Digital Commons Network^™

Multicultural Therapy With Vulnerable Populations: A Narrative Case Study, Nicole M. Velez-Agosto, María C. Almario-Zgheib

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Vulnerable populations with high rates of socioeconomic deprivation have an increasing need for mental healthcare and the lowest access to culturally competent care. Narrative therapy and critical multiculturalism are inclusive paradigms of mental health that appear appropriate for the treatment of people who endorse vulnerable intersecting identities. The purpose of this case study is to examine the impact of using a critical multicultural-developmental approach to therapy with a cisgender, mixed-race, LatinX woman with severe mental illness (SMI). Recommendations about the implementation of this approach in community mental health centers that treat women with SMI are provided.

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – Iv México Versus U.S. Versions In The Assessment Of Mexican Americans, Gabriela Ontiveros, Philip Gerard Gasquoine

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Objective:

To delineate score differences between the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) and the WAIS-IV México in the assessment of balanced bilingual Mexican Americans and to determine the efficacy of five hold measures in predicting summary scores in each version.

Methods:

Hold measures were WAIS-IV Information, Vocabulary, and Matrix Reasoning subtests, picture vocabulary, and the Test of Premorbid Function (English)/Word Accentuation Test (Spanish). Using a repeated measures design, 60 neurologically intact participants were tested in a counterbalanced order, with WAIS-IV version as the repeated measure (mean intertest interval = 5.68 days). To minimize practice effects, the five visual-perceptual subtests, which …

The Pilling Process: Significance Quest, Self-Verification, And Fusion In Online Incel Forums, Gregory J. Rousis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Incels (short for “involuntary celibates) are an online community of men who blame women for their reputed sexual and romantic failures. The misogyny of their worldview, called the blackpill, has inspired multiple instances of real-world violence against women. Alarmingly, we know little about the temporal processes whereby an incel goes from joining an online community to becoming deeply aligned (i.e., “fused”) with the group. This project sought to address this by scraping incels’ most popular web forum and using text analysis to identify psychological mechanisms that could be responsible for incels’ fusion. The resulting dataset consisted of 1,097,841 unique discussion …

Black Clinicians' Perceptions Of The Cultural Relevance Of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy For Black Families, Erica E. Coates, Sierra Coffey, Kaela Farrise Beauvoir, Emily Aron, Katherine R. Hayes, Felipa T. Chavez

Psychology Faculty Publications

Parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT) is a highly efficacious, evidence-based treatment for children with disruptive behaviors and their families. PCIT is a dyadic therapy designed to improve parent–child relationships and decrease children’s behavioral problems. PCIT research specific to Black families is currently sparse. Given findings that Black families have a higher attrition rate and demonstrate fewer significant improvements in parental well-being outcomes, we sought to assess clinicians’ perceived cultural alignment of PCIT with Black families. We conducted individual interviews via Zoom with 10 Black clinicians, trained in PCIT, who had experience treating Black families using PCIT. The research team generated the …

The Spiritual Well‑Being Scale In The Polish Catholic Setting: Construct, Structure, And Relationships With Psychological Well‑Being, Beata Zarzycka, Kamil Tomaka, Michał Grupa, Raymond F. Paloutzian, Rodger K. Bufford

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

The population of Poland could be of particular interest to researchers studying religion and spirituality. Catholicism has played a significant role in shaping the country’s culture, history, and tradition and is considered a national religion. More recently, however, the processes of moving away from regular participation in religious services and loosening ties with the institution of the Catholic Church are marked (Polish Public Opinion Research Center, CBOS). The Polish Catholic setting may modify the associations between psychological variables that have been studied in their relationships with spirituality, which have been investigated in religious contexts differing from a Polish Catholic one. …

Investigating Public Acceptance Of Responses To Public Emergencies: Based On Text Transparency And Empathy Sentiment Analysis, Xuefeng Zhang, Yelin Huang

Journal of Scientific Information Research

[Purpose/significance]Regarding the responses to public emergencies published by official agencies on social media, this study aims to measure information transparency and empathy in the response text, and further to investigate their influence on public acceptance of responses. [Method/process]This study used public emergency responses published on Sina Weibo, a Chinese popular social media, as data source. Through carefully collecting and filtering, we finally acquired 170 public emergency responses released from 2021 to 2023. Furthermore, by using methods of content analysis, manual coding, and natural language processing, we measured information transparency of responses from three aspects: information disclosure, information accuracy, and information …

Masih Takut: The Psychology Of Fear In The Development Of Indonesian Social Movements, Loren Andrea Lacruz

Indonesia: Arts, Religion, and Social Change

This thesis offers a contemporary investigation of the extent to which historical contexts contribute to Indonesian people’s reservations towards political conversations and social movements, such as protests and demonstrations. The historical contexts in question are focused on the Soeharto dictatorship from 1966-1999 and its long reign of censorship, citizen violence, and general human rights violations. The research employs a mixed-methods approach focused on cultural and participant observation, social media analysis, and interviews. Social media analyses offer insights into activism, particularly that of students and the youth, that are not generally available in scholarly sources. Interviews with Indonesian citizens and local …

Building Knowledge Across Language Systems: The Role Of Audio And Visual Supports In Bilingual Learning Through Self-Derivation, Alena G. Esposito, Katherine A. Lee, Brandan K. Gunarathne

Psychology

Children who enter the US education system as emerging bilinguals (or English Learners) show significant gaps in test scores and graduation rates compared to their English monolingual peers. Dual-language education programs may provide an instructional context that capitalizes on emerging bilingual children’s strengths and supports their academic performance while they acquire English. However, prior research has shown that integrating semantic knowledge across language systems poses a challenge. Supports may mitigate these challenges. Thus, across two studies, we examined instructional practices that may facilitate the integration of academic content across English and Spanish in elementary-age children enrolled in dual-language education programs. …

It Takes A Village: Investigating How Community And Cultural Factors Foster Resilience In Latine Immigrant Families, Mara Makasiar

Dissertations (1934 -)

Latine immigrants constitute the largest group of non-U.S.-born individuals in the United States and face heightened risks including poverty, inadequate healthcare, discrimination, and acculturation-related stressors. Despite these challenges, many demonstrate resilience, achieving positive outcomes for themselves and their children. This study investigated how community and cultural factors foster resilience in Latine immigrant families, addressing a gap in understanding protective mechanisms beyond individual and family levels. Using a mixed-methods approach, quantitative analyses (N=89) revealed that immigration-related stress significantly predicted caregiver mental health problems (β = 0.35, p < .01), while financial satisfaction emerged as a protective factor (β = -0.35, p < .01). For youth, ethnic identity predicted prosocial behaviors (β = 0.35, p < .01), and emotion regulation consistently predicted self-esteem (β = 0.40, p < .01) and mental health problems (β = -0.54, p < .01). Contrary to hypotheses, community factors (collective efficacy, religious social capital) and cultural cohesion did not significantly predict outcomes beyond individual and family factors. Qualitative interviews (n=30) provided context, revealing themes of resource access barriers, multifaceted support systems, cultural maintenance, and community involvement. These findings highlight the complex interplay of factors influencing resilience in Latine immigrant families and underscore the need for more nuanced measures of community and cultural influences. The study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of resilience processes in this population, with implications for developing culturally sensitive interventions and policies to support Latine immigrant families' well-being.

The Spiritual Well-Being Scale In The Polish Catholic Setting: Construct, Structure, And Relationships With Psychological Well-Being, Beata Zarzycka, Kamil Tomaka, Michał Grupa, Raymond Paloutzian, Rodger K. Bufford

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

The population of Poland could be of particular interest to researchers studying religion and spirituality. Catholicism has played a significant role in shaping the country’s culture, history, and tradition and is considered a national religion. More recently, however, the processes of moving away from regular participation in religious services and loosening ties with the institution of the Catholic Church are marked (Polish Public Opinion Research Center, CBOS). The Polish Catholic setting may modify the associations between psychological variables that have been studied in their relationships with spirituality, which have been investigated in religious contexts differing from a Polish Catholic one. …

Acculturation And Attitudinal Disposition Of People From India Living In The United States Toward Mental Health Services, Santhosh Jose Adhikarathil

Dissertations

Acculturation experience and attitudes toward seeking mental health services among Asian Indian Americans, an ethnic minority group, are predominantly underrepresented in current literature despite their increasing number in the United States. The purpose of this study was to assess the acculturation experience of Asian Indian Americans and their attitude toward seeking mental health services, and to explore the relationship between acculturation levels and attitudes toward seeking mental health services. I used a quantitative research design to conduct this study. I employed an online survey through Qualtrics. The participants (n = 568) constituted a probability sample recruited from Indian-based Christian churches …

Investigating Gender Bias In Large Language Models Through Text Generation, Shweta Soundararajan, Sarah Jane Delany

Conference papers

Large Language Models (LLMs) have swiftly become essential tools across diverse text generation applications. However, LLMs also raise significant ethical and societal concerns, particularly regarding potential gender biases in the text they produce. This study investigates the presence of gender bias in four LLMs: ChatGPT 3.5, ChatGPT 4, Llama 2 7B, and Llama 2 13B. By generating a gendered language dataset using these LLMs, focusing on sentences about men and women, we analyze the extent of gender bias in their outputs. Our evaluation is two-fold: we use the generated dataset to train a gender stereotype detection task and measure gender …

Examining The Effects Of Video Camera Angles On Interpersonal Impressions, Rachel Valerie Ball

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The effect of different camera angles on the perceptions of the speaker formed over a virtual interaction, especially in the context of telehealth encounters, has not been systematically investigated. The present study explored how vertical and horizontal angles impact perceptions of a healthcare provider in a video encounter using a 2 (angle type: eye level vs. alternate angle) X 2 (video order: eye level presented first vs. alternate angle presented first) mixed design. Participants watched two different segments of an encounter where camera angle was examined within subjects and order of presentation was examined between subjects. It was hypothesized that …

Assessing Functional Abilities In A Memory Disorder Population: A Comparison Of Self-Report, Informant-Report, And Performance-Based Measures, Kevin Andrew Murray

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Accurate assessment of daily functioning is critical for deriving a correct diagnosis and facilitating effective patient care. While collateral reports from a reliable informant can elucidate patients’ functional capacities, they may be susceptible to misappraisals of functional status. Similarly, patients with limited insight may be prone to misjudging their functional abilities. Performance-based measures of adaptive functioning may detect subtle declines in daily functioning overlooked by self- and informant-report measures. However, these measures may be limited in terms of ecological validity. The current study investigated the association between a performance-based measure of daily functioning and patients’ and informants’ ratings of …

The Effects Of Childhood Maltreatment In A Sample Of Deaf Adults, Teresa Crowe Ph.D

JADARA

This research studied the impacts of child maltreatment on 87 deaf adults' use of substances, anxiety and depression, involvement in victimization and perpetration of intimate partner violence, age, gender identity, and parental language use. After IRB approval, participants completed an online survey about experiences of childhood maltreatment and its effects on their lives. Results showed that the sample: a) had low to moderate incidence of childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect, b) reported mild levels of anxiety and depression, c) included 32.5% who met the threshold for IPV victimization and/or perpetration, d) relatively low levels of …

Gsep Research Symposium Proceedings - 2024

GSEP Research Symposium

The 8th Annual GSEP Research Symposium, was themed "Dismantling Barriers between Research and Practice: Shining a Light on Global Interdisciplinary Solutions," took place on July 18-19, 2024, at the picturesque Château d'Hauteville in Saint-Légier-La Chiésaz, Switzerland.

The annual symposium is hosted by the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP). The symposium served as a dynamic platform for students, faculty, alums, and staff to come together and explore innovative ideas across multiple disciplines. Featuring 69 selected presentations under five distinct tracks, the proceedings showcase groundbreaking research, foster meaningful discussions, and promote professional development.

The symposium aimed to bridge …

Exposure And Connectedness To Natural Environments: An Examination Of The Measurement Invariance Of The Nature Exposure Scale (Nes) And Connectedness To Nature Scale (Cns) Across 65 Nations, 40 Languages, Gender Identities, And Age Groups, Viren Swami, Mathew P. White, Martin Voracek, Ulrich S. Tran, Toivo Aavik, Hamed Abdollahpour Ranjbar, Sulaiman Olanrewaju Adebayo, Reza Afhami, Oli Ahmed, David A. Frederick

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Detachment from nature is contributing to the environmental crisis and reversing this trend requires detailed monitoring and targeted interventions to reconnect people to nature. Most tools measuring nature exposure and attachment were developed in high-income countries and little is known about their robustness across national and linguistic groups. Therefore, we used data from the Body Image in Nature Survey to assess measurement invariance of the Nature Exposure Scale (NES) and the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups (N = 56,968). While multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) of the NES supported …

Measuring Resilience In Black Families, Destiny Shanell Kelly

All ETDs from UAB

Black families play a unique role in navigating risk and adversity, operating as a source of various protective factors to combat challenges faced. Given the historical and current role that racism plays in the everyday lives of Black individuals, culturally specific protective mechanisms have manifested as a defense for these encounters. Many of these protective factors are instilled at the family level, helping all family members maintain healthy functioning or be resilient, such as social support, ethnic-racial socialization, and racial identity. However, current measures of family resilience do not incorporate these culturally relevant protective mechanisms into the measures, preventing Black …

Impact Of A Narrative Language Intervention On Language, Behavior, And Self-Concept Among Bilingual Children With Developmental Language Disorder, Nancy Tarshis Ma, Ms, Ccc-Slp, Kathleen Mcgrath Mss, Lsw, Ida Barresi Ma, Ccc-Slp, Risa Battino Ms, Ccc-Slp, Bcs-F, Sarah Henderson Msed, Ms, Ccc-Slp, Shankar Viswanathan Drph, Jee-Young Moon Phd, Karen Bonuck Phd

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

The growing research on narrative interventions is promising but has gaps regarding cultural/linguistic diversity and outcomes beyond language. We evaluated whether a structured, oral narrative intervention affects narrative language, problem behaviors, and self-concept in a diverse group of children with developmental language disorder. A 10-session intervention was implemented within routine care. Baseline and follow-up data included: (a) Narrative recordings—coded by therapists using the CUBED Narrative Language Measure, (b) Child Behavior Checklist—a parent-reported behavioral assessment, and (c) the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale. Among the sample’s n = 33 children, aged 6-16, 55.6% were bilingual. Post intervention, participants’ narrative language scores improved …

Relations Among Degree Of Bilingualism And Bilateral Information Processing In Children And Adults, Francisco J. Sierra, Amy A. Weimer, Yu-Cheng Lin, Jerwen Jou, Nayda Castillo, Cedar Garcia, Michelle Suarez, Flor I. Garcia, Gabriela Aleman, Edson Ortiz, Francheli Romero

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Aims and objectives:

The primary goal of this study was to examine whether degree of bilingualism related to dichotic listening accuracy, a measure of bilateral processing, after controlling for age and income.

Methodology:

Participants included 59 children ages 6–11 years (M = 7.86, SD = 1.81) and 61 adults (18–83 years) (M = 34.02, SD = 15.70). Participants completed demographic surveys, vocabulary assessments in English and Spanish, and a dichotic listening test.

Data and analysis:

Multiple linear regressions examined whether the degree of bilingualism predicted bilateral processing.

Findings:

Degree of bilingualism predicted bilateral processing in the whole sample …

What We Mean When We Say Semantic: Toward A Multidisciplinary Semantic Glossary, Jamie Reilly, Cory Shain, Valentina Borghesani, Philipp Kuhnke, Gabriella Vigliocco, Jonathan E Peelle, Bradford Z Mahon, Laurel J Buxbaum, Asifa Majid, Marc Brysbaert, Anna M Borghi, Simon De Deyne, Guy Dove, Liuba Papeo, Penny M Pexman, David Poeppel, Gary Lupyan, Paulo Boggio, Gregory Hickok, Laura Gwilliams, Leonardo Fernandino, Daniel Mirman, Evangelia G Chrysikou, Chaleece W Sandberg, Sebastian J Crutch, Liina Pylkkänen, Eiling Yee, Rebecca L Jackson, Jennifer M Rodd, Marina Bedny, Louise Connell, Markus Kiefer, David Kemmerer, Greig De Zubicaray, Elizabeth Jefferies, Dermot Lynott, Cynthia S Q Siew, Rutvik H Desai, Ken Mcrae, Michele T Diaz, Marianna Bolognesi, Evelina Fedorenko, Swathi Kiran, Maria Montefinese, Jeffrey R Binder, Melvin J Yap, Gesa Hartwigsen, Jessica Cantlon, Yanchao Bi, Paul Hoffman, Frank E Garcea, David Vinson

Psychology Publications

Tulving characterized semantic memory as a vast repository of meaning that underlies language and many other cognitive processes. This perspective on lexical and conceptual knowledge galvanized a new era of research undertaken by numerous fields, each with their own idiosyncratic methods and terminology. For example, "concept" has different meanings in philosophy, linguistics, and psychology. As such, many fundamental constructs used to delineate semantic theories remain underspecified and/or opaque. Weak construct specificity is among the leading causes of the replication crisis now facing psychology and related fields. Term ambiguity hinders cross-disciplinary communication, falsifiability, and incremental theory-building. Numerous cognitive subdisciplines (e.g., vision, …

Effective Methods In Communicating Assessment Results To Individuals With Limited English Proficiency: A Survey Of Current Psychologists’ Practices., Dee Vang

Theses and Graduate Projects

The use of language interpreters is a primary solution for providing inclusive language services when conducting psychological assessments for people with limited English proficiency. However, this approach has limitations that have negatively affected the ability of clients with limited English proficiency to comprehend assessment results and adhere to recommendations. The purpose of this study was to improve the current understanding of effective methods for communicating assessment results to persons with limited English proficiency (PLEP) and working with language interpreters. Eight participants were interviewed about their current methods of communicating results and working with language interpreters during a feedback session. Consensual …

Improving Educator Readiness To Support Student Mental Health, Anna Dabrowski, Michelle Hsien, Tamara Van Der Zant, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Amy Berry, Maya Conway, Yung Nietschke

Wellbeing

This project used a mixed-method approach to understand educator readiness to support student mental health across early childhood, school based, and tertiary settings. The study features educators and relevant support staff working with children, adolescents, and adults in formal learning settings. Relevant experts such as mental health care workers, youth wellbeing support staff, counsellors, psychologists, and other professionals involved in education settings were also invited to take part in the study. Three research questions guided the focus of the study: How does educator anxiety and worry impact on their ability to support student mental health? To what extent are educators …

The Social Evaluation Of Accents And Perceived Social Influence In Singapore: A Comparison Of American And Singaporean English Accents, Matthew H. S. Ng, Chi-Ying Cheng

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Accents are an important differentiator between groups which influence social perception and interaction, especially in a diverse country like Singapore. Social identity theory suggests that individuals would exhibit favoritism towards their own accents. However, the accent prestige theory demonstrates instances whereby foreign accents are perceived as more prestigious than one's own accent and are associated with more positive characteristics. This paper sought to explore which of these two theories is more prevalent in Singapore by comparing the perceptions of American English accents and local Singaporean English accents along the competence-warmth paradigm of the Stereotype Content Model. Further, the current research …

Factors Influencing Engagement Across The Motivational Prep Cascade Among Latino Smm: A Mixed-Methods Analysis From The Perspectives Of Community Providers And Latino Smm, Juan Pablo Zapata, Manuel Hurtado, Andrés Alvarado Avila, Steven A. John, Carlos E. Rodriguez-Diaz, Ed De St. Aubin

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Latino sexual minority men (SMM) are a highly vulnerable population to HIV, and while pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has emerged as a promising biomedical tool for HIV prevention among them, its utilization remains disproportionately low in this community despite its potential. Understanding the barriers along the PrEP continuum of care, known as the “PrEP cascade,” is crucial for effectively implementing PrEP interventions. Therefore, the objective of our study was twofold: first, to explore the stage of Latino SMM in the PrEP cascade by examining disparities in demographics, social factors, and healthcare aspects; second, to gain insights from healthcare providers who have …

Relationship Interventions For Autistic Children And Their Non-Autistic Siblings, Susan Vanessa Mchugh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Relationships between children with autism and their non-autistic siblings are often characterized by great warmth, empathy, and affection. However, because of core deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, autistic children and their siblings often experience difficulties with communication, play, and associated mental health problems. Interventions aimed at improving relationships in these sibling dyads historically have involved teaching non-autistic children to behave similarly to interventionists for autistic siblings, and support groups for children with broad chronic illnesses. More recent interventions have shifted focus to improvement of play between siblings, and support groups for siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder. Some are naturalistic …

Helpful Intentions? Impact Of Intentionality On Children's Memory For Forensically-Relevant Information, Ella P. Merriwether

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Rationale: When a child is a witness or victim of a crime, they are often asked a barrage of questions regarding when the crime took place, how many times it occurred, and how the abuse unfolded (Cross & Whitcomb, 2017; Sullivan et al., 2022). These questions can be problematic because they rely on concepts for which children may lack memory or linguistic ability to answer (Fenson et al., 2000; Friedman, 1993). One fundamental element missing from the copious research (e.g., Brubacher et al., 2012; Stolzenberg et al., 2017a; Wylie et al., 2021) on children’s ability to recount forensically-relevant information is …

Reclaiming Healing Spaces: A Phenomenological Study On The Transformative Power Of Outdoor Therapy From The Lived Experiences Of Black Clinicians Working With Black Clients, Lynn Murphy

Dissertations

This phenomenological study involved assessing the experiences of Black therapists who engaged Black clients in outdoor therapeutic contexts. The study was founded on the existing literature that shows the quality of the therapeutic relationship is pivotal for client retention and the Western standards that have historically favored treatment within indoor environments. To contextualize this research, a comprehensive literature review was commenced, covering topics such as the decolonization of therapy, the historical and present-day relationship between Blacks and the outdoors in the United States, sedentary lifestyles, the psychological benefits of time spent in nature, various types of outdoor therapy, and the …

Rural Cervical Cancer Survivors’ Experiences Of Gender Roles: An Application Of Social Constructionism, Olivia K. Pointer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rural cervical cancer survivors, or individuals with a form of cancer that originated in the cervix of the reproductive system, may be uniquely impacted by socially constructed gender roles. The present study utilized the term “females” to describe those who self-identify as having a cervix, which may include cisgender, transgender, intersex, and non-binary gender identities. Rural females have been indicated to hold salience in traditional gender expectations as partners, mothers, community members, and more, which may add survivorship complexity for cervical cancer survivors within this population by to attempting to fulfill gender roles to the pre-cancer level. Moreover, rural cervical …

A Force To Be Reckoned With: Testimonios From Latina/E Senior Leaders Across Psychology Contexts, Sandra Bertram Grant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Latinas currently make up 76% of overall Latino/a/e participation in psychology (American Psychological Association, 2022); however, the numbers of Latinas in top echelon leadership positions are low (National Center for Education Statistics, 2021, 2022). Notedly, the information on the current state of Latine representation in the field of psychology is even more limited. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the testimonios of eight Latina/es regarding their professional development, decision making process, pursuit, and persistence in leadership positions, particularly within the field of psychology. This study is guided by Testimonio (Huber, 2009) as the methodological approach and analysis, …