Psychology Commons^™

Evaluation Of A Classroom Management Video Training Package, Avner Fraidlin

Dissertations

To address the concerning implications of inadequate teacher preparation and training in using classroom management, the literature highlights several steps training programs can take. Namely, this includes supplementing training curricula with dedicated courses on evidence-based classroom management practices and providing teachers with performance feedback following guided practice opportunities (Stevenson et al.,2020). Videos which have been used as an instructional tool in teacher education for several decades (Ciani et al., 2021; van Es & Sherin, 2006), have been incorporated as a component in classroom management teacher trainings with positive outcomes (Wilkinson et al., 2020), and feedback has been established as an …

Telehealth Functional Behavior Assessment In Practice: A Demonstration Of The Clinical Utility Of Dynamic Probability Analyses And Estimates Of Contingency Strength, Lilith Michaele Reuter-Yuill

Dissertations

The spread of SARS-CoV-2 and acceleration of coronavirus disease cases resulted in a global pandemic and presented unique and unprecedented humanitarian issues. Behavior analysts trained in the area of functional behavior assessment offer important services that may assist families to address behavioral challenges that they face during this difficult time. Despite the growing body of evidence of telehealth functional behavior assessments, practitioners still face several unknowns. In Experiment I, a telehealth functional behavior assessment was conducted with three children with autism spectrum disorder. Assessment methods represented a continuum of experimental control from unstructured conditions (no experimental control), structured descriptive assessment …

Act And Cbt: A Comparison Of Predictors For Depression And Anxiety, Madeline Yorke

Honors Theses

Depression and anxiety are among the most commonly diagnosed mental health issues in the United States and across the world. Given the increasing prevalence of both diagnoses, the science community has emphasized research in the treatment of disorders, including therapies. Two common treatments used are Cognitive Behavioral Theory (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT operates on the theory of psychological flexibility as its core construct. CBT uses repetitive negative thoughts and worry as its core constructs. The overall purpose of the study is to determine how well ACT variables compared to CBT variables explain the variation in depression …

Impact Of Cultural Perceptions Of Education On Mental Health Outcomes Among Asian And Asian-American Students, Firzana Syazania

Honors Theses

Many Asian countries are greatly influenced by Confucianism and are labelled Confucian Heritage Culture (CHC) countries (Tan & Yates, 2010). Confucianism incorporates teachings of filial piety, respect for elders, emphasis of social values, benevolence, and the importance of education ("Confucius”; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2021). In CHC countries and other Asian countries like India, bringing honor and pride to one’s family is highly valued. In India, bringing honor to one’s family through obtaining a career with a higher salary could be perceived as a form of duty to one’s family. These values are taught and emphasized at an early age, …

Psychological Influences On Problem-Solving Following Lab-Induced Learned Helplessness, Aqdas Khan

Honors Theses

The purpose of the present study was to examine psychological influences on problem-solving following lab-induced learned helplessness. There are several related psychological constructs in the literature that appear relevant. These have been typically examined in isolation in various sub-fields within psychology. Determining which is most influential, and their unique and overlapping contributions, could provide important conceptual clarity and point to ways to streamline and guide targets of psychological intervention. The constructs of interest were: need for cognition, psychological flexibility, grit, learned helplessness (LH) attributional style, cognitive fusion, and the Big 5 personality trait of neuroticism. A within-subjects correlational research group …

A Review Of Pre-Clinical Studies On Meth-Induced Gut Microbiome Alterations, Payton Brabant

Honors Theses

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a chronic, pervasive disease that affects approximately 40.3 million people aged 12 and over within the United States (SAMHSA, 2021). Recent investigations have emphasized preventive measures targeting the development of SUDs and the occurrence of relapse. However, to date, FDA-approved medications are only available for those with alcohol (AUD) and opioid use disorders (OUD) (Forouzan et al., 2021). Given that about 964,000 people have methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) within the United States, investigation of novel treatment approaches for psychostimulant abuse is warranted (Forouzan, Hoffman, and Kosten, 2020). Several negative effects can occur after using methamphetamine …

Approachability And Mask-Wearing During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review, Lauren Dehaan

Honors Theses

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic greatly impacted many aspects of life. Due to the airborne transmission of this respiratory disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a statement in early April of 2020 recommending that people wear face masks as part of an effort to reduce the spread of the virus (CDC, 2020). Mask-wearing presented a plethora of adjustments in many areas of life. In this literature review, we focus on the sociological impacts that mask-wearing had on sociability and approachability during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studying the sociological impact of COVID-19 serves to inform both mental …

Approachability And Mask-Wearing During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review, Lindsay Kovach

Honors Theses

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic greatly impacted many aspects of life. Due to the airborne transmission of this respiratory disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a statement in early April of 2020 recommending that people wear face masks as part of an effort to reduce the spread of the virus (CDC, 2020). Mask-wearing presented a plethora of adjustments in many areas of life. In this literature review, we focus on the sociological impacts that mask-wearing had on sociability and approachability during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studying the sociological impact of COVID-19 serves to inform both mental …

Teaching And Assessing Cornhole As A Leisure Activity For Young Adults With Developmental Disabilities, Katarina Rotta

Dissertations

Leisure has long been identified as a crucial component of a healthy lifestyle. One population that displays extremely low levels of leisure activity is people with developmental disabilities, which is concerning because previous research has identified a positive correlation between leisure activity and quality of life among such individuals. The purpose of the present project was to teach and assess cornhole as a leisure activity for seven young adults with developmental disabilities. Study 1 assessed points scored with four versions of cornhole and preference for those versions. Study 2 evaluated a procedure intended to teach participants to keep score. A …

Felicidad Aplataná: How Dominican Migrants Living In The Nordic Countries Make Sense Of Their Happiness, Ivanna Lajara

Dissertations

As globalization evolves and the number of migrants and cross-cultural interactions among world citizens increases, understanding various aspects of immigrants’ experiences, including their happiness and subjective well-being will become fundamental to organizations, governments, and societies. However, there are substantial cross-cultural differences in how people understand their happiness, make sense of experiences that influence happiness, and how large-scale social trends, such as globalization, relate to the individual migration perspectives (Uchida and Ogihara, 2012). Research affirms culture as a key factor influencing happiness (Ye et al., 2015) and living in a foreign country may not only impact one’s perspective on life, but …

Examining The Use Of Video Modeling With Verbal Feedback To Enhance Performance In Springboard Divers, Erin M. J. Isola

Masters Theses

There is a growing body of literature examining the use of behavior analytic coaching techniques to enhance athlete performance across many different sports. To date, no studies have focused on performance improvement in springboard diving. Springboard diving skills are complex behavior chains and require the accurate performance of multiple smaller, component skills. Several studies have examined different types of feedback to teach and improve complex motor skills in sports other than springboard diving (BenitezSantiago & Miltenberger, 2016; Kelley and Miltenberger, 2016; Quinn et al., 2019; Walker et al., 2020). In one such study, Walker et al. (2020) combined video and …

Racial Microaggressions And Asian Americans' Well-Being: A Scoping Review And Exploratory Meta-Analysis, Shinwoo Choi, Amy Alberton, Hyejoon Park, Eun-Jee Song, Heather Gough, Inyoung Stella Lee

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

BACKGROUND: Racial microaggressions continue to be a serious problem in the United States. While racialized microaggressions have been a long standing, though under explored, issue for all Asian Americans, Covid significantly amplified both overt and microaggression-based discrimination against Asian Americans because of the links between the origins of the viral spread and China (Lee & Waters, 2021). Despite this history of discrimination against Asian Americans, research in the area of microaggressions has lagged compared to other groups. However, research in this area has recently grown significantly, warranting a synthetic study of existing literature in order to better frame understandings of …

Differences In Elementary Students’ Self-Regulated Processes For Computer Versus Printed Reading Assignments, Katerina Sergi, Anastasia Elder, Tianlan Wei, Kristin H. Javorsky, Jianzhong Xu

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The purpose of this study was to investigate metacognitive self-regulated learning (SRL) differences in computer- and paper-based reading assignments across elementary students. Students in two after-school programs in a southeastern U.S. public school district were recruited. The final sample consisted of 48 students in Grades 2–5 who participated in two counterbalanced conditions involving a computer- and a paper-based reading assignment. The study employed a 2 x 4 (condition-by-grade) mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) and followup tests to examine metacognitive SRL differences between conditions and grades. The results indicate that elementary students used various metacognitive SRL skills across both conditions. The …

Intersectional Identities Of Race And Religion Of African American Muslims And Their Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services, Cheruba A. Dhanaraj

Dissertations

African American Muslims have overlapping and interconnected identities of race and religion that can be conceptualized by the intersectionality framework to understand the complexities of barriers they face when seeking mental health services. African American Muslims have a higher risk of mental health issues due to systemic racism, racial discrimination, racial trauma, and Islamophobic discrimination. Yet, there is a lack of scholarly research or studies that focus explicitly on African American Muslims' specific mental health needs, barriers, and attitudes related to seeking mental health treatment.

This study sought to fill the gap in knowledge about attitudes toward seeking mental health …

A Brief Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Protocol For Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial For Inpatient Detoxification Patients, Taylor R. Weststrate

Dissertations

Alcohol detoxification inevitability involves physical and emotional discomfort. Common withdrawal symptoms include experiences of nausea, muscle pain, stomach and headaches, shakiness, restlessness, anxiety, and agitation. Rarer, but more severe, withdrawal symptoms can include hallucinations, seizures, and delirium tremens. Pharmacologic treatment of withdrawal symptoms is the primary, and often only, approach to intervention. The current study examined the incremental efficacy of adding a psychotherapeutic program based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for individuals struggling with withdrawal during alcohol detoxification in a residential rehabilitation center. This study compared the standard of care, medication management, which was treatment as usual (TAU) at …

Attachment And Older Adults In Psychotherapy: A Latent Profile Analysis Of Psychological Distress Across Treatment, Brian Michael Stran

Dissertations

Older adults have been largely underrepresented within the psychotherapy literature. Given the unique social and emotional changes associated with older age (Carstensen et al., 1999) and the perceived gap in training that trainees report in working with older adults (Woodhead et al., 2015), there is a pressing need for research that can aid mental health practitioners in the conceptualization, treatment planning, and treatment of their older adult clients.

In the first part of this manuscript, an integrated theoretical model, consisting of socioemotional selectivity theory (SEST; Carstensen et al., 1999) and attachment theory (Bowlby 1969), was developed to provide psychotherapists with …

A Comparison Of Fixed Pay, Piece-Rate Pay, And Bonus Pay When Performers Receive Tiered Goals, Alejandro Ramos

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of participants under three pay systems when all were given five tiered goals. Seventy-one undergraduate students were randomly assigned to receive either fixed pay, base pay with bonuses, or piece-rate pay. Over the course of six 45-minute sessions, one of which served as a covariate, participants engaged in a computerized simulated medical record data entry task. The primary dependent variable was the average number of correctly completed medical records per session. An increasing relationship was expected to be found between the three groups with respect to the number of correctly …

Age As A Moderator In The Relationship Between Coping Strategies And Well-Being During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hailey Owens

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with an increase in social isolation, which is correlated with a decrease in psychological well-being. Previous research has found that the coping strategies individuals use most frequently change with age. Previous research has also outlined the mental health benefits of positive coping strategies across age groups, but the appropriateness of various coping strategies for different age groups during pandemic conditions has not been explored. Using data collected in a 3-week period beginning in April of 2020, the current study explored the moderating effect of age on the relationship between coping strategies and psychological well-being. …

The Effect Of A Toilet Training Seminar On Classroom Staff's Knowledge Of Evidence-Based Toileting Practices, Madeline Ritter

Honors Theses

Toileting is a critical life skill that may present challenges to individuals with an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD). Extensive research on toilet training has been conducted in clinical, residential, and home settings; however, limited research has been conducted on toilet training in educational settings. Educational settings present unique challenges that other settings may not, which makes research on toilet training in these settings critical (Cagliani et al., 2021). Additionally, research on toileting in educational settings have not evaluated classroom staff’s acceptance of evidence-based toileting strategies. The current study used a pre posttest design to examine the effect of a …

Perceptions Of Trauma-Informed Care In An Intimate Partner Violence Resource Center, Kailyn Alderman

Honors Theses

Every year, an estimated 10 million people experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in the United States (Huecker et al., 2021). The long-term implications of surviving IPV can be debilitating and limited community resources influence the likeliness of physical and psychological recovery. Trauma-informed care (TIC) is a set of practices that may produce improvements in the quality of life for IPV survivors. There are a variety of definitions of TIC and empowerment, which may serve as a barrier to implementing these practices. The present study examined employee and volunteer perceptions of trauma-informed practices and empowerment at a domestic violence agency. The …

Comparing Behavioral Activation With And Without A Values Component: A Systematic Review, Natalie Komoll

Honors Theses

Major depressive disorder is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders within the global population and has been for many years. Over the years, numerous interventions have been developed to treat major depressive disorder, including cognitive-behavioral therapy. One form of cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression, known as behavioral activation, focuses on increasing contact with pleasant activities that are reinforcing. Many modifications of behavioral activation have been made over the years, including the version Martell and colleagues (2010) created which modified the traditional approach by decreasing the number of sessions. This new approach, known as brief behavioral activation, also asks clients to …

Factors Influencing Alcohol Use During Covid-19 With College Students, Nikki Davis

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has had adverse mental health implications. Young adults have been identified as a particularly high-risk group for increased alcohol use during the pandemic (Capasso et al., 2021). Psychological distress, motives for drinking, experiential avoidance, COVID-19 related fears, and campus connectedness may all be factors related to drinking in college students; however, many of these factors have not been examined during COVID-19. The current study surveyed a sample of full-time, WMU college students (N = 235) who were 18 years old or older (M = 21.13, SD = 3.33). The majority of the sample identified as women (71.9%) …

The Effects Of Therapist Attachment On The Process And Outcome Of Psychotherapy, Kristin Elizabeth Roberts

Dissertations

Researchers have demonstrated that therapist attachment is associated with therapeutic relationships and client outcomes (Steel et al., 2018). Yet, results have varied and, at times, seemed contradictory. This study explores how therapist attachment might influence the working alliance and symptom change throughout psychotherapy and uses the recently validated, transcript-based Therapist Attunement Scales (TASc; Talia & Muzi, 2017). The TASc was developed to measure in-session attachment-related verbal behavior. The third session from each pair of 23 therapists-in-training and their clients was transcribed and coded. Clients completed the OQ-45.2 and the Working Alliance Inventory prior to each session.

Growth curve modeling was …

Generation Status, Ethnic Identity, Colonial Mentality, And Enculturation In Filipino Americans, Kamille Patricia Urmaza La Rosa

Dissertations

Filipino Americans’ psychological experiences pertaining to their generation status, ethnic identity, enculturation, and colonial mentality are rarely studied in counseling psychology due to inconsistent disaggregation of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AA&PI) data (Agbayani-Siewert, 2004; Espiritu, 2003; Nadal et al., 2010; Okamura, 2013). Literature suggests that the study of these constructs related to their mental health can guide more culturally informed care for this historically excluded population (David & Nadal, 2013; Nadal, 2020). The current study used an exploratory design to test six research hypotheses and accomplish the following: examine relationships between the constructs, investigate intergenerational differences, validate a measure …

The Influence Of Integrated Behavioral Health Primary Care Setting On The Utilization Of Mental Health Services And Depression Treatment Response Among Men, Tendai Masiriri

Dissertations

The 2010-2013 National Health Interview Survey showed that nearly 9% of men had daily feelings of anxiety or depression, yet less than 41% sought help for their symptoms (Blumberg et al., 2016). Men are more reluctant than women to seek help (Angst et al., 2002; Brownhill et al., 2005). The failure to seek help among men is associated with multiple factors related to stigma and gender, yet male suicide rates are approximately 3-5 times higher than their female counterparts. However, they have a higher likelihood of seeking help from a medical provider rather than a mental health provider. If men …

The Role Of Motivation In Employee Disposition And Choosing To Act Among Manufacturing Employees: A Grounded Theory Of Discretionary Effort, Shawn Michael Andrews

Dissertations

Managers are often tasked to accomplish more with the resources at their disposal. Doing more with less is especially associated with the manufacturing industry providing a rich and relevant backdrop for study. Understanding discretionary effort as a resource, how it manifests, and when and how manufacturing employees choose to do more than is required is key to achieving results in an increasingly competitive and evolving industry. This constructive grounded research study investigated how 25 non-salaried manufacturing employees conceptualized how and why they chose to engage in activities that were considered above and beyond job role expectations. Extant literature was considered …

The Unfinished Hope Of Gower's Transgender Children, Gabrielle M.W. Bychowski

Accessus

This article examines two of Gower's tales from the Confessio Amantis that deal with trans youths: Iphis and Narcissus. Considering these two tales together, I ask the question: why does one story end with hopeful futurity for the trans masculine youth and the other end with death and the absence of futurity for the trans feminine youth. Connecting these medieval texts to premodern contexts and then with modern contexts, I map the trajectory of centuries long problems facing trans youths. In the end, I conclude that trans youth possess a healthier and more stable future when they receive trans affirming …

Examining The Relationship Between Therapists’ Attachment-Related Characteristics And The Process And Outcome Of Psychotherapy, Char M. Houben

Dissertations

Although psychotherapy researchers have gleaned greater understanding about how client attachment classifications influence the outcome of psychotherapy, relatively few studies have investigated therapists’ effects and have yielded inconclusive results (Steel et al., 2018). In the current study, we investigated how therapist attachment affects changes in the working alliance and client psychological distress over a course of psychotherapy treatment. We evaluated attachment in a sample of 23 therapist trainees from a university-based training clinic in the U.S. with the recently validated, transcript-based Therapist Attunement Scales (TASc; Talia & Muzi, 2017), which measures attunement by moment-to-moment discursive markers from a single psychotherapy …

Disability And Health In African Americans: Population Research And Implications For Occupational Therapy Community-Based Practice, Emily Schulz, Debarchana Ghosh, Eddie M. Clark, Beverly R. Williams, Randi Williams, Lijing Ma, Crystal L. Park, Cheryl L. Knott

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Population-based research and community-based interventions are integral to occupational therapy’s scope of practice, yet they are underdeveloped in actual implementation. Therefore, this paper focuses on some health challenges facing the African American population, guided by the Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance Model.

Method: Using data from an observational cross-sectional nationwide telephone survey of African American adults, we examined differences between African Americans who are receiving disability payments (RDP) and those who are employed full time (FTE) on several physical health behaviors and psychosocial health indicators. We further compared the differences between African Americans RDP versus those FTE on those physical health …

Adult-Onset And Adolescent-Limited Suicidal Ideation: A Developmental Approach To Suicide, Brent Teasdale, Michelle N. Harris, Mindy Bradley, Suraiya H. Shammi, Jerreed D. Ivanich

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Suicidal thoughts and actions have typically been studied from an eventsbased perspective. Some emerging studies, however, have begun to examine suicide and related behaviors through a longitudinal perspective, specifically focusing on establishing trajectories of suicidal behavior. In general, this work produces three-class trajectories of suicide attempts among adolescents, including groups such as: (1) no or low suicidal behavior; (2) moderate suicidal behavior; and (3) high suicidal behavior. Less is known about potential trajectory patterns of suicidal ideation associated with later stages of the life course. Moreover, identifying a low-, moderate-, and high-risk group does not inform the developmental processes that …