Multicultural Psychology Commons^™

Barriers To The Use Of Palliative And Hospice Care Among The Latino Population, Diana Ramirez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Patients suffering from irreversible and terminal illnesses may benefit from the services provided by Palliative and Hospice Care to control any symptom burden and assist in navigating complex medical decisions. Many patients may express hesitation in accepting and enrolling to this service due to misconceptions. Language barriers may add an additional layer of complexity. This study explored the challenges Palliative Care providers encounter when introducing concept of hospice to Spanish-speaking patients their families for the first time. This study implemented qualitative research methods by using semi-structured one-on-one interviews. Ten members of an In-patient Palliative Care Team at a University Hospital …

Which Generation Is Having Safe Sex? Millennial Or Gen-Z, Rachel Silver

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This research study aims to examine the sex practices of Millennials vs. Gen Z's. There are many concerns and questions about the long-term effects of hook-up culture for modern youth. In the last few years, there has been a rise in STDs and a decrease in teenage pregnancy. This quantitative research intends to find out where are education gaps are and the most significant motivators for young people to use protection and contraceptives through a list of questions in a survey. The goal is to understand better the similarities and differences between Millenials and Gen-Z's safe sex education and …

The Effect Of The Black Lives Matter Movement On American Attitudes, Isabelle Warren

Honors Theses

The present research focuses on changing attitudes towards Black Lives Matter (BLM)

and racism. Black Lives Matter was founded in 2013, but came to a political and social forefront following the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. Based on research that large-scale movements have the capability of creating long term attitudinal changes, this research seeks to address the significance of BLM on attitudes in undergraduate students. Participants were recruited from University of Richmond Introduction to Psychology courses over the Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, and Spring 2022 semesters. They completed a survey assessing their attitudes towards …

Hometown Diversity And Race Essentialism: The Role Of Interracial Friendship Quality, Junming Zhang

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between high-quality interracial

friendships and race essentialism among college students who perceived differing levels of racial diversity in their hometowns. Participants, who were recruited from a small, private university in the southeastern United States, included 84 juniors and seniors who reported having at least one other-race close friend. Participants completed a web-based survey about their hometown diversity, friendship quality, and race essentialism. Results from multiple regression analyses revealed two significant interaction effects between hometown diversity and two measures of interracial friendship quality: intimate disclosure and affection. Findings indicated that higher intimate …

Do Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion (Dei) Initiatives Cause More Harm Than Good?: Extending Research To The Domain Of Lgbtq+ Discrimination, Lindsay Everhart

Honors Theses

Workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have been shown to delegitimize discrimination claims made by members of low-status groups, namely women and people of color (Dover et al., 2020; Kaiser et al., 2013). Previous research attributes this effect to the fact that DEI initiatives send signals of organizational fairness, thus causing individuals to overestimate the fairness of the organization and overlook discrimination claims. Given the fact that up to 40% of LGBTQ+ employees in one survey reported some form of workplace harassment due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, it is imperative that this line of research is …

Demographic Disparities In College Students’ Psychological Adjustment During Covid-19, Anna Marston

Honors Theses

The goal of the present study was to explore psychological adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic in undergraduate college students. Since March 2020, undergraduates have endured extended lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing efforts that may affect mental health, especially for historically marginalized groups such as women and people of color. Furthermore, research on coping styles suggests that those who cope with a stressor such as a pandemic in healthy, adaptive ways may be protected against psychological difficulty. In February/March 2021 (Time 1) and again in April/May 2021 (Time 2), college students (N = 277) from two residential liberal arts institutions were …

Reading The Traumatic Moment: The Role Of Socioeconomic Systems In The Color Purple And The Bluest Eye, Andrea Doll

Undergraduate Theses

There are many points of sameness between Alice Walker's The Color Purple and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Both novels occur in the mid-20th century and focus on protagonists within the same race, gender, and relative class. Of all the similarities between the texts, the most influential is the trauma, sexual and otherwise, shared between Pecola Breedlove and Celie. Most notably, both characters experience incestuous rape resulting in pregnancy shortly after their first menstruation. Despite their numerous shared events and attributes, what occurs after their sexual trauma differs drastically for each character. At the end of The Color Purple …

Making Mental Health Information Accessible To Latinxs Through The Use Of Internet Forums, April Martinez

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

This study was conducted to explore the use of Internet memes as a way to address mental health stigma within the Latinx community. The study measured participants’ mental health prejudice both before and after exposure to a series of memes over a two-week span. The control group was shown memes that did not relate to mental health and the experimental group was shown mental health memes. The results were analyzed both quantitatively, for significant between group differences in posttest prejudice, and qualitatively for emerging themes in the participants’ comments on the memes. Results showed no significant decrease of stigma between …

Sexual Minority Thriving: Bouncing Beyond Adversity, Debra Crawford

Dissertations

Sexual minority individuals continue to face prejudice and discrimination due to their sexual minority identity. However, despite these negative experiences, many sexual minority individuals display resilience and thrive. Most of the literature on sexual minorities focuses on negative aspects of identifying as a sexual minority, rather than the positive qualities that these individuals possess that allow them to persevere. In a sample of 303 sexual minorities, this dissertation contained two studies. Study one investigated if posttraumatic growth mediated the relationship between resilience and thriving and if identity pride and existential anxiety moderated the relationship between resilience and thriving in a …

Culture And Language Influence How Hispanics/Latinos In The U.S. Think About Themselves Through Time, Alicia Camuy

Senior Theses and Projects

Culture has been implicated in episodic memory, but this has not been explored in episodic future thought. Episodic information helps to form an identity. Thus, this is an exploratory study to identify unique ways in which Spanish-English Hispanic/Latino populations remember and project to the future, perceive themselves over time, and perceive the passage of time. Participants (n = 50) were healthy bilingual Hispanics/Latinos living in the U.S. tested over Zoom. Materials included background information, an acculturation scale, Temporal Focus Scale (TFS), and Thinking About Life Experiences (TALE) Scale. A time estimation measure and Pre- and Re- experiencing Mental Events (PRIME) …

What Is Race-Based Trauma And Why Does It Matter?, Julie Luong

MSW Capstones

Systemic racism continues to be prevalent in our society today, especially with the exponential rate of Asian Americans experiencing racial discrimination and microaggressions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since post COVID-19, members of the Asians and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community are more susceptible to experience violence, such as serious physical injuries or death. Misinformation from political leaders are a contributing factor for the anti-Asian hate crimes and violence post COVID-19. This problem is extensive where members of the AAPI community are now concerned for their own overall safety and physical well-being. A workshop will incorporate an overview of …

Testing Barriers To Non-Suicidal Self-Injury With College Students: Narcissistic Traits As Moderators, Philip Stoner

Dissertations

Research on non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has produced mixed findings, resulting in a lack of clarity regarding these behaviors (Klonsky & Meuhlenkamp, 2007). To address this, Hooley and Franklin (2018) developed the Benefits and Barriers Model (BBM) to provide a comprehensive understanding of NSSI, in which they identified the barriers that commonly prevent people from engaging in these behaviors (e.g., self-esteem, shame, and peer-bonding motivations/social norms). They also identified adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) as a distal predictor of NSSI, which aids people in overcoming the barriers to engaging in these behaviors. Recent NSSI literature has shown that college women in the …

Healing Racial Injustice With Mindfulness Research, Training, & Practice, Danielle "Danae" Laura

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This thesis offers a collection of authors and studies in support of improved research, training, and practice connecting mindfulness with racial justice through intergroup applications. The paper identifies barriers at work (e.g., colorblindness, spiritual bypass, white fragility, and implicit bias) in contemplative science, Western Buddhist communities, and secular mindfulness centers, which block the sizeable contributions possible in studying the intergroup application of mindfulness practice—specifically Lovingkindness Meditation, among others—when used as an intervention with anti-racist aims. Through secondary qualitative research, I reviewed six key works from Black authors on mindfulness and race, as well as six sample studies on the prosocial …

Equine Assisted Psychotherapy: Implications For Treating Trauma, Kara L. Harrison Psy.D.

Psychology Doctoral Specialization Projects

Trauma related symptoms and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have been increasingly recognized for the key roles they occupy in mental health and overall individual well-being within both adult and childhood populations. They often represent significant barriers to the provision of mental healthcare within military populations and individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI). This original contribution to practice explores the significance of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy as a novel adjunctive approach to treating trauma. symptoms in adults and children. An extensive literature review examines current research and discussion on common definitions and nomenclature. It begins with discussion on the broader areas …

Are You My Nurse? The Effects Of Patient-Delivered Gender Microaggressions On Women Trainees’ Clinical Work In Integrated Primary Care, Julia Ratchford Kauffmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gender microaggressions are a form of sexist discrimination that have detrimental effects on women’s psychological well-being. Unfortunately, these sexist occurrences are commonplace in the United States and can be experienced in a variety of ways. As such, there is a need to understand behavioral health providers’ experiences with patient-delivered gender microaggressions. In doing so, we may be able to better support women behavioral health trainees’ during their clinical development by potentially understanding the ways in which women trainees are affected by sexist patient encounters. Therefore, the present study sought to apply the Social Cognitive Model of Counselor Training and the …

Examining The Impact Of Discrimination, Shame, And Acculturation On Psychological Wellbeing Of East Asian International Students, Shao-Jung Stella Ko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of discrimination, shame, and acculturation on the psychological wellbeing of East Asian international students in the U.S. Using the Minority Stress Theory as a framework, discrimination and shame were hypothesized to have a significant negative relationship with wellbeing while acculturation was hypothesized to moderate these relationships. A sample (N = 281) of East Asian international undergraduate students completed a web-based survey with measures of perceived discrimination, interpersonal shame, acculturation, and mental health outcomes. Regression analyses containing wellbeing (outcome), acculturation (moderator), discrimination (predictor), and shame (predictor) were performed to test the hypotheses using SPSS PROCESS macro …

Inviting The Perspectives Of Refugee Mental Health Interpreters: A Critical Narrative Analysis, Emme Y. Paik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research literature lacks examination into several areas concerning mental health interpretation for refugee clients. This includes the management of interpreters’ vicarious trauma and retraumatization, interpreter’s perspectives on the appropriateness of hiring refugees as mental health interpreters, how interpreters define their trauma as well as their clients’ trauma, and support that interpreters seek for their traumatic responses from their work. The literature is also missing an analysis of how oppressive power differentials are repeated in workplace institutions, specifically for refugee mental health interpreters. Thus, this study aimed to invite the perspectives of refugee mental health interpreters on several issues pertaining …

Exploring Opportunities For Supporting Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth: A Path Forward Through Expanding Graduate Training In School Psychology, Erica L. Gleason

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School psychologists are equipped with a dynamic skill set and an ethical and moral responsibility to support the diverse needs of all youth. While juvenile justice-involved youth may not be a primary subpopulation served by all school psychologists, they are a high-needs group that requires special consideration and attention. As a professional entity, school psychologists’ knowledge and expertise are not optimally applied to serving these youth. Consequently, school psychologists may be forgoing an opportunity to improve rates of successful school and community reintegration and overall positive life outcomes for justice-involved youth. The first manuscript of this dissertation presents precipitating and …

Critical Experiences Of Being Humbled In Psychotherapy Training: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Mackenzie White Jessen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Therapists’ cultural humility has shown promise for being a “trait like” quality that improves psychotherapy treatment for marginalized populations (Hook et al., 2016, Owen et al., 2016). However, researchers have emphasized that it is important to establish whether cultural humility can be fostered or developed through training (Davis et al., 2016). The purpose of this study was to understand the phenomenon of trainees being humbled in session during graduate school training and its potential relationship to trainee development. This is the first study to specifically examine the experience of being humbled by clients in session or that explores the potential …

Barriers To Mental Health Service Use And Preferred Treatment Format Among Racial And Ethnic Minorities, Jasmine Maxwell

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

One of the most pressing concerns in mental healthcare is the limited use of mental health services across the country. Research has indicated that individuals from racial/ethnic minority groups are significantly less likely to seek mental health services, which has led many to examine specific barriers to treatment-seeking. Given research that has suggested that barriers to treatment-seeking may be structural, attitudinal, or cultural in nature, this study aimed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between these barriers and willingness to seek psychological help. Another goal of the current study was to examine the role of online therapy in …

#Mentalhealthmatters: Mental Health Awareness Campaigns In Media And Its Effectiveness On Stigma Reduction In Third Culture Kids, Airi Sugihara

Scripps Senior Theses

The recent amplified attention towards mental health and overall wellbeing has been accelerated by awareness campaigns in media, which are culturally and regionally tailored to encourage efficacy and positive attitude changes. Some of these mental health awareness campaigns are disseminated on the social media platform Instagram, which is contradictory to Instagram’s corporate lack of acknowledgement towards its addictiveness and negative impacts on user mental health. The aesthetic and influencer culture surrounding social media empowers its systemic problems, which is exacerbated by modern society’s media dependency. Within its discriminatory and oppressive algorithm, mental health awareness campaigns created by Instagram represent corporate …

The Syndemic Landscape: A New Paradigm For Montana Suicide Prevention Grounded In Agricultural Renewal, Emory Chandler Padgett

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Montana has had one of the highest suicide rates in the nation for half a century, and since 2000, it has risen almost 50%. Despite suicide’s alarming persistence in the state, there has been minimal academic study of suicide or mental health specifically in Montana, so this thesis attempts to answer a few questions: Why does Montana have such a high suicide rate? Is there something culturally, historically, or socially unique about Montana that contributes to suicide? Are current prevention efforts helpful, harmful, or lacking? Could a consideration of culture and land benefit an understanding of suicide in Montana? What …

Psychologists’ Graduate Training Experience And Attitudes In Religion And Spirituality, Kristi Santiago

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

In a nationwide poll, 76% of the population of the United States identifies with a formal religion of some kind (Gallup Organization, 2021). Despite the prevalence of religion and spirituality (R/S) throughout the country, graduate programs appear to neglect training on this multicultural issue. The purpose of this paper is to better understand psychologists’ attitudes toward the quality and depth of their graduate training in R/S, determine how competent psychologists feel at managing discussions of R/S within psychotherapy, and recommend necessary improvements to graduate training in R/S. Data was collected using a 24-item, online survey, which was circulated throughout college …

Filling The Gaaapps: Generating Affirming Asian American Perinatal Psychological Services, Jennifer Yuen

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Women in the perinatal period face a unique set of mental health challenges, as they must navigate both physical changes and transitions in their life. Perinatal mental health has been linked to child outcomes, such as social emotional development, cognitive development, and physical growth. In addition, women of racial and ethnic minority groups are confronted with barriers to accessing services and are therefore less likely to utilize mental health services. While international attention has recently focused on the experiences of women of color in the perinatal period, Asian American women have been largely overlooked. This systemic literature review explores the …

La Luz: Illuminating The Effects Of Language And Considering The Role Of Culture In A Postpartum Depression Prevention Program For Spanish- And English-Speaking Mothers, Erin Flanagan

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a common and concerning mental health condition. Many prevention programs and interventions have been researched to prevent or alleviate symptoms of postpartum depression. The current study aimed to examine the effects of a psychoeducational PPD prevention program (ROSE), administered in the early postpartum period, on reported PPD symptoms and parenting self-efficacy beliefs in both English and Spanish speaking women. The study investigated the hypotheses that: a PPD prevention program which has been validated in the prenatal period would be efficacious in reducing depressive symptoms when administered postpartum; the PPD prevention program would improve parenting self-efficacy; and …

Cross-Cultural Examination Of Vacation Policy On Employee Satisfaction And Happiness, Ketan D. Parekh

CMC Senior Theses

With the advent of technological advancement, entrepreneurship, and a higher emphasis on meritocracy, societies across the globe have experienced intense competition to outdo one another. This has pushed companies to place increased importance on worker productivity; large and small companies want to see their employees work harder, longer, and faster. With this increased demand for work, companies today are making sure they have suitable reward systems to ensure worker satisfaction and quality work production. However, what these reward systems look like and how they function contrast significantly across cultures, especially as it pertains to corporate leave policies. This thesis examines …

“Don’T Feel Like You Have To Do This All On Your Own”: Exploring Perceived Partner Support Of Breastfeeding Among Black Women In Kentucky, Jardin Dogan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Background: Partner support improves breastfeeding initiation and continuation among mothers. However, few studies have explored partner support for breastfeeding among Black women living in the southeastern U.S., who report the lowest rates nationally of breastfeeding compared to women of other racial groups. Ways to increase support of Black women’s breastfeeding may be best understood from an Afrocentric perspective.

Research Aim: This qualitative study aimed to explore perceptions of partner support among Black mothers to abductively develop a culturally relevant framework of partner support to improve their rates of breastfeeding. Our research question was, “What partner support behaviors do Black …

Development Of A New Measure To Assess For Poverty-Based Stress: The Poverty-Based Stressor Scale (Pbss), Brianna N. Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Poverty, typically measured by economic well-being or depravation, is the result of systemic flaws built into the structure of society that adversely impact multiple dimensions of health and well-being. The specific stressors that disproportionately impact low-income individuals are called poverty-based stressors, and they encompass multiple categories of risk including physical, psychosocial, and financial risks. Currently, there is not an adequate measure of poverty-based stressors for low-income adults in the United States (U.S.), which restricts our ability to accurately determine the effects of poverty on important health-related outcomes. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of …

The Protective Role Of Ethnic-Racial Socialization And Ethnic-Racial Identity On Academic Outcomes Among A Diverse Sample Of Emerging Adult Immigrants In The United States, Veronica Parris

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This study sought to address an existing gap in research literature by exploring the impact of family ethnic-racial socialization and ethnic-racial identity on family separation, the length-of-time living in the United States (US), perceptions of discrimination as well as stereotype threat, and academic outcomes among young adult immigrants to the US. A sample of 96 English-speaking immigrant-origin emerging adults (aged 18-25) from ethnically diverse backgrounds completed electronic self-report questionnaires. A Pearson’s correlational analysis found ethnic-racial identity to be significantly and positively related to ethnic-racial socialization, perceived stereotype threat, and academic outcomes. Additionally, a Linear regression analysis was conducted using length-of-time …

The Impact Of Facial Coverings On Emotion Recognition Accuracy And Confidence During The Covid-19 Pandemic: An International Comparison, Fatima Zahera Nayani

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

With increased face mask usage globally following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to understand factors that influence mask wearing behavior. One factor that may influence mask wearing behavior is the degree to which they potentially impair emotion recognition. Previous research that has suggested that there may be cultural differences in facial regions that people in Japan and the United States attend to when inferring a target’s emotional state, whereby Japanese are more likely to look to the eyes and Americans are more likely to look at the mouth (Yuki et al., 2006 & Jack et al., …