Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Psychometric Properties Of The Psychopathic Personality Inventory In A Non-Criminal Population, Julie Madeleine Woltil

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) is a self-report measure which was created to identify the personality traits of psychopathy in noncriminal populations. These personality traits were grouped into eight subscales in the PPI including Machiavellian Egocentricity, Social Potency, Coldheartedness, Carefree Nonplanfulness, Fearlessness, Blame Externalization, Impulsive Nonconformity and Stress Immunity. The hypothesized relationships and factor structure of this study follow the theory of psychopathy as being a disorder rooted in antisocial behaviors (often aggressive and impulsive in nature) and inappropriate emotional reactivity (characterized as a lack in empathy and anxiety). A confirmatory factor analysis was done with an ethnically diverse undergraduate …

Borderline Personality Disorder And Suicidal Attempts: How To Calm An Uprising Dilemma, Ashley Anne Welter

Graduate Research Papers

Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are more likely than patients with any other personality disorder to commit suicide. Many programs have been found successful in helping these patients control their thoughts. Using the Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD) with a cathartic journal process in addition to the treatment, instead of hospitalization, it is hypothesized that BPD patients will reduce thoughts and attempts of suicide. This is a five year program that will be implemented to see how patients progress through the treatment. There will be a pretest-posttest control group design used in this research. With adding a journaling …

The Contribution Of Nmda Receptors Within The Central Nucleus Of The Amygdala To The Suppression Of Pain Affect, Catherine Ann Spuz

Wayne State University Dissertations

The amygdala processes stimuli that threaten an individual and organizes the execution of affective behaviors designed to cope with the threat. The prototypical threat to an individual is exposure to a noxious stimulus. The central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) receives nociceptive afferents and exhibits neuronal activation in response to noxious peripheral stimulation. NMDA receptors within CeA mediate this noxious-evoked neural excitation, and previous studies in the laboratory have shown that blockade of CeA NMDA receptors via the antagonist APV elevates the threshold for noxious tail-shock-induced vocalization afterdischarges (VADs), a validated measure of pain affect in the rat. The present …

"Because I'M Neither Gringa Nor Latina, Because I Am Not Any One Thing": Children Of Colombian And Dominican Immigrants Negotiating Identities Within (Trans)National Social Fields, Debora Upegui-Hernandez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores how Colombian and Dominican children of immigrants living in New York City negotiate multiple identities, selves, cultures, and histories within transnational social fields. In other words, children of immigrants grow up in the midst of multiple cultures and juggle multiple sets of cultural norms, values, and expectations, their parents' and those of mainstream `American' culture, while they maintain transnational ties to the home country of their parents. This study contributes to the social psychological literature about Dominican and Colombian children of immigrants by introducing a transnational framework to understand their experiences growing up in-between cultures and borders. …

Evidence Based Practices For Sensory Stimulation Seeking Impulsive Diagnosis, Sheena Gasner

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project is to identify evidence based practices that can be used in the treatment of Sensory Stimulation Seeking Impulsive Disorder (430.0). Identification of these practices will more effectively meet the therapeutic needs of the children diagnosed with this disorder.

Investigation Of Working Memory Across Behavioral And Executive Function Variables In Adolescents With Emotional Disturbance, Eleazar Cruz Eusebio

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Newer insights into working memory may have important implications for understanding varying cognitive abilities in adolescents and their corresponding degrees of success and efforts to accomplish real-world goals. It is important to investigate the construct of working memory in relation to academic, behavioral, and emotional success at school for students classified with an Emotionally Disturbance (ED). In the educational system, students are classified as ED, based upon IDEA regulations present within a multiplicity of these cognitive, behavioral, socio-emotional, and academic difficulties. The associated cognitive deficits often involve poor working memory skills thought to be related to frontal lobe processes. Considering …

Multiple Determinants Of Sexualized Behavior In Middle Childhood: A Developmental Psychopathology Perspective, Natasha Elkovitch

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In order to adequately and appropriately intervene with children exhibiting problematic sexual behaviors, a comprehensive understanding of etiology is imperative. Although sexually abused children are observed engaging in more problematic sexual behaviors than their normative or psychiatric counterparts, it is clear that such behaviors may be the result of factors other than, or in addition to, sexual abuse. The goal of the present study was utilize a developmental psychopathology perspective in broadening our understanding of mechanisms associated with the development of problematic sexual behaviors in childhood. Participants for the study include 1, 149 children (51.8% female) drawn from the Longitudinal …

Social Cognition And Interaction Training (Scit) For Individuals With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders In Outpatient Treatment Settings, Petra Kleinlein

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The role of social cognition in severe mental illness (SMI) has gained much attention, especially over the last decade. The impact of deficits in socio-cognitive functioning has been found to have detrimental effects on key areas of day-to-day functioning in individuals with SMI, such as gaining and maintaining employment and overall experienced quality of life. Treatment of individuals with SMI is challenging, as the presentation of individual signs and symptoms is rather heterogeneous. There are several treatment approaches addressing deficits ranging from broader social and interpersonal functioning to neurocognitive and more intrapersonal functioning. As research in the domain of social …

Using A Structured Decision Making Protocol To Stratify Caseloads In The Child Support Program, Steven J. Golightly

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although structured decision making and risk assessment protocols have successfully been used in human service programs, little research has been done on their applicability in the child support program. In this study, problems identified with child support case management were examined, along with positive and negative attributes of various risk assessment tools utilized in other arenas. The overall research problem asserted that there are no structured decision making protocols in the child support program to support case assignment by enforcement difficulty. The primary research question asked whether or not a process stratified by risk and level of enforcement difficulty could …

A Phenomenological Inquiry Of Chronic Homeless Individuals' Challenges To Independence, Dewana Hall

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Homelessness is a comprehensive social problem affecting approximately 744,000 people in the U.S. Despite consistent efforts from politicians, state and local leaders, and service providers, the number of homeless people continues to rise. Although there are some explanations in the literature to account for the increase of homelessness, the literature tends to not include the voices of the homeless themselves. The purpose of this phenomenological study, which used Maslow's hierarchy of needs as its conceptual framework, was to understand the life experiences of members of the homeless population, as perceived by four male residents of a mission in an eastern …

Illness Uncertainty, Ways Of Coping, And Psychological Adjustment Among 18--25-Year-Olds With Anaphylactic Food Allergy, Susan J. Cohen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The prevalence of food allergy is increasing, with adolescents and young adults being the group most likely to die from food-induced anaphylaxis. Behavioral and psychological factors contribute to this risk. This study investigated the relationship between illness uncertainty (as measured by the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale Community Form) and emotion- and problem-focused coping (as measured by the Ways of Coping Scale), to see if they contributed to psychological adjustment (as measured by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21) in this population. A cognitive diathesis-stress model was used to explain individual differences in adjustment. Multiple regression was used to test illness …

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.

Psychological Care For Persons Of Diverse Religions: A Collaborative Continuum, Glen Milstein, Anne Marie Yali

Publications and Research

The purpose of this paper is to describe to psychologists and other clinicians a continuum of mental health care for persons of diverse religions. The continuum delineates boundaries between clinical care provided by mental health professionals and religious care provided by clergy, as well as describes pathways of collaboration across these boundaries. A prevention science based model of Clergy Outreach and Professional Engagement (COPE) is offered to guide this collaboration. The model describes a continuum that moves from the care already present in religious communities, through professional clinical care provided in response to dysfunction and returns persons to their own …

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 …

Effects Of Caregiver Burden And Satisfaction On Affect Of Older End-Stage Renal Disease Patients And Their Spouses, Maureen Wilson-Genderson, Rachel A Pruchno, Francine P Cartwright

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

We examined the extent to which a 2-factor model of affect explains how the burdens and satisfactions experienced by caregivers influence their own well-being and that of the spouses for whom they provide care. Using data from 315 older patients with end-stage renal disease and their spouses, we extended tests of Lawton et al.'s (1991) 2-factor model both longitudinally and dyadically. Multilevel modeling analyses partially support the 2-factor model. Consistent with the model, mean caregiver burden has a stronger effect on both caregiver and patient negative affect than does mean caregiver satisfaction. Contrary to the model, mean caregiver satisfaction has …

Alcohol Use And Gender Effects On Hiv Risk Behaviors In Cocaine-Using Methadone Patients, Carla J. Rash, Nancy M. Petry

UCHC Articles - Research

Injection drug users engage in behaviors that increase the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other infectious diseases. Although methadone maintenance (MM) is highly effective in decreasing heroin use and the spread of HIV, polydrug use, especially the combined use of cocaine and alcohol, is common in MM patients. Alcohol use is independently associated with HIV risk behaviors, and the effects of alcohol use on risk behaviors may vary by gender. This study evaluated the effects of recent heavy alcohol use and gender with respect to HIV risk behaviors in 118 cocaine-abusing methadone patients. Both lifetime and past month …

Motivational Profiles And Their Associations With Achievement Outcomes, Bo Shen, Nate Mccaughtry, Jeffrey J. Martin, Mariane Fahlman

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

With the belief that theoretical integration in motivation may help us better understand motivational behavior, we designed this study to explore adolescents’ motivational profiles and their associations with knowledge acquisition, leisure-time exercise behaviors, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Middle school students from a large urban inner-city school district (N = 603, ages 12–14) completed questionnaires assessing motivational constructs and leisure-time exercise behavior. Knowledge and cardiorespiratory fitness were also assessed with a knowledge test and the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test, respectively. Using hierarchical cluster analysis, we found that students’ motivation in physical education could be explained from a multi-theoretical …

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Identifying Publication Outlets In Occupational Health Psychology: An Opinion Survey, Maria Karanika-Murray, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Leigh Schmitt

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Sexual Risk Recognition Deficits: The Role Of Prior Victimization And Emotion Dysregulation, Kate L. Walsh

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Recent theoretical writings suggest that the ineffective regulation of negative emotional states may reduce the ability of women to detect and respond effectively to situational and interpersonal factors that increase risk for sexual assault. However, little empirical research has explored this hypothesis. In the present study, it was hypothesized that prior sexual victimization and negative mood state would each independently predict poor risk recognition and less effective defensive actions in response to an analogue sexual assault vignette. Further, these variables were expected to interact to produce particularly impaired risk responses. Finally, that the in vivo emotion regulation strategy of suppression …

Examining The Relationships Between Parental Efficacy, Parenting Styles And Repetitive Behaviors In Children With Autism, James R. Carrillo

Graduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between parental efficacy, parenting styles and stereotypical behaviors exhibited by children with autism. Fourteen mothers and their children with autism (ages 14-21) were recruited from local schools and the rehabilitation center. Surveys used in this study included the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R), Parents Sense of Competence (PSOC) and the Parents Locus of Control (PLOC) scale. Also incorporated was the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Even though there was no correlation between the PLOC and stereotypical behaviors of the RBS-R, results revealed a significant relationship between the PSOC and the RBS-R. …

Depressive Symptoms And Marital Satisfaction In The Context Of Chronic Disease: A Longitudinal Dyadic Analysis, Rachel Pruchno, Maureen Wilson-Genderson, Francine P Cartwright

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

These analyses examined the longitudinal relationships between depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction over a 2-year period as experienced by 315 patients with end-stage renal disease and their spouses. Using multilevel modeling, the authors examined both individual and cross-partner effects of depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction on patients and spouses, testing bidirectional causality. Results indicate that mean and time-varying depressive symptoms of both patients and spouses were associated with their own marital satisfaction. Although mean marital satisfaction was associated with own depressive symptoms for both patients and spouses, time-varying marital satisfaction did not affect depressive symptoms for either patients or spouses. …

The Role Of The Peer Group In Adolescence: Effects On Internalizing And Externalizing Symptoms, Glen J. Veed

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

An adolescent’s peer group has been theorized to influence the development of psychopathology. However, little research has examined the adolescent peer group using information obtained directly from peers in a longitudinal framework. Research has also been limited on peer group influence on the development of internalizing disorders. The study used Social Network Analysis to examine self-reported anxiety, depression, aggression, and delinquency in the fall and spring of one school year for students in a rural high school. In addition to examining the effect of the peer group on individual reports of psychopathology, the strength of this relation was compared to …

How Does One Become Spiritual? The Spiritual Modeling Inventory Of Life Environments (Smile), Doug Oman, Carl E. Thoresen, Crystal L. Park, Philip R. Shaver, Ralph W. Hood, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

We report psychometric properties, correlates and underlying theory of the Spiritual Modeling Index of Life Environments (SMILE), a measure of perceptions of spiritual models, defined as everyday and prominent people who have functioned for respondents as exemplars of spiritual qualities, such as compassion, self-control, or faith. Demographic, spiritual, and personality correlates were examined in an ethnically diverse sample of college students from California, Connecticut, and Tennessee (N=1010). A summary measure of model influence was constructed from perceived models within family, school, religious organization, and among prominent individuals from both tradition and media. The SMILE, based on concepts from Bandura's (1986) …

Neuropsychological Effects Of The Traumatic Stress Response In Sexually Abused Adolescents Throughout Treatment, Kathryn R. Wilson

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Child maltreatment is a pervasive problem in our society that has long-term detrimental consequences to the development of the affected child such as future brain growth and functioning. The alteration of the biochemical stress response system in the brain that changes an individual’s ability to respond efficiently and efficaciously to future stressors is conceptualized as the traumatic stress response. The purpose of this research was to explore the effects of the traumatic stress response on sexually abused adolescents’ through a two-tiered study of neuropsychological functioning throughout treatment. It was determined that there are measurable differences in neuropsychological processing in sexually …

A Comparison Of Two Theoretical Models Of Procedural Justice In The Context Of Child Protection Proceedings, Twila Wingrove

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this study, the researcher tested two theoretical models of justice in the context of child protection proceedings. Participants read a case file describing a hypothetical child neglect case. The file included the court petition, the caseworker’s court report, a summary of the protective custody hearing, and the judge’s final order. Within the case file, the researcher manipulated four variables: procedural treatment, interpersonal treatment, severity of child neglect, and assigned role (judge or parent). Results of confirmatory factor analyses suggested that a four-factor model of justice judgments best fit the data. Consistent with the organizational justice approach (Colquitt, 2001) the …

Attitudes And Beliefs That Predict Taiwanese Older Adults' Intentions To Attend Strength And Balance Training Programs, Shih-Fan Lin

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The rate of participation in the strength and balance training (SBT) program, an effective fall prevention intervention, is very low among older adults. To increase older adults' participations in SBT programs, this study involved an observational and cross-sectional study design to understand factors that affect Taiwanese older adults' intention to attend SBT programs utilizing the theory of planned behavior. Questionnaires that measured constructs of the theory of planned behavior (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral, normative, and control beliefs) were collected from 221 community-dwelling Taiwanese elderly women between the age of 55 and 94. Simple correlations and multiple …

History Of Maltreatment And Psychiatric Impairment In Children In Outpatient Psychiatric Treatment, Kerry Gagnon

Honors Scholar Theses

There is increasing evidence that childhood victimization and attachment disruptions impact a child’s development. In this study, children and adolescents from an outpatient psychiatric clinic were assessed, measuring history of trauma, history of out-of-home placement, initial diagnoses, and CBCL internalizing and externalizing problem scores. Multiple regression analyses showed that both violent abuse trauma (physical/sexual abuse) and victim trauma (physical abuse/sexual abuse/witnessing domestic violence/witnessing community violence) are prevalent among patients with externalizing severity problems; concluding that diagnosis alone may not account for a history of victimization, but externalizing problem severity does. Overall, the study is consistent with past literature that it …

Diagnosing The Prodromal State Of Alzheimer's Disease, Jennifer Bartkowiak

Honors Scholar Theses

Mild Cognitive Impairment- Amnestic Subtype (MCIa) is a putative prodromal stage of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) characterized by focal deficits in episodic verbal memory. Less is known about relative deficits in visuospatial learning, although there is ample evidence indicating involvement of the hippocampus in visuospatial learning, as well as hippocampal degeneration in early AD. The aim of this study was to better characterize the components of working memory dysfunction in people with MCIa to increase the ability to reliably diagnose this disease. Fifty-six elderly adults diagnosed with MCIa and 94 healthy elderly completed a hidden maze learning task. Results indicated similar …

Suicide Associated With Military Service, Margo R. Genderson, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Mark S. Kaplan, Michael J. Lyons

Publications and Research

Suicide rates among soldiers and veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) have been steadily growing since 2004, with sharp increases observed more recently. Suicides in the Army are a growing concern on Capitol Hill and in the media. Last month, the Senate Armed Services Committee held hearings on the growing incidence of suicides across the armed forces (Federal city digest, 2009, March 18). The Associated Press (AP) underlined the increasing suicide rates among Army personnel (Army reports sharp rise in suicides in January, 2009, Feb. 5). According to the AP, there were 64 suicides in 2004, and …