Psychology Commons^™

Effects Of Cultural Factors In Sports-Related Concussion Testing Performance Of Collegiate Athletes, Gabriela Andrea González Torres

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to explore potential differences in preseason baseline concussion testing between an ethnically and linguistically diverse sample of Division 2 NCAA collegiate student-athletes. A value-added second aim was to create awareness regarding the implications of multiculturalism as it relates to neuropsychological testing of sport related concussions. This study is part of a, slow yet steady, growing body of research concerning diversity issues within the sport setting. 479 Division II collegiate athletes from the Florida Institute of Technology were assessed during mandatory preseason baseline testing. The Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing, the Sports Concussion …

Two-Week Test-Retest Reliability Of The Scale Of Accurate Personality Prediction, Lisa Dawn Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

The Scale of Accurate Personality Prediction (SAPP) is a measure derived from the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF Fifth Edition) with the objective of assessing one’s level of self-knowledge. The SAPP measures self-knowledge by appraising the extent to which individuals are able to accurately predict their personality traits. Previous research on the SAPP has provided support for its construct validation. The present study served as a replication of prior reliability studies to further assess the SAPP’s temporal stability. Test-retest reliability data of the SAPP was obtained by comparing SAPP scores from 34 individuals across two testing sessions that were two …

Recovery From Borderline Personality Disorder Through Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Carla D. Chugani, Ashley R. Seiler, Tina R. Goldstein

The Qualitative Report

This article presents a qualitative investigation of the perspectives and experiences of recovery from borderline personality disorder from six individuals who were treated with comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, transcribed, and coded using a six-step analysis process. Six primary themes emerged: (1) belief about recovery, (2) current experience of self, (3) facets of recovery, (4) motivating factors, (5) external supports to recovery, and (6) characteristics required for recovery. Overall, the findings took a dialectical form in which participants often described conflicting experiences (e.g., feeling recovered while also continuing to experience heightened emotional sensitivity). We conclude …

Coping Among Advocates With And Without Lived Experience Of Sexual Assault, Martina Mihelicova

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Volunteer sexual assault survivor advocates are vital to the provision of services by rape crisis centers. Volunteer advocates are exposed to trauma by witnessing the emotional and psychological impact of sexual assault on survivors. Trauma exposure places providers at risk for experiencing negative outcomes, such as vicarious trauma or secondary traumatic stress. Additionally, advocates who are survivors of sexual assault may be at higher risk for these negative outcomes. However, trauma exposure can also be a source of positive outcomes, such as posttraumatic growth. Focusing on advocate strengths, such as coping and self-care strategies that help advocates overcome distress during …

Diversity Of Diagnoses And Student Learning Experiences In An On-Campus School Psychology Assessment Center: Future Directions And Focus, Nina M. Ellis-Hervey Ph.D., N.C.S.P., L.S.S.P., P.L.P., Ashley Doss B.S., Maio-Cert, Deshae Davis-Gatti M.A., Juliet Aura Bs/P

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

School Psychology Assessment Centers (SPAC) developed at the University-level are crucial in developing competent school psychologists. While many models on how to develop mental health centers are in existence, a new model exists for creating a SPAC on a University campus that is specifically designed to serve the diverse surrounding community and postsecondary students (see Ellis-Hervey et al., 2016). The community’s needs were reviewed, including missing service links in the region, and identification of potential clients who would benefit most from services provided. Senior students who work with clients in the SPAC gain assessment skills and build supervision skills through …

Polynomial Regression Analyses Of Parental Desirable Responding, Megan Elizabeth Lilly

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Child assessments have consistently yielded poor agreement between parent-child self-report measures and considerable research has failed to isolate the underlying source of the discrepancies. Validity testing has successfully been used to differentiate credible from non-credible performance, recognize feigned symptoms, and detect underestimates of ability in adults for decades (Sherman, 2015). Despite these potential benefits, attention to the importance of validity testing in the child assessment literature has been largely neglected. Many psychologists believe children are not capable of feigning or exaggerating their symptoms and lack the underlying motivations and incentives for deception found in adult assessments. Whereas, more research is …

Doing Greater Good, While Doing No Individual Harm: A Public Health Approach To Human Trafficking Using A Human Rights-Centered Model, Patrick L. Kerr, Rachel Dash

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Human trafficking (i.e., modern slavery) includes myriad forms of sex and labor trafficking. Widely ranging estimates of the prevalence of human trafficking are commonly cited; at the same time, accurate data on these phenomena remain elusive, and assumptions rather than empirical evidence about the nature, targets, and proliferation of trafficking often dominate public policy discourse.

In this paper, we describe the ways in which this lack of accurate data on basic prevalence rates has led to key limitations in anti-trafficking work. First, this lack of data prevents a clear understanding of the problem of trafficking. Second, this deficit limits our …

Psychopathic Traits, Gender, And Sexual Motivations: Paths To Sexual Coercion, Amy M. Hoffmann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although evidence suggests that both men and women perpetrate sexual coercion, the majority of work has traditionally focused on men as perpetrators and women as victims. Psy-chological factors, including psychopathic traits and sexual motivations, have been proposed to characterize sexually coercive men. However, the sparse existing research using female samples suggests that these models may not adequately characterize female sexual coercers. In particular, although there is evidence that sexual motivations may mediate the relationship between psycho-pathic traits and coercion perpetration, there is a dearth of information regarding gender as a po-tential moderator of these mediating paths. To improve our understanding …

The Experiences Of African American Pastors Treating Mental Health Issues Among Parishioners In The State Of Texas, Rosalind S. Smith

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to learn the practices, attitudes, and self-described competency of a sample of 12 African American pastors, with churches located in Texas, as they counsel their parishioners with mental health issues. Pastoral counseling formed the theoretical framework for the study. The researcher asked each pastor eight open-ended questions, inquiring about the pastor's experiences, practices, attitudes, and training in regard to dealing with their parishioners' mental health issues. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and qualitative methods were used to analyze the responses to determine themes in the pastors' responses.

A total of 10 themes …

Assessing The Impact Of White Noise On Cognition In Individuals With And Without Adhd, Scott Roye

LSU Master's Theses

Although originally viewed only as a childhood disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is now recognized to persist into adulthood in many individuals. Adults with ADHD often demonstrate academic, cognitive, and general functioning deficits as a result of their symptoms. Theorists have suggested that features typically associated with ADHD, such as distractibility, excessive motor activity, and executive dysfunction, may stem from being under stimulated at a physiological level. This lack of arousal potentially causes individuals to seek out stimulation, making them more susceptible to background noise and other environmental stimuli. However, previous research primarily focuses on children and adolescents with …

Internet-Delivered Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills Training For Suicidal And Heavy Episodic Drinkers: Protocol And Preliminary Results Of A Randomized Controlled Trial., Chelsey Wilks, Qingqing Yin, Sin Ang, Brandon Matsumiya, Anita Lungu, Marsha Linehan

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

A Psychometric Evaluation Of The Compensatory Eating And Behaviors In Response To Alcohol Consumption Scale (Cebracs), Emily M. Choquette

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drunkorexia refers to a set of disordered eating behaviors that occur in the context of a drinking episode for the purpose of 1) off setting caloric intake of the alcohol or 2) increasing the effects of alcohol. The Compensatory Eating and Behaviors in Response to Alcohol Consumption Scale (CEBRACS) was developed with the purpose of measuring drunkorexia behaviors at three time points: before, during, and after a drinking episode. The purpose of this study was to further validate the measure for use in men and women by examining measurement invariance, reliability, and validity. First, single group confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) …

Reported Child Sexual Abuse: Impact Of Adaptive Skills And Association With Psychological Adjustment, Seandra Jean Walker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The impact of sexual abuse on children’s psychological well-being is well recognized. Considerable research has evaluated the deleterious effects and various protective and risk factors to victimization. Research has shown intense and pervasive psychological symptoms preceding child sexual abuse; however, many studies solely report long-term effects of sexual abuse, or rely on retrospective accounts. Additionally, there is a lack of research on the relationship between psychological adjustment and adaptive skills shortly after child sexual abuse. This study investigated the relationship between psychological problems (i.e. posttraumatic symptomology, internalizing, and externalizing problems) and adaptive skills (i.e. adaptability, social skills, leadership, activities of …

Depression And Choice Of Emotional Stimuli, Sunkyung Yoon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent research argued that people with major depressive disorder (MDD) tend to prefer sad stimuli because they want to upregulate their sad feelings. This paper aims to examine investigate the choice of emotional stimuli among those who have MDD, compared to individuals without MDD (healthy controls, HC), and explore the reasons for their choice. Seventy six female university students (38 per group) completed three tasks: 1) In the replication music task, participants listened to happy, neutral, and sad music excerpts, chose the one they wanted to listen most, and reported the reasons of their choice. 2) The Emotional Stimuli Selection …

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Wku Ogden College Of Science & Engineering

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

Newsletter created by and about Ogden College of Science & Engineering.

• Stevens, Cheryl. A Word with the Dean . . .
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The Clinical Utility Of Recaptured Baselines After Return-To-Play, Alicia Miran Kissinger-Knox

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the clinical utility of recaptured baselines or “rebaselines” in collegiate athletes after return-to-play. Several concussion management teams endorse the use of baseline neurocognitive assessments at the beginning of an athlete’s sports season to use as a measure of comparison in the instance of concussion or head injury. Once physical and cognitive symptoms are resolved, an athlete is requested to reestablish their baseline for the rest of the season. It has been questioned whether this “rebaselining” is necessary and warranted. Method: Forty-one Division II collegiate athletes at Florida Institute of Technology who sustained …

Sleep, Internalizing Symptoms, Executive Functioning, And Diabetes Outcomes In Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, Ashley Charlene Moss

Dissertations (1934 -)

Insufficient sleep is a nearly universal problem during adolescence and is likely associated with various biopsychosocial and contextual factors present with this developmental period. Youth with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) may experience greater sleep difficulties, poorer sleep quality, and greater daytime sleepiness/fatigue compared to healthy youth. Also, sleep difficulties are associated with poorer diabetes outcomes (e.g., treatment adherence). Understanding how sleep may impact illness management during adolescence is critical given increasing rates of non-adherence during this developmental period. Although research suggests poor sleep is associated with decreased neurocognitive functioning and increased internalizing behavior among healthy youth, limited research has …

Affective Factors Explaining The Association Between Depressive Functioning And Alcohol Outcomes, Peter D. Preonas

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Depressive symptoms and alcohol use frequently coexist. In college students, the rates of depression and alcohol use are higher than in the general population, making this population at particular risk for co-occurrence of depressive symptoms and drinking. Though research has shown that depressive symptoms precede alcohol use and problems in non-clinical populations, it is unclear what mechanisms contribute to this relationship. Further exploration into how this relationship occurs could inform and improve intervention of depression and alcohol abuse on college campuses. This study sought to (1) assess three potential mediators (i.e., need for affect, distress tolerance, emotion regulation) to the …

Examining Body-Focused Self-Improvement And Self-Evaluation Social Comparisons On Exercise In Young Adult Women Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, Rachel I. Macintyre

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Exercise is highly recommended by health professionals due to its numerous health benefits, yet little is known about the social factors that influence people’s motivation to exercise each day. Studies on social comparisons reveal that college women frequently evaluate their weight and shape compared to those around them through upward body-focused comparisons (i.e., comparing themselves to someone they perceive to be thinner or in better physical shape). Research suggests these comparisons can be driven by two different motivations, self-evaluation and self-improvement. However, the occurrence of these two different types of motivations in everyday life and how they may be associated …

Minding The Baby®: Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences And Treatment Outcomes In A Mother-Infant Home Visiting Program, Jessica G. Albertson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in a sample of women participating in Minding the Baby® (MTB), a mother-infant home-visiting intervention known to have positive effects on mother-infant attachment. In addition to documenting maternal childhood trauma exposure within the sample, this study explored whether such exposure affected the intervention outcome or service delivery. We looked specifically at whether maternal childhood trauma exposure affected mother-child attachment or frequency of contact with home-visitors. We also examined the relationship between maternal early childhood trauma exposure and reflective functioning capacity (RF), a potential resiliency-promoting factor.

Methods: The study’s participants were 29 first-time …

Cortical Thickness Abnormalities Within The Salience And Reward Networks In Older Depressed Adults With Apathy, Monique A. Pimontel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background and Significance: Apathy is a common comorbidity in late-life depression. Among older depressed adults, apathy is associated with a number of adverse outcomes, including increased disability, comorbid illness, and mortality. The etiological substrates of apathy in late-life depression nonetheless remain poorly understood, and little is known about its optimal treatment. To this end, the aim of the current study was to examine cortical abnormalities within the salience (SN) and reward networks (RN), two brain systems involved in the processing of incentive salience that may underlie the syndrome of apathy in older depressed adults.

Methods: We examined the association between …

Cognitive And Affective Control Deficits In Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Melissa-Ann Mackie

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Cognitive control constrains mental operations to prioritize information that reaches conscious awareness and is essential to flexible, adaptive behavior under conditions of uncertainty. However, cognitive control can be compromised by neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is characterized by the presence of social and communicative deficits, and restricted interests/repetitive behaviors. Although prior investigations have attempted to elucidate the nature of cognitive control deficits in ASD, whether there is an underlying deficit in cognitive and affective control associated with the symptom domains of ASD remains unclear. The present series of eight experiments presents an information theoretic framework for …

Examining The Concurrent And Predictive Relations Of Working Memory In Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Ashley N. Simone

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity which lead to impairment in multiple settings (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Childhood ADHD has been concurrently associated with various neurocognitive deficits and one in particular that has been under examination over the past several years is working memory (WM). WM is a temporary storage system that is responsible for maintenance and/or manipulation of information in order to complete complex cognitive and behavioral tasks. Researchers have postulated that WM is one of several potential endophenotypes of ADHD (Castellanos & Tannock, 2002) and/or that WM is …

Preventing Sexual Violence Where It Most Often Occurs: An Investigation Of The Situational And Structural Components Of Child Sexual Abuse In Residential Settings, Nicole Colombino

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Given that sex offenders tend to perpetrate crimes against people they know (e.g., Greenfield, 1997) and first encounter victims in residential locations (Colombino, Mercado, Levenson, & Jeglic, 2011), it is important that research examine the circumstances of sexual offenses within residential settings. Although previous research has examined the perpetration patterns of sexual offenses against children, especially related to grooming tactics (e.g., Conte, Wolf, & Smith, 1989) and situational factors (e.g., Wortley & Smallbone, 2006), there are few studies that specifically examine the correlates of child sexual abuse within residential settings. This type of data would allow for the development of …

The Effects Of Childhood Irritability On Adolescent Outcomes And Treatment Response In Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Estrella Heber

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Childhood irritability has received considerable attention in recent research due in part to the highly impairing consequences of severe irritability and its association with poor long-term outcomes (Leibenluft, Cohen, Gorrindo, Brook, & Pine, 2006; Stringaris, Cohen, Pine, & Leibenluft, 2009; Stringaris & Goodman, 2009a). While the frequency and severity of irritability typically declines with age, there are individuals who continue to display irritability at stable or increasing levels (Wiggins, Mitchell, Stringaris, & Leibenluft, 2014). Regardless of whether it persists or remits, the effects of childhood irritability resonate for many years and it remains a potent predictor of poor outcomes across …

Mental Illness Stigma And Community Integration: Linking Perceived Experiences With Reported Behavior, Lauren L. Gonzales

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the relationship between individual and neighborhood characteristics, stigmatizing experiences, and measures of community integration among individuals with mental illness. Surveys were administered to two samples: 608 community member participants and 343 participants with mental health diagnoses. Participants in both samples were recruited from 3 community sites in the New York City metropolitan area: East/Central Harlem in Manhattan, Crown Heights/East Flatbush in Brooklyn, and Yonkers and Mt. Vernon in Southern Westchester. Negative symptoms and perceived level of community microaggressions were strong predictors of community integration for participants with mental illness. Prior contact with mental illness predicted less stigmatizing …

An Examination Of Therapeutic Alliance During Prolonged Exposure In The Treatment Of A Comorbid Ptsd And Sud Population, Annelisa Pedersen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Prolonged exposure has emerged as a highly effective method of treating PTSD (Foa, Hembree, & Rothbaum, 2007; Ruzek et al., 2014), yet for some individuals it has proven to be anxiety-arousing to the point of being contraindicated (Morris, 2015). As a treatment, prolonged exposure can be a challenging procedure to implement given the high levels of avoidance, fear, and resistance that often accompany a diagnosis of PTSD (Arntz, Tiesema, & Kindt, 2007; Hoffart et al., 2013; McLaughlin et al., 2014). When it is used to treat individuals who carry an additional diagnosis of SUD, further complications may arise with respect …

Physiological Correlates Of Affective Decision-Making In Anxiety And Depression, Louisa I. Thompson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Improving our understanding of cognitive and physiological profiles in anxiety and depression has the potential to reveal novel ways to target and improve treatments for these prevalent mental health conditions. The present study examined the impact of self-reported anxiety and depression symptoms on three established decision-making measures, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994), Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART; Lejuez et al., 2002), and Game of Dice Task (GDT; Brand et al., 2005), in a diverse sample of 100 college students (age 18 to 35). Physiological measures of tonic heart rate variability and galvanic skin response …

The Transgenerational Transmission Of Emotion Regulation: The Effect Of Maternal Coping On Child Executive Functioning, Devon J. Harrison

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is a recognized link between maternal trauma history and adverse child outcomes, however the mechanisms underlying this intergenerational relationship are less clearly understood. Maternal emotion regulation, as measured by coping style, may help explain this cross-generational transmission, implicating the role of a mother’s coping in her child’s capacity to plan, attend, and self-inhibit. Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the association between maternal coping style and child executive functioning (EF) in a sample of 188 urban mothers and their pre-adolescent and adolescent children. Data was analyzed from a larger cross-sectional and cross-generational study of maternal difficulties …

A Conceptualization Of The Body In Psychodynamic And Body-Based Psychotherapies: Areas Of Overlap And Possibilities For Integration, Aleksandra Rayska

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The distinction between verbal and nonverbal psychotherapies is clearly visible in theory and clinical practice. Moreover, this duality of approaches promotes a split between the body and the mind, defining them as separate from each other. This dissertation helps bridge the divide between the literature in body-based therapies and verbally-based psychotherapy by (i) exploring the conceptual frame used to understand the body in psychodynamic therapy (ii) identifying the areas of overlap between psychodynamic theory and theories that underlie body-based psychotherapies, and (iii) proposing ways in which psychodynamic and body-based theories can inform one another. A clinical case was used to …