Digital Commons Network^™

Thought Suppression Change In Cancer Patients And Survivors After Writing, Erin O'Carroll Bantum

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Breast cancer is a debilitating and many times fatal disease that will affect approximately 215,990 women in the United States alone this year. Treatment for breast cancer can involve many physically and psychologically straining features. The illness perception theory states that individuals form illness representations to make sense of health threats and illness. These representations contain a number of individual, specific attributes about the illness identity, and cause, time-line, consequences of, and cure/control of the illness. Many women who have experienced breast cancer have also been found to be keeping their thoughts inside. Thought suppression has been linked to many …

The Application Of The Transtheoretical Model Of Change To Self-Care Behaviors In Type 2 Diabetics, Heather N. Mercer

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background. The Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) has been investigated as a model of health behavior change; however, it has only begun to gain recognition in the diabetic population, and has not yet been investigated as it relates to the full-spectrum of diabetes self-care behaviors.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to compare the pattern of stages of change across four self-care behaviors between intervention and control groups, and examine psychosocial and health outcome variables.

Method. In a cross-sectional design, a sample of 132 adult subjects with type 2 diabetes completed surveys. The survey assessed stages of change among …

Social Welfare Systems And Their Effects On Adolescent Violence, Injecting Drug Use, And Negative Health Behaviors, Elvin A. Hernandez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Youth and young adults who are injection drug users (IDU’s) often live and survive in physical and emotional environments that are associated with negative behaviors and outcomes. Past environmental and social factors, such as participation in social welfare systems or institutionalization in foster care or juvenile hall, have been found to be associated with IDU-involved young adults’ health behaviors when they become older. Social networks, which include drug, sex, or hangout networks, may influence their health outcomes and behaviors. The goals of this dissertation include an investigation of how reported past social welfare participation and institutionalization is associated with IDU-involved …

Reasons For Complementary And Alternative Medicine Usage In Japanese Americans, Theodora Stratis

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) has received much research attention in the last several years due to marked increase in usage in the U.S. To date, findings indicate that 34% of adults in the U.S. report using at least one form of CAM for the maintenance of general health and acute symptoms and such use continue to increase (Astin, 1998; Eisenberg et al., 1993). CAM therapies are also used by those who suffer from chronic physical and psychological symptoms not successfully treated by conventional medicine (Testerman et al., 2004). Though researchers have examined who is using CAM and why they …

On The Measurement Of Nicotine Dependence In Adolescence: Comparisons Of The Mftq And A Dsm-Iv–Based Scale, Denise Kandel, Christine Schaffran, Pamela Griesler, Jessica Samuolis, Mark Davies, Rosaria Galanti

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: To compare nicotine-dependent smokers identified by the modified Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire (mFTQ) and a scale based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV), in a multiethnic adolescent sample. Methods: A school survey was conducted on 6th- to 10th-grade students (N= 15,007) in a large urban public school system. Results: The two scales formed two distinct factors. The concordance between the two classifications of nicotine dependence was low. The DSM identified a much larger number of nicotine-dependent smokers than the mFTQ, mostly because smokers met dependence criteria at much lower levels of …

Effectiveness Of A Treatment Approach For Major Depressive Disorder: A Case Study, Lisa Gail Mazzagatti

Theses and Dissertations

This case study assessed the efficacy of a treatment approach for a thirty-seven year old Caucasian female who was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. The intervention utilized techniques from several therapeutic approaches including cognitive-behavioral, psychoeducational and gestalt. The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) was used as an outcome measure. It was administered at the third, seventh, eleventh, fifteenth, and nineteenth session. Results indicated a decrease in depressive symptomotology over the course of treatment. Client self-report, clinical observations and a client satisfaction survey also supported the overall effectiveness of the treatment approach. The case study presents a psychosocial assessment, literature review, …

Family Violence And Divorce: Effects On Marriage Expectations., Hollie Nicole Dillon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Family violence and divorce can have influential effects on marital expectations. The present study analyzes the effects of gender, family violence, and divorce on marital expectations. Participants were 293 students enrolled in an introductory psychology course at a southeastern university. The mean age of the participants was 19.67 with 62.5 % being female and 37.5% being male. Participants completed the Conflict Tactics Scale to assess the presence of violence in the participant’s family of origin. Participants were also assessed on their parent’s marital status and, if applicable, their age at the time of divorce. This information was gathered via a …

A Survey Examining The Attitudes In A College Population Toward Suicide Attempters., Kandi Shearer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicidal behaviors are common and problematic among young populations, and attitudes held towards such behavior likely impact the frequency of its occurrence. The present study was conducted to gain insight into the attitudes held towards suicide attempt victims amongst a traditional college population. Undergraduate students (n = 360) were administered a survey to assess demographics, suicide ideation levels, and perceptions formed after reading a short suicide attempt report. Results indicated that ideation levels had the most impact on perceptions, with ideators being significantly more likely than non-ideators to view suicide attempters as more intelligent, more justified in their actions, more …

Chronic Olanzapine Treatment Eliminates Cognitive Deficits Produced By Neonatal Quinpirole Treatment., Stephanie K. Thacker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated the effects of chronic olanzapine treatment on cognitive performance and neurochemical function in a rodent model of schizophrenia. Animals were neonatally treated with quinpirole, a dopamine D₂ receptor agonist, or saline. Quinpirole treatment produces an increase of dopamine D₂ receptor sensitivity that extends into adulthood, known as D₂ receptor priming, similar to a phenomenon that occurs in schizophrenia. These same rats were treated in adulthood for 28 days with olanzapine, an atypical antipsychotic, or saline. Dopamine D₂- primed rats demonstrated significant deficits on a cognitive task that were alleviated by olanzapine treatment. …

Supportive And Challenging Social Factors In A Decision To Be Sexually Abstinent, Evan Alvord

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Several studies have examined the intrinsic factors, including fear of pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases, which motivate adolescents to choose sexual abstinence. Currently, little research has been dedicated solely to the extrinsic/social factors, which may also be influential in the decision to abstain from pre-marital sex. Four social factors were presumed to be especially influential, supporting a decision to be sexually abstinent and four social factors were presumed to be significant, challenging the choice to adopt a sexually-abstinent-untilmarriage life style. The proposed supportive social factors include: (a) Parental influence, (b) Peer influence, ( c) Religious affiliation/membership, ( d) Personal relationship …

Biased Preferences To Names, Timothy J. Panek, Megan Gibson

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

The experimenters intended to show support that children have a bias against names that are uncommon and difficult to pronounce. Common and uncommon names were taken from the social security administration. Sixty-nine college students participated in a survey to determine what names are difficult to pronounce. Names that were common and easy to pronounce were paired with those names that were uncommon and difficult to pronounce. These pairings underwent a t-test to ensure they were significantly different from each other. Twenty-one children whose ages range from 6 to 12 took part in an interview on preferences of names. In using …

Spring 2005, Full Issue

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

Full Issue

Consumer Perception And Food Packaging, Dan Agnew, Patti Nibert, Shawna Wells

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

Color in food packaging may influence consumer perception of various factors of health of the food product. If lighter colored food packages are seen as healthy, people who are concerned about health will purchase these products. In this study, fifty participants were asked to answer questions about food products based on the packaging color. There were four trials of products, all of which contained three packages that were colored red, green, or light blue. Ultimately, products that were lighter in color, i.e. light blue, were indicated as being the healthier products

People Perception: The Effects Of Facial Piercings, Sarah Torpea

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

The research hypothesis of this study is that subjects will have a more negative perception of models with facial piercings than models without. There were 35 subjects surveyed. Each subject looked at 15 pictures of people between the ages of 19 and 21 years. There were 11 filler pictures and four model pictures in each survey. The subject answered questions that helped them to rate these people on different positive and negative scales. The models were shown with no facial piercing, a fake lip piercing, a fake nose piercing or both a fake lip and nose piercing. The same models …

A Comparison Of The Basc And The Cbcl With Referred Preschoolers, Kristina Sidebottom

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Behavior rating scales, such as the Behavior Assessment System for Children ([BASC] Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1998) and the Child Behavior Checklist ([CBCL] Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000), are often used to assess social and emotional behavior problems. Although a substantial amount of research exists on the previous version of the BASC/6-18 and CBCL/4-18, little research exists on the latest preschool versions of the BASC/2.5-5 and CBCL/1.5-5. The current study examined the overall consistency between the latest BASC and CBCL preschool versions. A sample of 50 parents of preschool-aged children referred for a developmental evaluation participated in this study by completing both …

Effects Of Anti- And Pro-Smoking Campaigns On The Prevalence Of Smoking In College Students, Jennifer Campbell, Pamela Newcombe, Angela Radford

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

This study sought to show relationships between anti- and pro-smoking advertisement campaigns and the prevalence of smoking among college students. A total of 102 undergraduate students from Lindenwood University participated in the survey, which contained questions regarding family, friends, personal non-smoking and smoking habits, and the number and type of anti- and pro-smoking ads viewed. The researchers obtained informed consent, distributed the survey, and debriefed each participant after completion of the survey. The statistical analysis of the data did not show any relationships between exposure to ads and the prevalence of smoking. However, exposure to pro-smoking advertisements did affect brand …

Stress And The Common Cold, Nicole Kinman, Angela Vincent

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

Stress is very common among people especially in today’s world. People also seem to be getting colds much more often than they used to. Does stress cause people to get sick more often? In the present study 40 participants, all Lindenwood University students ages 18 to 29 years old took a stress test and a health questionnaire in an attempt to determine whether or not the more stressed a person is the more often they will get sick. The participants were asked to spare five minutes of their time to complete the two surveys. This study determined that there is …

Do Sports Have An Effect On School Performance?, Tara Clegg

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

The amount of time someone spends playing and practicing for a sport, or how much involvement it has with other activities was studied in respect to performance in school. Students were assumed to not do well in school if they were too involved with sports and other extracurricular activities. The students that participated in the research were all from the human subject pool at Lindenwood University. These students were either in a psychology, anthropology, or sociology class to receive extra credit. All of them were administered a ten questions survey in regards to involvement and school. In the study, 28 …

Suicide As Covered In The Media, Jamie Gonzalez

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

The media plays an important role in shaping the public about suicide. The media has a professional and moral obligation to report incidents of suicide in an appropriate manner. The Center for Disease Control has set forth requirements for the media; making recommendations about how incidents of suicide are best reported. In 1989, the CDC established these guidelines, yet many national newspapers are not following these requirements. This study explained that the media has not made any progress in this area since the CDC’s recommendations. Thirty-six articles from three national, daily newspapers were critiqued with questions from the CDC’s requirements. …

Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Through The Alive Center (A Local Information And Volunteer Exchange), Stacia Wolf

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Risk and protective factors for juvenile delinquency are identified and addressed at national and local levels. A need for an information, referral, and volunteer center to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors in youth was identified in Warren County. The ALIVE Center (A Local Information and Volunteer Exchange) was founded to address this need. Qualitative research of services and programs offered by information, referral, and volunteer centers and a survey to specific local agencies as regards their use of the ALIVE Center was conducted to guide the development of services at the ALIVE Center. Information, resource, and referral centers …

Actual And Ideal Self Discrepancy And Body Satisfaction, Sheena Moyers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in research and concern over body image and body attitudes in both clinical and community settings (Sondhaus, Kurtz, & Strube, 2001). Historically, body image has been thought to be more important to women than to men. However, recently male body image has begun to increase in importance. Over the past few decades, men have been facing increased societal pressure, concerning the type of body that they should have. One such way that pressure is manifested is through muscle dysmorphia, and a potential influence on muscle dysmorphia is self-concept. Self-concept may interact …

Lasting Impressions: Parental Persuasion And Its Permanence In A Child's Development, Kelcey Newton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The questions of parents are never fully answered due to the plethora of factors involved in raising children. However, a different angle of research has uncovered some new techniques that provide renewed hope for the longevity of parental impact. Many people understand that parents—and people in general—use and are daily impacted by persuasion. This research shows that if parents can more completely understand positive persuasive tactics, their values can potentially follow children from the bubble of the home to their adulthood. An important component of this parental persuasion is the use of inoculation techniques to help children not only live …

Concurrent Validity Of The Clinical Assessment Of Depression With The Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition, Shelley Hicks

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Depression is a disorder that can affect every aspect of one's life, ranging from physical health issues to interpersonal relationship difficulties. Therefore, it is imperative that the depressive symptoms of college students be identified, evaluated, and treated. Self-report measures are a common technique to identify depressive symptomatology in individuals and assist in diagnosis and treatment. Existing measures are often used as a criterion by which to validate the psychometric properties and effectiveness of newly designed, self-report measures. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the concurrent validity of a newly published self-report measure of depression, the Clinical Assessment of …

Emotional Intelligence And Social Skills: Studying Students With Emotional-Behavioral Disability (Ebd), Bridget Wilfert

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Students diagnosed with Emotional-Behavioral Disability (EBD) have an inability to successfully interact with peers or adults. This study examined 33 students with EBD to investigate their emotional intelligence, social skills, and the relationship between these two constructs. Participants were classified as either primary (grades 1-6, n = 14) or secondary (grades 7-12, n = 19). Students completed a Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) Self-Report Student Form and a BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Edition (EQi: YV) Form, while special education teachers completed the SSRS Teacher Form on each student. Results indicated that the emotional intelligence and social skills of these …

The Effects Of Core Affect, Emotion, And Self-Efficacy On Physiologic Response To Social Stressors, Jessica L. Reedy

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Cardiovascular health is affected by many factors including biological aspects such as heredity and overall health, as well as by environmental factors. Social stress, socioeconomic status, family environment, and coping skills have all been shown to contribute increased risk for cardiovascular disease. In an effort to further elucidate past findings in this area, this study, conducted on 36 college-age students, examined the connection between physiological response (blood pressure, heart rate, and mean arterial pressure) to laboratory social stressors in correspondence to emotional, affective, and arousal levels, as measured by self-report. The results yielded a significant relationship between physiologic response to …

A Comparison Of The Basc And Cbcl With At-Risk Preschoolers, Sara Murphy

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Behavior rating scales, such as the Behavior Assessment System for Children ([BASC] Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1998) and the Child Behavior Checklist ([CBCL] Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000), are often used to assess social and emotional behavior problems. Although a substantial amount of research exists on the previous version of the BASC/6-18 and CBCL/4-18, little research exists on the latest preschool versions of the BASC/2.5-5 and CBCL/1.5-5. The current study examined the overall consistency between the revised BASC and CBCL preschool versions. A sample of 33 parents of preschool-aged children considered "at-risk" participated in this study by completing both the BASC and …

Advocating For Clinicians, Students And Clients: The Bibliotherapy Education Project, D. Pehrsson, P. S. Mcmillen

Library Faculty Presentations

The Bibliotherapy Education Project
- A 5-year collaborative project
- Address grounded preparation
- Address counselor competence
- Student access and/or client access to free materials
- Integrating therapy into community libraries and resources
- Provide international resource via WWW

The Effect Of Social Support On Physical Health In Older Individuals, Erin M. Jackson

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of The Availability Heuristic On Student's Judgments Of Others Alcohol Consumption, Jennifer Mcenroy

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The primary purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that enhancing the availability of images that either portrayed liberal heavy drinking at college or the conservative academic side of college would serve to influence students’ perceptions of peer norms. It was hypothesized that students would rely on the availability heuristic to make judgments of peer norms, so that exposure to a movie clip that emphasized drinking would increase estimates of peer drinking norms when compared with exposure to a movie clip that emphasized academic work. It was further hypothesized that the film clips would assist participants in making …

The Relationship Between Psychopathology In Caregivers And Their Children With Asthma, Jaime L. Benson

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Asthma is the leading chronic illness among children, and children with asthma have an increased risk not only for physical problems, but also for social and emotional difficulties related to their asthma. These risks are compounded when children have a caregiver who is depressed. The effects of maternal depression for children are complex and have been shown to persist into adolescence and adulthood. This is especially important because children with asthma, who are already at risk for psychopathology, may have increased internalizing and externalizing problems when their primary caregivers have depression or display depressive symptoms. Because depression affects cognitive functioning …