Digital Commons Network^™

Impulsivity Like Traits And Risky Driving Behaviors Among College Students, Matthew R. Pearson, Elaine M. Murphy, Ashley N. Doane

Psychology Faculty Publications

The present study examined the predictive effects of five impulsivity-like traits (Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, Negative Urgency, and Positive Urgency) on driving outcomes (driving errors, driving lapses, driving violations, cell phone driving, traffic citations, and traffic collisions). With a convenience sample of 266 college student drivers, we found that each of the impulsivity-like traits was related to multiple risky driving outcomes. Positive Urgency (tendency to act impulsively when experiencing negative affect) was the most robust predictor of risky driving outcomes. Positive Urgency is a relatively newly conceptualized impulsivity-like trait that was not examined in the driving literature previously, suggesting a …

Personality And Substance Abuse, Juliana Gonzalez

Masters Theses

The Big Five have shown to be distinct personality traits that do not overlap and have universal applicability, so this study examined whether there are specific personality trait differences in users of Marijuana, Pain Medication, Sedative/Hypnotics, and Stimulants.

Study was placed in the 50 most visited Craigslist pages in the United States. Anonymous web users (N = 547) were recruited through Craigslist. High Neuroticism was associated with Marijuana and Stimulant use. Low Conscientiousness was associated with Marijuana and Stimulant use. High Extraversion was associated with Pain Medication use only. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research were discussed.

Coping Strategies Related To Obsessive-Compulsive, Social Anxiety, And Depressive Symptoms, Andrew M. Obritsch

Masters Theses

The relationship between coping strategies and psychological symptoms has been studied for decades. The purpose of the current study was to examine how coping strategies relate to obsessive-compulsive, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms as well as how these three symptom domains influence chosen coping strategies. Participants were administered the COPE, Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS), Social Phobia Scale (SPS), Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Revised (CESD-R). Given the symptom comorbidity between these three symptom domains, regression analyses were conducted to control for comorbidity among both symptom domains and coping factors. This study found that …

Self-Compassion As A Mediator Between Coping Styles And Psychopathology, Yamini Bellare

Masters Theses

Self-compassion helps an individual to respond to suffering or pain with mindfulness, common humanity and self-kindness. It has been identified as a protective factor, which promotes physical and mental health. Self-compassion was examined as a potential mediator in the relationship between coping strategies and psychopathology. A literature review of the existing research on self-compassion and its links with specific coping strategies, depression and anxiety is presented. Findings indicate that self-compassion partially mediates the relationship between avoidance-oriented coping and social-anxiety. Self-compassion also was associated with lower levels of psychopathology and avoidance-oriented coping and higher use of adaptive problem-focused coping. The probable …

The Effects Of Plainchant On Subjective Measures Of Emotion And Heart Rate Variance, Alexander J. Twohy

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

This study looked at the how plainchant affects the body on a physiological and emotional level. The study took the clinical findings of Sister Ruth Stanley (that chant has a relaxing effect in terms of heart rate variance) and attempted to replicate these results in an experimental setting. The design utilized heart rate variance, along with subjective measures of emotion, to help determine whether chant was an empirically viable candidate for music theapy. Emotional responses were divided into four quadrants based on the valence/arousal model of emotion. 29 participants were exposed to chant along with four samples of music chosen …

Discrepant Self-Reporting In Men And Women's Accounts Of Sexual Assault: An Analysis Of Survey Item Wording, Walter Thomas Rueff Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Puzzle Of Paradoxical Insomnia, Kristina Peltz

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The current study investigated differences in objective sleep measures and subjective sleep measures between people with paradoxical insomnia and people with accurate perceptions of sleep, finding that sleep onset latency and wake after sleep onset time significantly predicted whether someone would have paradoxical insomnia. There were no significant differences in sleep structure between groups as previous research has suggested. The study also examined differences in personality factors, attitudes toward sleep, and insomnia severity ratings, finding that people with paradoxical insomnia had more dysfunctional beliefs about sleep and higher insomnia severity ratings, but no significant personality differences. Together, these findings suggest …

Attentional Capture By Emotional Faces In Adolescence, Jillian Grose-Fifer, Andrea Rodrigues, Steven Hoover, Tina Zottoli

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Poor decision making during adolescence occurs most frequently when situations are emotionally charged. However, relatively few studies have measured the development of cognitive control in response to emotional stimuli in this population. This study used both affective (emotional faces) and non-affective (letter) stimuli in two different flanker tasks to assess the ability to ignore task-irrelevant but distracting information, in 25 adults and 25 adolescents. On the non-emotional (letter) flanker task, the presence of incongruent flanking letters increased the number of errors, and also slowed participants' ability to identify a central letter. Adolescents committed more errors than adults, but there were …

Attention Biases In Female Survivors Of Chronic Interpersonal Violence: Relationship To Trauma-Related Symptoms And Physiology, Jonathan Depierro, Wendy D'Andrea, Nnamdi Pole

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Exposure to chronic interpersonal violence (IPV) has been associated with psychiatric impairment; however, few studies have investigated attention processes and psychophysiology in this population. Objective: We investigated self-report and physiological correlates of attention biases in 27 IPV-exposed women. Method: Participants completed self-report measures of trauma history, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and dissociation; were monitored physiologically during baseline; and responded to an emotional dot probe task. Results: Participants showed bias away from positive and anxiety words, and toward IPV words. Lower baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and higher skin conductance levels were associated with bias away from anxiety cues. …

The Effect Of Sensory Impairment On Cognitive Functioning And Functional Status In Octogenarians And Centenarians, Annalise Marie Rahman

Wayne State University Theses

Two theories predominate to explain the covariation of cognitive and sensory functions across the lifespan: The Common Cause hypothesis and the Sensory Deprivation hypothesis. It was hypothesized that the Common Cause hypothesis better accounted for the these relationships. This hypothesis was assessed by examining the associations between sensory functioning, cognitive functioning, functional status, and motor functioning in samples of octogenarians (n = 80) and centenarians (n = 244) drawn from the Georgia Centenarian Study, Phase 3, Project 3. Special attention was given to cross-sensory-modality associations. Hierarchical regressions were also utilized to determine whether inclusion of either measured or self-reported sensory …

The Influence Of Parent-Child Conflict And Stressful Experiences On The Health Of Youth With Asthma, Erin T. Tobin

Wayne State University Theses

Attaining a clear picture of everyday family interactions is essential for understanding how family stress and conflict adversely affects children's health, especially in the context of chronic illness. Using a naturalistic observation sampling method called the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), we sought to investigate the effects of daily interpersonal conflicts and parental stress on pediatric asthma outcomes. We collected data from 81 children, aged 10 to 17 (M age = 12.88), and their primary caregiver as part of a larger study. Each child completed a pulmonary function test and self-report questionnaires of asthma symptoms. Asthma-related medical information was abstracted from …

Impulsivity As A Correlate Of Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking, Dinah Ayna

Wayne State University Theses

Waterpipe tobacco smoking has become increasingly popular in the past decade, yet no studies examined personality predictors of its use. This study is the first to assess impulsivity as a potential correlate for waterpipe tobacco smoking use and frequency. 43.2% reported ever using the waterpipe, with 64% of those reporting use less than once a month. Arab students were 3-5 times more likely to have used a waterpipe. Arab ethnicity moderated the relationship between waterpipe smoking and impulsivity such that self-reported (but not laboratory) impulsivity predicted lifetime waterpipe smoking for non-Arabs, but not for Arabs. Waterpipe users were also more …

Life Factors And Attendance Rates For Women Enrolled In A Parenting Program, Lilia Elizabeth Mucka

Wayne State University Theses

Parenting interventions consistently have been shown to improve positive parenting effectiveness, child adjustment, and family functioning (Gardner et al., 2010). However, attendance rates reported in the literature tend to be low and dropout rates tend to be high, which likely diminishes the positive impact of such programs (Dumas et al., 2007). Parenting group success begins with attendance, therefore, the study aimed to understand which life factors were associated with attendance. Specifically, the study both qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated parents' responses to a brief intervention using MI techniques by using a coding system developed by the author to understand maternal expectations …

Vascular Depression: An Early Warning Sign Of Frailty, Daniel Paulson, Peter A. Lichtenberg

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

Objectives: Frailty is a common geriatric disorder associated with ADL impairment, hospitalization, and death. Phenomenological evidence suggests that late-life depression (Katz, 2004), particularly vascular depression, may be a risk factor for frailty. This study tests that hypothesis.

Methods: We identified a sample of stroke-free women over the age of 80 from the Health and Retirement Survey. The sample included 984 respondents in 2000 (incidence sample). Of these, 459 were non-frail at baseline and still alive in 2004 (prevalence sample). Frail respondents experienced at least three of the following: wasting, exhaustion, weakness, slowness, and falls. Vascular depression was represented using two …

Parents' Marital Discord Moderating The Genetic And Environmental Influences On Externalizing Problems, Amber Marie Jarnecke

Open Access Theses

Jarnecke, Amber M. M.S., Purdue University, December 2013. Parents' Marital Discord Moderating the Genetic and Environmental Influences on Externalizing Problems. Major Professor: Susan C. South.

Parental marital discord is related to children's externalizing problems at various ages. However, little is known about the mechanisms that explain these associations. The current study assesses the impact of parental marital discord on the etiology of

offspring externalizing problems at different ages. Specifically, biometric moderation models were used to test the hypothesis that parental marital discord moderates genetic and environmental influences on offspring externalizing problems at age 11 and age

17. Results suggest that …

The Origins Of Reading: Using The Ipad To Study 2- To 4-Year-Old's Learning Of Sound/Print/Object Relations, Ashley Catherine Vance

Open Access Theses

This thesis looks at the origins of reading (before the age of 5) through the lens of early language development. We used an iPad to test if children can make the connection between printed words and the spoken word or their visual referent. Using a forced choice procedure, inspired by the traditional Preferential Looking Paradigm, we tested 30 children, ages 2-4 years. Results suggest that children as young as 2 years of age can indeed make spoken word-to-print connections. Specifically, by emphasizing or exaggerating text differences, we were able to get children (2-4 years of age) to correctly tap the …

Assessing Tourist Experience Satisfaction With A Heritage Destination, Yuan Yao

Open Access Theses

The research is concerned with understanding the relationships among heritage motivation, travel experience, and overall satisfaction. It attempts to uncover how tourist motivation, destination attribute performance, and tourist emotional involvement interact and, at the same time, contribute toward a satisfying heritage tourism experience. The empirical research was conducted at the city of Nanjing, China, as a case of a heritage destination. People who were visiting Nanjing were randomly and voluntarily selected to participate in the self-administrated survey. A total of 282 valid questionnaires were collected with a response rate of about 55%. Factor analysis and mediation analysis were conducted by …

The Role Of Rumination, Negative Affect, And Fitness On Cardiac Rehabilitation Program Outcomes Following A Discrete Cardiac Event, Nathaniel Jay Deyoung

Open Access Dissertations

Individuals with cardiovascular disease are at an increased risk for anxiety, depression, stress, and other negative cognitive processes. Following a cardiovascular event such as a myocardial infarction or open heart surgery, cardiac rehabilitation (CR) can have large physical and psychological benefits. This study investigates the role of depression, anxiety, and rumination on CR outcomes including program completion and fitness improvements. Fifty-one patients with cardiovascular disease who were enrolled in CR were tracked over the course of their treatment. Objective fitness testing was completed prior to and after CR program completion. Self-reported psychological, health, and fitness data were gathered at weeks …

Protective Effects Of The Alcohol Dehydrogenase-Adh1b Allele, Neil Dodge

Wayne State University Theses

Alcohol dehydrogenase is a critical enzyme in the metabolism of alcohol. Expression of three alleles at the ADH1B locus results in enzymes that differ in turnover rate and affinity for alcohol. The ADH1B*3 allele, which appears to be unique to African Americans, is associated with more rapid alcohol metabolism than the more prevalent ADH1B*1 allele. It has been previously demonstrated that the presence of at least one maternal ADH1B*3 allele confers a protective effect against alcohol teratogenicity in African American infants and children. This study was conducted to determine whether the presence of the ADH1B*3 allele in the mother or …

Cumulative Risk, Parental Emotional Expressivity, And Parental Secure Base As Predictors Of Children's Social Competence, Caitlin Marie Mclear

Wayne State University Theses

There is substantial evidence in the literature focusing on the effects a child's social competence can have on future school success (Bulotsky-Shearer, Dominguez, Bell, Rouse, & Fantuzzo, 2010; Krishnakumar & Black, 2002; Foster, Lambert, Abbott-Shim, McCarty, & Franze, 2005). However, less research has been conducted specifically on the effects of exposure to risk on a child's social competence, and which factors may protect them from the negative effects of the presence of various risk factors. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the extent to which the accumulation of contextual risk factors influences social competence, and role that …

The Relationship Between Preterm Birth, Temperament, And Psychopathology, Renata Vaysman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The survival rates of preterm children have improved dramatically since the advent of new technologies and medical treatments. However, the long term behavioral implications of preterm birth are still being investigated. The current study sought to explore the relationships between birth status (preterm or full term), temperament, and psychopathology. A sample of preterm children and their parents, as well as a sample of age-matched controls and their parents, were recruited for participation in this study. The former group was recruited for participation through a local hospital while the latter group was recruited through flyer distributions in several local school districts. …

Participation In Immersion Weight Loss Treatment May Benefit, Not Harm, Young Adult Staff Members, Katherine Elizabeth Schaumberg

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

American teens and young adults are at risk for developing pathological eating patterns, which can lead to eating disorders and obesity. Despite the success of weight management programs for obese individuals, some researchers caution that participation in an aggressive approach to weight management could promote the development of eating disorders. The current study evaluated the risks of following a weight management program for healthy young adults who served as staff members in immersion treatment of obesity over the course of a summer. Participants included Wellspring staff members (n = 108) along with a comparison group of young adults with similar …

Exploring The Impact Of Behaviorally Enacted Vs. Imaginal Delivery Of An Acceptance-Based Metaphor On Acute Panicogenic Distress In Acceptance And Commitment Therapy : A Comparative Evaluation, Kristin N. Herzberg

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Metaphors, or indirect and less literal forms of communication in the therapeutic setting, can be powerful and clinically impactful components of psychosocial interventions. Metaphors are widely used in therapeutic practice, and rest at the core of newer third generation behavior therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl & Wilson, 2011). Yet, to date, systematic empirical evaluations of the effectiveness of metaphor in the treatment of anxiety disorders and other forms of psychopathology have been largely ignored. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the impact of an ACT-relevant metaphor on acute panicogenic distress (i.e., panic-like symptoms). Specifically, …

Developing A Typology Of Juvenile Sex Offenders, Creaig Anthony Dunton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Understanding juvenile sex offenders is of the utmost importance in order to ensure effective treatment and reduce recidivism. A more thorough recognition of this population is the best option in preventing future offending, because most adult sex offenders began their criminal careers in adolescence. Extant typologies of this population have been limited to be only descriptive or not empirically verified and thus of limited use. Hierarchical cluster analysis is used to develop a taxonomy based upon the content of case files from two juvenile treatment programs, based upon demographic information, offense details, psychological and behavioral issues, and participation in treatment. …

Exploring U.S. Imperialist Influences On Bicultural Koreans' Identity Negotiation : A Critical Theory Study, Minsun Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Bicultural identity has traditionally been studied in a contextual vacuum, with little attention to how asymmetrical power dynamics between two cultures influence the negotiation of a bicultural identity. This critical theory study used a focus group and follow-up individual interviews to illuminate how five adult bicultural Koreans residing in the U.S. negotiate their sociocultural identities within the context of U.S. imperialist influences. Interpretive phenomenological analysis (Smith & Osborn, 2008) and methods drawn from feminist research (Anderson & Jack, 1991) were employed to analyze the data.

The Acquired Preparedness Model And Impulsivity Moderated Expectancies : Examining Predictors Of Marijuana Use, Jamie Rae Bolles

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Acquired Preparedness Model suggests that links between personality and substance use are mediated by expectancies. Expectancy-moderated links between personality and substance use also have support in previous research. The current study sought to extend the Acquired Preparedness Model to a diverse sample of frequent marijuana users. Tension-reduction expectancies, impulsivity, and ounces of marijuana used per month were assessed in 5,996 participants recruited from a marijuana policy listserv. Tension-reduction expectancies partially mediated the relation between impulsivity and marijuana use. Additionally, expectancies and impulsivity interacted to predict marijuana use, with impulsivity showing a stronger link to use when expectancies increased. These …

The Effect Of Environmental And Psychological Coping Resources On Unemployed Adults' Well-Being, Robert Paul Carnicella

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Gowan and Gatewood's (1997) theory of coping with job loss provided a framework for studying how individuals cope with the stress of unemployment. Previous empirical evidence identified social support and financial resources as predictors of unemployed adults' coping outcomes. McKee-Ryan, Song, Wanberg, and Kinicki (2005), however, noted the need for further research to better understand the environmental and psychological coping resources used by unemployed adults. Savickas (2005) hypothesized that individuals who endorse greater amounts of adaptable thinking about their careers will also report a greater sense of well-being during career transitions. Thus, the present study examined how environmental and psychological …

Conditioned Arousal To Slot Machine Wins : An Examination Of Renewal Following Extinction, James Broussard

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The objective of this study was to explore whether an appetitive response extinguished in one context would remain extinguished when tested in the extinction context, but show renewal when tested in a different context. Forty college students played a slot machine while their physiological arousal (skin conductance and heart rate) and desire to play were being recorded. During the acquisition phase, wins on the slot machine were associated with a tone serving as a conditioned stimulus (CS) that preceded the machine's payout (US) and elicited conditioned arousal. During the following extinction phase, the CS was presented repeatedly without the US …

Is Translation Enough? : A Study Of The Item Characteristics Which Influence Equivalence Between English And Spanish Versions Of A Selection Test, Andrea Valentine

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The goal of this study was to investigate the equivalence between an English and Spanish version of a selection test that was used to hire entry-level employees for a nationwide retail organization. By using a test that was back translated from English to Spanish, this study aimed at understanding whether different item characteristics are related to differential item functioning (DIF) and whether these item characteristics moderate the degree of equivalence between IRT item parameters. An understanding of which item characteristics influence equivalence can help guide researchers and practitioners in deciding on which items require test adaptation and which can simply …

Outcome Expectancies Mediate The Impact Of Olfactory Cues On Marijuana Craving, Mallory Loflin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Current work suggests that the presence of "craving" may be a significant indicator of problematic substance use. Nevertheless, little work has examined how cannabis users experience and develop craving. Most relevant studies focus on samples in treatment. Previous work suggests that cues for marijuana might activate outcome expectancies that contribute to the development of craving. The present study sought to test whether an olfactory marijuana cue would create changes in expectancy, mood, and craving in a non-treatment seeking sample representing both users and non-users. Unlike control cues, olfactory cues for marijuana increased perceptions of the likelihood of marijuana-induced positive outcomes …