Digital Commons Network^™

Street Children: A Comparative Perspective, Kevin Lalor

Articles

Objective: This paper examines the findings from recent studies of street children in Ethiopia. Methods: Following a discussion of the term “street children,” comparisons are drawn between Latin American and Ethiopian street children in terms of gender, age, reasons for going to the streets, family relations and structure, delinquency, drug use, groups and the outcomes of street life. In particular, the victimisation of street children in Ethiopia is examined. Results: Widespread abuse of street children was reported. More than half of the street boys questioned reported being “regularly” physically attacked. Street life is also highly victimogenic for street girls. Sexual …

Important Considerations In Counseling Asian Indians, Winston Seegobin

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

No abstract provided.

Forgiveness Motives Among Evangelical Christians: Implications For Christian Marriage And Family Therapists, Mark R. Mcminn, Katheryn Rhoads Meek, Amy W. Dominguez, J Gregory Ryan, Kevin Novotny

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Therapists and researchers interested in forgiveness can learn from those who have experienced interpersonal wounds and have chosen to forgive. We interviewed 20 evangelical Christian forgivers, asking about motives for forgiveness. Transcripts were analyzed using qualitative methods. Five categories of motivation are presented: comfort, duty, relational, humility/empathy, and Christian beliefs. Respondents described multiple motives for forgiveness, often combining a desire for comfort or a sense of duty with their Christian beliefs. Four implications for Christian marriage and family therapists are discussed: Expect diversity, avoid moralistic views of motives, remember religious resources in the forgiveness process, and expect benefits, but not …

Neuropsychological Assessment, Winston Seegobin

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Excerpt: "Clinical neuropsychology is primarily concerned with how expressions of behavior are affected by brain dysfunction (Lezak, 1995). A neuropsychological assessment consists of a series of systematic clinical diagnostic procedures used to determine the extent of behavioral or cognitive deficits after a person sustains brain injury or damage (see Brain Injuries). It initially involves a clinical interview in which detailed information about the patient's history, premorbid functioning, and factors surrounding the precipitation of the dysfunction or damage are gathered. Often a mental status examination is then performed, in which a brief assessment is made of appearance and behavior, speech and …

Depression: Illness, Insight, And Identity, Mike W. Martin

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

Depression needs to be understood within interdisciplinary scientific, biopsychosocial, therapeutic frameworks, but it also has a moral dimension. The tendency to oppose moral and therapeutic perspectives, as well as to replace moral outlooks with mental-health outlooks, handicaps thinking about depression and many other topics. John Stuart Mill's midlife crisis illustrates how an experience of depression can be both a sickness and a source of moral insight. Furthermore, therapy has a moral dimension, and conversely a humane outlook is interwoven with health-oriented approaches and avoids excessive blaming and guilt. Complicating matters, depression sometimes undermines moral autonomy, and there is a continuum …

Foreword, Kenneth J. Gergen

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

What Sexuality? : An Exploratory Study Examining Sexual Activity And Affectionate Sexual Expression In A Western Australian Sample Of Older Adults, Christina M. Petz

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Sexuality later in life has been receiving increased research interest, however, a large majority of research investigates a narrow range of sexual behaviours, primarily frequency of sexual intercourse. There is limited information regarding other forms of sexual expression, specifically affectionate sexual expression that are relevant to older adults. The present day study explores what affectionate sexual behaviours constitute affectionate sexual expression and compares sexual intercourse with affectionate expression. The sample consisted of 77 married men (n=35) and women (n=42) aged 60-89 years who came from various senior groups and organisations in the Perth metropolitan area. A survey was developed that …

Disruptive Behaviour In Nursing Home Residents: A Study Of Some Predisposing Factors, Ian F. Johnston

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Behaviour disorders are common among nursing home residents and the management of these problems is difficult and emotionally taxing for caregivers. Although widespread acknowledgment of the problem exists amongst those caring for the elderly, there has, until recently, been little formal investigation of these disorders in any systematic degree. This study investigated 63 nursing home residents (22 males and 41 females) in two primary diagnostic categories; those with vascular dementia and those with dementia due to other causes, primarily Alzheimer's disease. A review of the literature suggested that the nature and frequency of disruptive behaviour differed across these two prevalent …

The Relative Importance Of Barriers To Cervical Cancer Screening In Older Women : A Review Of 140 Women And Their Pap Smear Providers, Nerida Beaumont

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Cervical cancer remains a significant cause of death in women. There is a notable age related decrease in levels of screening and women aged over 50 years with later, more invasive disease. One hundred and forty women aged between 50 and 69 years (M "'58.21 years) and 23 Pap smear providers completed a Cervical Cancer Screening Questionnaire designed to identify the relative importance of barriers to attendance for cervical screening, as well as providers own barriers and issues. Responsibility for health, familiarity with, and ratings of the usefulness of Pap smears were the major dimensions along which regular and non-regular …

The Effect Of Employment And Workers' Compensation Litigation On The Pain, Psychological State And Disability Of Chronic Back Pain Sufferers, P. B. Suter

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Previous research exploring the relationship between litigation status and the symptoms of the plaintiff has been inconsistent and limited by methodological dlfficulties. While Mendelson (1984, 1986, 1988) argued there was no difference In symptoms and rates of work return between litigating chronic pain patients and those not involved in the compensation system, others argued that work related injuries were maintained either by the plaintiffs' wish for monetary compensation (compensation neurosis), or by their involvement in the medico-legal process with the stress of the litigation slowing down the recuperative process (nomogenic influences). Dworkin and colleagues (1985) highlighted the importance of including …

Attachment Styles And Childhood Trauma In Batterer Subtypes, Eric S. Davidson

Masters Theses

Eighty-three men seeking treatment for domestic violence and 28 non-violent control subjects completed self-report questionnaires on conflict resolution, attachment styles, and childhood trauma. Those seeking treatment were divided into three batterer subtypes in order to determine if there were differences between the three groups and the control group in attachment styles, and childhood trauma (overall trauma, sexual assault, punishment, and neglect). There were no significant relationships found between batterer subtype or subject status (batterer vs. non-batterer) concerning attachment style. Significant results were found concerning trauma and batterer status, as well as some significant differences between batterer subtype and trauma. Limitations …

An Investigation Of The Construct Validity Of The Children's Skills Test, Cynthia D. L. Ladd

Masters Theses

The Children's Skills Test (CST) is an aptitude and achievement test for children in grades Kindergarten through Nine, developed from the American School Psycho-Educational Assessment Battery (ASPAB). It is designed for home administration via the computer, and no examiner is present. At this time, no technical information has been released regarding the CST, nor has any research been published.

The Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) is a brief measure of general intelligence with sound technical properties. It is administered by an examiner. The K-BIT has been correlated with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (WISC-III), the most commonly …

An Investigation Of Convergent And Divergent Validity Between Asca And Basc Trs, Jennifer L. Ingles

Masters Theses

The Behavior Assessment Scale for Children - Teacher Rating Scale (BASC - TRS) and the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA) are both teacher rating scales which may be used by school psychologists to assess psychopathology. To date, these scales have not been compared in professional literature, although they assess similar social, emotional, and behavioral constructs. According to research, both scales appear to be technically superior teacher report rating scales. The current study analyzed ASCA and BASC TRS ratings which were completed on randomly selected students between the ages of 6 and 11 (n = 124). Convergent validity was …

The Construct Validity Of The Adjustment Scales For Children And Adolescents (Asca) And The Preschool And Kindergarten Behavior Scales (Pkbs), Jamie D. Rich

Masters Theses

The Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA) and the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS) are two relatively new behavior assessment scales that measure youth problem behavior. The ASCA is designed to be completed by the child's classroom teacher. The PKBS is designed to be completed by the child's teacher, parent, or day care provider. Both scales are unique and are considered to be technically adequate. Many of their syndromes/subscales and global scales/composites are similar in nature and description according to their respective manuals. No research, however, has been conducted establishing convergent evidence of construct validity between these two …

Collaborative Versus Prescriptive School-Based Behavioral Consultation: An Analysis Of Verbal Resistance, Brandon M. Royer

Masters Theses

Audiotaped problem analysis interviews involving actual referrals from 25 elementary school teachers were examined. A Teacher Resistance Code (TRC) was developed from Patterson's (1985) Client Noncompliance Code and used to evaluate verbal resistance in both "collaborative" and "prescriptive" problem analysis interviews. The relationship between resistance, interview condition, and treatment acceptability was assessed. Results indicated no significant differences in resistance between the collaborative and prescriptive conditions. Analysis of Intervention Rating Profile-15 (IRP-15) (Martens, Witt, Elliott, & Darveaux, 1985) scores between collaborative and prescriptive cases also revealed no significant differences. Analysis of the association between resistance on the Teacher Resistance Code and …

The Influence Of Spatial Reference Frames On Imagined Object-And Vvewer Rotations, Maryjane Wraga, Sarah H. Creem, Dennis R. Proffitt

Psychology: Faculty Publications

The human visual system can represent an object's spatial structure with respect to multiple frames of reference. It can also utilize multiple reference frames to mentally transform such representations. Recent studies have shown that performance on some mental transformations is not equivalent: Imagined object rotations tend to be more difficult than imagined viewer rotations. We reviewed several related research domains to understand this discrepancy in terms of the different reference frames associated with each imagined movement. An examination of the mental rotation literature revealed that observers' difficulties in predicting an object's rotational outcome may stem from a general deficit with …

Leadership In Student Organizations: Do Women And Men Lead Stereotypically?, Jennifer Cullen Danielson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Men and women are believed to vary along stereotypical male and female leadership behaviors (Cann & Siegfried, 1990; Eagly & Johnson, 1990). Stereotypic leadership behaviors for men are defined as task and goal oriented behavior, whereas for women, it is interpersonal or social behavior. The present study explored the leadership behavior of male and female students in student organizations at a mid-western state university. The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI; Posner & Kouzes, 1988) was used to assess leadership behavior in the student organizations. The leaders of 100 student organizations, 50 males and 50 females, were contacted and asked to fill …

Changes In Food Attitudes As A Function Of Hunger, Dora Lozano, Stephen Crites, Shelley Aikman

Departmental Papers (Psych)

This experiment investigated whether hunger selectively influences attitudes toward common food items. Ss completed a take-home questionnaire on which they rated their attitudes toward food and non-food items when they were either hungry (45 Ss) or not hungry (45 Ss); after returning the questionnaire, Ss completed a second take-home questionnaire in the opposite hunger condition. Results of both between-subject and within-subject analyses revealed that Ss rated foods more positively when hungry compared to not hungry and that there was no difference in the ratings of nonfoods when hungry vs not hungry. Moreover, attitudes toward high-fat foods changed more as a …

Effect Of Discounting On Self-Generated Attitude Change: A Person By Situtation, Fiorella Giulietta Speziani

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research used a trait-based impression formation task to explore the effect of instructional set and opportunity for thought on inconsistency discounting. It was predicted that attitude polarization would be attenuated, regardless of opportunity for thought, when discounting incongruent information was difficult. When discounting incongruent information was easy, attitude polarization was expected to increase as opportunity for thought increased. The relationship between discounting and opportunity for thought was expected to be accentuated when individuals are low in tolerance for ambiguity. The results did not support these predictions. Explanations for the results are discussed and directions for future research are proposed.

Psychotherapeutic Time-Machine, Vladimir Maikov

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

No abstract provided.

Krypton, Or The Finches Of Kahala, T. R. Soidla

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

No abstract provided.

In Search Of Meaning Some Thoughts On Belief, Doubt, And Wellbeing, Anthony J. Marsella

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

No abstract provided.

A Revision Of The Spiritual Well-Being Scale, Peter D. Endyke

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Research results indicated the Spiritual Well-being Scale, developed by Ellison and Paloutzian (Paloutzian & Ellison, 1982; Ellison, 1983) suffered from ceiling effects (Ledbetter, et al, 1991). This suggested the Spiritual Well-being Scale might not adequately measure the construct of spiritual well-being, which has implications for the usefulness of the instrument. The purpose of this study was to show that spiritual disciplines are an essential part of spiritual health. Thus, the inclusion of aspects of the spiritual disciplines in the Spiritual Well-being Scale would: 1) reduce the ceiling effects of the scale, 2) increase the variability of the scale, and 3) …

Knowledge And Attitudes Of Sexuality In The Elderly Among Educators Of Health Care Professionals, Joanne L. Chapman

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Many elderly adults have fears and concerns regarding sexuality, including the impact of chronic disease on sexual function. Typically, society has negative attitudes toward elderly sexual expression with misconceptions, negative stereotyping and myths compounding ageist perceptions that the elderly become asexual with age. Thus knowledge of and attitudes toward sexuality in the elderly has become an area of interest over the past several decades. In an attempt to promote sexual expression as a right for the elderly and physiological changes viewed in terms of positive adjustment, White (1982) developed an instrument to determine knowledge of and attitudes towards sexuality of …

The Relationship Between Transportation Mode Choice And Well-Being: An Ecological Perspective, Carolyn King

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The present study is based on an ecological analysis of transport and wellbeing as devised by Stokols and Novaco (1981). This study seeks to examine the link between transport mode and well-being. One hundred and eight Participants (N= 1 08) filled out a questionnaire that contained the psychological well-being scales of self-efficacy, general health and perceived stress; and the organizational scales of job satisfaction and absenteeism. The participants were divided into groups of 18 according to which transport mode they used. The transport mode groups were drive alone, train, bus, car pool, walk or cycle. It was hypothesized that there …

Bibliotherapy : Background, Application And Research, Carla Marie Eich

Graduate Research Papers

This paper examines bibliotherapy in several aspects. Bibliotherapy is using books to help with client's problems or for developmental adjustment and growth. Bibliotherapy has a long history, dating back to early man. However, it was not until this century that scholars began studying it further. In 1949, the process of bibliotherapy was developed which is discussed in this paper. Research support for bibliotherapy has been mixed and speculation as to why is also discussed. There are many limitations of bibliotherapy which are important to consider if a therapist is interested in bibliotherapy. This paper allows the critics of bibliotherapy to …

Doctoral Programs In Clinical Psychology Policies And Procedures 1999-2000, Nova Southeastern University

College of Psychological Services / College of Psychology Postgraduate Student and Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Perceived Empathy In Self-Help Books, Jerome M. Spector

Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether written self-help materials conveyed empathy and whether reader's perceptions of empathy could be measured. Subjects (N = 65) were asked to rate 6 passages from 3 books on 2 questions derived from Rogers' (1961) restatement rule, and make a hypothetical choice among the authors as therapists. Using paired sample t tests, it was found that the mean differences in the ratings in 9 out of 12 cases were significant. One choice of therapist outcome out of the 2 was significant, x2 (2, N = 55) = 37.673, p < 0.001. It was concluded that the results supported theories that empathy, as a pluralistic concept, was inherent in written materials, and could be measured.

Needle Localization For Breast Biopsy: The Patient's Experience, Marian De Walt Morgan

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The needle localization procedure for breast biopsy (NLP) can be painful and distressing for some women. This study was carried out to learn what factors might increase or decrease NLP pain and distress, and to gain insight into possible interventions to make the procedure more comfortable for all patients. One hundred and thirty-eight women were surveyed following breast needle localization at two central Virginia hospitals. The influence of eight variables (lidocaine, self-regulation, anxiety, worry about breast cancer, breast tenderness, finding mammography painful, difficulty with surgery, and distress of blood drawing) on four outcome variables (pain incidence, pain intensity, pain unpleasantness, …

Learned Optimism In Children, A. J. Shatté, K. J. Reivich, Jane Gillham, M. E. P. Seligman

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.