Psychology Commons^™

Caring Until It Hurts: A Survey Of Compassion Fatigue And Moral Injury Among Wild Animal Caregivers And Its Implications For Animal Welfare In Zoos, Aquariums, Rehabilitation Centers, And Sanctuaries, Nadiya L. Delgado

Theses and Dissertations

Caregivers for captive wild animals are fundamental to the overall care, welfare, and conservation of animals in their charge, fulfilling diverse and critical roles. Caring for others, whether humans or animals, exposes caregivers to compassion fatigue – a state of emotional and physical exhaustion resulting from prolonged empathetic engagement with those they assist, and moral injury – psychological distress that arises from actions, or the lack of them, which violate one's moral or ethical code. This distress can manifest as intense feelings of guilt, shame, or a sense of betrayal by oneself or others. These phenomena are pertinent in environments …

Policy, Practice, And Perceptions Of K-12 Social-Emotional Learning, Janice Filer, Ebony C. Cain, Della Thompson-Bell

Education Division Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of K-12 school staff who participate in social-emotional learning (SEL). Since the global pandemic, several school districts have included SEL as part of the school curriculum. Teachers, counselors, social workers, school psychologists, and school administrators participate in SEL instruction and/or practices. Classroom teachers instruct students in SEL instruction and other school staff practice the SEL components of self-awareness, self-management, decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills through their daily interactions with students. This study was conducted in various schools throughout the Los Angeles area using open-ended interview questions that utilized focus …

‘Catching Zzz’S And Feelings’: A Study Examining The Link Between Sleep And Emotional Intimacy Among Sexual Assault Survivors, Anna Marie Thi Thanh Nguyen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The impact of sexual assault can be significant, including an increased likelihood of subsequent negative psychological and physical outcomes, even compared to other trauma types. Further studies indicate that individuals who have experienced sexual assault are more likely to struggle with interpersonal relationships. Sleep is a transdiagnostic process and disrupted sleep is a prominent feature of post-trauma related symptoms. Sleep is also implicated in social cognitive processes that are used to establish emotional intimacy in interpersonal relationships. The goal of the current study is therefore to examine the relations among sexual assault exposure, sleep, and emotional intimacy. A two-part study …

Examining The Association Between Parental Attachment, Fictive Kin Bonds, Psychological Needs Satisfaction, Emotional Distress, And Subjective Well-Being Among Black Americans, Roxanne Watts

Dissertations

Secure attachment with parents predicts less emotional distress and greater subjective well-being across the lifespan. One mechanism by which parental attachment supports mental health outcomes is through psychological needs satisfaction (PNS). In addition to the attachment to parents, relationships with fictive kin caregivers are prevalent and important among Black families. The present study investigated the association between parental attachment, fictive kin bonds, psychological needs satisfaction and mental health outcomes (i.e., emotional distress and subjective well-being) in a sample of Black American adults. Two hundred twenty-three (N = 223) participants completed measures of parental attachment, fictive-kin bonds, psychological needs satisfaction …

Informed Consent Document Delivery: Effects On Appalachian Caregivers' Comprehension, Trust In Researchers, And Willingness To Participate, Tess A. Simpson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether altering an informed consent document (ICD), in ways that either promote or inhibit accessibility, would affect potential participants’ willingness to participate in a child development laboratory-based study. Specifically, I was interested in assessing the willingness to participate of historically underrepresented groups, especially Appalachian caregiver-child dyads. I altered three parameters of a previously approved and employed ICD to explore whether these parameters impacted Appalachian caregivers’ comprehension of the study, willingness to participate, and trust in the researchers. The manipulated parameters included reading level, utilization of illustrative pictures, and inclusion of text-to-speech …

Teaching Staff Mathematics University: Catalyst Of The Emotional-Techno-Ontological Logic, Derling Jose Mendoza Velazco Dr, Magda Francisca Cejas Martínez Phd, Carmen Siavil Varguillas Carmona Phd, Mercedes Carolina Navarro Cejas Phd, Gina Silvana Venegas Álvarez M.Sc.

The Qualitative Report

The relevance of the study lies in the necessity to investigate the psycho-emotional state of teachers during the transition to remote teaching in universities and its impact on academic performance and emotional state of students. The aim of the research was to develop a theoretical approach to describe the emotional and techno-ontological logic of mathematics teachers during distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of their emotional state on the learning process. The study involved teachers and students from universities in Ecuador, both private and public. The study observed the behavior of teachers and students, analyzed the use …

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of The Psi-4-Sf In Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Paige Weir

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The factor structure of the Parenting Stress Index - Short Form (PSI-4-SF) was evaluated among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two hypotheses were tested: (1) the original PSI-4-SF model would yield an unsatisfactory fit, and (2) a three-factor alternative model would improve fit compared to the original and other models. A sample of 205 parent-child dyads was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with the lavaan package in R Studio. Preliminary analyses included descriptive statistics, normality checks, and assessments of skewness and kurtosis. Results supported the first hypothesis, showing poor fit indices for the original PSI-4-SF model. …

Mystical Luminosity Experience: An Initiation Of A Construct Grounded In Phenomenology, Jonathan Dinsmore

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Light of a divine or transcendent nature is widely revered in various religious and mystical traditions around the world, and luminosity with mystical qualities such as love, bliss, peace, and noetic realization is also frequently reported by contemporary experiencers. Despite being described as a profoundly significant, sacred, and transformative experience, mystical luminosity has received relatively little attention in modern scholarship and scientific study, and has only been examined empirically within isolated contexts, such as NDEs or contemplative practices. This study examines the phenomenology which binds mystical luminosity across various experiential contexts to construct a phenomenologically grounded theoretical model. A three-part …

Social Structural Differences In Qualitative Perspectives On Well-Being, Jennifer Morozink Boylan, Monica Adams, Julia K. Boehm

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Well-being (WB) is associated with healthier and longer lives, more social connections, and workplace success. However, assessment of WB is primarily based on self-report measures. This mixed-methods research examined how diverse adults described the sources of their WB and whether such views differed by education, race, and gender. Data came from midlife and older adults from the Midlife in the United States Study who responded to the question “What do you do to make your life go well?” (N = 2,118; 54% some college or less; 19% Black). We used directed content analysis to develop a codebook comprising 20 …

Purchasing Choices That Reduce Climate Change: An Exploratory Factor Analysis, Yuhan Bi, Kimberly Barchard

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

Household consumption is a primary source of green-house gas emissions. Individuals can substantially reduce their climate impact by making sustainable purchasing choices, such as choosing products that are made locally and have less packaging, buying used, repairing items rather than replacing them, supporting libraries and bike-share programs, encouraging others to buy less, and donating to charity in someone’s name rather than buying gifts. The Climate Change Action Inventory measures the frequency of 77 daily behaviors, including 14 items regarding Climate-Friendly Purchasing Choices. The purpose of this research was to determine if purchasing choices could be divided into meaningful factors. We …

Inpatient Staff Perspective On Verbal De-Escalation Within A High Acuity Population, Giovanna Dezutti

Dissertations

This study explored inpatient staff’s perspective of verbal de-escalation within a high acuity population as well as the factors that make either a positive or negative impact on the effectiveness of verbal de-escalation as used in high acuity impatient settings. This phenomenological study used semi-structured interviews of 5 participants working in this setting. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling, and interviews were conducted via zoom. This study found that participants unanimously agreed that the training they received regarding verbal de-escalation was not sufficient and that employment of certain personality traits and behaviors were more effective than using only the methods …

Structural Integrity, Flexibility, And Timing: Introduction To A Special Issue On Resilience, David Pincus, Adam W. Kiefer, Stephen J. Guastello

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

This introduction to a special issue of Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology and Life Sciences on the topic of resilience discusses the contributing articles in terms of their flexibility in methods, models, scale, and contexts combined with their integrity in shared theoretical understanding and generative knowledge. The ubiquity of resilience is discussed, a feature of potentially any living or non-living system and substance. This breadth calls for a flexible set of models and methods, along with the quest for integrative theory to make resilience science more resilient. Since resilience involves the ability of a substance or system to persist, to repair or …

Romantic Resilience: Fractal Conflict Dynamics And Network Flexibility Predict Dating Satisfaction And Commitment, David Pincus

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Previous research has demonstrated that interpersonal dynamics are fractal, and that conflict is a key control parameter that drives fractal complexity. The present study aimed to extend this line of research to examine the putative fractal structure of conflict dynamics over time, and the role that this self-organizing fractal structure may play in the resilience of romantic relationships. An experience sampling methodology was used to assess levels of conflict, satisfaction, and commitment in the dating relationships of undergraduate students, three times per day for 30 days. Hypothesis 1 was supported, with conflict ratings over time generally conforming to an inverse …

An Analysis Of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services And Human Error Contributors To Accidents, Paige Lawton

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) is a growing industry that provides a vital service to transport critically ill or injured patients to healthcare facilities. This growth has come with an increase in rates of HEMS crashes and fatalities. Certain types of events commonly precede HEMS accidents such as continued flight into deteriorating weather conditions, night, and self-induced pressure, to name a few. Given that these causes and contributing factors can be seen time and again within HEMS accidents, the need arises for additional analysis of the human factors that play a role in accidents. This study addresses this need through …

Integrity, Flexibility, And Balance: How Change Works In Psychotherapy, David Pincus

Psychology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Psychotherapy may be the most tested form of health intervention and also one of the most mysterious. Clinical trials, and meta-analyses of these trials, have repeatedly demonstrated the effectiveness of psychotherapy, while also failing to uncover any clear-cut and consistent understanding of how psychotherapy works. This lack of understanding has driven the field to develop 500 supposedly distinct, yet equivalently effective “theories.” The field suffers from barriers to scientific discovery, barriers to therapist training, and barriers to people seeking help for their psychosocial problems. This chapter tackles the mystery of how therapy works by examining the shortcomings of modern medical …

Nonlinear Biopsychosocial Resilience: Self-Organization As The Basis For A Common Framework, Adam W. Kiefer, David Pincus

Psychology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Recently, calls have been made for a common framework to understand human resilience through the lens of dynamical systems theory. This chapter provides a comprehensive introduction to the concepts and tools necessary for such an approach. It builds on an existing theoretical framework of biopsychosocial resilience grounded in self-organization theory. This theoretical framework is applied to the formalization of four types of resilience – robustness, resilience, antifragility and grit. Next, important features of stability, structural integrity, and flexibility are discussed as empirically measurable characteristics of a systems-based approach to resilience, which provide a foundation for further applications, including metastability and, …

Can Self-Talk Improve Athletic Performance? A Critically Appraised Topic, Allison Brombach, Mikaela Dawn Boham, Ronald L. Snarr, Erica M. Filep

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Clinical Scenario: Athletes are constantly searching for alternative mechanisms to improve performance in sport. In addition to modifying physical training, psychological training tools (e.g., self-talk) have been used to elevate athletes from the average competitor. Athletes can use self-talk to navigate challenges in competition and improve self-confidence in tasks leading to potential increases in performance. However, literature relaying performance benefits for adolescent and adult athletes using self-talk is unclear. Clinical Question: In athletic populations, does the implementation of motivational or goal-setting self-talk increase athletic performance? Summary of Key Findings: Four studies were identified exploring self-talk on athletic performance outcomes. Methodology …

Training In Trauma-Responsive And Anti-Racist Telehealth: A Model For Behavioral Health Clinicians And Providers, Ritchie Rubio

Psychology Division Scholarship

Telehealth's uptake in behavioral health services has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many clinicians continue to lack focused training in providing trauma-informed and culturally-responsive telehealth care. This article outlines a model curriculum that was created to instruct and coach behavioral health providers in California on how to integrate anti-racist and trauma-responsive techniques into telehealth. Topics like evidence-based trauma therapies, racial/ ethnic trauma, marginalized communities, digital divide, and provider selfcare were all covered in the nine-part curriculum. Every three-hour session included evidence-informed didactic content, telehealth skills practice, and concrete planning for implementation. Trauma-responsive frameworks such as the tri-phasic model …

Music And Linguistic Semantic Anomalies: An Erp Study Of Integration And Expectancy On Predictive Processing Of Harmonic Music During A Self-Paced Reading Task, Jason Schmidt Avendaño

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Music, like language, is widely known to communicate emotional meaning. Yet, much debate is still on whether musical information uses shared neural resources similar to language. Past experiments using only Reaction Time (RT) measures have found that when syntactic complexities in language coincide with harmonic music violations, enhanced processing difficulties suggest shared neurocognitive resources. However, researchers failed to find similar interactions in semantic word conditions. This experiment examined event-related potentials (ERPs) to index word recognition processes related to semantic expectancy generation (N400) and integration (LPC & FP) in musicians and nonmusicians. Unlike RT measures, ERP components allow us to understand …

The Relationship Between Rejection Sensitivity And Higher Order Cognitive Functions, Rachel Gaynor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rejection sensitivity indexes individual differences in the expectation of, reaction to, and interpretation of possible rejection. Research on mechanisms underlying these individual differences have identified a reduction in top-down emotion regulatory processes in those exhibiting heightened rejection sensitivity. Most of these studies utilize rejection-specific affective stimuli. This study examined the relationship between rejection sensitivity score, calculated from the 18-question RSQ, and the recruitment of higher level inhibition resources, as indexed by the conflict N2, on three novel Flanker tasks. In order to further examine previously identified patterns in affective inhibition across differing levels of rejection sensitivity, and to determine whether …

Coercion, Conversion, Control: Techniques Utilized To Recruit And Indoctrinate New Members Into Cult Organizations, Hailey Savanna Robertson

University Honors Theses

Religious belief of some form has long been a regular part of many people's lives, but when a person’s devotion to doctrine becomes so all-encompassing that they structure their entire life around it, they may be in a cult. While the dogma may vary across groups, a cult is characterized as having extremely devoted disciples who often follow a charismatic leader and espouse extreme beliefs or practices not widely accepted by society. Members of cults commit themselves wholly to their leaders. Proving their commitment by turning over financial assets, obeying commands without question, and even severing all social ties outside …

Cannabis Exposure During Pregnancy And Neural Mechanisms Of Parenting: Assessing Neural Responses To Infant Cues And Parenting Outcomes, Shannon Powers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As legalization of cannabis and cannabinoids spreads in the United States, access and use of cannabis during the prenatal period has increased. There is limited knowledge on the effects of prenatal cannabis use on the parental brain. One way to identify potential effects of cannabis on parenting is through studying parenting brain functions and behavior. Cannabis use disorder (CUD) has been shown to be associated with lower positive parenting and lower sensitivity to infants, but it is unclear by what mechanisms. The following two studies address this gap in knowledge by examining the association between cannabis use during the prenatal …

Reconciling Moral Dissonance: A Framework For Re-Integrating Moral Orientation With Life Agency During Warfighters’ Struggles With Military Moral Injury, Jeffrey L. Zust

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses case studies to critically examine the Three Mirror Model (TMM) as a framework for understanding the formation and healing of Military Moral Injury (MMI). I adapt the work of Stephen Brookfield and Neal Krause to evaluate using the TMM as a methodology for dealing with the complex issues of MMI within a military deployment cycle (training, warfighting, and healing) (Brookfield 2012, 2017; Krause 2022). Specifically, I use theorists, researchers, healers, and warfighters as key stakeholders to identify and critically examine the intersections of disciplines and the subsets of models where warfighters’ moral orientations and moral agency form …

Extending The Utility Of Ant Colony Optimization Through The Incorporation Of An Intraclass Correlation Coefficient To Assess For Rater Consistency, Mark Leveling

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a flexible algorithm designed to solve complex combinatorial problems. While the method was derived from the behavior of ants by researchers in the field of computer science, its application to solving complex combinatorial problems is widespread in a growing number of fields in behavioral science, including psychometrics. Over the last two decades, psychometricians have adapted ACO to measurement model specification problems with the intention of generating measurement models that express measurement model fit and reliability within the standards of what is considered acceptable. Additionally, psychometricians have used ACO to generate shortened versions of existing measures …

The Entrepreneur’S Burden: Investigating The Interplay Between Impostorism And Entrepreneurial Identity, Megan Laura Weber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Entrepreneurship is often portrayed as a glamorous pursuit of success but conceals a darker side, exacerbated by impostorism, characterized by challenges, identity conflicts, and diminished well-being. This "dark side" of entrepreneurship is seldom explored due to our collective fascination with the central figure of the entrepreneur. Impostorism is a prevalent phenomenon among individuals who perceive that their role is beyond their capabilities and fear being exposed as a "fake." Impostorism can have negative consequences, including self-sabotage, missed opportunities, and difficulty in seeking help or support, which can impact the ability of entrepreneurs to take entrepreneurial action and experience well-being.

This …

Making Sentencing Meaningful: How Victims Find Justice In The Sentencing Process, Melissa Handford

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

This article examines the role of victims in the criminal justice system, and how victims find justice through the sentencing process. It examines the role that providing a victim impact statement, receiving information about typical sentencing practices, and restorative or traditional sentencing play in how victims perceive justice in sentencing. Quantitative analyses were conducted analyzing the aforementioned variables and their relationship to participant perceptions of sentence effectiveness, anger, sentence harshness, and happiness, as well as their propensity to obedience. Qualitative analyses were conducted to better understand the reasoning behind victim perceptions and preferences in relation to restorative and traditional sentencing …

Mean Affect Moderates The Association Between Affect Variability And Mental Health, Brooke N. Jenkins, Lydia Q. Ong, Anthony D. Ong, Hee Youn (Helen) Lee, Julia K. Boehm

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Increasing evidence suggests that within-person variation in affect is a dimension distinct from mean levels along which individuals can be characterized. This study investigated affect variability’s association with concurrent and longitudinal mental health and how mean affect levels moderate these associations. The mental health outcomes of depression, panic disorder, self-rated mental health, and mental health professional visits from the second and third waves of the Midlife in the United States Study were used for cross-sectional (n = 1,676) and longitudinal outcomes (n = 1,271), respectively. These participants took part in the National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE II), …

Tsunami Exposure And Mental Health Consequences: Protective Role Of Cultural Coping Strategies, Thulitha Wickrama, Michael J. Merten, K. A.S. Wickrama, Amanda Terrell

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

There is a knowledge gap regarding the link between disaster exposure and adolescent mental health problems in developing countries. This study examines the case of Sri Lanka to investigate (a) the immediate and long-term mental health impact of the 2004 tsunami disaster on adolescents and (b) the potential moderating effects of unique cultural and family practices that prevail in Sri Lanka. This study used a random sample of 160 adolescents (ages 12–19) and their mothers who were exposed to the tsunami disaster while living in a southern Sri Lankan village and provided prospective data immediately after the disaster (2005) and …

The Winding Path: Reflections On Preparing For A Career In Neuropsychology, Derek Mckay Phd

Journal of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Processes

Career decision-making can be a complicated process, particularly for Psychology majors who often find many areas of the discipline interesting. Students are often confronted with questions such as, “what do I really want to do?”, and “how much future education will I need to achieve my goals?” Moreover, there are often many uncertainties regarding how to take specific steps toward a particular professional direction in Psychology. In this article, neuropsychologist and university professor Derek McKay shares a unique perspective on his own process of finding his way toward a career as a neuropsychologist. He addresses a number of important steps …

El Big Model Como Herramienta De Análisis Y Diagnóstico, Martín Van Houtte, Damián Fraustro

Journal of Roleplaying Studies and STEAM

El Big Model (o Gran Modelo) es un modelo teórico que busca describir la estructura de una partida de rol, abstrayendo tipos de prioridades estéticas (las Agendas Creativas) y cuatro niveles de análisis (el Contrato Social, la Exploración, las Técnicas y la Efemera) en el que se enmarcan y a los que afectan esas prioridades. Proponemos que el modelo provee herramientas conceptuales que permiten identificar más fácilmente problemas en las partidas, y así facilitan una posible solución; también son útiles para identificar oportunidades para satisfacer la Agenda Creativa del grupo y obtener un mayor disfrute (o Recompensa) del acto de …