Digital Commons Network^™

The Experience Of Single Mothers: Resilience In Their Multiple Roles, Sharon Cheeseman

Theses : Honours

Single motherhood has been identified as a challenging role, with disadvantages including financial hardship and poor mental health. Resilience is a multidimensional construct, where two conditions need to occur: some form of adversity and positive adaptation. Resilience may empower single mothers to face the challenges whilst leading psychologically healthy and productive lives. Participants in this qualitative research study were ten West Australian single mothers, aged 35 to 45 years. A phenomenological methodology was used to understand their experiences with information collected through in-depth interviews and the Resilience Scale for Adults, used to complement the qualitative findings as descriptive support. Qualitative …

Terrorism In Australia: Myth Or Reality? A Psychometric Study Into The Western Australian Public's Perception Of Terrorism, Richard Sargent

Theses : Honours

Terrorism is not a new concept as terrorist individuals and organisations since time immemorial have used the threat of violence or actual violence to generate fear in individuals, organisations and governments alike. Fear is a powerful weapon and it is used in order to gain political, ideological or religious objectives. The attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on the 11th September 2001 (9/11) highlighted the dangers of the inadequate intelligence, border security and immigration practices that led to this event. The attacks were a security wake up call not only for the United States of America but …

Public Opinion On The Sentencing Of Mentally Ill Female Offenders; Factors That Influence People's Perceptions Of Appropriate Punishments And The Impact Of Personal Experience On Sentencing Judgements, Claire Adams

Theses : Honours

The aim of the current study was to explore public opinion on mentally ill female offenders in Western Australia, and the influence of these views on sentencing decisions. This study aimed to determine whether the mental health of a female offender influenced how people view a crime and the punishment they consider most appropriate for an offender. In addition, it aimed to investigate whether knowing someone with a mental illness influences people's perception of a crime and the sentencing decisions favoured for a mentally ill female offender. The study involved a between-subjects design comprising 118 participants, who received one version …

Mate Selection, Margaret J. Cason, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife"—so wrote Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice. From classic literature to contemporary screenplays, from the latest celebrity news to office gossip, it is nearly impossible to escape the pervasive topic of romantic relationships. Indeed, the pursuit of mates consumes a significant portion of our time and energy, and for good reason—mates give us companionship, pleasure, comfort, security, and even health benefits. As we discuss in this article, there are two major theoretical perspectives for understanding mate selection. …

Adult Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Laura E. Knouse, Steven A. Safren

Psychology Faculty Publications

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adults is a valid and impairing disorder for which psychopharmacological and psychosocial treatments are recommended. Self-report ratings scales for adult ADHD can serve several functions in clinical work with this population including screening, providing information, in a comprehensive assessment, and tracking treatment-related change. The use of two symptom-based ratings scales for screening and tracking treatment progress- the Current Symptoms Scale (CSS) [5] and the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) [6] - is outlined for the practicing clinician. Key issues in the assessment of adult ADHD are briefly discussed, highlighting the role of rating scales within …

Postnatal Depression: A Review Of The Literature, Shannon Pridgen, Minhnoi C. Wroble Biglan

Modern Psychological Studies

Non-psychotic Postnatal Depression (PND) is the most common complication of childbirth. Commonly misconstrued as the "baby blues", PND is, in fact, just as serious as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). PND affects 13%-15% of all mothers; if untreated, it can lead to Postnatal Psychosis, a much more severe illness that has lead to suicide and child abuse. Despite the similarities between Major Depressive Disorder and PND, the disorders are different in many aspects. Symptoms of PND are directly related to the new child and to the demands of motherhood. Unlike PND, MDD is classified specifically in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual …

Group Processes And Group Psychotherapy: Social Psychological Foundations Of Change In Therapeutic Groups, Donelson R. Forsyth

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Social psychology and clinical psychology share an interest in change. Rather than assuming that people are static and that psychological systems are immutable, social psychologists track the shifts in social attitudes, actions, values, and beliefs that result from individuals' everyday interactions in their social worlds. Similarly, clinical psychologists examine changes in adjustment, well-being, and dysfunction that are evidenced as people develop psychologically and physically, confront new life circumstances, or react effectively or less adaptively to daily life events.

Predictors Of Depression In Nursing Home Residents, Lauren M. Yoggerst

Masters Theses

Research dealing with mental health issues in the aged has recently become an area of increased interest. As population trends continue to show that the elderly are increasing in life expectancy, the need for additional and more comprehensive knowledge of the elderly is needed. The present study aimed to further previous research dealing with predictors of depression in the elderly. More specifically, this study sought to target nursing home residents, which is a group that is often overlooked in the literature. The present study aimed to look at the possible relationship between satisfaction with life events and the amount of …

Increasing Parental Awareness And Monitoring: The Development And Evaluation Of A Web-Based Program To Empower Parents To Reduce, Pamela Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parent attitudes about underage alcohol use and parent monitoring of the activities of their adolescent children have been found to be directly related to the likelihood of underage alcohol use. Unfortunately, there are relatively few programs or resources available to parents to assist them to reduce their children's potential for early and problematic alcohol involvement. In an effort to address this need, the present project entailed the development and evaluation of a web-based psychoeducational program entitled, Increasing Parental Awareness and Monitoring (iPAM). This online program begins to fill the gap in effective and convenient programming focused on development of parent …

Empirical Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Eye Tracking-Based Search Performance Diagnosis And Feedback Methods, Meredith Carroll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today's complex combat environments, troops are often faced with increasingly challenging tasks different from those experienced in the past. Warfighters must be trained in adaptive perceptual skill sets, such as search strategies that enable them to detect threats across any number of environmental, cultural, and situational conditions. The goal of the present study was to explore how advanced technology, specifically eye tracking, can be used to increase understanding of perceptual processes such as search and detection and provide tools that can be used to train search skills. Experiment 1 examined a method of diagnosing perceptual performance in order to …

Observational Learning In Wild And Captive Dolphins, Deirdre Yeater, Stan A. Kuczaj Ii

Psychology Faculty Publications

Many non-human species imitate the behavior of others, and dolphins seem particularly adept at this form of observational learning. Evidence for observational learning in wild dolphins is rare, given the difficulty of observing individual wild animals in sufficient detail to eliminate other possible explanations of purported imitation. Consequently, much of the evidence supporting observational learning in dolphins has involved animals in captive settings. This research suggests that dolphins have an affinity for mimicry, and that they are more successful at observational learning if they choose to imitate another rather than being asked to do so. These results, combined with those …

Attachment Styles, Social Skills, And Depression In College Women, Eileen L. Cooley, Amy Van Buren, Steven P. Cole

Psychology Faculty Publications

Attachment styles, social skills, and depression were studied in 93 college women using the Relationship Questionnaire (K. Bartholomew & L M. Horowitz, 1991), the Beck Depression Inventory-ll (AT. Beck, R.A. Steer, & G. K. Brown, 1996), and the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire (D. Buhrmester,W. Furman, M.T.Wittenberg, & H.T. Reis, 1988).The self and other attachment models and the social skills of negative assertion, self-disclosure, and conflict management all correlated with depression. Conflict management partially mediated the relationship between attachment self-model and depression. Implications for counseling are discussed.

A Matter Of Perspective, Kristin L. Hansen

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Intrasexual Competition And Eating Restriction In Heterosexual And Homosexual Individuals, Norman P. Li, April R. Smith, Vladas Griskevicius, Margaret J. Cason, Angela Bryan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Restrictive eating attitudes and behaviors have been hypothesized to be related to processes of intrasexual competition. According to this perspective, within-sex competition for status serves the adaptive purpose of attracting mates. As such, status competition salience may lead to concerns of mating desirability. For heterosexual women and gay men, such concerns revolve around appearing youthful and, thus, thinner. Following this logic, we examined how exposure to high-status and competitive (but not thin or highly attractive) same-sex individuals would influence body image and eating attitudes in heterosexual and in gay/lesbian individuals. Results indicated that for heterosexuals, intrasexual competition cues led to …

Functionality, Parsimony, Discovery, Avoiding Hamartia: How Evolutionary Perspectives Are Changing Psychology, Brooke N. Jenkins, Aaron T. Goetz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Evolutionary psychology offers an important perspective to scientific psychology. Evolutionary psychology, in its short existence, has added an abundance of knowledge to the social sciences, let alone psychology. The study of human cognition and behavior remains incomplete without an evolutionary perspective. Here, we argue that evolutionary psychology uniquely provides a complete understanding of scientific psychology because it explains the functions of our psychological traits, provides us with the most parsimonious explanation of many psychological phenomena, predicts undocumented phenomena, and possibly allows us to avoid the downfalls of some of our contemptible evolved psychological mechanisms.

Peer-Facilitated Cognitive Dissonance Versus Healthy Weight Eating Disorders Prevention: A Randomized Comparison, Carolyn Becker, Chantale Wilson, Allison Williams, Mackenzie Kelly, Leda Mcdaniel, Joanna Elmquist

Psychology Faculty Research

Research supports the efficacy of both cognitive dissonance (CD) and healthy weight (HW) eating disorders prevention, and indicates that CD can be delivered by peer-facilitators, which facilitates dissemination. This study investigated if peer-facilitators can deliver HW when it is modified for their use and extended follow-up of peer-facilitated CD as compared to previous trials. Based on pilot data, we modified HW (MHW) to facilitate peer delivery, elaborate benefits of the healthy-ideal, and place greater emphasis on consuming nutrient dense foods. Female sorority members (N=106) were randomized to either two 2-hour sessions of CD or MHW. Participants completed assessment …

Implications Of Physical Attractiveness On Time Allocations From Salesperson To Customer, Emily Anne Prinsen

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if more attractive females—as compared to less attractive females—received better customer service in terms of time it took the salesperson to interact with the customer. The hypothesis was not supported; in fact, just the opposing outcome occurred. Less attractive females were served more promptly than attractive females. The study was performed in a mid-size city in the Midwest.

A Glance Backwards: An Analysis Of Youth Resiliency Through Autoethnographical And Life History Lenses, Toney Bissett Ford

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate youth resiliency employing dual methodologies, auto-ethnography and life history research respectively, to reveal how two middle-aged adults (one African-American, the other Caucasian) achieved resiliency; and most importantly, how their experiences and insights might inform ongoing efforts to promote youth resiliency. This research project was a follow-up to a previous study (involving four African American participants – two males and two females) conducted to determine the roles that schools and communities play in promoting youth resiliency.

Offering insights into the usefulness of extended research, Herr and Anderson (2005) captured the essence of my …

The Effect Of Encounters Between Medical Gatekeepers And Patients On The Doctor-Patient Relationship, Linda Pilzer Erlich

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research currently indicates patient perceptions of the doctor-patient relationship are central to health outcomes. Theoretically, the current study is grounded in two literatures: the placebo effect and the broader literature examining empirically tested predictors of the doctor-patient relationship. Two factors not yet studied relative to patient perceptions of the doctor-patient relationship include the direct effect of medical gatekeeper characteristics along with the interaction between gatekeeper characteristics and existing healthcare attitudes/behaviors. This quantitative archival study utilized a MultiCare Survey dataset of 10, 579 participants who were general practitioner patients in northwestern United States. This study first examined the individual impact of …

Endocrine Disruptors And Obesity: An Examination Of Selected Persistent Organic Pollutants In The Nhanes 1999-2002 Data, Mai A. Elobeid, Miguel A. Padilla, David W. Brock, Douglas M. Ruden, David B. Allison

Psychology Faculty Publications

Recent evidence suggests that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may cause perturbations in endogenous hormonal regulation that predispose to weight gain. Using data from NHANES (1999-2002), we investigated the association between body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) via multiple linear regressions. Consistent interaction was found between gender, ln oxychlordane and ln p,p' DDT. Also, we found an association between WC and ln oxychlordane and ln hpcdd in subjects with detectable levels of POPs, whereas an association between WC and ln p,p' DDT was observed in all subjects. Furthermore, ln Ocdd showed an increase with …

Communication And Essentialism: Grounding The Shared Reality Of A Social Category, Yoshihisa Kashima, Emiko S. Kashima, Paul Bain, Anthony Lyons, R Scott Tindale, Gary Robins, Cedric Vears, Jennifer Whelan

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Essentialism is an ontological belief that there exists an underlying essence to a category. This article advances and tests in three studies the hypothesis that communication about a social category, and expected or actual mutual validation, promotes essentialism about a social category. In Study 1, people who wrote communications about a social category to their ingroup audiences essentialized it more strongly than those who simply memorized about it. In Study 2, communicators whose messages about a novel social category were more elaborately discussed with a confederate showed a stronger tendency to essentialize it. In Study 3, communicators who elaborately talked …

Hippocampal And Anterior Cingulate Cortex Volumes In Amnestic And Non-Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Elizabeth R. Tuminello

Master's Theses

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a syndrome thought to fall between cognitively normal aging and dementia. Although much research has investigated the structural neuroimaging correlates of amnestic MCI, little research has been done on the imaging correlates of non-amnestic MCI. Even less research has examined the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a region important in executive functions (EFs), in these patients. This study attempted to address this gap by examining hippocampal and ACC volumes among amnestic and non-amnestic MCI patients and cognitively normal controls. Those with amnestic MCI were expected to have smaller hippocampal volumes than controls and those with non-amnestic …

The Impact Of Person-Centered Communications On Political Candidate Evaluation: An Experimental Investigation, Randall A. Renstrom

Dissertations

"Person-centeredness" refers to how empathetic and warm a person's communication style is. Although the role of person-centeredness has been documented in various areas concerning interpersonal relations, person-centeredness has not been explored in the political realm. This project investigated how person-centered communications can influence impressions and evaluations of political candidates. In the first study, person-centered (PC) messages were shown to impact candidate trait ratings. Candidates using low PC messages were associated with more instrumental traits but fewer socio-emotional traits, while high PC candidates were assumed to have more socio-emotional traits but fewer instrumental traits. Similar results were found when participants rated …

The Effects Of Uncontrollable Stress On Subjective Well-Being And Coping Behavior In Urban Adolescents, Laura Darr Coyle

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine whether uncontrollable and controllable stressors differentially affected levels of subjective well-being in a group of ethnically diverse urban adolescents. Additionally, the researcher examined what types of coping skills were utilized in the face of high levels of uncontrollable stress. Lastly, a moderational model was proposed, wherein active coping was hypothesized to strengthen the inverse relationship between uncontrollable stress and subjective well-being. Results revealed that higher levels of uncontrollable stress were related to higher levels of negative affect. Additionally, the use of active and adaptive coping strategies was associated with higher levels of …

Do Family Dynamics Mediate The Relationshp Between Early Pubertal Development And Depression For Girls With And Without Spina Bifida?, Rachel Wasserman

Master's Theses

Girls who experience premature puberty have higher levels of depressive symptoms than their peers (Rierdan & Koff, 1991; Hayward et al., 1997). However, girls with spina bifida (SB) experience different psychosocial changes during puberty. This study proposed two longitudinal, mediated moderation models to investigate whether family variables (i.e., parent-child conflict and emotional distancing) contributed to differences in the connection between early pubertal timing and depressive symptoms for girls with and without SB. 62 families (31 SB, 31typically developing) were recruited for a larger longitudinal study. Constructs were assessed subjectively and objectively with the use of questionnaire and observational data. Findings …

Youth In Substitute Care Presenting With Sexual Behavior Problems, Christopher Zaddach

Master's Theses

The purpose of the current study is to investigate the traumatic history of youths in the foster care system presenting with sexual behavior problems. Moreover, co-occurring trauma symptoms will be investigated as possibly contributing to the severity of sexual behavior problems in this population. The present study has four primary goals: (1) This study will focus on identifying traumatic experiences that are associated with sexual behavior problems in children and adolescents in the child welfare system; (2) Co- occuring levels of trauma symptoms including posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) and sexual concerns (SC; Briere, 1996) will be tested as possible moderators …

Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Clusters And Externalizing Problems In Young Urban African American Adolescents, Maria Ann Horn-Rollins

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between five posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) clusters and two forms of externalizing problems within and across the middle school years in a low income urban sample of young adolescent African Americans. A secondary aim of this study was to explore moderation effects by gender. Total PTSS positively predicted a little over 58% of the cross-sectional externalizing outcomes and uniquely explained between 5 and 12% of the variance in these outcomes over and above gender and exposure to violence. Total PTSS significantly and positively predicted one-third of the longitudinal outcomes and …

Predictors Of Mental Health Outcomes Among Foster Care Children Receiving Community-Based Services, Alison Merri Dunleavy

Master's Theses

Historically, children served in the foster care system experience less favorable mental health outcomes compared to those in the general population (Anctil, McCubbin, & Pecora, 2006; Burns et al., 2004; Garland et al., 2001; Zima, Bussing, Yang, & Berlin, 2000). As a result, the child welfare system has been described as a "de facto public behavioral health care system" (Lyons & Rogers, 2004), prompting state child welfare agencies to seek to put systems and policies in place to serve the needs of these youth, such as Illinios' statewide community-based program, System of Care (SOC), designed to provide multi-modal services to …

A Preliminary Study: Body Dysmorphic Disorder In Division I Women’S Collegiate Soccer Players, Tammy D. Jones

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The prevalence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) among collegiate athletes has not been clearly determined. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder found in Division I women’s soccer players. The researcher hypothesized that there would be some symptoms found within the participants of sport and that there was a need to research this area further.

The study consisted of four participants who participated in semi-structured interviews. The subjects were asked a series of questions from the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD-YBOCS) to determine if they indicated …

Work-Family Conflict In Work Groups: Social Information Processing, Support, And Demographic Dissimilarity, Devasheesh P. Bhave, Amit Kramer, Theresa G. Glomb

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We used social information processing theory to examine the effect of work-family conflict (WFC) at the work group level on individuals' experience of WFC. Consistent with hypotheses, results suggest that WFC at the work group level influences individual WFC over and above the shared work environment and job demands. It was also observed that work group support and demographic dissimilarity moderate this relationship. Moderator analyses suggest that work group social support buffers WFC for individuals but is also associated with a stronger effect of work group WFC on individuals' WFC. Moreover, the work group effect on individuals' WFC was shown …