Digital Commons Network^™

Gun Violence: Is Mental Illness Really The Issue?, Rachel T. Dillon

Soaring: A Journal of Undergraduate Research

As the cases of gun violence are continuously increasing in America, so are the number of assumptions that the incident was caused by a mental illness. Whenever there is a mass shooting, the media is quick to diagnose the shooter with a mental illness, without having the credentials to do so. Previous research has found that stories of mass shootings and incidents of gun violence increase negative attitudes towards people with a serious mental illness (SMI), and an increase in support for gun restrictions for this specific population. This paper uses past research on gun violence beliefs to help answer …

The Inventory Of Cognitive Distortions-Youth Version: The Development And Validation Of A Psychometric Test For The Measurement Of Cognitive Distortions In Youth, Kelsey Jones

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Cognitive distortions are systematic biases in an individual’s thinking that maintain a person’s belief in their negative views of themselves or others, even in the presence of contradictory evidence. The Inventory of Cognitive Distortions (ICD), created by Yurica and DiTomasso, measures distorted thinking in adults. Currently, there is not a youth measure of distortions that adequately encapsulates the range of distorted thinking that may be present in youth. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to create and validate a newly designed instrument of cognitive distortions, The Inventory of Cognitive Distortions-Youth Version (ICD-YV), with youth ages 11 to 17. …

Mitigating Compounded Barriers To Independence: Improving Outcomes Post Emancipation For Foster Youth With Secondary And Tertiary Barriers To Success, Corletha Norman

DSW Capstone Projects

A total of 407,493 children were identified as foster children by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (2021) at the completion of their 2020 fiscal year. The reason for entry into foster care is just as varied as the way in which the children exit. It is expected that many foster youth will experience poor outcomes as a result of their foster care experiences. Poor outcomes continue to be an ever-present undesired rite of passage for foster youth preparing to leave foster care at or after the age of 18. Research conducted over …

Peer Influence On Mental And Physical Health Symptoms: A Network Autocorrelation Model, Ashley N. Hall

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Adolescent youth are similar to their friends in both personal attributes, such as gender and ethnicity, and exhibited behaviors. However, limited research has analyzed the role of peer influence on physical and mental health symptoms. The current study aimed to address this gap in the literature by investigating the association between friendships and individual health symptoms. A linear network autocorrelation model was used to examine the relation between adolescent friendships, physical health, and mental health symptoms in a sample of 336 seventh grade students from a Midwestern, public middle school. Results from the current study indicate a peer influence effect …

Supporting Lgbtqia2s+ College Students: Psychological Flexibility And Promoting Verbal Behavior Of Support And Inclusion, Breanna Ashtyn Lee

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The current thesis includes two studies that account for aspects of LGBTQIA2S+ experiences. The first study explored verbal behavior involved in stereotyping. Relational Density Theory (RDT; Belisle & Dixon, 2020) offers a model for conceptualizing relational strength of environmental stimuli, such as those contributing to stereotypes based on sexuality. Participants in the present study completed a multidimensional scaling procedure using an RDT framework by rating the degree of relatedness between stimulus pairings. Stimuli included a series of sexualities (e.g., gay man), as well as adjectives (e.g., masculine). A brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, 2004) based defusion exercise was …

From Assessment To Treatment: Evaluating The Life Skills Emergence System Functional Module, Shelby Blecha

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The need for evidence based technologies supporting the development of behavioral repertoires essential for daily living is increasing, and while empirical research is valued among behavior analysts, limited psychometric research exists in behavior. Assessing and promoting daily living skills (DLS) requires empirical assessments and training technologies to enhance independence and autonomy, consistent with applied behavior analysis principles. The LIFE Skill Emergence System: Functional Module contains both a 250-item behavioral assessment evaluating DLS as well as a curriculum that integrates behavior analytic procedures such as chaining, task analyses, direct training, generalization, and relational framing to support DLS in behavior programming. The …

Toward A Behavior Analysis Of Discrimination And Prejudice: Racism, Sexism, And The Stigmatization Of Autism, Claire M. Zuch

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Behavior analysts are becoming increasingly aware of and involved in the study of issues related to sex, gender, disability, prejudice, and discrimination. This thesis integrates and discusses two collaborative manuscripts that revolve around the shared subject matter of multi-level research on systemic issues. In the first chapter, sexism and gender bias are conceptualized and informed by the framework of the nested sociobehavioral model of racism developed by Belisle et al. (2022), including implicit bias, selective gender norms, and systemic oppression, while integrating feminist and queer theories in the analysis. A model-dependent scoping review of research in major behavior analytic journals …

Between Choice And Compulsion: An Examination And Critique Of The Evolution Of 'Original Sin', Matthew James Wynn

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

“Why are we the way that we are?” is one of the hardest questions to answer because it requires grasping the origin of human beings. This has left philosophers and theologians in century-long debates on forming a “cosmogony of ontology” (i.e., how the origin of the universe informs the human condition). The concept, “original sin” was developed by a North African theologian named Augustine (354 – 430 CE). Augustine’s reading of Genesis 3, and inaccurate translation of Romans 5:12, taught that a person is born morally culpable for a fault antecedent to their existence. This way of thinking about the …

Callosal Malformations: Developmental Impacts And Parental Adjustment During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kera Larson

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

In March 2020 the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was determined to be a global health crisis (Lee et al., 2021). As the virus continued to spread rapidly, individuals had to adjust their daily routines to reduce disease transmission. Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum (AgCC) is a broad term used when there is a presence of congenital brain malformation in the region of the brain responsible for transmitting information to both left and right hemispheres (Paul, 2011). Evaluation of individuals with AgCC have been observed to demonstrate specific deficits including cognitive efficiency, transfer of sensory-motor information, and complex reasoning (Brown & …

Relationship Of Resilience With Well-Being And Loneliness In Individuals With Severe And Persistent Mental Illness, Krysta Young

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Resilience research has evolved from interest in understanding why some people thrive despite early adversities (Davino, 2013) to explain people’s adaptability when faced with challenge or adversity (Karaırmak & Figley, 2017). It has three components: adaptability, ability to succeed despite poor expectations, and persistent engagement instead of avoidance (Werner-Wilson et al., 2000), and is impacted by the severity of adversity, trait characteristics, and environmental characteristics (Chung, 2008). Resilience is a predictor of psychological well-being (Miranda & Cruz, 2022), is negatively correlated with loneliness (Tan et al., 2021), and while resilience is a protective factor against anxiety and depression (Cusack et …

Thwarted Belongingness And Burdensomeness As Moderators Between Entrapment And Suicide Ideation In College Students, Tupelo Witte

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

College students are amid their search for identity development, desire to meet social expectations, and are juggling stressors that often lead to mental health concerns including suicidality. The integrated motivational-volitional model of suicidal behavior has established a three-phase framework to describe the process of suicidality. Life factors and feelings of defeat lead to entrapment and suicidal ideation followed by suicidal ideation and behaviors, as influenced or intervened by moderating factors. This study used data from the American College Health Association National College Health Assessment III to further investigate the integrated motivational-volitional model and specifically the motivational phase and relationship between …

The Impact Of Social Connection And Psychological Resilience On Covid-19 Pandemic- Related Mental Health Outcomes, Shelby Lee Powers

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The COVID-19 pandemic has had wide reaching, well-documented impacts on mental health across demographics. Among these impacts are higher rates of depression and anxiety in adults. Several factors have been shown to mitigate the experience of depression and anxiety, including social connection and psychological resilience. The present study examined social connection and psychological resilience as predictors of depression and anxiety on a U.S. adult sample (n = 535) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were recruited using Qualtrics. Results of this study described that over 30% of the variance in anxiety and depression was predicted by a person’s levels of social …

Impact Of Having A Sibling With A Mental Disorder On Relationships, Sabrina C. Kluvers

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

When a family member has a mental disorder, such as schizophrenia, depression, or autism spectrum disorder, family dynamics and expectations often shift and change. This can influence how the siblings of these individuals, known as well siblings, interact with and experience their relationships with family members and peers. However, few studies have examined how well siblings perceive their relationships during the developmental period of emerging adulthood, which represents a time of increased differentiation and identity development. The present study explored the ways in which relationships with family and close friends differ between well siblings and their peers with typically developing …

Importance Of Spending Time In Nature, Peyton M. Daniel

A with Honors Projects

In this honors project, the author explores the benefits of forest schools and forest bathing in education.

A Global Perspective On Mindfulness-Based Interventions In Schools, Rebecca H. Laff

Theses and Dissertations

The practice of mindfulness, which originated in ancient Buddhist philosophy, has gained popularity in secular society through the work of Western researcher Jon Kabat-Zinn. Kabat-Zinn's focus on using mindfulness to help chronically ill patients cope with stress soon expanded into non-clinical areas, including education. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) adapted from Kabat-Zinn’s work, have been utilized in schools since 2005, but there has been a lack of systematic research on the effectiveness of MBIs in classroom settings globally. To address this gap, this critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) study conducted a comprehensive literature review of quantitative and qualitative studies from around the world …

Relationships Harm, Relationships Heal: Exploring Larger Bodied People's Experiences Of Weight Stigma And Eating Disorders In The Context Of Family Relationships, Rebecca Erin Belinsky

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Eating Disorders are the second deadliest mental illness, after opioid addiction, and affect a significant amount of the population, with some studies estimating that almost one in ten people will struggle with an eating disorder in their lifetime and that many more will suffer from subclinical eating disorder symptoms like disordered eating (Deloitte Access Economics, 2020). The majority of people struggling with an eating disorder are not medically underweight, and traditionally eating disorder research and treatment has failed to address eating disorders in people in larger bodies (Galmiche et al., 2019). To better understand the needs and experiences related to …

Effects Of Child Sleep, Maternal Sleep, And Covid-19 Related Stressors On Maternal Stress, Jocelyn Chang

Scripps Senior Theses

Research has shown that poorer sleep quality can lead to increased stress and worse psychological functioning. In the parent-child dyad, sleep disturbances of both the child and parent can significantly affect parental functioning. However, in the context of parent-child relations, the contributions of maternal and child sleep to maternal outcomes are much less understood, especially in the context of a worldwide pandemic and global stressor such as COVID-19. Moreover, relations between stress and biological indicators have not been extensively studied, with most studies using self-reported measures of stress. This study aims to extend the findings of previous research by including …

Masculinity, Femininity, & Dignity: Examining The Relationship Between Gender Expression And Respect, Ashton Lyvers

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The concepts of masculinity and femininity fall into the category of gender, thus making the character qualities we associate with these traits psychological perceptions, rather than biological qualities (Gentile, 1993). Gender roles are not the way one acts, but the way one is expected to act based on their sex (Deaux, 1985). There is a lack of research on how these expectations can create complications in various aspects of our lives, such as feeling respected in our familial or platonic relationships, education, and career. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between gender expression and respect. It …

Grieving Climate Change: A Psychological And Personal Exploration Of Emotionally Processing The Climate Crisis, Hava Chishti

Pitzer Senior Theses

The psychological concept of grief, although not typically associated with climate change, has strong applications to the emotional processing of climate change for human beings. Grief can be related to climate change in many ways, including the grief that individuals may feel over the anticipated loss of their future, losses that may be experienced due to climate-related disasters, and grief for the overall implications of anthropogenic climate change. A mixture of traditional literature analysis and creative nonfiction essays, which focus on personal narratives from interviews and the author’s experience, are used to outline the ways in which the psychology of …

Examining Stereotypes Of Fatherhood According To The Stereotype Content Model, Basra Keynan

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This study examined participants' stereotypic views of fathers. The analysis used the Stereotype Content Model as a focus. Participants (Ps) first rated men in general and then different types of fathers (3 types) on 62 traits (e.g., open, caring) on a 6-point scales (0 = not all like to 6 = most like). The father types measured included: married father, divorced non-resident, divorced resident, stepfather, never married, adoptive, and gay fathers. These ratings were compared to what participants believe is typical of men and will assess the extent that each type of father is in the domains of warmth and …

Cabin Crew Members’ Silence: A Qualitative Study With Cabin Attendants, Seda Ceken, Pinar Unsal

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Silence among flight crews has been one of the significant causes of aviation incidents and/or accidents. This study aims to explore why flight attendants remain silent during flights and/or do not report errors after the end of the flight. For this purpose, semi-structured online interviews were conducted with 21 flight attendants. The data were analyzed through content analysis using the MAXQDA 22 Qualitative Analysis Program. Themes and coding related to the research question were obtained by analyzing the scripts with creative coding techniques. Nine themes were identified by the content analysis, namely "poor relationship with cabin supervisors/pilots", "the lack of …

Still, We Thrive: Understanding How Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, And Other Men Who Have Sex With Men (Gbtmsm) Experience Structural Barriers & Facilitators To Wellness, Lucas Gergyek

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Historically and concurrently, structural violence has been a significant force influencing the sexual health and broader health of gay, bisexual, transgender and other men who have sex with men (GBTMSM). Yet to date, the majority of projects exploring the health inequities facing GBTMSM have focused on intrapsychic and behavioural factors as most related to poor health outcomes. As well, these studies are sometimes deficits focused, and fail to evaluate how GBTMSM continue to thrive, and maintain positive health. As a result, the ways in which systems and policies underlie and perpetuate health inequities facing GBTMSM have been somewhat obscured. Connectedly, …

I Am Queer And Asian: The Crossroad Of Race And Lgbtqia+ Identity Among Queer Asian Canadian Youth And The Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kenny Chee

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

LGBTQIA+ Asian youth face unique challenges due to their intersecting identities. Utilizing Asian Critical Race Theory and the Integration Model of Stress and Trauma in LGBTQIA+ Asians, LGBTQIA+ Asian youth are likely to experience detrimental mental health outcomes due to the stigmatization within their Asian culture and racial discrimination from the LGBTQIA+ communities. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing challenges because of the closure of community spaces and increased hate crimes against Asians. Nonetheless, research on the intersectional experiences of LGBTQIA+ Asians in Canada, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is sparse. Thus, to address this gap, I …

Vapourized Cannabis Extract Administration Impairs Memory And Alters Neural Activity In Laboratory Rats, Megan Chladny

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Although people have smoked cannabis for millennia, administration of cannabis by heating the dried plant material or distilled extracts to a temperature just below the combustion point (i.e., vapourization or "vaping") has rapidly increased over the past few years (Javadi-Payder, Cole, and Taffe, 2018; Manwell, Charchoglyan, Brewer, Matthews, Heipel, and Mallet, 2014). Conversely, most of the cannabinoid research using rodent models has used parenteral routes of administration to examine the effects of purified cannabis extracts such as ∆⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), making it difficult to directly compare laboratory research to human drug use. Building on previous studies showing that THC …

Distinctiveness And Similarity: How The Sub-Trait Facets Of The Big Five Self-Organize To Create Personality Types, Jonathan Thiessen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The belief that people can be placed within a personality typology has persisted for millennia. At least as far back as Hippocrates (ca. 460 BCE–370 BCE) people were believed to be of a kind based on the four humors—blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Since then, there have been many conceptions of personality typologies. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Enneagram of Personality are likely the most well-known personality typologies among the general public. Despite their wide public usage, neither typology boasts strong empirical support. However, psychology continues to investigate personality for evidence of a typology of personality. In …

Examining The Effects Of Noise And Task Dependent Performance In Prosody Perception In Autistic Individuals, Zehranur Sasal

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

ABSTRACT

Objective: It is known that autistic individuals have enhanced abilities in pitch discrimination and tend to excel in low-level tasks requiring lower cognitive processing. On the other hand, noise is a distracting factor in many areas of life, including prosody perception. The studies presented in this thesis aimed to understand prosody perception through different levels of cognitive tasks and under the influence of speech background noise.

Methods: In total, 256 non-autistic and 39 high-functioning autistic adults participated in these studies. In the first study, participants were asked to listen to brief utterances conveying one of six universally accepted emotions …

Appraising Evidence For Valence, Víctor Carranza-Pinedo

Animal Sentience

I make some remarks about whether evidence of valenced responses constitutes evidence of valenced states, and therefore of sentience, in organisms.

Complex Narratives Of Individuals Living With Alpha-Gal Syndrome (Ags). A Mixed-Methods Investigation: Examined Through Self-Reported Data, In-Person Interviews, And A Group Body Mapping Art Therapy Intervention, Sylvan Streightiff

Art Therapy | Master's Theses

Alpha-gal (galactose-α-1,3-galactose) Syndrome or AGS is an under-recognized chronic condition which coincides with tick-bite exposure, resulting in a unique allergy to non-primate mammalian products and byproducts (in addition to other items caring the α-gal epitope such as carrageenan, agar-agar, and nori). This paper explores the experiences of individuals with this illness, establishing psychological context for expressed symptomatology, while emphasizing the complex trauma rooted in the population’s experiences of the life-altering and life-threatening contexts associated with managing AGS. This research is structured with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) theory and utilizes a mixed-methods approach to arts-based research with the goal of …

Initial Evaluation Of The Reliability And Validity Of An Assessment-Based Approach To Identifying And Addressing Barriers To Caregiver Treatment Adherence, Eleah Sunde

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Caregiver-mediated behavioral interventions are a critical and evidence-based treatment of childhood behavioral concerns. However, caregivers face many barriers to adherence that can reduce the effectiveness of these interventions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a training protocol delivered over telehealth within an integrated behavioral health setting, evaluate the reliability and validity of an assessment tool (i.e., the Performance Diagnostic Checklist - Parent), and examine patterns of engagement (e.g., missed sessions, dropout rates) that caregivers experienced. Eight caregivers enrolled in the study and received a child-directed interaction protocol, which included instruction, a video model and skill …

Uncertainty, Parenting Attitudes, Risk Perceptions, And Covid-19 Vaccination Intentions, Zoë Royer

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives of millions of people, particularly parents. Drawing on uncertainty-identity theory and research on intensive parenting attitudes, two studies sought to understand the effects of self-uncertainty, parenting beliefs, and perceived illness and vaccine side effect severity, on parental intentions to vaccinate children against COVID-19. We hypothesized that parents with intensive parenting attitudes would rely on their parenting identity to reduce uncertainty and make decisions about vaccinating their children. The results revealed that parents who perceived illness severity in unvaccinated children as high were more likely to vaccinate their children, while …