Child Psychology Commons^™

Playing With Weplay!: Adapting A Caregiver-Child Group For Caregivers Of Young Children With Early Signs Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Louisa A. Cahn-Gambino

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

WePlay! Denver, a collaboration between the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology and the Children’s Museum of Denver, Marsico Campus, began providing caregiver-infant playgroups to the community in 2019. WePlay! and Nosotros Jugamos, the English and Spanish-speaking groups, teach caregivers with young children about play-based exploration, provide psychoeducation, and offer resources. Qualitative data from WePlay! Denver’s initial groups and input from the WePlay! Denver team emphasized interest in expanding WePlay! to include families with children of varying developmental stages and who have specific developmental needs and considerations (Gross et al., 2021), such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD …

The Effect Of Animal-Assisted Therapy On Prosocial Behaviors In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Developmental Delay: A Pilot Study, Emma Mitchell

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction, nonverbal communication, and repetitive patterns (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Indeed, autistic individuals have been shown to have greater challenges with developing, maintaining, and understanding social relationships which can persist over their lifetime. Early intervention services are recommended for autistic children when they are young to help promote positive skills to enhance their functioning within society and increase their wellbeing over time. This is an especially pressing issue as ASD rates are rising – with the latest data now suggesting 1 in 36 children have the …

The Effects Of Parenting Styles On Communication Among Asian American Young Adults, Abigail Camarce

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Objective: This study investigated the relationship between parenting styles and communication difficulties. Previous studies explored different types of parenting styles and their impact on both mental health and child behavior outcomes. However, the relationship between these styles and communication challenges has largely remained underexplored. This study aimed to fill this void by examining data collected from Asian American (AA) young adults aged 18 to 30, shedding light on how various parenting approaches influence communication difficulties in their families. Method: Quantitative data for this study was gathered through Qualtrics from participants meeting the criteria of AA aged 18 to 30, who …

Investigating The Relation Between Family Income And Barriers For Black Caregivers Of Autistic Children, Leah Gelfand

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Black caregivers and families of autistic youth experience racial barriers (e.g., racial microaggressions, stigma;) and practical barriers (e.g., cost of treatment, long waitlists), when seeking treatment and diagnostic services (Lovelace et al., 2018). The current study aimed to ascertain whether family income influenced the racial and practical barriers experienced by a sample of Black caregivers of autistic youth (N = 101). Overall and item-level analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between racial and practical barriers experienced across Lower (below 39,693; n=32), Lower-Middle ($39,693-$59,540; n=28), Middle-Upper ($59,540 to $119,080; n=21), and Upper income groups ($119,080 and …

Study Exploring Feelings Of Self-Blame And Shame Among Individuals Raised By Severely Mentally Ill Caregivers, Joanie Minion

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The focus of this quantitative research project is to explore feelings of self- blame and/or shame among people who were raised by a primary caregiver with severe mental illness. Examples of serious mental illness (SMI) that are used in this study are bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depressive disorder (MDD) if psychotic symptoms are present, or it is treatment-resistant. Twenty-six adult participants were recruited via the researcher’s social media account and through others’ sharing the research project information. Demographic data and data regarding self-blame and shame as a child and as an adult and if they felt their family, friendships, …

Treatment Not Punishment: Youth Experiences Of Psychiatric Hospitalizations, Maira Ferrer-Cabrera

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study aims to better understand adolescent psychiatric hospitalization regarding the use of coercion at the hands of clinical staff from the perspectives of former hospital staff and former patients' family members. This study was conducted from a critical theory perspective. The researcher surveyed a total of fourteen former staff members and former patients' family members. This research study emphasized quantitative data as the way data was collected. The methods utilized to gather data were online surveys that were collected through Qualtrics and further analyzed using SPSS statistic data editor. The findings of this study showed that 25% of former …

A Bug’S-Eye View: Examining The Impact Of The Bug Squad Exhibit At A Local Children’S Museum, Vanessa Veretelnikov

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

To be sustained and prosper as a business, children museums must appease the children while also retaining their caregivers. In this way, it is important to consider the interactive exhibits chosen for children that will spark play, creativity, engagement, and development. Hands-on playing is vital in the development of a child, as it promotes their ability to progress socially, emotionally, and cognitively. Specifically, The Bug Squad at the Discovery Center in Binghamton, NY targeted this need to play directly, as its combination of hands-on learning and activities gauged the attention of the children throughout the museum. The purpose of this …

Pediatric Anxiety Disorders And Their Accommodation In The Elementary Classroom, Olivia Hobson

Scholars Day Conference

This presentation will give an overview of my research into the nature, impacts, and best practices for accommodating pediatric anxiety disorders, with special emphasis on the elementary classroom setting.

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Universal Depression Screenings In The High School Setting, Telisha Anthony Msn, Fnp-Bc, Jennifer Thorsen Bsn, Rn, Jackie Sharp Dnp, Pmhnp-Bc, Sharon Little Dnp, Fnp-Bc

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Purpose/Background

Depression in adolescents is rising each year. Early detection of depression has been shown to result in better health outcomes and success in school. This scoping review aims to evaluate the implementation of universal depression screenings in the high school setting and how this detection of depression and initiation of treatment.

Methods

From August 2022 to November 2023, we used the Medline, PubMed, Elsevier, Google Scholar, and PsycINFO databases, using specific keywords related to depression in adolescents. Of the 38 articles found, 10 were chosen after extensive article critique. The publication dates ranged from 2014-2023, were full-text, and from …

Communication Of Mental Health Diversity To The Early Childhood Age Group: “The Adventures Of Anxious Anderson, Distracted Daniel, And Organized Olive”, Jessica Gower

Honors Projects

In this project, I aim to explore various aspects of communication, cognitive ability, and mental health diversity in early child development. The three research questions guiding this project are: What cognitive and language abilities do children in the early childhood stage of development have? What are the most effective strategies for communicating information about mental health disorders to children ages 4 to 7 through storytelling? And lastly, how do anxiety, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) manifest, particularly in children? The storybook's purpose is to create a sense of empathy and understanding of mental health diversity in children …

Pediatric Anxiety Disorders And Their Accommodation In The Classrom, Olivia Hobson

Honors Theses

This project is an exploration of the origins, neurology and impacts of pediatric anxiety disorders, as well as the research-backed best practices for their accomodation within the school classroom setting.

A Responsible Parrhesia? A Review Of The Price Of Secrecy, Sara Tafakori

RadioDoc Review

The Price of Secrecy immerses the listener in stories of individual trauma, of child abuse and rape, yet also draws lessons from them of wider social significance. It includes moments of narrative catharsis, interspersed with repeated reminders that the stories are unfinished and open-ended—that the solutions lie out there, in social action, rather than in the stories themselves. The series also gestures towards structural critique, especially of ‘the legal constraints’ it identifies, yet it places greater importance on changing the wider culture through challenging the culture of secrecy and shame around victims’ stories of rape and abuse. This centrally means …

Mypov: Promoting Self-Efficacy And Empowerment Amongst Foster Youth, Hanah Friel

Senior Capstone Papers

Trauma is a key player in the lives of young people within the child welfare system. Adverse childhood experiences define the course of life for many foster youths prior to entering the system, and for many, exemplify their time during and after foster care. The results of this trauma are often overwhelming and far-reaching, as traumatic behaviors often take the form of distrust and dysregulation. Moreover, trauma can disrupt one’s sense of safety and contribute to feelings of disempowerment. For many, it is rare that our lives are representative of a complete lack of opportunity for self-efficacy and empowerment; however, …

Exploring The Feasibility And Outcomes Of Concurrent Parent And Child Mindfulness-Based Interventions, Melissa Read

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have shown to be effective in improving child and parent outcomes, including parental stress (Burgdorf et al., 2019; Friedmutter, 2016), child behaviour problems, and child executive functioning (Cheang et al., 2019; Donald et al., 2019; Dunning et al., 2019). The field of mindfulness has evolved to include parents and children together in programs, called parallel or concurrent parent and child MBIs. Children who have experienced adversity may be at a greater need for MBIs, as MBIs target stress and emotion regulation, areas where these children may need greater support (Bethell et al., 2016; Brenmer, 2003). As a …

Project Attain: Advancing Trauma-Informed Care For Youth With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities And/Or Gender Diverse Youth, Kady F. Sternberg, Charlotte E. Bausha, Charlotte Jones, Erin Knight, Crystal N. Steltenpohl, Rebecca R. Parton, Jennifer L. Mclaren, Erin R. Barnett

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and/or gender diversity are at higher risk of experiencing trauma. Provider knowledge is lacking; trauma, disability, and LGBTQ+ resources are often siloed; and few providers screen for trauma in this population. This paper describes the design, delivery, and initial evaluation of Project ATTAIN (Access to Trauma-informed Treatment and Assessment for Neurodivergent and/or Gender-expansive Youth).

ATTAIN is an ongoing 5-year state-wide initiative aiming to assess readiness to engage in new roles and practices over time; provide state-wide training and consultation in trauma, disability, and LGBTQ+-informed practices; install screening and assessment of trauma exposure and …

Social Emotional Learning For Students In Schools And Communities, Gisselle Villar

Senior Capstone Papers

The goal of the educational approach known as Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is to integrate these skills regarding SEL to be implemented in the school curriculum. In addition to emphasizing students’ abilities, education helps students build the kind of brains needed to acquire everyday tasks. The goal of this proposal is to help students develop a feeling of self-worth and awareness so they can connect and communicate honestly with one another. Schools will witness a significant shift in the lives of their students and the way teachers instruct once this learning is implemented. When this knowledge is successfully applied …

Interpersonal Violence And The Impact On Children’S Educational Outcomes, Samantha Hurst

Senior Capstone Papers

This capstone explores the complex topic of interpersonal violence which impacts children in the home and their school outcomes. Understanding children who are not getting their emotional or physical needs met could have a harder time focusing, staying awake, or being present in the classroom is incredibly important. This paper examines the pre-existing literature on the topic of how children react to interpersonal violence and how punishment in schools can affect academic outcomes. A solution is proposed for teachers to be taught trauma informed care to increase empathy towards students and decrease behavioral suspensions. Trauma informed care can mitigate partial …

Childhood Cancer Survivorship: Navigating A New Normal In Middle Tennessee, Karli M. Beaumont

OTD Capstone Projects

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in partnership with Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center offers REACH for Cancer Survivorship, a pediatric cancer survivorship clinic. REACH provides a full range of follow-up care designed to meet the physical, emotional, and practical needs of survivors and continuous surveillance of deleterious effects of cancer and its treatments. The purpose of this project was to meet population and agency needs through research of long- and late-term sequela while advocating for occupational therapy’s role in the oncology population through the proactive therapy and prospective surveillance models. The process of creating this project included synthesizing the literature, …

Trauma And Juvenile Offending, Cynthia Vasquez, April Terry

SACAD: John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days

Over the past few decades, studies have shown a relationship between childhood abuse and neglect and juvenile justice system involvement. Additionally, the United States supervises and incarcerates more youth than other established country. This process—from abuse to incarceration—has become known as the abuse-to-prison pipeline or victimization-to-imprisonment. Many traumatized youth find themselves responding to their trauma with behaviors deemed delinquent (e.g., skipping school and running away) which then begins their path into the juvenile justice system. For a sub-set of youth, they are dual-involved, meaning, they are supervised in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. For some youth, their …

Making Deception Fun: Teaching Autistic Individuals How To Playfriendly Tricks, Adel Naj, Megan St. Clair, Kacie Massoudie, Jonathan Tarbox, Lauri Simchoni, Marianne Jackson, Angela Persicke

Psychology Division Scholarship

Perspective taking is a critical repertoire for navigating social relationships and consists of a variety of complex verbalskills, including socially adaptive forms of deception. Detecting and being able to use socially adaptive deception likelyhas many practical uses, including defending oneself against bullying, telling white lies to avoid hurting others’ feelings,keeping secrets and bluffing during games, and playing friendly tricks on others. Previous research has documented thatsome Autistic1 children have challenges identifying deception and playfully deceiving others (Reinecke et al., 1997). Thecurrent study employed a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the use of multiple exemplar training, rules,modeling, practice, and …