Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons^™

Religiosity, Spirituality, And Depressive Symptoms In Older Adults In An Active Living Community, Monica D'Adrianne Solomon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The population of older adults in the United States is steadily rising. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a call to reduce mental distress in older adults. Research shows that mental distress is associated with depressive symptoms, which are significantly related to many chronic medical conditions, functional impairment, suicide, and all-cause mortality. Depression is a major public health concern. There is an interest in gerontology research on the buffering role of engagement against depressive symptoms such as volunteering, social activities, and religion. Certain religious beliefs and behaviors contribute to maintaining or improving mental health and research …

Resources Matter: The Role Of Social Capital And Collective Efficacy In Mediating Gun Violence, Jennifer Lynne Dean

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This study explains how community activists make use of available social capital and collective efficacy while attempting to mediate gun violence. It specifically focuses on twelve in-depth interviews of activists' perspectives, processes and rationales to alleviate community gun violence, based on informal social control models. Findings suggest activists must establish trust and respect with youth they work with before mediation begins, which is established through similar life experiences or backgrounds. Once a strong bond is established with youth, activists identified five core processes to reduce violence: 1) improve the mindset, 2) provide life skills, 3) assist youth as their …

Accuracy Of Educators In Identifying Middle School Students With Elevated Levels Of Anxiety Or Depression, Cheryl Gelley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Schools need accurate and efficient ways to identify youth with mental health problems, in part to provide services to such students whose mental health concerns pose barriers to learning. The present study involved an investigation of the accuracy of one method--relying on educators (teachers, a team of school-based mental health professionals, and a school nurse) to identify early adolescents who self-report elevated levels of anxiety or depression. With respect to teachers as screening agents, the possible variability in rates of accurate identification as a function of number of teachers involved in the process (i.e., pooling nominations from multiple subject area …

An Evaluation On The Effects Of Check-In/Check-Out With School-Aged Children Residing In A Mental Health Treatment Facility, Crystal Ann Stuart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (SWPBIS) is an evidence- based application of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to address and prevent problem behaviors from occurring, promote pro-social behaviors, and create a positive learning environment for all students. There are many secondary interventions that have been utilized within the framework of SWPBIS that have high success rates. However, the research conducted on the use of Check-In/Check-Out (CICO), a secondary intervention, has focused its attention more on its effectiveness in public elementary schools. There is a lack of research evaluating the effectiveness of CICO in alternative school settings. This study provides an …

The Role Of Acquired Capability As A Differentially-Specific Risk Factor For Disordered Eating And Problematic Alcohol Use In Female College Students: A Measure Development And Validation Study, Christa D. Labouliere

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditional college students are members of an age bracket noted for high levels of risky behavior, and research has shown that certain risky behaviors, such as disordered eating and problematic alcohol use, are particularly common among undergraduates. It is well established that certain events in the learning history predispose vulnerable persons to engage in maladaptive risky behaviors. What is less clear is why some persons facing these events go on to develop maladaptive behavior while others do not, or why people facing similar events develop different varieties of maladaptive behaviors. Current research has focused extensively on risk factors that are …

School Mental Health: Views Of Services Integration And Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based, Donna L. Burton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Purpose of the study. Through secondary data analysis of results from the School Mental Health Services Integration Survey (SMHSIS), this study describes indicators of school mental health integration preparedness, including role identification, willingness to engage in tasks associated with mental health services integration and implementation facilitators. The study also investigated the utility of a modified version of the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale (EBPAS) for use with school staff.

Study rationale. With as many as 20% of children meeting criteria for mental disorders that cause impairment, the gaps in mental health services delivery to this special needs population are evident …

Counselor Discomfort With Sexual Issues And Supervisory Role, Barbara Lofrisco

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Sexual issues are common among the general population; therefore it is likely that clients suffer with them whether or not they are presenting issues. Because unresolved sexual issues may contribute to harm, counselors have an ethical obligation to ensure these issues are addressed during therapy. Yet, many fail to do so for a variety of reasons. Because clinical supervisors are in a unique position to nurture and mentor novice counselors, their influence is salient to this issue.

Although some research has been done to address this issue, results are inconclusive and somewhat contradictory. This study attempts to fill in …

A Study Of Potential Risk Factors Of Depression Among Latina Breast Cancer Survivors, Claudia Ximena Aguado Loi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Women with breast cancer commonly experience depression. However, this condition often goes unrecognized, undertreated, and understudied, especially in ethnic minorities. If left untreated, co-existing depression in women with cancer can complicate cancer treatment, lead to poor treatment adherence for both conditions, and decrease survival. These negative consequences are considerably higher among Latinas. With the growing number of Latinos and diversity within the Latino community, the literature has identified the need to disaggregate Latinos by region of origin. Unfortunately, few studies account for these differences and no study to date has examined risk factors of depression among Latinas diagnosed with breast …

Altering A Secondary Tier Intervention To Examine The Effects Of Negative Reinforcement Contingencies On Elementary School Students, Stevie-Marie Swift

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Problem behaviors in the school setting have become more frequent as well as challenging for teachers and faculty to decrease while attempting to help their students attain their academic goals. Within the last decade, school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) has become more widespread as an evidence-based practice within the school system. SWPBS uses a multi-tiered support structure in order to affect behavior change across an entire school population. Several common secondary interventions have been utilized with high success rates. However, the research conducted thus far using the Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) program, a secondary intervention, has shown a lesser degree of success …

A Dual-Factor Model Of Mental Health In High School Students: Group Characteristics And Social Functioning, Amanda Lynn Thalji

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A dual-factor model of psychological functioning examines the presence of wellness (i.e., subjective well-being; SWB) and psychopathology (i.e., internalizing and externalizing behavior problems) in explaining youth mental health functioning. Using a dual-factor model, previous research has yielded four unique groups of elementary and middle school youth as well as college-age adults with distinct levels of wellness and psychopathology. The present empirical investigation included valid data from 500 adolescents from two high schools (grades 9 to 11). This exploratory study produced four groups of students with unique mental health profiles aligned with previous studies investigating the dual-factor model. Tukey-Kramer comparisons determined …

A Longitudinal Investigation Of Stress, Complete Mental Health, And Social Support Among High School Students, Ashley Chappel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Examinations of stress in relation to adolescent mental health have not often utilized a comprehensive definition of psychological functioning. Recent literature has found support for the importance of examining optimal psychological functioning as the presence of high life satisfaction in addition to low psychopathology (Antamarian, Huebner, Hills, & Valois, 2011; Suldo & Shaffer, 2008). Most research on stress has focused on either major stressful events or chronic environmental stressors; further research is needed on the psychological model of stress, which conceptualizes stress as involving both environmental events and one's cognitive appraisals of the stressor. The current longitudinal study determined how …

Accuracy Of Educator Nominations In Identifying Students With Elevated Levels Of Anxiety And Depression, Jennifer Cunningham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Internalizing disorders, specifically depression and anxiety, affect up to 18% and 33% of youth, respectively (Costello, Egger, & Angold, 2005b). Schools have become a major provider of mental health services to children, primarily in attempts to overcome barriers to receiving community services (Farmer, Burns, Philip, Angold, & Costello, 2003). As such, it is important that schools have effective mechanisms in place to accurately identify students who may be in need of such services. The current study examined the accuracy of one such method, educator nominations (including from both teachers and school-based mental health professionals) in identifying students who self-report elevated …

Emotional Reactivity And Regulation In Current And Remitted Depression: An Event Related Potential Study, Lauren M. Bylsma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is thought to be characterized by emotion regulation deficits, including decreased use of adaptive strategies such as reappraisal, but little is known about the exact nature of these deficits and whether or not they are specific to the depressed mood state. The late positive potential (LPP) is a sustained positive deflection of the event-related potential (ERP) associated with responding to emotionally-valenced stimuli, and reappraisal strategies have been found to reduce LPP magnitude in response to emotional stimuli in healthy individuals, but this effect has not been examined in MDD. This study utilized ERPs to examine emotional …

Friendship Networks, Perceived Reciprocity Of Support, And Depression, Ryan Francis Huff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using social network analysis as a theoretical framework, the current study examined the associations between self-reported egocentric network characteristics and depression among a sample of United States college students. It is important to understand factors related to depression among this population due to the severity of its potential outcomes (e.g., suicide and interpersonal problems at school). Drawing inspiration from a recent study conducted by Christina Falci and Clea McNeely (2009), the current investigation used OLS regression to test for both linear and curvilinear relationships between egocentric network size and depression. Potential interactions between network size, density, and gender were also …

Actualizing Empowerment: Developing A Framework For Partnering With Families In System Level Service Planning And Delivery, Kathleen Ferreira

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The engagement of families of children and adolescents with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) as full partners in individual treatment, organizational, and system level decision making has become an important focus for systems of care (SOCs) serving youth with emotional and behavioral challenges. SOCs typically include cross-agency partnerships with mental health, child welfare, juvenile justice, and education for the purpose of providing services and supports for youth with SED who have multi-agency needs. Implementation of a federal mandate requiring family driven care (FDC) within systems of care funded through the Children's Mental Health Initiative (CMHI) has revealed that most system of …

Sisters In Arms: A Case Study Of The Experiences Of Women Warriors In The United States Military, Carmen Teresa Stein-Mccormick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Presently there are few studies that describe the current experiences of women warriors relative to issues such as sexual hostility, sexual harassment, and other uncommon experiences during their military careers. Very little is known about how being a woman in a male-dominated military may affect women warriors' choices between making the military a career or returning to civilian life. With better understanding of women warriors' military experiences, mental health professionals, educators, and other human services professionals may have a better understanding of the issues that may affect women in the military. To date there are limited studies that have examined …

Parent Response To Adolescent Self-Injurious Behavior: A Collective Case Study, Kylee Sue Tuls

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research in the area of self-injurious behaviors and the family context is still emerging. The majority of research available is quantitative in nature. The limited qualitative research available in this area has been conducted outside of the United States. A collective case study was conducted with four parents with an adolescent that had been admitted to an inpatient psychiatric residential facility with a presenting problem of self-injurious behavior. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth, qualitative understanding of the parent perspective and comprehension of adolescent self-injurious behavior including the parents' ideas on how the parent-child relationship or …

Translation And Adaptation Of The Center For Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (Ces-D) Scale Into Tigrigna Language For Tigrigna Speaking Eritrean Immigrants In The United States, Mulubrhan Fisseha Mogos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Depression is one of the oldest known mental health conditions. It is acknowledged to be a global health problem that affects people from any culture or ethnic group. The prevalence of depression widely varied across countries and cultures. The cross-cultural relevance of the concept of depression, its screening or diagnosis, and cultural equivalence of items used to measure symptoms of depression has been area of research interest. Differences in prevalence rates in depression have been suggested as being due to research artifacts, such as use of instrument developed for one culture to another culture. With the current trend of globalization …

Relationship Between Cancer-Related Fatigue And Depression: A Pilot Study, Gloria Michelle Guess

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fatigue is one of the most bothersome symptoms reported by patients diagnosed with cancer, and research indicates that the majority of patients receiving chemotherapy report symptoms of fatigue. Fatigue can have an effect on quality of life; therefore, it is essential that healthcare providers gain a better understanding and recognition of fatigue.

Fatigue can also be a symptom of depression. Depression is another prominent symptom reported by patients diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately, there are similarities between the symptoms of depression and fatigue making it difficult for health care providers to distinguish between the two. This study utilizes the subscale of …

Tarnished Golden Years: Older Offenders With Mental Health Problems And Late Life First Time Offenders, Brianne Stanback

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Older offenders (offenders 50 years and older) are a distinct groups within the U.S. correctional system. Studies 1 and 2 were intended to investigate mental health and stressors among jailed older offenders.

Study 1 examined the prevalence rates of mental health disorders and explored the relationship between mental health disorders and stressors. Participants 50 years and older (N=330) from the 2002 wave of the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ) were studied via descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and a logistic regression to determine which variables were related to the probability of having a mental health problem. 65.8% of participants …

School Psychologists' Communication And Collaboration With Community-Based Mental Health Professionals, Audra St. John Walsh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although collaboration between school psychologists and community-based mental health professionals is essential in the provision of comprehensive and effective mental health services for youth with intensive mental health needs, youth may not receive the full benefit of these coordinated efforts, as collaboration may not occur as often as it should. This study investigated the frequency of communication and collaboration between school- and community-based professionals, the purposes and methods of communication, and the benefits and barriers to collaboration. Survey data from 80 members of the Florida Association of School Psychologists were collected and analyzed. Forty-three percent of school psychologists reported communicating …

The Mediating Role Of Social Support And Fulfillment Of Spiritual Needs In End Of Life Care, Kimberley A. Gryglewicz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

End of life (EOL) caregiving can be a daunting and challenging endeavor as caregivers adjust to the ever-changing care demands associated with dying. Increased personal care, assisting with symptom and medication management, and attending to the emotional and spiritual needs of the dying person require caregivers to learn new tasks and to assume new roles such as social worker, nurse, and chaplain. As families continue to play an essential role in meeting the health care needs of their dying loved ones, it is imperative for social workers to understand the complexities of the end of life caregiving experience in order …