Psychology Commons^™

Examining Treatment Acceptability Of An Eight-Week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Protocol, Blake William Palmer

Dissertations

The goal of this study is to examine whether levels of perceived stress, experiential avoidance, personality traits including openness to experience and agreeableness, and demographic variables will predict the treatment acceptability (indicated by responses on the Treatment Acceptability and Adherence Scale) of an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. This study collected data in the Spring of 2019. The final number of participants in the study was 116 (40 females, 76 males, Mage = 36, age range: 22-69 years). Participants completed measures including the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), the agreeableness and openness to Experience domains …

Integrating Minority Stress Theory Into Suicide Risk Models For Sexual Minority Women, Meredith Ballard Whitfield

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Suicide remains the 10th leading cause of death in the United States in which there is a large disparity in prevalence of suicide ideation and attempts among sexual minority individuals and heterosexual counterparts. Furthermore, it has been established that sexual minority women are at increased risk of suicidality even when compared to sexual minority men. Despite this large disparity in suicidal behavior, there is a dearth of research dedicated to assessing negative mental health outcomes in sexual minority women. Although the common theoretical model of suicide (IPTS) hypothesizes that one must have neglected interpersonal psychological needs and acquired capability, further …

Investigating Social Support As A Moderator Of The Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Alcohol Use And Problems, Sterling Mckenzie Hubbard

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Unresolved childhood trauma, known as adverse childhood experiences (ACES), have been found previously to lead to a plethora of health disparities and increase the risk for problematic substance use, particularly alcohol use. However, protective factors, such as social support have been found to buffer against these consequences. The goal of this study was to highlight the connection between ACES and problematic alcohol use. Additionally, the aim was to investigate perceived social support as a moderator between ACES and problematic alcohol use and to examine the domains of social support and how they individually moderate the association between ACES and social …

Shame, Perceived Social Support, And Ptsd: Bridging The Gap Between Female And Male Survivors Of Sexual Assault, Kelsey Camille Woodward

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sexual assault (SA) is prevalent in both females and males, with approximately 25% of females and 10% to 20% of males experiencing SA at some point of their lives. Social support and shame are important factors that are related to PTSD for SA survivors. However, little research has compared female and male SA survivors on these factors. Consequently, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of social support on PTSD in female and male SA survivors. Sex of the SA survivor was also examined as a moderator of the relationship between PTSD and social support and …

Cerebellum-Seeded Functional Connectivity Changes In Trait-Anxious Individuals Undergoing Attention Bias Modification Training, Katherine Elwell

All NMU Master's Theses

Anxiety and anxiety related disorders are increasing at a drastic rate in the past decade, with the NIMH reporting that 31.1% of U.S. adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Anxiety is commonly characterized by increased attention bias to threat. Attention Bias Modification (ABM) is a new treatment used to reduce individual’s attention bias towards threat. The extent to which ABM leads to underlying neural changes is still unknown. The cerebellum is a neglected brain structure, with new research provides evidence that cerebellum’s functional connectivity and shared networks with threat processing regions has a direct …

Hot Or Not? The Effects Of Fitspiration Images On Body Dysmorphic Concerns, Kayla Ramsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite positive intentions, research suggests that fitspiration causes a multitude of negative effects on body image. This study will expand on previous work by examining the effects of fitspiration on body dysmorphic concerns, appearance-based rejection sensitivity (appearance-RS), and intentions to exercise, as well as the differences in these effects by sex. The first hypothesis is that participants will report more body dysmorphic concerns and appearance-RS following exposure to fitspiration compared to travel images. Second, it was hypothesized that compared to males, females will be more prone to the negative impact that fitspiration images have on body dysmorphic concerns and appearance-RS. …

Examining The Psychological Effects Of Adolescent Bullying In Adults, Douglas Caro

Dissertations

Being an adolescent victimized by bullying is not only widespread but all too common in a society that deems it a “normal” rite of passage. However, bullying in schools has received increased attention since school shootings have inundated the media and news headlines the last several years. Some have correlated bullying to the shooters being bullied themselves. Being a victim of bullying has been linked to serious medical and mental health problems, not just in adolescents but across the lifespan. It is common for victims to experience physical problems such as abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal concerns. Mental health problems …

Teacher Biases And Expectations: Impact On Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, Delinquent Behavior Among Black Grade School Students, Rhonda Lloyd

Dissertations

Black children and adolescents in today’s society face so many challenges that come about from the hands of authority figures in their life, their environment, the education system, and society as a whole. Through a critical review of literature, the author sought to answer three research questions: (1) What are the indications that teachers may be more biased toward Black students? (2) How do perceived teacher biases and discrimination impact the self-esteem and self-efficacy of Black students? (3) How are teacher bias and the school-to-prison pipeline connected? The literature review exposed a need for a teacher training model, which was …

Postpartum Depression In South Asian American Mothers: An Examination Of Screening Tools And Associated Cultural Factors In Assessment, Heer Panchal

Dissertations

Postpartum depression is a disorder impacting an overwhelming number of women after childbirth with symptoms of depression, anxiety, guilt, and hopelessness. Due to limited research and understanding of postpartum depression in the growing South Asian population in the United States, it is vital to gather data and research on this population to increase understanding of patterns and experiences that occur within the South Asian American population and to incorporate cultural factors into the screening process. The current research’s objectives include discussing the facets of postpartum depression, current tools used to screen for postpartum depression, and helpful interventions to create a …

When Being Strong Hurts: Trauma And The Strong Black Woman Stereotype, Cynthia Nicole White

Theses and Dissertations

There are several research studies which suggest that, when confronted with stress or trauma, Black women in the United States seek help less than other populations, particularly White women. Part of the reason for this reluctance towards help-seeking may be explained by the American cultural stereotype of the Strong Black Woman (SBW). The Strong Black Woman is one who overcomes all obstacles, remains strong despite problems, and sacrifices herself for others. Research on the Strong Black Woman stereotype is scarce, but the limited research that exists found that the stereotype consists of 3 factors: Mask of Strength, Self-Reliance/Strength, and Caretaking. …

Investigating The Role Of Denial In Interpersonal Formulations Of Binge Eating Among Black And White College Women: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study, Lindsay Marie Howard

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Binge eating is a prominent concern with 2.8 million Americans meeting criteria for binge eating disorder and an additional 10-15% reporting loss of control and overeating behaviors that fail to meet diagnostic criteria. Despite the risk associated with binge eating in emerging adulthood, studies exploring differences in binge eating between Black and White college women have been limited. Black women may be more likely than White women to deny disordered eating behaviors, such as binge eating, due to pressure to reflect historical body positive ideals and heightened stigma regarding mental health issues in Black communities. Denial is worthy of attention …

Body Dissatisfaction And Disordered Eating Among College Women’S Social Networks: An Investigation Of Perceived Changes Following A Dissonance-Based Body Image Intervention, Rachel I. Macintyre

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Body dissatisfaction is associated with numerous health consequences and is pervasive among college women. Effective interventions exist that reduce body dissatisfaction in college women by helping them resist sociocultural pressures to conform to the appearance ideal, such as the Body Project. Yet research is limited on whether social and behavioral processes help participants reduce their engagement in sociocultural appearance-ideal messages and contribute to the intervention’s effectiveness. The primary purpose of the present study was to examine these social and behavioral processes, including the changes in college women’s social networks associated with their participation in the Body Project. Undergraduate and graduate …

Campus Gatekeeper Trainings: An Analysis Of Question, Persuade, Refer (Qpr) And Safetalk, Gabrielle M. Ramsey-Wilson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Suicide prevention gatekeeper trainings seek to equip learners with knowledge about suicide, skills to recognize suicide risk and intervene, and awareness of referral resources. Although these trainings are widely used, research is limited on their utility and impact on increasing intent to intervene in a suicide crisis. The current study aimed to evaluate two gatekeeper trainings, SafeTALK and Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR), on a college campus using a pre-test/post-test design to examine this gap in the literature and provide evidence to help shape gatekeeper trainings in the future. Because the theory of planned behavior has been demonstrated to be an …

Examining The Relationship Between Readiness And Outcomes In Clinical Practices Implementing Integrated Care, Tara Kenworthy

Theses and Dissertations

The integration of behavioral health and primary care (i.e., “integrated care”) is a method to improve health equity and improve health outcomes. However, more research is needed to understand the relationship between practice readiness, implementation, and outcomes of integrated care over time. Therefore, this study involves a mixed methods retrospective process evaluation to explore the relationship between readiness factors and outcomes in clinical practices two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years following a capacity-building program. During that program, practices completed assessments of their readiness to implement integrated care using the Readiness for Integrated Care Questionnaire (RICQ). At follow-up, we conducted surveys, qualitative interviews …

Gender Role Change, Relationship Satisfaction, And Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Latino Men, Melek Yildiz Spinel

Theses and Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as physical, sexual, or psychological violence or aggression by a current or previous partner or spouse. Articles on IPV among Latinxs often speculate that Latinx gender role attitudes, such as marianismo, caballerismo , or machismo, cause IPV among Latinxs. Traditional machismo is the belief that men should be controlling and dominant. Caballerismo is the idea that men should protect their families. Marianismo is the belief that women should be submissive, virtuous and chaste, and self-sacrificing for their families. However, most research on IPV has failed to actually measure Latinx gender role attitudes …

A Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention (Bmbi) To Reduce Teacher Stress And Burnout, Stephen George Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers are exposed to a variety of chronic stressors in their work environments that lead to stress, burnout, and the deterioration of physiological systems that promote adaptive responses to stress. The downstream effects of chronic stress and burnout incur substantial costs associated with attrition and stress-related health concerns. Research demonstrates that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have potential to improve teachers’ capacity to manage stress and mitigate its detrimental effects. However, many MBI studies to date have failed to incorporate key elements of methodological rigor and included large dosages despite research suggesting that such dosages are iatrogenic. Furthermore, these studies have not …

Preliminary Outcomes And Feasibility Of A Brief Online Teacher Training In Culturally Responsive Practices (Crp) To Reduce Disproportionate Discipline In Prek-3rd Grade Classrooms, Samantha Noelle Hartley

Theses and Dissertations

School discipline policies that rely on exclusionary discipline practices, such as office discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions, negatively and disproportionately impact racial minority students, beginning in preschool. Disproportionate discipline persists even when schools implement schoolwide interventions that reduce overall rates of exclusionary discipline, suggesting that schools must do more to address other likely causes of the discipline gap, including implicit racial bias, insufficient teacher training in classroom management, and a cultural mismatch between schools and minority students. There has been an increased call for teacher professional development in culturally responsive behavior management practices, but such interventions are often poorly evaluated …

Challenges Associated With Treatment Of Borderline Personality Disorder In Older Adults And The Impact On Psychosocial Development, Marisa Victory

Dissertations

The continued growth of the global aging population calls for further expansion and development of the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of older individuals living with borderline personality disorder (BDP), yet there is limited information regarding the impact of the disorder in later adulthood. The pivotal work of Erik Erikson, specifically his psychosocial stages of development, is a widely accepted conceptual framework for understanding human development including into older adulthood. During the late adulthood psychosocial stage of development, people experience a multitude of changes in relationships, work status, family, and what they define as meaningful. These changes can have a negative …

Negative Urgency's Influence On State-Level, Emotion-Based Changes In Alcohol-Related Cognitions, Noah Wolkowicz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project expanded on the Acquired Preparedness Model of Risk (APMR) by examining how Negative Urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly in negative emotional states, affects emotion-based changes in alcohol cognitions to produce risk for alcohol use. The APMR prioritizes the role of outcome expectancies as the means through which traits such as NU, convey alcohol use risk. However, this model treats these cognitions as static and often fails to assess their valence; further, alcohol-cognitions fluctuate in response to negative emotions and may become more salient during these states. Therefore, this study examined: 1) how NU impacts negative emotion-based, …

Using The Examen, A Jesuit Prayer, In Spiritually Integrated And Secular Psychotherapy, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

The Examen is a 500-year-old end of day prayer developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits). Like many other religious or spiritual practices, such as mindfulness and yoga, the Examen is suitable as either a spiritually focused or secular intervention strategy to assist people within clinical psychotherapy practice and elsewhere. Adapting the Examen as a cognitive behavioral psychotherapy intervention is easy to do and may add another important tool to the toolbox of practicing clinicians interested in thoughtfully integrating spiritually based approaches in their clinical work with religiously as well …

General Versus Person-Specific Models Of Psychotic-Like Symptoms, Thanh Phuoc Le

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disease and carries a profound burden of illness and disability. Schizotypy, reflecting personality traits associated with a vulnerability for schizophrenia-spectrum pathology, is characterized, in part, by a tendency to experience psychotic-like symptoms (PLS). Perceived social support, or lack thereof, plays a role in the intensity of PLS. Etiological mechanisms underlying PLS, such as monolithic social support, are putatively expected to be common across individuals sharing elevated schizotypal traits. This “nomothetic” model fails to appreciate that social support is multidimensional and likely idiographic in its effects on PLS. Another salient issue that arises when attempting to …

Approaches For And Barriers To The Long-Term Execution Of A Recovery-Oriented Rehabilitation Model Of Treatment In A Community Day Psychiatric Rehabilitation Setting, Sarah Fischer

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation explores the process of creating, implementing, adapting and evaluating a program of care that is composed of specific program features that promote the acquisition of independent living skills, prosocial behavior, progress toward personal recovery goals, and more integrated community living. This program was created and implemented at a community mental health agency that provides integrated mental health care services for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI).

The goals of this dissertation were to (1) compare initial and long-term fidelity to the psychiatric rehabilitation model in order to establish the program’s ability to prevent drift, (2) explore the culture …

Relations Between Ptsd Symptoms And Pain Interference Among Older Adults, Laura E. Travers

Theses and Dissertations

Both the older adult population and the frequency of natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes) increase in the U.S. each year. Consequently, understanding the health experiences that affect older adults specifically following a natural disaster is important for providing effective healthcare and promoting health expectancy. For example, the extent to which PTSD symptoms following a natural disaster contribute to pain severity (beyond the contributions of other psychosocial experiences such as depression) among older adults is not yet clear, and whether this contribution differs by gender or age has yet to be established. The aims of this study were (1) to determine whether …

Psychometrics Of A Measure Of Sexual Assault Coping Self-Efficacy: A Comparison Of Across Age Groups, Thomas Pankau

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Sexual assault affects people of all ages and is associated with poorer psychosocial outcomes including depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Coping self-efficacy (CSE) refers to how capable an individual feels they are able to handle stressors, including sexual assault, and it is a strong predictor of psychosocial outcomes. This dissertation assessed the psychometrics of the Sexual Assault Coping Self-Efficacy Measure (SACSEM), an instrument developed to measure sexual assault CSE across different age groups. Since the majority of research has focused on CSE following sexual assault in adults, I examined CSE across groups of adolescents, emerging adults, and adults (N = …

Virtual Manhood Acts Within Social Networks: The Enactment Of Toxic Masculinity On Reddit, Christian D. Haase

Dissertations, 2020-current

Toxic masculinity (TM) has emerged as a label for the western hegemonic masculine ideal, which is generally defined by the pressure for boys and men to be aggressive and dominant, restrict emotional expression, and marginalize women and others that do not adhere to these values (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005; Kupers, 2005). This phenomenon increases the risk for male identified individuals to engage in general acts of bigotry, especially gender-based violence (APA, 2018; Baugher & Gazmararian, 2015; FBI, 2007; Feder, Levant, & Dean, 2010). A contemporary touchpoint associated with proliferating TM ideologies is participation in online anonymous “toxic technoculture” social network …

The Relationship Of Hope To Goals And Psychological Outcomes In Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer: A Test Of Hope Theory, Kelly A. Hyland

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background. Hope is an important positive psychological construct that may help to explain how individuals cope in the context of life-threatening illness. Snyder’s hope theory states that humans are goal-oriented, and that goals link hope to psychological outcomes. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship of hope to emotional well-being, meaning and purpose in life, and positive and negative affect in a sample of patients with advanced stage lung cancer. The study also sought to identify how hope relates to patients’ goals and to explore whether goal characteristics and progress in achieving goals mediated the relationship …

Telehealth Best Practice: A Call For Standards Of Care, Donna S. Sheperis, Arielle Smith

Journal of Technology in Counselor Education and Supervision

Teletherapy is an approach to working with clients that mental health providers have used in some form for years. However, the onset of COVID forced the provision of therapy into teletherapy almost exclusively for a period of time. Currently, mental health providers conducting therapy virtually are not required to be trained in telehealth and are operating without consistent uniform standards of practice. This manuscript pulls from the current literature and guidelines across counseling, psychology, psychiatry, family therapy, and social work to provide a Proposed Standards of Practice for Telehealth. Such standards benefit mental health counselor by grounding practice in common …

How Social Support Affects Career Adaptability Through The Academic Career, Megan Fox

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Emerging adulthood is a developmental period where individuals begin to learn about themselves, their interests and abilities, and begin to lay foundations for their adult occupations (Arnett, 2014). During this life stage, individuals are faced with increased challenges that they must navigate in order to launch into adulthood. Career adaptability refers to the ability for an individual to cope with these expected and unexpected challenges including career tasks, transitions, and traumas (Savickas, 2013). It has been shown that supportive networks can help individuals navigate these and move into a more successful career (Len, Hackett, and Brown, 1999; Creed et al., …

Mhealth For The Treatment Of Depression In Primary Care: A Feasibility Study, Krista Herbert

Theses and Dissertations

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of implementing three mobile applications (apps) designed to ameliorate depressive symptoms within primary care. The secondary aim was to examine whether participants utilizing a mobile app would experience reductions in depressive symptoms and improvements in quality of life when compared to a waitlist control condition. Participants (n=3) were recruited from two primary care practices and randomized to: (a) a cognitive-behavioral app, (b) a mindfulness app, (c) a social problem-solving app, or (d) the waitlist control condition. Participants completed measures of depressive symptoms and quality of life at …

Consensual Qualitative Analysis Of Self-Criticizing Using The Two-Chair Technique, Júlia Halamová, Alžbeta Dvoranová, Slávka Zlúkyová, Viktória Vráblová

The Qualitative Report

Level of self-criticism has a significant impact on people’s psychopathology because severe self-criticism activates the sympathetic nervous system, and that further stimulates the physiological and psychological stress response which lead to impairment of mental health and wellbeing (Singer & Klimecki, 2014). Therefore, self-criticism is widely studied, but authors use mainly quantitative approaches which allow generalisation of knowledge but do not allow in-depth insights into the phenomenon. Hence our research aim was to identify the kinds of statements individuals utter when self-criticizing using the two-chair dialogue technique which enable to expose inward dialogues people lead with their self-critical parts. Out of …