Psychology Commons^™

Cultural Commitment And Attitudes Toward Seeking Counseling Services In African-Americans, Jessamine M. Montero

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this project was to explore possible relations between African-American acculturation level and attitudes of seeking professional psychological help. A sample of 120 African-American residents of Huntington, WV, completed survey questionnaires designed to assess: cultural commitment levels; attitudes toward counseling; and awareness of the Prestera Center for Mental Health Services, a local mental health center. Cultural commitment levels were assessed by self-ratings of African-Americans to the Anglo- and African-American cultures, and to the specific Huntington Anglo- and African-American cultures; respondants also rated their perceptions of mental health professionals' commitment levels to the Anglo-, African-, Huntington Anglo-, and Huntington …

Neuropsychological Functioning Among Violent And Nonviolent Sex Offenders, Pamela Knox-Jones

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Violent sex offenders, nonviolent sex offenders, violent non-sex offenders, and nonviolent non-sex offenders were compared on neuropsychological testing and on personality testing. A neuropsychological test battery and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - 2 (MMPI-2) were administered to 93 and 50 male felons respectively. Subjects were drawn from a data base provided by the state Department of Corrections. Potential indicators of neuropsychological impairment were controlled during the selection process. Analyses of Variance (alpha =.05) found that violent sex offenders scored significantly lower than the other three groups on two measures that are sensitive to left hemisphere impairment and one that …

Personality Disorders In Mothers Of Children With An Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Dennis E. Bowman Jr.

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This investigation examined the presence of personality disorders in the mothers of children with an Attention- Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). This was accomplished by examining 60 male subjects ages 6 to 12. The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) was administered to 20 mothers of children with ADHD, 20 mothers of children with ADHD and CD and a matched comparison group who did not meet the criteria for ADHD or CD. Repeated analysis of variance (ANOVAS) and Chi Square analyses were calculated on each MCMI-II scale and the Duncan's multiple range test was utilized to determine statistical significance. Data analyses revealed …

Sex Differences In Coping, Judy L. Johnson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nolen-Hoeksema (1987, 1991) has suggested that males engage in more problem-focused, distractive, coping strategies, whereas females engage in more emotion-focused, ruminative, coping strategies. This study tested NolenHoeksema's response styles theory, which suggests that using a ruminative response style may predispose women to depression more than men. It also examined perceptions of effective coping and utilization of social support. One hundred and twenty subjects completed the Ways of Coping Checklist, a coping questionnaire, the Perceptions of Coping Questionnaire, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25, the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behavior, and the Personality Attributes Questionnaire. Results provide evidence for sex differences in the …

Dependency Autonomy Stress And Depression: A Test Of An Interactive Model, Kathryn Kern Drury

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Two diathesis-stress models were used to predict depression. The additive model combined dependency and autonomy (dependency-autonomy) as the diathesis and also combined dependent and autonomous hassles or life events as stressors. The congruent model used either dependency and dependent stressors or autonomy and autonomous stressors. Ninety-seven female and 42 male undergraduate students completed self-report measures of dependency and autonomy, hassles and life events, and depression at three testing sessions one week apart. Hierarchical multiple regressions — with prior depression entered first and followed by dependency and/or autonomy, stress, and their interaction — indicated that additive models with a significant interaction …

Issues In Integration: A, Rodger K. Bufford

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

No abstract provided.

Responses Of Female Therapists To Treating Adult Female Survivors Of Incest, Marcia A. Hollingsworth

Dissertations

How female therapists are affected by the long-term experience of treating adult female survivors was addressed by exploring therapists’ commonly reported affective, cognitive, physical, and imagery responses. The study specifically examined experienced female therapist responses for evidence of vicarious traumatization (McCann & Pearlman, 1990b), a transformation process whereby therapists who treat trauma victims may experience profound psychological effects, including lasting changes in seven basic cognitive schemas. The study’s findings were also considered in relation to four other models of therapist responses to treating incest survivors: burnout, secondary post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic countertransferences, and countertransference responses.

This study employed a …

Detection Of Deception In Law Enforcement Applicants: A Preliminary Investigation, Randy Borum, Harley Stock

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

Using the MMPIand the IPI, the present study examined the differences in psychometric defensiveness between two groups of law enforcement applicants: applicants identified as being deceptive and a comparison group of candidates for whom no deception was indicated. Significant differences were found on the traditional validity (minimization) scales for both instruments as well as several supplemental scales and indexes from the MMPI. A new index (Es-K) from the MMPI showed a highly significant difference between groups and good classification accuracy. The results suggest that deceptive applicants show more defensiveness on psychometric testing and that test results may assist in raising …

A Study Investigating The Cognitive Variables Involved In Adolescent Use Of Alcohol, William E. Fahey

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship of adolescents• level of alcohol use to various cognitive and contextual variables. The cognitive variables of concern included (a) alcohol knowledge, (b) generation of alternatives thinking, (c) means-ends thinking, and (d) selfefficacy. The contextual variables were specific factors associated with most recent alcohol use experiences. The sample consisted of 113 high school sophomores from two separate high schools located within a rural county in the upper Midwest. Subjects were separated into three groups (Nonusers, Occasional Users, and Heavy Users) based on their self-reported level of alcohol use in the past month. Subjects completed various questionnaires …

Gender And Age Differences In Self-Generated Coping Strategies For Depression, Joan R. Hudson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined coping strategies generated by a community sample of 527 adult men and women in response to three vignettes that described various presentations of depression. Analyses revealed quantitative differences by vignette and by subject variables. Results indicated that women gave more coping strategies than men. Social support was the most frequently suggested method of coping, and younger subjects mentioned it significantly more than older adults. Younger subjects also suggested ~ore inactive coping strategies in general. situational context was a strong determinant of type of strategy suggested, although beliefs about depression also influenced coping strategies. Results of multiple regression …

Neuropsychological Effects Of Short-Term Abstinence In Adolescent Alcoholics, Asiah Mayang

Dissertations

The Michigan Neuropsychological Battery (Smith, 1975) was administered to 14 to 17-year-old alcoholics from an inpatient and outpatient substance abuse treatment center within 7 days of their last drink, and again after 28-33 days of abstinence (a = 26). Comparisons were made between this group and an adolescent alcoholic group who did not abstain and was not receiving treatment for their alcohol abuse (n = 15). The non-abstaining group was also given the same test battery twice. Results indicated that subjects who abstained from drinking (experimental group) performed better than subjects who did not abstain (control group) on measures of …

Differential Perception Of Histrionic Personality Disorder Symptoms In Males Vs. Females, Susan L. Swihart

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examined the differential perception of severity of histrionic personality disorder symptoms in males versus females in order to investigate one possible explanation for the increased rates in diagnosis of this disorder in females. Thirty male and thirty female volunteer undergraduates from a midwestern university were asked to sort the DSM-III-R criteria for all the personality disorders, including the two proposed categories, selfdefeating and sadistic personality disorders, according to degree of abnormality. Each criterion was typed on a separate index card for a total of 142 cards and subjects were asked to sort the symptom cards on a Likert-type …

The Description And Prediction Of Self-Percepts And Ideal-Percepts Of Body Image For Multiple Physical Attributes, Lora L. Jacobi

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the self-perceived body state, ideal body state, perceived other-sex ideal state, and actual other-sex ideal state for a number of body characteristics in white, heterosexual, undergraduate males and females. The relative strength of the ideal choices were also indicated by the sexes. The characteristics examined were: body size, weight, muscularity, height, hair color, hair length, eye color, and female breast size. Discrepancies between the self-perceived body state, the ideal body state, and perceived other-sex ideal body state were examined for the sexes. Also investigated were the differences between the perceived other-sex ideals and the actual other-sex …

The Mmpi-2 Clinical Scales And Clinical Diagnosis: Differentiating Between Schizophrenic And Bipolar-Manic Disorders, Laura M. Volkmann

Graduate Theses

The validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) clinical scales in differentiating schizophrenia and bipolar-manic disorders was evaluated in terms of MMPI-2 congruence with psychiatric hospital treatment team diagnoses. From a pool of 286 MMPI-2 profiles, valid profiles were obtained on 5 schizophrenia (paranoid type) inpatients and 5 bipolar-manic disordered psychiatric inpatients and were assessed by using each of four MMPI profile classification methods. Overall, the rate of agreement between treatment team diagnosis and the MMPI profile classification methods for both the schizophrenia (paranoid type) and bipolar-manic disordered groups was inconclusive. The results suggest that the MMPI-2 is of …

The Relationship Between Marital Violence And Abuse/Neglect And Depressive Symptoms And Suicidal Thoughts In Adolescent Females, Veena Suneja

Theses

The relationship of marital violence and adolescent abuse/neglect with depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts in adolescent females was studied. Sixty four adolescent females from two youth centers and five residential facilities were studied. Subjects ranged in age from 12 to 17, were currently in grades 7 to 11, practiced various religions, were racially mixed (56% white; 37% black; and 7% Hispanic). Most subjects lived with their mother or mother and a male. The subjects were divided into three groups: those who did not witness marital violence (group 1), those who witnessed marital violence occasionally (group 2) and those who witnessed …

Assessing Stress In Teachers: Depressive Symptoms Scales And Neutral Self-Reports Of The Work Environment, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

The focal interest of this chapter on teacher stress is methodologic. The chapter enumerates a number of defects in existing measures of job stress in teachers and, concomitantly, other helping professionals. Alternative ways of measuring stress in teachers are suggested and evaluated. The use of depressive symptom scales in concert with more 'objective' measures of the work environment is discussed. An application of the proposed alternative measurement strategy is described. The wider utility of the measurement strategy is briefly described.

Accuracy Of Perceived Self-Efficacy In Relation To Levels Of Depression, David M. Cummins

Masters Theses

In the investigation of the relationship between accuracy of perceived self-efficacy and levels of depression, conflicting results have been found. Some studies have shown that depressed subjects are more accurate at assessing their actual self-efficacy than nondepressed subjects, while other studies have shown that nondepressed subjects are more accurate than depressed subjects at assessing their actual self-efficacy. One common problem that exists in these studies is that their external validity is weak due to the uniqueness and random nature of the experimental designs. The present study attempts to address this problem by examining the relationship between levels of depression and …

Body-Image Attitudes And Perceptions Among African-Americans And Whites As A Function Of Socioeconomic Class, Christopher Eugene Huffine

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

While many facets of body image have been extensively researched, relatively few studies have examined racial and social class differences in body image. The present paper consists of two studies examining racial and class differences in body image among males and females. Study 1 utilized a national sample of respondents to a 1985 Psychology Today survey to examine racial (Black and White) and educational differences in body image among men and women. Study 2 utilized a smaller sample of Black subjects, half drawn from several Southeastern universities and the other half from non-academic locations in the Tidewater area of Virginia …

The Relationship Among Absorption Anxiety And Frontal Electromyogram, Jeffrey E. Atkinson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the relationship among absorption, anxiety (state and trait), and frontal EMG in a sample of sixty undergraduate students. These relationships were examined during a baseline (relaxation) condition and during an anxiety condition during which an extemporaneous speech was given. It was determined that absorption was inversely related to state anxiety and trait anxiety was directly related to state anxiety measured after the relaxation period. Absorption and/or trait anxiety were not related to state anxiety after the speech anxiety condition. There was no relationship between absorption or trait anxiety and frontal EMG during either condition. In addition, state …

Transfer Of Thermal Biofeedback Training From One Hand To The Opposite Hand, W. Thomas Bundick Jr.

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Thermal biofeedback is a way to train subjects to raise and lower peripheral skin temperature. Raising skin temperature has been shown to be useful in treating vascular disorders such as migraine headaches and Raynaud's disease. This study examined the effect that, training of one hand has on subsequent training of the other hand. Subjects were given three sessions of training in either hand warming or hand cooling with their dominant hands, followed by one session of warming or cooling with the opposite hand. Based on prior research, it was hypothesized that prior training of one hand would facilitate training of …

Gender Effects On Recall, Clinical Judgement And Treatment Recommendations For A Combination Of Major Depression And Alcohol Dependence Symptoms, Jodi L. French

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the effect of client gender on several aspects of clinical decision-making processes and clinical judgement when a client presented with a combination of depressive and alcohol-dependent symptoms. Forty-four male and 44 female clinicians, who came from various mental health disciplines (i.e., psychology, social work, counseling, nursing, and psychiatry), volunteered to participate as subjects.

The subjects were assigned to hear one of four audiotapes (two male tapes and two female tapes) in which mock clients gave the same initial presentation of symptoms and problems. After listening to the tapes, the clinicians were asked to engage in a number …

A Program Evaluation Of The Welcome Baby Project: A Primary Prevention Program For Teenage Mothers And Their Infants, Susan A. Murdock

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The central purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Welcome Baby Project (WBP), a primary prevention program with the mission of promoting child development and a positive relationship between "at-risk" adolescent mothers and their infants and to prevent disorders of attachment, child abuse and neglect, and unwanted, repeat pregnancy. Intervention involved weekly home visits by trained parent volunteers for children from birth to two years.

The WBP mothers and a control group of adolescent mothers were compared on assessments collected during a home visit. Participants were asked to complete the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI), and the …

Finding The Abundant Life: An Academic Perspective, Rodger K. Bufford

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

No abstract provided.

Teaching Nonsexist Language To College Students, Mark R. Mcminn, Pamela K. Troyer, Laurel E. Hannum, James D. Foster

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Although psychologists have noted the importance of avoiding sexist language because of its potential role in transmitting sexism, little attention has been given to methods of teaching students of psychology to use nonsexist language. Two experiments were conducted to measure the effectiveness of teaching general Psychology students to use nonsexist language. In a pilot study (Experiment 1), undergraduates were exposed to a 20-minute lecture either on use of nonsexist language (experimental group) or on an unrelated topic (control group). No changes in use of sexist language in short essay responses were noted on the posttest or in a 2-week follow-up. …

Mmpi Profiles Of Sexual Perpetrators, Steven G. Vaupel

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare MMPI scores of 60 men referred for assessment and/or counseling at community mental health facilities. No MMPI protocols were excluded due to elevated validity configurations (70T or above). Forty of the referrals were referred for suspected child sexual abuse. Twenty of the referrals admitted (Admitter) to sexually abusing a child at the time of referral and twenty did not admit (Nonadmitter) to sexually abusing a child when referred. A control group of the remaining twenty subjects were referred for various offenses, none of which included sexual offenses against children. Significant differences were …

A Relationship Between Birth-Order Position And The Incidence Of Eating Disorders, Mary Weber

Theses

Eating disorders, bulimia, anorexia, and compulsive eating are a rising concern for the female population as they currently affect women in almost epidemic proportions. Research has enabled us to categorize like-characteristics among those clients who are affected as well as, to develop with some consistency, portraits of the family systems in which these patients develop their symptoms.

A key factor in the family structure is the role that each sibling assumes, which is often directly influenced by the ordinal position of their birth in relationship to their siblings. Research has also identified a categorical profile of characteristics associated with each …

Occupational Stress And Preemployment Measures: The Case Of Teachers, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Danqing Ruan

Publications and Research

This paper describes difficulties involved in conducting cross-sectional and longitudinal research on the effects of occupational stressors on the mental and physical health of veteran workers. The difficulties include (1) the disappearance, prior to the beginning of the investigation, of the casualties of job stress (Kasl, 1983) and (2) selection bias. The paper advances the view that an alternative design, one that (1) follows new workers longitudinally, (2) includes preemployment measures of mental and/or physical health, and (3) controls for nonoccupational stressors is warranted. The alternative design allows for (a) the assessment of the extent to which the findings are …

Dimensions Of Functional Social Support And Psychological Symptoms, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

In the summer following graduation a sample of 125 female college graduates (mean age = 28) completed Cohen & Wills' ISEL (1985) which includes scales measuring four social support functions: belonging (social companionship), appraisal (availability of confidants), tangible (instrumental), and self-esteem support. In the summer and fall subject status on two outcome scales was ascertained: the Psychophysiologic Symptom Scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Reliability of the difference scores suggested that the ISEL scales do not measure entirely different constructs and the ISEL Self-esteem Scale is operationally redundant with the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale and the CES-D. …

College Students' Perceptions Of Parental Sexuality, Nancy L. Janisz

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Pocs and Godow (1977) published research results indicating that college students experienced difficulty in considering their parents as sexual beings. The results of the present study were based on responses of 330 college students to a questionnaire authored by the examiner. Results were compared to Pocs and Godow's results, and research data from Kinsey (1948, 1953) and Hunt (1972), which presented the reported frequencies of sexual activities of the parent-aged population. The comparisons suggest that although estimates of the subjects in the current study were higher in all areas than in the Pocs and Godow data, today's college students still …

Relationship Of Dysphoria To The Recall Of Positive Negative And Neutral Words, Sarah Ellen Ware

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated memory and cognitions in dysphoric and non-dysphoric individuals by examining reported thoughts and positive and negative word recall. Participants were female volunteers from Old Dominion University with 24 non-dysphoric subjects and 18 dysphoric subjects. Each subject was asked to read positive and negative life descriptions at separate times. After the descriptions had been read, 23 subjects were asked to suppress the description and 19 subjects were not given these instructions. Subjects then wrote down their thoughts for 6 minutes. Following the writing of thoughts, each subject was then asked to recall freely a list of 30 words. …