Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Oq-45: The Structure Of Mental Health Symptoms During Psychotherapy, Lindsay Arader

Theses and Dissertations

The structure of the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45; Lambert et al., 2004b) was examined across three time points in a sample of 199 psychotherapy clients at an outpatient community clinic in the greater New York area. Five models—a one-factor model, two-factor (oblique) model, three-factor (oblique) model, two sub-factor bifactor model, and three sub-factor bifactor model—were tested at baseline, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks. The two sub-factor bifactor model fit the data best at baseline, and the three sub-factor bifactor model fit the data best at 8 weeks and 16 weeks. These results demonstrate that the OQ-45 items load onto one general …

Resource Allocation, Access, & Patterns Of Healthcare Service Utilization Among Patients With Alcohol-Use Disorders, Andrew Miele

Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare service utilization (HSU) describes how individuals engage with healthcare systems. Studies examining differences in rates of HSU among acute care-seeking patients have identified disparities in access to appropriate treatments. Alcohol-use disorders (AUDS) are increasingly prevalent among patients presenting for treatment in acute care settings. AUDS are emblematic of a broader trend in acute care; disproportionate rates of acute care encounters by patients with heavy socioeconomic (e.g., socioeconomic status, homelessness) burden, primary psychiatric/behavioral disorders (e.g. schizophrenia, AUDs), and reliance on emergency rooms for seeking treatment. Numerous studies have linked these risk factors with both AUDs and with high HSU. Despite …

Understanding College Student Emotional Functioning During Covid-19, Dominique Marie Giroux

Theses and Dissertations

The novel coronavirus has resulted in mass infection and death. To prevent spread of the virus, colleges and universities shut down and transitioned to remote learning, which mandated all college students to leave residential housing and relocate to a permanent address. Previous literature suggests college students who experienced housing displacement due to a natural disaster reported heightened distress and poorer overall functioning (Davis, Grills-Taquechel, & Ollendick, 2010). Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, college student mental health was deemed a public health concern, however, it is expected to worsen following the outbreak (Galea, Merchant, & Lurie, 2020). Researchers suggest peer support …

Effect Of A Swim-Based Parent Training Program On A Parent’S Use Of Evidence-Based Strategies With Her Child With Autism, Melissa Lauren Jeffay

Theses and Dissertations

Community participation, particularly in leisure/recreational activities such as swimming, can improve quality of life for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, youth with ASD generally participate in fewer leisure activities than those without ASD. Although previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of parent training interventions and swim programs for children with ASD, there is a lack of research examining the effectiveness of using parents as intervention agents to teach swim skills to their children with ASD. In this single-case study, the researcher delivered an individual parent training program to the mother of a child with ASD to investigate its …

An Analysis Of Education As A Moderator Of The Relationship Of Discrimination To Depression, Jeavonna M. Coble

Theses and Dissertations

Racism has been observed as a highly prevalent psychosocial stressor across minorities, and consistently associated with depression across racial/ethnic groups. However, existing evidence is unclear on effective buffers of discrimination to depression. Researchers have hypothesized that education may mitigate discrimination’s effects on negative mental health outcomes. Evidence evaluating education as a buffer on the relations of discrimination to depression is limited. The analysis is further complicated as the evidence linking education level to discrimination exposure is also mixed. Although some studies indicate lower education levels are associated with greater perceived racism, many studies indicate an association of higher education with …

Perceived Discrimination And Food Consumption, Jessica Korins

Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is a public health concern that is associated with numerous life-limiting chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension. Marginalized groups such as Black, Latinos, and Native Americans experience obesity and related illnesses at high rates. Research suggests that diet is one of the causes of these illnesses, and as such understanding the determinants of diet may assist in addressing health disparities in the United States. Literature suggests that diet may be associated with stressors such as perceived discrimination. However, few studies have assessed this relationship within the Native American population, and none have employed ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to …

Institutional Labels: A Language-Based Approach To Decreasing Stigma Associated With Schizophrenia And Psychiatric Hospitalization, Jaime Taylor Grabow

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with schizophrenia that have experienced psychiatric hospitalization are one of the most stigmatized populations of the mental health field. The language that is utilized to describe this population is linked with the perpetuation of stigmatizing attitudes associated with schizophrenia and psychiatric hospitalization. Altering the type of language that is used to describe these individuals can decrease stigma. Participants (N=79) were asked to read a description of a character where the language used reflected either a strength-based approach or a deficit-based approach to schizophrenia and psychiatric hospitalization. The characters are individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia that have recently been discharged from …

Perceived Risk And Extended Warranty, Jose M. Fana

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how income and mathematical skills influence one’s perception of risk. The study particularly focused on overestimation as the main cognitive phenomenon that influences one’s decision-making process when thinking about purchasing an extended warranty. Two questions this study tried to shed light on 1) - Why do people buy extended warranties? 2) - How much is the risk overestimated when considering the damage and loss of common products? A total of 67 St John’s undergraduate students participated, 18 males and 49 females M(age) = 19.5 were recruited through the university research platform. Finally, I hypothesized that income and …

Behavioral Interventions For Higher-Order Restricted And Repetitive Behaviors In Autism: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Emily Nichols

Theses and Dissertations

Although higher-order restricted and repetitive behaviors (H-RRBs) are associated with social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), there is a paucity of literature on behavioral interventions to treat this core symptom. Through a systematic search, 29 intervention studies that target H-RRBs were identified and analyzed in terms of (a) participant characteristics, (b) setting, (c) targeted behaviors, (d) intervention procedures, (e) experimental design, (f) outcomes and certainty of evidence, and (g) generalization and maintenance of outcomes. Overall, 41% of studies (n=12) yielded large effect sizes, 34% yielded medium effects (n=10), and 17% yielded small effects (n=5). …

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy For Deafblind Individuals With Progressive Vision Loss, Chelsey Laurito

Theses and Dissertations

Deafblind individuals with progressive visual conditions are presented with the challenge of adjusting to the gradual loss of sight over time and the social, psychological, environmental, and communicative implications relative to that process. Mental health treatment for these individuals is not widely researched due to the lack of homogeneity in the deafblind population; therefore, exploratory studies are necessary. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is an evidence-based treatment that has successfully addressed a range of symptoms in many psychological and medical diagnoses but has not been researched with individuals who are deafblind. In this multiple baseline design study, the researcher delivered …

Reflective Processing And Intimate Partner Violence, Rachel Zukerman

Theses and Dissertations

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a prevalent problem, especially among college students. The serious physical and psychological consequences of IPV highlight the need to better understand its correlates. Individuals tend to process information and make decisions in different ways; these styles of thinking and decision likely hold important implications for intimate partnerships. Using a sample of undergraduate students, the current study aims to better understand the thinking processes of those who engage in IPV. Furthering our understanding of the cognitive processes that predict IPV may hold important treatment implications, both from a preventive and therapeutic standpoint. Previous studies show that …

The Psychometric Properties Of A Social-Emotional Learning Measure, Allison Murray

Theses and Dissertations

Each year many students take college admissions exams (i.e., SAT® and ACT®), hoping to demonstrate their ability to perform at a collegiate level and gain admission to desired universities. However, a growing movement encourages colleges and universities to abandon this practice in their admissions protocol and instead consider alternative factors, such as, social-emotional learning skills, to identify promising applicants. As such, this study examined the psychometric properties of a novel social-emotional learning measure, ACT® Tessera®, which conceptualizes social-emotional traits through the Five-Factor Model lens using different measurement methods (Self Report Likert, Situational Judgement Tests, Forced Choice). Using data obtained from …

Adaptation And Translation Of Autism Spectrum Disorder Rating Scales For School-Age Children: Evaluating Adherence To The International Test Commission Guidelines, Tamanna Chhabra

Theses and Dissertations

he current review examines adaptations and translations of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) rating scales for school-aged children around the world. ASD rating scales are a quick and efficient way to diagnosing ASD, and adaptations of ASD scales offer low-cost methods to make tools available around the world. The International Test Commission guidelines (ITC, 2017) provide a rigorous framework for researchers to adapt and translate psychological tests. This review used the X-CAGAM (Duke, 2019) a tool developed to operationalize the guidelines to examine how well the selected ASD measures adhere to the ITC guidelines. Fourteen adaptations and translations were included in …

Understanding Anger At The Self, Tasnova Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

When people think of the emotion of anger, they think of being angry at someone or something else. Researchers have slowly found that anger can be experienced even if there is no other person to blame, by being angry at themselves. There is not enough research on understanding what self-anger entails. This paper explains a study that analyzed the relationship between other-anger and self-anger and examines how the effects of action may correlate between anger towards the self and depressed behaviors in terms of self-condemnation and other traits. The study had 169 participants, recruited from various sources. Participants were instructed …

Effectiveness Of E-Health Interventions For Externalizing Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis, Celeste Sangiorgio

Theses and Dissertations

eHealth treatments vary widely from automated treatment protocols to professional-led treatment tools that are integrated into treatment protocols with therapists. This dissertation organized, coded, and submitted 33 eHealth treatment trials to meta-analytic study to assess eHealth treatment study effectiveness overall and for each type of eHealth treatment type. Systematic review and descriptive analyses revealed that eHealth treatments that target externalizing behaviors varied widely in study, sample, and design characteristics. eHealth treatments most frequently targeted externalizing behaviors in adolescent samples (n = 22), adapted cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) to digital platforms (n = 11), and integrated digital tools into traditional treatment …

The Impact Of A Brief Gratitude Journaling Intervention On Third Grade Students Attending An Orthodox Jewish Elementary School In New York, Tamar Gassner

Theses and Dissertations

Research in the field of positive psychology has focused on the beneficial effects of gratitude on overall wellbeing. Recent studies have demonstrated that anxiety and depressive disorders are increasingly common among youth in the United States. Further, both anxiety and depression have been linked to other comorbid mental health conditions, such as dysthymia, disruptive disorder, and substance abuse disorder. Moreover, anxiety and depression are associated with negative social and academic outcomes. Considering the prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders among youth and the associated comorbidities, it is vital to direct efforts towards prevention and early intervention. The literature supports a …

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy For Anxiety In Youth With Autism: Paving The Way To Evidence-Based Practice, Michelle M. Kirkland

Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety is one of the most common and debilitating conditions co-occurring with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as it occurs in up to 84% of individuals and can influence poor psychosocial adjustment, disruptions in individual, familial and school functioning, increased emotional and behavioral problems, self-injurious behavior(s), and an overall reduced quality of life (Meyer, Mundy, Van Hecke, & Durocher, 2006; Nadeau et al., 2011; Farrugia & Hudson, 2006; Kerns et al., 2015). To date, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), an evidence-based treatment for anxiety in neurotypical youth, has seen modest, yet limited, promise in treating anxiety in youth with ASD. With extant research …

The Contribution Of Self-Esteem, Self-Compassion, And Self-Acceptance/Self-Condemnation In Predicting Psychopathology And Well-Being, Persefoni N. Andronikos

Theses and Dissertations

Many self-concepts have developed over time. This study investigated the relationship between self-esteem, unconditional self-acceptance (USA)/irrational self-condemnation, and self-compassion. Each of these aspects of the self is thought to lead to disturbance, yet the relationship of these concepts to each other and which has the unique influence on psychopathology and well-being, is unclear. The current study sampled 303 adults from the United States of America who completed scales measuring each of the self-constructs and anxiety, depression, anger, and flourishing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicated mostly medium to large, correlational relationships amongst the self-constructs, as well as the self …

Food For Thought: An Exploration Of The Interplay Between Eating Disorder Recovery And Recovery Instagram Accounts, Allison Dashow

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

Social media use is more widespread than ever, with over 800 million monthly active users on Instagram alone (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). The literature suggests an association between social media usage and mental health issues, specifically that it increases body image concerns, body comparisons, and disordered eating (Saunders & Eaton, 2018; Tiggemann & Slater, 2013). While multiple studies have investigated the type of content present and individuals’ experiences within pro-eating disorder (ED) communities, few studies to date have examined Instagram’s (IG) ED recovery communities. The aim of the current study was to explore the interplay between individuals’ ED recovery and …

A Multifaceted Approach To Understanding Schizoid Personality Across Behavioral, Intrapsychic, And Interpersonal Domains, Soo Hyun Cho Lee

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

The aim of the present study was to gain a comprehensive understanding of the interaction amongst the behavioral, intrapsychic, and interpersonal domains of schizoid personality. A sample of 227 Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) players, ages 18 to 30, completed online self-report measures concerning maladaptive personality traits and several aspects of interpersonal functioning. The sample also provided narratives for Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) cards that were coded by the Mutuality of Autonomy Scale for the TAT (MOA-TAT) to measure schizoid self-other representations. Results showed that schizoid personality could be understood as a dimensional construct, specifically as a constellation of …

Who’S Afraid Of Whiteness? White Privilege, White Racial Identity And The Motivated Defense Of White Supremacy, Michael Strupp-Levitsky

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

Racial inequality pervades American society, yet this reality is largely denied or misattributed by many White people (Bonilla-Silva & Dietrich, 2011). Why are White Americans so resistant to acknowledging their privilege as unearned and therefore illegitimate? While some research suggests nominal benefit of raising awareness of White privilege (e.g., decreases in modern racist beliefs), other work indicates outright defensive reactions (e.g., increased hardship claiming). System Justification Theory conceptualizes these defenses as attempts to legitimize the current social order and resist change. In this dissertation, I sought to address the inconsistencies in the literature by identifying factors that affect the type …

Shame And Depression: Psychological And Cultural Factors In A Sample Of Middle Eastern Women, Amira Hanna

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

Shame is a self-conscious emotion that has been frequently tied to psychopathology; however, despite its deep-rooted influence in the Arab culture, little research has been conducted on its effect on the mental health of this population. Thus, this study investigated the impact of shame proneness on depression severity in a sample of adult Middle Eastern women living in the United States. The study also explored other factors that are highly relevant for this population, including anger suppression, religiosity, interdependent self construal, and Middle Eastern ethnic identity. Specifically, the study investigated the role anger suppression plays in explaining the relationship between …

Alliance, Power Dynamics And Response Styles In The Clinical Supervisory Relationship, Kara Kathleen Norlander

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

Supervisors provide evaluations, act as professional gatekeepers, and serve a central function to psychotherapy training, yet little is known about the impact of power dynamics on the supervisory relationship and the psychotherapy trainee. The present study offers a closer examination of Bordin’s (1983) concept of supervisory alliance, revealing a largely unappreciated emphasis on defusing tension associated with power. This study is the first to investigate how soft and hard power impact supervisory alliance, while also further validating the recently developed Power Dynamics in Supervision Scale (PDSS; Cook, McKibben & Wind, 2018). The Core Conflictual Relationship Theme (Luborsky & Crits-Christoph, 1998) …

Finding Agency In The Invalidating Environment: Sexism, Control, And Dialectical Behavior Therapy (Dbt), Wyatt D'Emilia

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

Endorsing an external locus of control, the belief that luck, chance, and/or powerful others determine the outcomes of one’s behaviors, leads to myriad negative outcomes. Young women in the United States have been increasingly endorsing external loci, increasing their risk for psychopathology. Experiencing sexism, an unfortunately persistent stressor, notably decreases women’s sense of agency. There therefore is a clear need to identify means by which women can more effectively cope with sexism and the external locus that often follows. Secondary control (SC), a construct whereby people accept their circumstances and adjust their behavior to fit in with their environments, has …

Belonging To Different Types Of Families As A Protective Factor Against Minority Stress In Queer Young Adults, Shayla Irene Harris

Undergraduate Honors College Theses 2016-

Research on resilience focuses on how people recover from stressful situations. This honors thesis addresses resilience in people who experience rejection from their families of origin. A common source of support in the Gay community is chosen families. However, these families are often formed related to a deficit in social support from the original family. Creating families to make up for a lack of social support could be come from a deficit-reduction approach to the need to belong, which is related to lower levels of well-being. To investigate this conceptual inconsistency between resilience and social support from a deficient orientation, …

Listening To Millennials: An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Millennials And The Church, Charles R. Thompson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This mixed methods exploratory research project investigated the relationship between the millennial generation and the Christian church. Through interviews of seven millennial couples connected to my congregation, six millennials not connected to the church, and conversations churched millennials had with peers, I was able to learn what the variables were that impacted their involvement or lack of involvement with the church. A survey of the congregation was also conducted to compare spiritual practices of millennials with other generations in the church. The results indicated the importance of a strong Christian upbringing and meeting millennials where they are at spiritually.

Seeking The Wellspring: Exploring Generosity In A Financial Drought, Laurie Ann Johnson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This action research project utilized transformative qualitative methods to explore the concept of generous giving by examining the attitudes of a small non-random sample of participants within a congregation before and after an intervention consisting of a seven-part sermon series. Theoretical lenses included generosity, adaptive change, and emergence theory. Biblical lenses included Isaiah 43:18-21 and Isaiah 58:6-12 (wellspring in the desert), John 4 (the Samaritan woman at the well), and John 7:37-39 (living water). Theological lenses included missional pneumatology and the missio Dei, the Christian steward, and the holy currencies of the Cycle of Blessings. Findings revealed that presentation of …

Contextual Leadership Within Chin Immigrant Churches In The United States, Bawi Bik Thawng

Doctor of Ministry Theses

This research explores the leadership practices of Chin immigrant congregations in the United States, focusing on how they can develop a more effective leadership practice in dealing with the new context of the new land. It attempts to answer the question: What kind of leadership practice will help Chin immigrant leaders apply adaptive leadership theory for implementing contextual oriented leadership theory for the church? The initial motivation for this research arose out of the researcher’s interest in the perception of Chin immigrant congregations on the issue of leadership. A qualitative case study research method was employed in this research.

The …

A Supply Chain Model For Library Quality And Service Improvement, Nancy Kress, Joel Wisner

LEAN Management Initiative

The key to a library’s success is its ability to effectively and economically deliver services and information that users value. Additionally, the objective of supply chain management is to coordinate the focal firm’s processes and activities with those of its suppliers and customers, such that the firm’s delivered products and services meet or exceed customer requirements. It thus seemed appropriate to analyze a library from a supply chain perspective to assess and improve its ability to serve its users. Consequently, the authors employed an action research methodology to work with library personnel from two departments, User Services and Technical Services, …

2020 Medieval Object Assignment And Instructions, Maryanne Kowaleski

Digital Pedagogy: Omeka Medieval London

Assignment with instructions on researching the medieval object and loading metadata and images into the Omeka digital platform for each item and exhibition.