentoring significantly predicted graduates would be employed as psychologists, while program support (peers and faculty) significantly predicted lifelong learning of alumni. Career …

On The Relationship Between Resilience, Meaning, And Hardiness: A Bi-Factor Exploratory And Confirmatory Analysis, Lauren Weathers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Meaning in life, resilience, and hardiness have been conceptualized in a variety of ways. Some researchers theorize that these constructs share significant overlap. The goal of the current study was to examine how much overlap exists between these concepts. Three thousand and ten participants from a university in the Midwest and a university in the South completed measures of meaning in life, resilience, and hardiness. It was hypothesized that some items from these measures would create a unidimensional model while some items would create multidimensionality. Hypotheses that incorporated both models were important as there is disagreement within the literature with …

Doing Hard Things In The Context Of Values: Values Intervention As An Establishing Operation For Approach Behavior In The Presence Of Aversive Stimuli, Emmie Hebert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aversive control is an umbrella term for behavioral contingencies influenced by the removal or avoidance of aversive stimuli. When individuals are engaging in behavior that is under aversive control the behavior becomes relatively insensitive to changes in the environment outside of trying to escape or avoid the aversive stimulation. Teaching individuals to increase behavioral and psychological flexibility around potentially aversive stimuli is a goal of a therapeutic perspective called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT therapists and trainers use values to motivate their clients to engage in meaningful behaviors despite ever-changing and often aversive contexts. The aim of the current …

Professional Identity Development In Blended Clinical Psychology Doctoral Students, Lindsay Nolan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As online graduate programs gain popularity, it has become more important to understand how students enrolled in these programs develop their professional identities. Researchers have demonstrated that there are both benefits and drawbacks to participation in blended learning programs (which incorporate in person and online instruction). It is not known how students enrolled in blended clinical psychology PhD programs experience the in-person portion of these programs and what their experiences mean for their professional identity development. This study examined the perceived impact of one part of an online clinical psychology doctoral program, the in-person classroom experiences, on the professional identity …

Is It Racism, Colorism, Or A Pigment Of Your Imagination? A Study On The Invisible Color Line, Yolanda Rodriguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Participants were 324 self-identified ethnic/racial minority adults recruited from a southern university in the United States and an online community (MTurk workers) primarily ranging in age from 18-30 (78.4%). Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and a measure for each of the variables of interest. A moderated mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS (Hayes 2013) model 8. It was hypothesized that acculturation modality (X) would predict skin lightening behaviors and attitudes (Y) through three mediators (M1: Discrepancy scores M2: Satisfaction with Skin Color and M3: Desire to Change Skin Color). Psychological well-being was predicted to be a moderator (W) of the …

Emotion Regulation As A Predictor Of Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms, Brittany Spence Sapp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research findings suggest that emotion regulation (ER) is a key component in the maintenance and development of psychopathology. However there is a paucity of research assessing ER and Obsessive-Compulsive (OC) symptoms particularly how ER relates to OC tendencies in children. Due to the pervasive nature of both ER difficulties and OC symptoms across major life domains (i.e. familial social academic) and the lasting impact of these problems into adulthood further research is needed to better understand this connection. The present study investigated this relation in a clinical sample of 472 youth (ages 10 – 17) who completed a packet of …

Explication Of Moral Disgust: Assessing Physiological And Behavioral Responses To Disgust Eliciting Videos, Sarah Michelle Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Results indicate a significant self-reported disgust response among core animal reminder and contamination domains whereas the moral domains elicited both anger and disgust. Physiologically no change was measured in skin conductance; heart rate decrease in response to animal reminder contamination community and autonomy video clips. Significant behavioral avoidance was demonstrated when presented with the core and animal reminder video clips. Further when measuring facial muscle activation the levator labii was significantly activated in response to the core video clip but no others. The current study highlights the difficulty in establishing characteristic responses to disgust stimuli especially within the moral domain. …