Digital Commons Network^™

The Development Of The Disclosed Reasons Of Partners' Premature Discontinuation In Couple Therapy Questionnaire (Dropped-Ct), Luca Codeca'

Theses and Dissertations

Premature discontinuation from couple therapy presents a substantial challenge for clients, therapists, and society. Inconsistent data on the frequency and reasons for premature discontinuation may be attributed to a lack of methodological rigor in assessing the phenomenon. This study addresses this gap by developing the Disclosed Reasons Of PrEmature Discontinuation in Couple Therapy Questionnaire (DROPPED-CT), a comprehensive instrument designed to assess the reasons why couples prematurely discontinue therapy. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, the DROPPED-CT was developed through the integration of qualitative and quantitative data. The questionnaire demonstrates strong potential for enhancing the consistency of construct operationalization and improving the comparability …

University Counseling Center Therapists' Perspectives Of Counseling About Nutrition, Ana Lucia Pacheco

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined university counseling center therapists' perspectives on discussing nutrition in therapy. Despite the established link between nutrition and mental health, minimal research has explored how therapists approach these discussions. This study used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to analyze semi-structured interviews with 10 university counseling center therapists from the Mountain West region. Four overarching themes emerged: a deficit view of nutrition, perceived utility, ethical practice, and holistic care. Therapists unanimously recognized the connection between nutrition and mental health and primarily discussed nutrition with clients presenting with eating disorders or disordered eating, those who express interest, or as part of …

Behavioral Skills Training: Comparing Parent Implementation To Registered Behavior Technician Implementation, Jessica Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is an evidence-based practice appropriate for practitioners, parents, clients, and other populations. It is frequently used in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy to support and augment skill development. Parent training in ABA has been found to be beneficial, and often critical, in the progress of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). While BST is a popular method of parent training, it is unclear how effective this type of training is in comparison to the training given to a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT). This study took place in conjunction with an ABA clinic providing in home therapy. …

The Influence Of Father Involvement On Early Childhood Outcome In China, Shuiyan Guo

Theses and Dissertations

Using a sample from China, this study examined the influence of father involvement on child outcome in early childhood in areas of internalizing problems, externalizing problems and prosocial behaviors. The participants were drawn from the larger PACIFIC project, a cross-cultural study of family processes in Asia. 479 families with a preschool or kindergarten child living in Beijing and Dalian, China were included in this study. Using multiple regression analysis, result indicated that father involvement was not significantly associated with child’s internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and prosocial behaviors. Moderation analysis was also conducted and found that the effect of father involvement …

Therapist Experience As A Moderator Of Therapeutic Alliance Across The Course Of Couple Therapy, Julia K. Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

Therapeutic alliance is a key predictor of successful couple therapy outcomes. Little research has explored how therapist experience may predict its development. This study was designed to examine whether initial therapeutic alliance scores differ between couple clients of training clinics versus couple clients of community clinics, and whether the rate of change in alliance across sessions varies between these groups. Additionally, I controlled for initial relationship distress. Using dyadic therapy process data for at least one partner of 1,330 couples, a multilevel growth curve model with therapist experience as a moderator was fit to determine the difference in initial therapeutic …

Reactivity To Environmental And Social Demands In Autistic And Neurotypical Children: More Alike Than Different?, Sarah-Ann Louder James

Theses and Dissertations

Research has increasingly recognized that empathy difficulties between autistic and neurotypical individuals are mutual. As empathy depends on shared understanding, identifying common ground between autistic and neurotypical children is important to foster greater empathy. This study examined reactivity patterns in autistic and neurotypical children to explore how similarities in reactivity might promote empathy across neurodiverse groups. Using a quantitative, survey-based design, parents of 56 children (19 autistic, 37 neurotypical; ages 5-11) completed a novel measure developed for this study, the Reactivity to Scenarios of Differing Intensity (RSDI), which measures children's reactivity to various social and environmental scenarios of differing intensity. …

Latent Profiles Of Couples' Marital Power And Gender Ideologies: Associations With Physical Intimate Partner Violence, Rylie Speirs

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to identify couple typologies regarding gender ideologies and marital power, and investigate how couple typologies relate to sociodemographic characteristics as well as rates of physical intimate partner violence (IPV). Several theoretical approaches connect marital power and gender ideologies to IPV but emphasize different couple typologies. For example, family violence perspectives suggest gender ideology mismatch is a stressor that increases the likelihood of either spouse reporting low power or engaging in physical IPV. Feminist theories add that men may use IPV to maintain patriarchal power dynamics when women deviate from traditional gender norms, emphasizing the risk of IPV …

The Play's The Thing: Using Game-Based Learning To Teach Romeo And Juliet And Critical Media Literacy As An Aspect Of Civic Engagment, Lucy A. Winkel

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this capstone thesis project, a simulation unit on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is used to combine the teaching of literature with the teaching of critical media literacy. Research encompassing the need for teaching literature and media literacy, media literacy as an essential component of citizenship, and Generation Alpha’s challenges and needs in the classroom precedes a literature review on gamified and game-based learning. The challenges of teaching Generation Alpha in a post-pandemic world make gamified and game-based learning an important topic in the field of education. Today’s students struggle with traditional learning styles, but multiple studies show that they …

The Effect Of Family Communication On Adolescent Sexual Behaviors And Attitudes, Jonathan Young

Family Perspectives

Unhealthy sexual behaviors among adolescents, such as engaging with multiple partners or neglecting contraceptive use, can lead to significant physical, psychological, and relational consequences. This literature review explores the influence of family communication on adolescent sexual behaviors and attitudes, emphasizing the role of parent-adolescent discussions in promoting healthier sexual practices and reshaping sexual values. Research indicates that open, reciprocal family communication is associated with reduced sexual risk-taking, fewer sexual partners, delayed sexual debut, and increased contraceptive use. Moreover, conversations centered on positive sexual norms, such as love and respect, facilitate adolescents’ adoption of healthier sexual values. Effective family communication also …

Unseen Burdens: Exploring Gender Disparities In Infertility Experience And Depressive Symptoms, Khiara Cardoza Brown

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how experiences with infertility relate to mental health outcomes among newly married U.S. couples, emphasizing gender differences and the potential moderating role of gender attitudes. Using data from 3,137 individuals in a nationally representative sample, three Actor-Partner Interdependence Models were estimated: first assessing actor and partner effects of infertility on depressive symptoms and subsequently incorporating gender attitudes as moderators. Results indicated a significant actor effect for wives, where infertility was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, and this association was significantly stronger for wives than for husbands. No significant effects were found for husbands' infertility and …

Comparing Emotional Facial Expressions Produced During Personal Narrative Discourse By People With And Without Aphasia, Chloe K. Houghton

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the differences in emotional facial expressivity between people with aphasia (PWA) and control participants during emotional discourse tasks. Participants consisted of 26 PWA and 26 control participants from Aphasia Talk Bank who retold a stroke or illness story and an important life event story, totaling 104 video files. Undergraduate research assistants were trained to code emotional facial expressions according to valence, intensity, and duration utilizing a modified Facial Expression Coding System (FACES; Kring & Sloan, 1991). Dependent variables included positive frequency, negative frequency, positive intensity, and negative intensity. Results from this study demonstrate that female participants used …

Perceptions Of Spirituality And Of God: A Psychological Qualitative Study, Christopher E. Peck, Timothy B. Smith, Jamila Mastny

Faculty Publications

The majority of people living in the U.S. report that spirituality is an important part of their life that is influential to their well-being. However, individuals vary widely in how they conceptualize spirituality, which often stems from and overlaps with their conceptualizations of God or so-called “God image”. Examination of people’s experiences of spirituality and conceptualization of God can enable psychologists to improve their understanding of individuals’ core personal experiences. This study evaluates both spirituality and God image, as well as the relationship between these two constructs, using qualitative hermeneutic analysis of interviews with 63 adults (51% women, 49% men, …

The Risk Of Marginal Inclusion In The Fortune 500: A Quasi-Replication Of Lewis & Carlos (2023), W. Chad Carlos, Yasir Dewan, Ben W. Lewis, Brian P. Reschke, S. Isaac St. Clair

Faculty Publications

Conventional wisdom suggests that being included in an exclusive ranking leads to positive external evaluations. However, Lewis and Carlos (2023) found that firms situated near the threshold for inclusion on the 100 Best Corporate Citizen ranking were devalued by investors. To assess the generalizability of this surprising finding, we quasi-replicate and extend this finding by applying the same regression discontinuity design to the Fortune 500 ranking. We find corroborating evidence: firms near the bottom of the Fortune 500 receive lower external evaluations, not only from investors but also from industry peers. Our findings therefore quasi-replicate and extend Lewis and Carlos’ …

The Effect Of Bilateral Stimulation On Reducing Tantrum Behaviors In Autistic Children, Pui Kwan Chan

Theses and Dissertations

Autistic children often experience difficulty with emotional regulation, resulting in problem behaviors. This study investigates whether wearable vibrating devices, delivering bilateral stimulation (BLS), effectively reduce tantrum behaviors (i.e., aggression, property destruction, and verbal outbursts) in autistic children when used within an applied behavior analysis (ABA) setting. Three autistic children ages 7-10 participated in an A-B-A-B single-case experimental design conducted at a private autism clinic. Each child wore wireless BLS devices during their regular therapy sessions. A functional relation between the independent and dependent variable was observed. The overall combined average Tau-U score across all three participants was -0.41 with the …

Finding Meaning In Mourning: Building Empathetic Responses To Grieving Individuals Using Immersive Technologies, Brooke C. Strong

Theses and Dissertations

Immersive grief narratives offer a novel approach to fostering emotional support by deeply engaging audiences and eliciting empathetic responses. Grounded in the narrative transportation theory theoretical framework (Green & Brock, 2000), grief narrative research, and supported by existing literature on immersive media, this study examines how immersive 360-degree grief narratives compare to traditional video formats' ability to elicit sympathy, affective empathy, and cognitive empathy towards those grieving. Specifically, the study investigates how presence, conceptualized as realism and sense of being there, and narrative arousal shape empathetic responses toward individuals experiencing grief. By integrating these theoretical frameworks, this research seeks to …

Teaching Hygiene Skills To Teenagers With Developmental Disabilities Utilizing Friendship Circles, Nathaniel Medsker

Theses and Dissertations

High school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often struggle with hygiene skills, including table manners. These difficulties are especially noticeable in peer tutoring settings. Peer tutors were utilized to increase the mouth wiping behavior of the students with IDD using peer influence through the friendship circles intervention. The participants included high school age students with IDD and accompanying peer tutors from their classroom. This was done in a social setting during lunch while the peer tutors modeled the appropriate mouth wiping behavior and complimented the students with IDD if they also participated in the mouth wiping behavior. The …

The Effects Of Morphine, Thc, And Lsd On Synaptic Plasticity Of The Ventral Tegmental Area, Michael Von Gunten

Theses and Dissertations

The brain is an intricate network of neurons that communicate via synapses. Synaptic plasticity, which is the ability to strengthen or weaken synaptic connections, plays a key role in learning, memory, and reward learning. Disruptions to synaptic plasticity play a central role in addiction, particularly in brain circuits involved in reward and motivation. The mesolimbic reward system, which includes the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and its dopaminergic projections, is a primary target of drugs of abuse, including opioids and cannabinoids. However, the physiological consequences of combined exposure to opioids and cannabinoids and the potential for psychedelics to reverse drug-induced neuroadaptations …

Creating And Validating An Aphasia-Friendly Measure Of Marital Relationships: Preliminary Pilot Testing, Jasmine Espinoza

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to modify and validate an aphasia-friendly questionnaire that can be used to assess marital attachment for couples impacted by aphasia. Twenty participants (10 people with aphasia and their spouses) participated across two sessions. The study consisted of two phases. Phase 1 focused on modifying the Brief Accessibility, Responsiveness, and Engagement Scale (BARE) into an aphasia-friendly format through collaboration with an expert panel. Phase 2 involved piloting the revised questionnaire on participants with aphasia and their spouses along with a cognitive interview to obtain qualitative and descriptive data to assess the questionnaire's face validity and preliminary test-retest reliability …

Pathway To Possibilities: A Future-Forward College And Career Readiness Course For Byu Online High School, Lexie Xinliang Dou

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

No abstract provided.

Empathy, Hannah Brugger

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Imagine a world with empathy

Where people lived with more sense?

A place filled with love and kindness

Not at any person's expense.

An Examination Of Eating Disorders Among Asian American Women, Shelby Seipert

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Eating disorders can be defined as a psychological illness that results in abnormal or disturbed eating patterns. The three common eating disorders diagnosed within the United States are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. When analyzing the demographic distribution of individuals diagnosed with an eating disorder in America, it was shown that the subcategory of Asian American citizens had significantly lower amounts of data in comparison to other racial categories. This may be attributed to the fact that on average, Asian Americans are half as likely as Caucasian Americans to seek mental health services. Three main areas shown to have …

Making A Career Of Humanity: Implications Of Activism For Mental Health, Tate Henderson

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Collective action in society, or activism, may increase psychological distress of participants and societies. Multiple studies regarding this relationship of activist behavior and mental health among marginalized or minority groups were reviewed. Certain variables might decrease or even reverse this effect of activism on mental health. Activist behavior that is more passionate and low-risk could improve psychological well-being. Social identity theory explains that increased identification with a group may improve mental health. Despite social identity, activist behavior of itself may also increase feelings of self-actualization, or the feelings of joy that come from personal growth. Such participation in activism may …

When Racist Jokes Go Unchecked: The Plight Of Asian Americans At The Hands Of Fellow Americans, Sedric Jacobsen

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Asian American people are often the target of unchecked racist jokes levelled by fellow Americans. Because of the model minority myth, racism towards Asian Americans has received less attention than that of other minority groups. Stereotypes furthered by racist jokes may seem innocuous, but they lead to mental, emotional, and potentially physical harm. Victim blaming is a common response to objections levied by Asian American people and this process leads to further psychological damage for the offended. The favored profile of an American is white, heterosexual, and male. Divergence from this model leads to prejudice, a response that is taught …

Differences In Diagnosis, Perception, And Recognition Among Children With Autism-Spectrum Disorder Belonging To Racial And Ethnic Minority Groups, Madelyne L. Syphus

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Despite Autism-Sprectrum Disorder's (ASD's) relatively short existence as a diagnostic category, it has become one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders in the world. However, as awareness of ASD rises, those who do not fit the White-male diagnostic mold are often left out of conversations and experience disparities in diagnosis, recognition, and support for autism (Matthews, 2019). Many racial and ethnic minority groups suffer from professionals' lack of cultural awareness, and spontaneous judgments often result in lower rates of referral for and diagnosis of ASD (Begeer et al., 2008; Burke et al., 2015; Lopez, 2014). Differences in social norms among …

Jewish Contributions To The Anti-Apartheid Movement, Ashley Davis

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

In his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela (1995) wrote, "I have foundJews to be more broad-minded than most Whites on the issues of race and politics, perhaps because they themselves have historically been victims of prejudice" (p. 91). The centuries of persecution faced by Jews engrained into J ewish teachings and culture a strong sense of morality and pushed them towards social and political activism. In South Africa, while White Jews were considered a part of the privileged minority, they faced discrimination and blatant anti-Semitism. Their privileged position as Whites and simultaneous ethnic status as 'lesser' than …

Mixed In America, Nay Robinson

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Being mixed in America means being too white to be black and too black to be right.

It means braids and bandeau knots are not mine to wear, but straightened or curled is too white for my hair.

Front Matter

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

No abstract provided.

First-Generation College Students' Transition Experiences After A Bridge Program, Alison Irvine Mcmurry

Theses and Dissertations

First-generation college students (FGCS) often encounter greater challenges than their peers. Universities offer transition programs like bridge programs, orientations, and advising, but service gaps contribute to FGCS difficulties. Bridge programs are often implemented for specific student groups that the university believes to be at-risk or more vulnerable than their peers. Targeted students are asked to come to campus early for additional training, education, and advising. The program is thought to bridge the gap between what they know and what they need to know to be college-ready and on-level with their peers. This case study examines the transition experiences of seven …

Structural Covariance And Episodic Memory: Sex Differences In Schizophrenia, Delaina Brooke Cimmino

Theses and Dissertations

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic brain disease characterized by patterns of positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms that interfere with daily functioning and persist throughout the lifespan. Clinical and cognitive symptoms differ between males and females with the disease, suggesting neurobiological abnormalities that vary on the basis of biological sex. The present study used high-dimensional brain mapping and network analysis procedures of cortical and limbic regions known to be involved in memory formation to investigate sex differences in brain correlates of episodic memory among patients with schizophrenia. This study analyzed multi-site archival data from 363 male (M) and 108 female (F) …