Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Chronic Pain Causal Attributions In An Interdisciplinary Primary Care Clinic: Patient-Provider And Provider-Provider Discrepancies, Bryan Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of pain causal attributions on patient pain-related functioning, treatment engagement, and clinical outcomes. Additionally, the impact of discordant pain causal attributions between patients and their providers as well as between interdisciplinary providers was examined. Patients rated their pain functioning and causal pain attributions during a regular clinic visit. Following the patient’s visit both the behavioral medicine provider and internal medicine resident provided ratings of similar pain-related functioning domains and causal attributions. Follow-up data were collected from the electronic medical record three months following that clinic visit. Overall, results revealed …

Development And Evaluation Of A Peer-To-Peer Intervention To Increase Self-Management Among Adult In-Center Hemodialysis Patients, Jennifer J. St Clair Russell

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Peer-to-peer (P2P) support programs have the potential to assist ESRD patients in managing their disease and improve outcomes. Yet, there is little research examining P2P programs’ impact on psychosocial outcomes and disease management behaviors.

Methods: A 4-month P2P mentoring intervention was designed and piloted in a facility serving 249 in-center hemodialysis patients in Lynchburg, Virginia. Preceded by a social marketing effort, which included a program naming contest and participant recruitment, the intervention included: (1) mentor training, (2) pairing of mentees and mentors, (3) kick-off social mixers, (4) ongoing meetings between mentees and mentors, (5) mentor training booster, and (6) …

Examining Genetic And Environmental Influences On Alcohol Use And Externalizing Behaviors In African American Adolescents, Neeru Goyal

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this thesis is to expand our understanding of the etiology of alcohol misuse and related disorders in African Americans using genetically informative study designs. Specifically, we take advantage of the candidate-gene approach and polygenic score analysis to extend the literature specific to African American populations. Chapter 2 explores gene x environment (GxE) interactions through the candidate gene approach to explore the relationship between two genes chosen on their potential relevance to stress response and adolescent alcohol use and misuse, among African American youth living in highly impoverished neighborhoods, as moderated by stressful life events. Chapter 3 implements …

Do Mindfulness, Rumination Or Social Problem-Solving Factors Predict Distress?, Gabriela Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

Depression and anxiety continue to be prevalent concerns, with lifetime prevalence rates of 41% for depressive symptoms and 15% for anxious symptoms. Reputable studies confirm that high self-reported mindful awareness and social problem solving are both individually related to a lower severity of self-reported depressive symptoms. Rumination has also been found to have a significant relationship with depressive and anxious symptoms. Yet, these etiological factors have not been studied in combination, which is the focus of the current study. Hypothesis 1: Mindfulness, rumination, and social problem-solving will predict depressive symptoms after controlling for the variance predicted by Time 1 (T1) …

The Effects Of Abuse On Mental Health Outcomes Of Males, Helana Russo

Theses and Dissertations

Childhood sexual and physical abuse has been found to have lasting effects on one's physical and mental health in adulthood. Studies have found that childhood abuse is linked to a variety of mental health conditions that tend to present later in life. This paper investigates specifically how childhood abuse experiences may affect the mental health of male victims, explicitly examining whether the type of abuse has an effect on the way mental health problems express, whether internalized or externalized disorders are more prominent depending on the abuse type. The study also aims to compare mental health outcomes of abused males …

Individual Personality And Emotional Readiness Characteristics Associated With Marriage Preparation Outcomes Of Perceived Helpfulness And Change, Megan Ann Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about the role that personality and emotional readiness factors may play in participation and outcomes of premarital education programs in varying formats. Data collected via the RELATionship Evaluation Questionnaire (RELATE: Busby et al., 2001) was used to analyze how personality and emotional readiness factors affect perceived change and helpfulness in self-directed and workshop formats of premarital education for 384 individuals who participated in such interventions. Depression was significantly and negatively related to participant perception of positive change and helpfulness in a workshop setting. Kindness was positively and significantly related to perceived positive change in both workshop and …

Effects Of Interparental Conflict On Taiwanese Adolescents’ Depression And Externalizing Problem Behavior: A Longitudinal Study, Chih Han Hsieh

Theses and Dissertations

The link between interparental conflict and adolescents’ maladjustment has been well established among European Americans; however, relatively few studies examine these relationships in Chinese societies. This study used longitudinal data from the Taiwan Youth Project (TYP), an on-going longitudinal panel research project focused on adolescent development, in order to examine the relationship between interparental conflict and depressive symptoms and externalizing problem behaviors of adolescents. In addition, this study examined parental warmth as a mediating variable for the relationship between interparental conflict and adolescents’ maladjustment. The results showed that interparental conflict predicted depressive symptoms among adolescents two years later. Mediation analysis …

Shame, Relational Aggression, And Sexual Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Study, Austin Ray Beck

Theses and Dissertations

This longitudinal study examined the relationship between husband and wife shame and husband and wife sexual satisfaction one year later with husband and wife relational aggression as mediating variables. The sample included 353 heterosexual married couples who participated in the Flourishing Families Research Project, a longitudinal study of daily family life. Results showed that husband and wife shame was negatively related with husband and wife sexual satisfaction, respectively. Husband love withdrawal was negatively related with both husband and wife sexual satisfaction, while wife love withdrawal was negatively related with only husband sexual satisfaction. Each partner's use of social sabotage was …

Parent And Adolescent Attachment And Adolescent Shame And Hope With Psychological Control As A Mediator, Natasha K. Bell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if parent adolescent attachment is correlated with adolescent hope and shame two years later with parent psychological control in the year in between as a mediator. Data at wave four, five, and six for 308 families from the Flourishing Families Project were used. In previous studies attachment has been shown to be important in adolescent development. This study found that the adolescent's perception of the relationship is negatively correlated with shame and positively correlated with hope in the adolescent. Additionally the adolescent's perception of their relationship with both mother and father was …

The Moderating Effect Of Attachment Behaviors On The Association Between Video Game Use, Time Together As A Problem, And Relationship Quality, Stella Christine Dobry

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test whether video game use is associated with more problems with spending time together among married couples, whether problems with time together are associated with relationship quality, and whether attachment behaviors can moderate the association between time together as a problem and relationship quality. Previous studies have found a negative association between excessive video game use and couple relationship outcomes. Excessive video game use may negatively impact relationships by taking away from time spent on shared leisure and relationship maintenance activities. The Double ABCx model provided a theoretical framework for understanding how attachment …

Sexism And How It Mediates The Relationship Between Gender And Rape Myth Acceptance, Caroline Feinberg

Theses and Dissertations

Rape is a significant social and health problem in the United States with around 17.7 million women being forcibly raped at some time in their lives. While a rape-supportive culture and victim blame are concepts that aid in explaining rape, understanding societal held ideas about rape and traditional gender role beliefs can explain. Therefore, the present study focuses on how ambivalent sexist belief structures mediate the relationship between gender and rape myth acceptance. It was hypothesized that ambivalent sexism (AS) when divided into its four separate concepts: hostile (HS), protective paternalism (PP), complementary gender differentiation (CGD), and heterosexual intimacy (HI), …

Understanding Factors Contributing To Risky Sexual Activity In The Study Abroad Environment, Tiffany Marcantonio

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers suggest that study abroad students may be an un-identified high risk group for risky sexual activity. The goal of this study was to determine whether factors predictive of risky sexual activity at home (sexual sensation seeking, alcohol and sex expectancies, alcohol consumption and previous risky behaviors) may also influence such behavior while abroad. Data was collected longitudinally with a pre and post survey that assessed the above constructs. Twenty-four study abroad students completed the pre survey and six completed the post survey. Two Independent samples t-tests were conducted to clarify differences between gender and students who completed the pre-survey …

The Effects Of Family Responsibilities And Gender On Seeking Substance-Abuse Treatment, Holly Weiss

Theses and Dissertations

It is evident in the media, from news reports to published research, that substance use is a serious and extensive problem (SAMHSA, 2012). The problem with drug use is not a new issue, but with a changing society the substance abuse issue is changing as well. With substance abuse at its highest in about ten years, it would be expected that treatment admissions would be at the highest levels as well, yet the numbers have remained constant (SAHMSA, 2012). The changing society has helped foster increased drug use, but it has also assisted in developing new difficulties that those affected …

Effects Of Violent Video Games On Sexual Aggression In Males, Elizabeth Ealer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the link between short-term violent video game play and engagement in sexually aggressive behaviors. In this study, participants were randomly assigned to play 15 minutes of Grand Theft Auto (experimental group) or Tetris Evolution (control group) on an Xbox. After game play, participants engaged in a joke telling paradigm, in which participants were given 10 sexually aggressive jokes, and were instructed to tell between 0-10 of the jokes to a female confederate. The number of jokes told is related to sexually aggressive behaviors outside of the laboratory. The researchers of this study …

The Relationship Between Cognitive Inhibition, Mental Illness, And Creativity, Christina Carter

Theses and Dissertations

The current study explored how the symptom severity of the affective and schizophrenia spectrums related to performance on a divergent thinking task and self-reports of creative achievement, as well as the contribution of cognitive inhibition as a moderating factor between these variables. 98 participants completed a 1.5 hour battery of tests that combined measures between this study and another study. Measures pertaining to this study included self-report measures of schizotypy and hypomania, a divergent thinking creativity task, a computerized stimuli-response task, and two self-reports of creative achievement. Correlations were conducted to examine linear relationships, nonlinear regression models were conducted to …

Outness As A Protective Factor Against Risky Sex In Gay Males, Margaret Levicoff

Theses and Dissertations

Homosexual men between the ages of 15 and 25 constitute a disproportionate majority of new sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS, worldwide (Harper, 2007). Men who have sex with men (MSM) more frequently engage in riskier health behaviors, such as drinking, substance use, and risky sexual practices than their heterosexual counterparts (Hamilton & Mahalik, 2009). The current study sampled 150 self-identified homosexual men between the ages of 18 through 30 to assess whether or not level of outness influenced the likelihood of an individual to engage in risky sexual behaviors. Participants completed an online survey that measured each individual's level …

The Cost Effectiveness Of Psychotherapy For Treating Adults With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Micah Lavar Ingalls

Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents results from cost-analysis research for treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in adults. Data for this research was provided by Cigna, a nation-wide healthcare manager in the United States of America. The sample size was 12,845 adults who were diagnosed with PTSD and received outpatient individual and family psychotherapy from one of the following mental health care providers: Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs), Master’s Nurses (RNs), Medical Doctors (MDs), Professional Counselors (LPCs), Psychologists (PSYs), and Social Workers (MSWs). Results were compared across treatment modality, across practitioner license type and between practitioner educational levels. The results demonstrated that family therapy …

The Effects Of Marital Attachment And Family-Of-Origin Stressors On Body Mass Index, Merle Natasha Bates

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effect of couple's attachment behavior on family-of-origin (FOO) issues and body mass index (BMI). Previous research has indicated that family and couple relational factors may influence BMI. The vulnerability and stress model provided a theoretical framework for understanding how attachment behaviors may give greater adaptability to managing vulnerabilities from family stress. 1214 couples between the ages of 18 and 70, who identified themselves as in a serious relationship were surveyed using the RELATE questionnaire; both partners responded. Results indicated that there was a significant association between FOO stress and adult …

Music Therapy As Treatment For The Psychological Distress Of Victims Of Intimate Partner Violence: Comparing Expressive And Receptive Music Interventions, Kristiana Miner

Theses and Dissertations

Domestic violence or intimate partner violence refers to physical, sexual, or emotional harm committed by a current or former intimate partner. Intimate partner violence has varied and serious repercussions in the lives of its victims. The direct consequences of violence combined with the physical aftermath of emotional distress, fear, and anxiety can lead to a variety of ailments. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and suicide are both major concerns for female victims of IPV. Considering that the issues faced by many victims of DV are pervasive and complex, treatment for survivors needs to be comprehensive and multifaceted. Music therapy is an evidence-based …

The Efficacy Of Bibliotherapy For Social Anxiety And Depressive Symptomology, Paige Palumbo

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, the efficacy of a self-help treatment was examined. Participants were undergraduates experiencing comorbid social anxiety and depressive symptoms. It is hypothesized that those in the treatment condition (n=5) would experience a significant reduction in social anxiety and depressive symptoms over the course of the nine week treatment. In addition, it is hypothesized that these gains would be greater than the gains experienced by individuals in the wait-list control condition (n=5). The results of this study did support the hypotheses.

Preferences For Systems Of Psychotherapy And Beliefs About The Causes Of Depression, Andrew Jarema

Theses and Dissertations

Despite multiple treatments being equally effective in treating depression, individuals may have preferences for which intervention they receive. There has been evidence that psychotherapy is preferred over medication or other professional treatments. Psychotherapy, however, is a broad term that does not capture the reality of diverse systems of therapy available to consumers. Therefore, the current study hypothesized that if given the choice between conceptually different types of psychotherapy, individuals would express a preference for at least one treatment over the others. Results from 221 college students indicate that when offered descriptions of problem-solving, cognitive, interpersonal, or behavioral activation therapies, both …

The Effect Of Quality Of Life And Health Behaviors In Schizotypy, Victoria Giordano

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia are typically found to engage in higher rates of poorer health behaviors, such as higher rates of smoking and poorer nutrition. Along with poorer health behaviors, individuals with schizophrenia tend to report a lower quality of life than an individual without a schizophrenia diagnosis. Our study chose to look at schizotypy, or sub-clinical schizophrenia, and its relation to quality of life and health behaviors. We found that individuals that measure high on the subclinical schizotypy scale tend to mirror the health and quality of life ratings of an individual diagnosed with schizophrenia - they are more …

Avoidant Parental And Self Conflict-Resolution Styles And Marital Relationship Self-Regulation: Do Perceived Partner Attachment Behaviorsplay A Moderating Role?, Erin L. Rackham

Theses and Dissertations

Relationship self-regulation (RSR) refers to the “work”, or effort and strategies, that partners put into keeping their relationships healthy. Past RSR research has not taken into account distal and proximal variables that may affect RSR, such as parental and current relationship avoidant conflict-resolution style (CRS). In this study, we examine the relationships between parental avoidant CRS and current relationship avoidant CRS, as well as self-report of RSR in the relationship. Additionally, the perception of one's partner's attachment behaviors consisting of responsiveness, engagement, and accessibility is included in the model to test for moderation of the relationship between current relationship avoidant …

The Relationship Among Male Pornography Use, Attachment, And Aggression In Romantic Relationships, Andrew P. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Clinicians and researchers question how pornography might be impacting the people who view it and their partners. In particular, does pornography link to couples attachment and levels of aggression? Using data collected by the RELATE institute a sophisticated structural equation model was set up to answer this question. In particular, an actor partner interdependence model was used to analyze the relationship among male pornography use, insecure attachment behaviors, relational aggression, and physical aggression in 1630 heterosexual couples. Results indicate higher reports of male pornography use are associated with higher reports of insecure attachment behaviors, relational aggression, and physical aggression. Differences …

A Longitudinal Study Of Therapist Emotion Focused Therapy Interventions Predicting In-Session Positive Couple Behavior, Josh Novak

Theses and Dissertations

This is a longitudinal multilevel analysis using third party coded data of 15 couples therapy sessions to identify which therapist Emotion Focused Therapy interventions (Management of Couple's Interaction, Working with Primary Emotion, Managing Defensive Responses, Reframing the Problem in Terms of the Cycle, and Placing Emerging Emotions into the Cycle) influenced husband-to-wife and wife-to-husband exchanges of Positive Behaviors (warmth, prosocial behaviors, communication, assertiveness, and listening). A mixed effects model was used to examine within- and between-individual variability. Men and women were modeled separately. A series of two-level multilevel models of change were examined, where Time is Level 1 and Individual …

Facilitative Implicit Rules And Adolescent Emotional Regulation, Lexie Y. Pfeifer

Theses and Dissertations

Research has linked emotional regulation to the adaptive functioning of adolescents. Further research suggests that family processes, which include implicit rules, impact children's emotional regulation. The current study examined the impact of implicit rules that are facilitative of family connectedness on development of adolescents' emotional regulation. Data came from the Flourishing Families Project (FFP), a seven-year longitudinal study measuring family processes that impact adolescent development. The sample was collected in the northwestern United States and consisted of 500 families with a target child between the ages of 10 and 14 years. Participants filled out self-report measures on implicit family rules …

Interactions Between Race, Gender, And Income In Relationship Education Outcomes, Andrew K. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers and policymakers have become interested in the use of relationship education programs as a means to remedy the effects of family instability. Research suggests that relationship education produces positive outcomes with some groups. However, whether populations who are socially and economically more at-risk of relationship problems and relationship dissolution are gaining from relationship education remains an open question. Ecocultural Theory is used to conceptualize the research question and to illustrate the importance of studying diverse populations. The purpose of this study is to assess relationship education outcomes for select at-risk groups. The sample for this study (n=1,907) comes from …

Attachment Behaviors As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Disapproval And Relationship Satisfaction, Lauren Drean

Theses and Dissertations

Both approval and disapproval of one's social network have been shown to predict relationship outcomes. Additional research has shown that attachment can buffer the negative effects of various factors (e.g., depression) on relationships. This thesis researches the effects of disapproval of friends and family and attachment on relationship outcomes. More specifically this study looks at the potential moderating effects of couple-specific attachment behaviors on the relationship between social network disapproval and relationship quality. The RELATE data set was used to study couples and their relationship quality. The study looked at 858 married couples and found that one's own attachment behaviors …

An Examination Of The Relationships Between Rumination, Social Problem-Solving, Mindfulness And Depressive Symptomology, Taylor Wiltsee

Theses and Dissertations

The present study will examine the relationships between rumination, social problem-solving, mindfulness, and depressive symptomology. These relationships will be evaluated by means of Pearson correlations, and the testing of the proposed path model using AMOS. In order to test our hypotheses, undergraduate students were asked to complete a battery of self-report measures to quantify ruminative tendencies, problem-solving ability, mindfulness skills, and depressive symptom severity and were given course credit for participation. Results indicate that hypotheses were partially supported. Bivariate correlations yielded statistically significant relationships between each of the constructs, with rumination positively associated with depressive symptoms, and negatively associated with …

Race And Mental Illness At A Virginia Hospital: A Case Study Of Central Lunatic Asylum For The Colored Insane, 1869-1885, Caitlin Doucette Foltz

Theses and Dissertations

In 1869 the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia passed legislation that established the first asylum in the United States to care exclusively for African-American patients. Then known as Central Lunatic Asylum for the Colored Insane and located in Richmond, Virginia, the asylum began to admit patients in 1870. This thesis explores three aspects of Central State Hospital's history during the nineteenth century: attitudes physicians held toward their patients, the involuntary commitment of patients, and life inside the asylum. Chapter One explores the nineteenth-century belief held by southern white physicians, including those at Central State Hospital, that freed people …