Psychology Commons^™

“Social Workers By Day And Terrorists By Night?” Wounded Healers, Restorative Justice, And Ex-Prisoner Reentry, Allely Albert

Articles

Common to many post-conflict societies, former political prisoners and combatants in Northern Ireland are often portrayed as security threats rather than as potential contributors to societal peacebuilding processes. This distrust limits their ability to contribute to the transitional landscape and additionally hinders desistance processes during their reentry from prison. Drawing from the work of Maruna, LeBel, and others on “wounded healers,” this article critically examines the restorative justice work of ex-prisoners who have become involved in leadership roles within community based restorative justice. It is argued that such practitioner work can help former combatants overcome many of the challenges typically …

Undernutrition In Older Children And Adolescents In Peri-Urban Zambia, Shela Sridhar, Janella S. Kang, Isabel Madzorera, Ethan Zulu, Joyce Makasa, Sally Bell Cross, Davidson H. Hamer

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

Background: Adolescents make up roughly a quarter of the population in Zambia; however, most nutrition-related programming is targeted at the underfive population. Understanding the scale of undernutrition in older children and adolescents is fundamental to alleviating food insecurity and addressing undernutrition across all age groups.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed in four low-income, peri-urban compounds in Chilanga District which included anthropometric measurements of children between ages 6 months-19 years and a household-level diet diversity and food security questionnaire. Wasting was used for children under 5 and thinness for children 5–19 years. Descriptive analysis and multivariate logistic regression …

The Resilient Families Project @ Wayside’S Hotel Louisville: Strategies For Building Resilience, Mindfulness & Happiness In At-Risk Adults, Lexi N. Frederick, Hannah Parker, Angela Ely, Lora Haynes

The Cardinal Edge

The Resilient Families Project (RFP) provides educational experiences to strengthen evidence-based habits of resilience, mindfulness, and happiness in at-risk individuals. RFP holds programs for adults facing homelessness and women in drug/alcohol recovery who are housed by Wayside Christian Mission in their Emergency Shelter or Hotel Louisville.

RFP programs work to promote healthy attachment relations, a sense of belonging/purpose, and interactive reading, and children’s storybooks serve as the foundation for designing programs. The book “The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse'' was reviewed through content analysis to emphasize diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as RFP Core Ideas. Thanks …

Pediatric Providers’ Experiences Assessing Young Children’S Emotions And Behaviors, Vaibhavi Venkataramanan, Akira Isaac B.S., Sara Bufferd Ph.D.

The Cardinal Edge

Introduction: Preschool-aged children experience anxiety and mood-related emotions (e.g., irritability, fears) and behaviors (e.g., tantrums) that are developmentally normative, but can overlap with psychopathology, making assessment challenging (Bufferd et al.,2016). Most children see pediatric medical providers annually, and providers can evaluate them. However, providers face challenges like limited training and time (Bean et al.,2000;Heneghan et al.,2008). Accurate and early identification of emotional and behavioral difficulties is critical to support young children’s mental health and prevent worsening problems.

Methods: Participants included N=22 pediatricians who see 3-5-year-old children in their practice. Pediatricians completed an online survey about their experiences assessing young …

One Size Doesn’T Fit All: Attitudes Towards Work Modify The Relation Between Parental Leave Length And Postpartum Depression, Christine Y. Chang, Sabrina R. Liu, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between parental leave length and maternal depressive symptoms at six- and twelve-months postpartum and whether this relation was influenced by women’s attitudes towards leave, whether leave was paid or unpaid, and the reason they returned to work. The sample included 115 working women recruited during pregnancy as part of a larger longitudinal study. Analyses revealed that maternal attitudes toward leave influenced the association between leave length and depressive symptoms. Specifically, longer leaves were associated with increased depressive symptoms for women who missed their previous activities at work. Furthermore, women who missed work …

Physical Time Within Human Time

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

A possible solution is offered to help resolve the “two times problem” regarding the veridical and illusory nature of time. First it is recognized that the flow (passage) of time is part of a wider array of temporal experiences referred to as manifest time, all of which need to be reconciled. Then, an information gathering and utilizing system (IGUS) model is used as a basis for a view of manifest time. The model IGUS robot of Hartle that solves the “unique present” debate is enhanced with veridical and (corresponding) illusory components of not only the flow of time but also …

Making Mindfulness More Accessible: A Practical Guide To Trauma-Informed Mindfulness, Leslie Formby

Mindfulness Studies Theses

Mindfulness is currently embedded in a growing understanding of how trauma permeates and adversely impacts peoples’ physical and psychological well-being. Increased awareness of the prevalence of trauma and its harmful effects has led to renewed interest in mindfulness to help manage the challenges generated by the detrimental effects of trauma.

These effects may draw people to mindfulness and, in turn, may make the benefits of mindfulness out of reach. Mindfulness methods and practice adaptations have been found to help trauma survivors experience the benefits of what the Buddha taught. As a support for those engaging in mindfulness and meditation, this …

Theories Of Consciousness And A Life Worth Living, Liad Mudrik, Myrto Mylopoulos, Niccolo Negro, Aaron Schurger

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

What is it that makes a life valuable? A popular view is that life’s moral worth depends in some way on its relationship to consciousness or subjective experience. But a practical application of this view requires the ability to test for consciousness, which is currently lacking. Here, we examine how theories of consciousness (ToCs) can help do so, focusing especially on difficult cases where the answer is not clear (e.g. fetuses, nonhuman animals, unresponsive brain-injured patients, and advanced artificial systems). We consider five major ToCs and what predictions they offer: Integrated information theory, Higher-Order Thought Theory, Recurrent Processing Theory, Global …

Bargaining In The Shadow Of The Truth: How Client Assertion, Perception Of Guilt, And Predictive Inaccuracy Influence Plea Recommendations, Anna D. Vaynman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Over the past few decades, the largely hidden, secretive, and widely used system of plea bargaining has caught the fervent attention of scholars. The Shadow of the Trial model has been central to much of the plea-bargaining literature, despite significant critiques about its oversimplification. The model posits that defendants and their attorneys make plea decisions based largely on the estimated probability of conviction and the severity of the sentence to which the defendant could be exposed at trial.

The model, however, assumes that all actors are rational, equally risk averse, have no competing interests, and possess high predictive accuracy. It …

Confronting The Doppelganger: Mapping The Ontological Terrain Of An Afro-Caribbean Woman As She Rebrands Diasporic, Feminine Identity Politics: An Autoethnography, Aysha E. Todd-Stone

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis seeks to interrogate the intricacies governing the intra-racial\ intra-gendered relationship of an Afro-Trinidadian woman as she commandeers professional spaces in North America. The intent is to challenge the instrument of Black sisterhood deeming it as an incomplete, social instrument, and to prove using an auto-ethnographic approach how Diasporic, feminine trauma leads to psychically induced, episodic violence that is highly suggestive but subtle to the naked eye which in turn irretrievably damages intra-interpersonal relations. Quantitative studies have produced a composite from the white\black perspective (Goosby et al., 2015, Sims et al., 2012) and others dealing with gender (Braithwaite., 1981, …

Tongues Out Of Place: Narratives Of Hereness And Images Of Be(Long)Ing, Christopher Hoffman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What is the role of the psychologist during times of gentrification, climate change, and inequity? Using Hall & Massey’s (2010) term conjunctural crisis, or the overlapping of multiple disasters that bleed into each other, I argue that psychologists have a responsibility to combat social inequity and work towards tangible strategies in collaboration with communities to dismantle structures of oppression. In times of gentrification and climate change, I argue that psychologists must play a role in promoting public science, a praxis of research committed to applying social science with communities in order to work towards social justice and build a more …

Protective Factors In The Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination And Risky Drinking Among American Indian Adolescent, Ying Guo, Randall C. Swaim, W. Alex Mason

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

Introduction: The relationship between perceived discrimination and risky drinking among American Indian (AI) youth is understudied, and the potential protective factors that may buffer this association are unknown. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine protective factors across individual, family, school, peer, and cultural domains of the social ecology that might attenuate the relationship between perceived discrimination and risky drinking among AI adolescents.

Method: Data were from the Substance Use Among American Indian Youth Study (Swaim and Stanley, 2018, 2021). AI youth who have used alcohol in their lifetime (n = 2516 within 62 schools) …

Implementation Of Participatory Research In Vulnerable Context: Methodological Strategies And Challenges, Bruna Larissa Seibel, Raysa Schmitz Serafim, Nathassia Santos Da Silva, José Antônio Caetano Araújo, Paul Russell Springer, Cody S. Hollist

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

Participatory methods contribute to scientific rigor by highlighting the contextual needs, especially of underrepresented populations, making them protagonists in the process of social change. This article aims to present the application of a participatory research method, called Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR), in a context of social vulnerability in southern Brazil. It seeks to discuss the challenges and strengths of the method, which provides ecological validity for the development of public policies appropriate to the context, while empowering the participants. The research has been carried out since 2019 and, among the inherent challenges, has also faced the difficulties posed by the …

Prenatal Exposure To Maternal Mood Entropy Is Associated With A Weakened And Inflexible Salience Network In Adolescence, Robert J. Jirsaraie, Anton M. Palma, Steven L. Small, Curt A. Sandman, Elysia Poggi Davis, Tallie Z. Baram, Hal S. Stern, Laura M. Glynn, Michael A. Yassa

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Methods

Body Appreciation Around The World: Measurement Invariance Of The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (Bas-2) Across 65 Nations, 40 Languages, Gender Identities, And Age, Viren Swami, Ulrich S. Tran, Stefan Stieger, Toivo Aavik, Hamed Abdollahpour Ranjbar, Sulaiman Olanrewaju Adebayo, Reza Ahfami, Oli Ahmed, Annie Aimé, Marwan Akel, Hussam Al Halbusi, George Alexias, Khawla F. Ali, Nursel Alp-Dal, Anas B. Alsalhani, Sara Álvares-Solas, Ana Carolina Soares Almaral, Sonny Andrianto, Trefor Aspden, David A. Frederick

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset – with data collected between 2020 and 2022 – to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has …

Is A Test The Best?, Giulia Ronnette Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

The test effect (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006) demonstrates that performance on a final test is better when an immediate test is taken after reading a passage rather than rereading. Although transfer appropriate processing has been suggested as a theoretical explanation, the results could be due to elaborative retrieval processes during the immediate test that are not available during restudy. We compared testing to three other strategies using elaborative retrieval—Generating Questions, Read-Recite-Review, Teaching—to determine whether they would be as beneficial as testing. Results showed that each of the alternative strategies produced final test performance equal to that of testing, suggesting not …

Entering Terra Incognita: Adapting Psychotherapists To Work During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Monika Zielona-Jenek, Agnieszka Izdebska, Emilia Soroko

The Qualitative Report

Sudden historical events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may critically change the circumstances in which psychotherapy is conducted. The objective of this study was to analyze Polish psychodynamic psychotherapists’ experiences of working with patients at the onset of the pandemic and hence to understand the process of their coping with the external reality challenges. 183 Polish psychotherapists (160 women and 23 men) aged 26-66 years (average 38) completed a survey about their therapeutic work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed in accordance with Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis framework. Five general themes were identified: (1) Facing a taboo; (2) …

An Existential Punchline: How Humor Functions In A Young Adult Friendship Facing Advanced Cancer, Megan E. Solberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Young adults (i.e., age 18-39) only comprise 4% of the total cancer population, yet cancers in this group are commonly found at more advanced stages due to situational factors influencing delayed diagnosis including access to healthcare, quality health insurance and competing life demands that may hinder prioritization of healthcare. Young adults with cancer also face unique challenges including higher rates of psychological distress, which may contribute to increased risk of social disconnection in response to cancer. Research suggests that humor may be a helpful coping approach and communication mechanism for mitigating distress and discussing difficult topics. Grounded within the frameworks …

The Words. Or Holes. Or Both: Writing As An Integrative Methodology For Trauma, Daniel A. Castle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project seeks to identify methods authors have used to integrate their traumatic experiences. My work will analyze the genre of War Literature and specific authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and Kurt Vonnegut to explore the way writers describe the trauma of combat. Using insights from neuroscience and psychology, I will expand the field of Cognitive Literary Studies from a focus on the reader to a focus on the writer by linking neurological functions with narrative tools.

Taiwanese International Students In Clinical Supervision: A Phenomenological Study, Joey Chiao-Yin Hsiao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The population of international students has continued to grow in the past two decades and become an important segment of U.S. university enrollment (Ng & Smith, 2001). Altogether, there is limited literature that is devoted to international students’ experience in clinical supervision and merely any international students studies specifically focused on the Taiwanese international student subgroup. This study examined the experiences of Taiwanese international students in clinical supervision. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to extract the phenomenon of participants’ lifeworld and qualitative data were collected from individual semi-structured interviews with Taiwanese international students (N=6). Data analysis led to four …

Risky Behavior As Motivated Emotion Regulation: A Mixed-Method Approach, Lyneé A. Herrera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Engaging in risky health behaviors is a ubiquitous human experience that often marks developmental progression from adolescence into adulthood. While much previous research has framed risky behaviors in terms of negative legal, social, and public health consequences, less empirical work has been done on potential benefits of their engagement. A growing body of research has identified emotion regulation deficits as a significant driver of risky behavior engagement, suggesting that these behaviors may offer perceived emotional benefits when other regulation strategies are less accessible. Previous research has shown that emotional outcomes can be influenced by the regulation strategies one chooses to …

Risk And Promotive Factors For Perinatal Mental Health Problems: Adverse And Benevolent Childhood Experiences And Contemporaneous Support And Stress, Jillian S. Merrick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite a growing body of research on childhood risk and promotive factors for perinatal mental health, as well as extensive research on adulthood risk and promotive factors for these problems, little research considers childhood and adulthood experiences alongside one another. The current study addressed this gap by examining childhood experiences, both adverse and benevolent, alongside contemporaneous sociodemographic stress and social support as predictors of depression and PTSD symptoms during pregnancy and at 3-4 months postnatal.

Participants were 175 ethnically-diverse women (M = 28.07 years, SD = 5.68, range = 18-40; 38.9% White, 25.7% Latina, 16.6% Black, 12.0% biracial/multiracial, 6.8% …

Childhood Maltreatment And Romantic Relationship Functioning During Pregnancy: Women’S Narrative Coherence About Partners And Couples’ Conflict Communication And Recovery, Laura M. River

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is associated with difficulties in romantic relationships in adulthood, including conflict, less support, and difficulties in communication. However, little is known about the impact of CM on romantic relationship functioning in the context of pregnancy, during which time romantic relationships are highly influential for family well-being. Additionally, very limited research has been conducted on fathers’ relationship experiences after a history of CM. In a set of two papers, this dissertation examined the effects of CM on 1) pregnant women’s narrative coherence about their romantic partners and 2) couples’ (pregnant women and babies’ fathers) observed conflict communication and …

Anxiety As A Compensatory Factor For Executive Functioning Abilities And Later Adhd Symptoms In Youth With Adhd, Rebecca Slomowitz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Higher ADHD symptoms have been associated with reduced executive functioning (EF) performance in children. However, an emerging body of research has suggested that in children with higher ADHD symptoms, higher levels of anxiety symptoms may contribute to buffered executive functioning (EF) performance, termed a compensatory interaction. However, results investigating this hypothesis have been mixed, possibly due to the use of smaller sample sizes, cross-sectional datasets, and infrequent testing of compensatory interaction effects between ADHD and anxiety symptoms. The current study expands upon the previous literature by testing for compensatory interactions between anxiety symptoms and ADHD symptoms (e.g., inattention and hyperactive-impulsive …

Underneath It All: Uncanny Sounds, The Materiality Of The City Through The Ear Of The Other, Patrick Fuery

CCI Articles and Research

"One of the intricate connections that shapes urban spaces is made through the interweaving of divergent, competing, and complimenting sounds. Just as objects, inhabitants, and histories form urban spaces, there is also an aurality that defines each one, distinguishing it from all others. The flows and ripples of these different soundscapes simultaneously challenge the separations of urban spaces and reinforce the distinctions. At the most overt, these are the sounds of the market as they exceed the spatial boundaries and mix with traffic noises; the softer sounds of the park that muffle and hold construction clamor; the multicultural voices as …

Mediumship And Mental Health: Investigating Spirit Communication And The Importance Of Integration, Daniel A. Seda Ph.D.

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Sensitivity to paranormal phenomena can be a source of emotional, mental and psychospiritual stress for individuals demonstrating verified mediumistic abilities, yet integrating these anomalous experiences in a healthy, affirming manner can reduce distress and potentially deflect egodystonic diagnoses of pathology. Because mediums can relay information which appear to be otherworldly from meditation, during trance, or by automatic writing and painting, health professionals have diagnosed mediums with mental disorders such as dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia. This overreliance on pathology to explain anomalous experiences is troublesome and can cause severe distress to individuals demonstrating extrasensory capabilities. This paper was written to …

The Personality Profile Of 2024 Republican Presidential Contender Ron Desantis, Aubrey Immelman, Mikayla Santiago

Psychology Faculty Publications

This is a brief report of the results of an indirect psychodiagnostic assessment of the personality of Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a contender for the Republican nomination in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about DeSantis were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines …

Suspicious Or Autistic? Evaluating Responses To A Behavioral Analysis Interview, Kendall Jackson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The Behavioral Analysis Interview (BAI) of the Reid Interrogation technique (Inbau, et al., 2013) consists of 15 questions to identify deception or truthfulness. Research indicates these cues are unreliable and trained officers are no better than chance at detecting deception (Kassin, Meissner & Norwick, 2005; Meissner & Kassin, 2002). This study aimed to examine how innocent autistic individuals’ response to the BAI in a mock arson case were perceived. College psychology students (n=218) rated the truthfulness/deceptiveness reading one of the two responses, with half informed of the diagnosis. Overall, the responses were rated as more deceptive when the suspect was …

The Relative Impact Of Anecdotal And Statistical Evidence On Covid-19 Vaccine Intentions., Kiran Misra

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the relative impact of anecdotal and statistical safety evidence on the perceived likelihood of unvaccinated friends or relatives experiencing severe adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccination. This study also investigated the relative impact of anecdotal and statistical evidence on an individualâ??s intention to encourage unvaccinated friends and relatives to talk with healthcare providers about COVID-19 vaccination. Three hundred and fifty-nine participants were randomly assigned to one of six experimental conditions. In each condition, I manipulated the presence of base rate evidence (present, absent) that supported the safety of COVID-19 vaccination; I also manipulated the presence of anecdotal evidence …

Helping Your Child Manage Anxiety: A Parent Education Workshop, Clarissa Aglaén Gallardo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Anxiety has become one of the most common mental health disorders in young children, and it has been shown to have a significant impact on their development. Anxiety can make a child more susceptible to a number of negative effects, including a weakened immune system, developing “negative” habits such as nail biting, increased proneness to anger or crying, as well as difficulties in learning and retaining information. Conversely, when parents/caregivers can prevent or decrease anxiety in their children, children can better regulate their emotions, have more successful relationships, take more risks, and cope better with challenges. The purpose of this …