Psychology Commons^™

Cognitive Ability And Ambivalence Toward Alcohol: An Examination Of Working Memory Capacity’S Influence On Drinking Behavior, Emily T. Noyes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research stemming from dual-processing theories suggest that working memory capacity may have an important role in the ability to inhibit automatic tendencies when there is the motivation to do so (Barrett, Tugade, & Engle, 2004). Ambivalence, the simultaneous desire to engage in (approach motivation) and inhibit (avoidance motivation), often occurs with problematic behaviors like alcohol abuse. The current study sought to determine whether individual differences in working memory capacity moderate the relationship between approach, avoidance and subsequent drinking behavior in a clinical sample. A total of 66 individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) participated in a baseline assessment of working …

Mental Health Problems, Traumatic Brain Injury, And Offending Behavior Among Persons Incarcerated In A County Jail, Lauren F. Fournier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous work has found that although mental illness is positively related to offending behavior, it is a fairly poor predictor of aggression, violence, offending, and recidivism after controlling for sociodemographic and historical risk factors (i.e., criminal history, age, race, gender). This refutes the model that mental illness is a direct cause of crime. Instead, risk for recidivism or crime related to mental health problems may be higher when combined with other risk factors. The current study evaluated traumatic brain injury (TBI) and associated symptoms of post-concussion syndrome (PCS) as potential moderators of the relationship between mental health problems and concurrently …

Theory Of Mind, Social Relationship Perception And Stigma Experiences In Individuals At Clinical High-Risk For Psychosis, Francesca Maria Crump

Theses and Dissertations

The clinical high-risk (CHR) state for psychosis has been established in order to prevent the transition to full psychosis; however, demonstrates a high false positive rate (Fusar-Poli et al., 2012). Consequently, many CHR individuals may face increased labeling and symptom-related stigmatization through accessing early intervention services (Yang et al., 2015). As a result, CHR individuals may employ negative coping responses (Link et al., 1989) and exhibit increased social preoccupation in order to help conceal their mental health status (Link et al., 2015), which may hinder social cognitive ability and have lasting impacts on social functioning. This study aimed to delineate …

The Heterogeneity Of Selective Mutism: A Primer For A More Refined Approach, Christopher A. Kearney, Melanie Rede

Psychology Faculty Research

Selective mutism is a persistent and debilitating psychiatric disorder in which a child fails to speak in situations where speaking is expected. Although listed as an anxiety disorder, the multifaceted and heterogeneous nature of selective mutism indicates that a more accurate conceptualization may be as a neurodevelopmental disorder. This article serves as a primer of historical and clinical presentations, empirical clinical profiles, clinical distinctions, assessment, and treatment related to the complexity of selective mutism. The article includes a brief discussion of selective mutism within a developmental psychopathology perspective with an eye toward reformed efforts for prevention, assessment, and treatment regarding …

School Violence And Suicidal Ideation: The Mediating Roles Of Perceived School Safety And Substance Use Among Adolescents, Jordan Skalisky

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Substance use and suicidal ideation are prevalent among adolescents. An adolescent’s school environment, such as threatening or violence-related experiences at school, may influence their perceived sense of safety, thus influencing their substance use and potentially increasing suicidal ideation. The current study examined the mediating roles of perceived school safety and substance use (alcohol use, binge alcohol use, cannabis use, and vaping) on the relationship between experienced weapon threat/violence at school and suicidal ideation. Data was used from the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey and participants were 13206 adolescents attending high school in the United States. Preliminary analyses indicated significant …

The Many Faces Of Schizophrenia Risk: Can Measures Of Risk Be Aggregated?, Thomas W. O'Kane

Theses and Dissertations

There are currently many different conceptualizations of schizophrenia risk, which we argue is detrimental to any efforts to build a cumulative science in this area. This paper sought to evaluate various conceptualizations of schizophrenia risk and the extent to which they overlap. This paper attempts to identify overlap by utilizing meta-analytic methods in conjunction with data collected from a sample of undergraduate college students (n = 80). To do so, we first collected estimates of various schizophrenia risk measures and risk correlates from the literature. These estimates were subsequently combined with collected data. This paper attempted to analyze review data …

Failure To Report: The Detrimental Effects Following Sexual Assault, Lindsey R. Osborne

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Sexual assault is a prominent issue in society, yet many people remain unaware of the serious effects following sexual assault. Victims who report to legal authorities tend to experience disbelief and blame because of the prevalence of rape myths. Due to the severity of the trauma, hormones released by the brain hinder proper brain functioning and can cause a little-known evolutionary response termed tonic immobility (TI). The psychological outcome of sexual assault commonly results in or worsens several psychological conditions, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and drug and alcohol abuse. Guilt, self-blame, and adverse emotions are accelerated with negative interactions while …

Shame Proneness As A Vulnerability Factor For Negative Emotions In The Context Of Interpersonal Stressors: An Experience Sampling Study, Oxana L. Stebbins

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Shame proneness is associated with psychopathology and may serve as a risk factor for experiencing distressing emotions at subclinical and clinical levels across diagnoses. Additionally, shame-prone individuals may have increased sensitivity toward interpersonal stressors and negative shifts in self-evaluations. However, little to no research has examined shame proneness as a prospective risk factor for distressed moods following interpersonal stressors using experience sampling methods. Furthermore, disagreement on theories of shame make it difficult to achieve consistent results in the literature. The purpose of this study was to assess whether shame proneness acts as a risk factor for distressed moods in the …

An Ecological Momentary Assessment Of Disordered Eating Behaviors Within Alcohol Use Episodes: Determining Temporal Sequencing In Food And Alcohol Disturbance, Emily M. Choquette

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The co-occurrence of disordered eating and alcohol use has been well documented in the literature. Food and Alcohol Disturbance (FAD), previously referred to as “drunkorexia,” refers to the use of disordered eating behaviors within an alcohol use episode for the purpose of increasing alcohol effects and/or offsetting caloric intake from alcohol. There is a relatively limited literature base which examines FAD; however, there is evidence that FAD is associated with alcohol-related consequences and health risk behaviors. As such, further study into this phenomenon is necessary. The current study aimed to address significant limitations in the literature. While the aims of …

Four Positive Lessons Learned During The 2020–2021 Covid-19 Global Pandemic: Implications For Spirituality In Clinical Practice, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

While the COVID-19 global pandemic has wrecked havoc for over a year in ways that we have not seen in our lifetimes, many important positive lessons have been learned during these tumultuous and what has felt like apocalyptic times. Upon close reflection, four critical and positive lessons were learned by this author that have implications for how we productively move forward in our efforts to provide spiritually and religiously informed psychotherapy services both now and in the future. These important lessons include the benefits of telehealth and “telespirit” services as well as highlighting the advantages of reflection, discernment, and resetting …

Children As Mischievous Spirits: Legitimizing Child Cruelty And Filicide In Contemporary Africa, Chima Agazue

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The belief that certain humans are spiritual entities and the belief that some people are spiritually possessed can be found across histories and cultures. While these individuals are not always viewed in the negative or treated inhumanely, cases abound whereby degrading and inhumane treatments are meted out to some of them. In the African continent, certain groups of people, particularly children are linked to certain mischievous spirits due to their unusual appearance, aberrant behavior, disability, chronic illness, psychopathology or exceptional ability. Some are also suspected and consequently mistreated due to events surrounding their birth. Such children are known by different …

Disinhibition And Persistent Maladaptive Behavior, Angela T. West

Student Theses

Objective: There is an urgent need to reduce overpopulation in U.S. prisons, which are inundated with individuals needing substance use treatment. Research on both substance use and antisocial behaviors highlight maladaptive beliefs and behaviors, while also implicating disinhibition as an important factor. Disinhibition is a dynamic trait that can be targeted with therapeutic interventions. The current study explored the relationships between neurocognitive disinhibition, substance use, and recidivism among incarcerated men. The study hypothesized that disinhibition would be associated with history of substance use, history of antisocial behavior, and institutional misconduct, as well as predicting recidivism over and above history of …

Therapists’ Willingness To Access Client Social Media Accounts In The Context Of Suicide Risk, Jacob A. Vermeersch

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The past two decades has seen a proliferation of social media use, leading to a growing body of research on the potential utility for clinical contexts. In the current study, we examine willingness of psychologists to utilize client social media to inform suicide risk-assessment and risk-related treatment decisions, and the ethical principles they used to guide their considerations. Participants were asked of the likelihood they would engage in 1) a social media-informed risk assessment, where the therapist uses client social media to inform their initial determination of risk level, and 2) a digital welfare check, where the therapist accesses an …

Social Media, Bullying, And Preadolescent Eating Disorders: Psychoeducation And Prevention Model, Agnes Zalesna

Dissertations

The purpose of this theoretical project was to examine the available research surrounding preadolescent eating disorders with particular focus on prevalence and risk factors. The author proposed that social media and bullying should be considered as specific risk factors for this demographic in light of the increased media device use among children. Next, the author examined cognitive functioning, child development, and learning theories as they relate to the influence of social media an bullying on the development of eating disorders in children as well as current research on protective factors, prevention, programs, and treatment recommendations. Finally, the author proposed a …

The Effects Of Military Leadership And Its Implication On Mental Health Stigma And Treatment Seeking Behaviors Of Veterans In Garrison And Noncombat Deployment Environments, Alexis May Charrys

Dissertations

Military service members are more likely to endure a significant amount of stress and experience multiple traumatic events than civilians due to the nature of their job. Many studies have focused on the traumatic stressors encountered during combat despite the fact that many service members encounter stressors related to serving in the military. A study conducted by Dursa, Reinhard, Barth, and Schniderman (2014) found that 10.9% of nondeployed veterans screened positive for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with the highest prevalence of PTSD (13.8%) amongst nondeployed soldiers. Military mental health stigma is rampant due to the need to be ready for …

Perceived Discrimination Within The Patient-Provider Relationship And Its Impact On Help-Seeking Behaviors, Lechey S. Hibbler

Dissertations

Racial and ethnic minorities have faced discrimination for hundreds of years. When patients experience discrimination in healthcare settings, help-seeking behaviors decrease. Many patients choose to refrain from seeking treatment until their psychological or physical health issues are unmanageable, often resulting in acute visits to the emergency department. Patients that have experienced previous discriminatory encounters with health care providers are more likely to choose not to seek help for physical or mental health concerns, resulting in overall poorer physical health and mental health outcomes. With the use of critical evaluation of previous studies, this paper has demonstrated that perceived discrimination negatively …

The Impact Of The Transgenerational Cycle Of Prison On Attachment Among Black Individuals, Meagan Scott

Dissertations

This empirical study assessed the impact of incarceration on an individual’s attachment style and explored protective factors that moderate these overall outcomes. The study sought to answer the following questions: (a) Are there differences related to the gender of Black participants and the gender of their incarcerated parent? and (b) Will affective expression and/or sense of community serve as protective factors and mediate the attachment style of Black individuals who have been incarcerated? The sample consisted of 98 adults (45 of whom indicated being a part of the transgenerational cycle of prison) ranging from 18 to 68 years old. Participants …

A Psychological Perspective On Police Brutality: Current Statistics, Characteristics, And Trends Regarding Excessive Use Of Force, Ashley Salter

Dissertations

The purpose of this literature review was to utilize a psychological perspective on police brutality to identify current statistics, characteristics, and trends concerning excessive use of force. There were four fundamental goals of this literature review: (a) examine current statistics, characteristics, and trends regarding excessive use of force by law enforcement officers; (b) examine which populations are most likely to suffer from excessive use of force; (c) examine current methods in training law enforcement officers; and (d) propose a new model for training law enforcement officers. Also included is a discussion of a proposed idea for the training of police …

Colombian Women’S Experiences Of Cosmetic Surgery And Its Relationship To Body Image, Austin Gonzalez-Randolph

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand women’s experiences of cosmetic surgery and its effects on body image on women from the Colombian cities of Bogotá and Pereira. The participants of this study were women of Colombian descent, who reside in Colombia. This was done with the hopes of better understanding how culture impacts views on cosmetic surgery. Colombia appears to have a culture that is very enmeshed with cosmetic surgery. This study provides an initial exploratory and qualitative investigation into the perception of body image as it relates to cosmetic surgery among six young women living in Colombia; …

Learning To Feel Safe: A Translational Study Of The Influence Of Safety Learning On Anxiety-Related Overgeneralized Fear, Hyein Cho

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health diagnoses, affecting about a third of the population in their lifetime. However, approximately a third of individuals with anxiety do not respond to current treatment approaches, highlighting the need to identify additional potential therapeutic mechanisms. Safety learning is one such mechanism, but methodological challenges and a dearth of research have prevented the field from advancing the understanding of the role of safety learning in the etiology and remediation of anxiety disorders. Animal research, using single-cued safety learning paradigms, has yielded promising early findings, demonstrating that safety learning directly reduces anxiety-related behaviors …

Traces Of Absence: How The Trauma Of The Yemenite, Mizrahi And Balkan Kidnapped Children Affair Is Present In Photographs And Home Movies, Natalie Haziza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Between 1948 and 1956, an estimated thousands of babies and young children were kidnapped through the state medical system, in the newly established State of Israel. They were offered for adoption to barren parents (often Holocaust survivors), sold to international adoptive families (often in the United States), and in the most disturbing cases used in medical experiments. Parents were often told that their children had died during routine medical care, but were provided with neither death certificate nor body. The majority of the victims of these kidnappings were Mizrahi - Jewish immigrant families from Arab and Muslim countries. Most families …

Impact Of Moral Injury For Ethnic/Racial Minority Male Veterans, Kristopher Kern

Doctoral Dissertations

Trends in demographics of post-9/11 veterans (deployments to the Middle East after 2001) describe this group as having higher survival rates, increased service-connected disabilities, and more racially diverse (NCVAS, 2018; Schnurr et al., 2009; Tanelian & Jaycox, 2008). Additionally, their deployment experiences include combat-related experiences that contradict personal moral beliefs, later named “moral injury” (MI) (Litz et al., 2009). Currier, Holland, and Mallot (2015) describe MI as intense emotions of shame, guilt, and anger alongside maladaptive behaviors emerging after “witnessing and/or participating in warzone events that challenge one’s basic sense of humanity” (p. 231).

The research on MI continues to …

Incorporating Religion Into Therapy To Better Treat Depression, Jacob Tubbs

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Depression is one of the most prevalent mental disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common treatment option for depression. Often, CBT is only effective at masking the symptoms of depression without helping the person overcome depression altogether; thus, it may benefit CBT patients if alternative therapies are combined with CBT. Incorporating the patient’s religion into therapy is an alternative that may help many people. A large percentage of Americans are still religious or spiritual. This literature review discusses methods of building a personalized version of CBT that incorporates the patient’s religion, or religiously integrated CBT (RCBT), and the effects …

The Effects Stress Has On Coping Strategies In Populations Uniquely Impacted By Both Developmental Disabilities And Covid-19, Chloe Quinnett, Kaitlyn Drafton, Feller Miles, Taylor Demotta, Beverly J. Wilson

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Populations with developmental disabilities (DD) are at heightened risk of becoming infected with COVID-19, which may lead to high levels of stress challenging their ability to cope effectively. This study was part of a larger web-based survey focused on those uniquely impacted by DD and their coping mechanisms. Participants were 106 individuals and families uniquely impacted by DD. Results indicated perceived stress predicted maladaptive coping mechanisms, however it did not predict adaptive coping mechanisms. These findings highlight the need for more support for these populations, with an emphasis on utilizing adaptive coping strategies when under greater levels of perceived stress.

Call 911: Suicidal Individuals’ Help-Seeking Means As Associated With Their Outcomes, Katherine Oconnell, Molly Hassler, Keyne Law

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Public suicide prevention efforts have done little to dismantle suicide as the tenth leading cause of death in the United States in 2018. The 911 emergency call system is an essential part of these public health efforts; 20% of crisis calls to police originate from individuals battling a mental health crisis or illness. This study examined over 1,071 Washington State Police 911 calls to determine if help-seeking means could help predict the fate of the suicidal individual. The referral means by family and friends, self-referral, or bystanders more likely predicted monitoring by public authorities, safety intervention, or adverse outcome, respectively.

Chronic Mild Stress And Deficits In The Rodent Brain: A Preliminary Examination Of Neuroinflammation-Induced Cognitive And Behavioral Changes In Rats, Hoda Abou Eich, Lizzy Daugherty, Rocky Marks, Keyne Law, Phillip Baker

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

This pilot study investigated the effects of chronic mild stress on a variety of cognitive and behavioral tasks in Sprague-Dawley rats. Our study consisted of two cohorts, one housed individually and one housed in dyad pairs, stressed over six weeks. We then examined the rat’s weight, sucrose preference, forced swim behaviors, and performance on maze-based cognitive tasks. Tests were conducted to examine whether chronic stress was sufficient to induce inflammation in the brain that would result in significant deficits. Results will be compared with analysis of the brains post-mortem to examine potential neurobiological correlates in regions of the rodent brain.

Investigating Gender Differences, Loneliness, And The Coping Skills Of Individuals With Developmental Disabilities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Taylor Demotta, Kaitlyn Drafton, Chloe Quinnett, Miles Feller, Jessica Peterson, Beverly Wilson

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Studies have indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in widespread isolation, which has increased the risk of psychological harm on individuals with developmental disabilities (DD). Previous research posits that adaptive coping is a protective factor against loneliness with females being more likely to engage in active coping than males, but more research is needed on individuals identifying as non-binary. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine adaptive coping, loneliness, and gender differences of individuals impacted by DD. Results indicated that higher adaptive coping scores predicted lower loneliness scores and females displayed higher adaptive coping than non-binary individuals.

Group Differences In Active Coping Abilities Among Individuals And Families Impacted By Developmental Disabilities, Kaitlyn Drafton, Chloe Quinnett, Miles Feller, Taylor Demotta, Beverly Wilson

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) are disproportionately impacted by the negative outcomes associated with COVID-19, potentially impacting their coping abilities (Abedi et al., 2020). This study examined the coping strategies utilized by 106 individuals and caregivers impacted by DD. Results indicated that parents of children with DD who also have a DD themselves engage in greater levels of active coping compared to parents of children with DD and adults with DD. These findings suggest parents with DD may develop strengths in problem-focused coping by learning to manage challenges associated with their experience of having a DD.

#Maskmadness: The Contributions Of Perceived Stigma, Context, And Mask-Wearing On Mental Health, Clara O'Brien, Ashley Righetti, Jaylee York, Lynette Bikos

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Although ample evidence has supported its preventative role in reducing the spread of COVID-19, mask-wearing during the pandemic has been politicized such that noncompliance with mask-wearing recommendations has increased. Our poster will present data collected during the early weeks of the pandemic. In this poster we report the results of a moderated mediation that analyzes the mediating role of mask-wearing in the relationship between perceived stigma about mask-wearing and mental health. We further expect that the proportion of other people who are wearing masks will moderate the relationship between perceived stigma and mask-wearing.

God Perfectionism As A Mediator Of Intrinsic Religiosity And Life Satisfaction, Cory Duffield, Elizabeth Mateer, Madison Foster

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Intrinsic religiosity is a focus on religion for its own sake versus extrinsic religiosity, which focuses on religion for is perceived benefits (Cohen et al., 2017). God perfectionism is an external source of perfectionism that is perceived to come from a higher power, or God (Wang et al., 2018). God perfectionism includes both adaptive (perceived standards from God) and maladaptive (perceived discrepancy from God) components. Maladaptive God perfectionism has been used as a mediator between intrinsic religiosity and negative mood, with higher levels of intrinsic religiosity predicting lower levels of negative mood. Due to this correlation, we hypothesized that God …