Psychology Commons^™

Social Validity Of A Behavioral Support Model, Nancy Yanette Miramontes

Theses and Dissertations

As more schools turn to School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) for help with academic and problem behaviors in their schools, the need to adequately evaluate these programs on a socially relevant level increases. The present study employs social validation measures to evaluate Utah's Academic, Behavioral & Coaching Initiative (ABC-UBI), a Positive Behavior Support (PBS) initiative, on socially relevant issues. Participants from across the state of Utah who were active consumers of ABC-UBI's program, were polled for their opinion on the acceptability of the treatment goals, procedures and outcomes of the program. The results outlined several areas of much needed improvement …

Kindergarten And First Grade Teachers' Perceptions Of Bystander Bullying: Resolution Strategies In Selected Picture Books, Mary Lane Newman

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research suggests that most incidents of bullying occur in school settings. However, teachers are not always aware of bullying incidences and often do not intervene. As bullying has negative long-term consequences for the bully, victim, and bystander, it is important to identify effective ways to reduce this problem. Responding to incidents of bullying at school, bibliotherapy is a cost effective way to support students and teach coping strategies. Numerous bully-themed books model a variety of strategies to deter bullying. Because of their busy schedule and limited opportunities to review books, teachers may need assistance in identifying books that promote …

Parent Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Interventions For Sleep Problems In Children With Autism, Sarah Lynn Lemmons

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to learn what interventions have been effective in alleviating sleep problems among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) according to parent report. This study also investigated resources from which parents received information regarding possible interventions and to what degree these resources were helpful. The participants in this study were 48 parents and caregivers of children with ASD from both the United States and Canada. Background information was attained from participants regarding themselves and their child with ASD. Participants then answered likert-type and open-ended questions regarding their child's sleep problem(s) and the resources they have …

Positive Versus Negative Neuroimaging In Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Outcome: A Meta-Analysis, Thomas Jeffrey Farrer

Theses and Dissertations

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) can be broken into two categories; complicated and uncomplicated. These categories are based on structural imaging scans during the assessment of the injury. If abnormalities appear in the scan, we refer to it as complicated. The present research aims at determining whether there are differences in the neuropsychological deficits in the presences of positive neuroimaging as opposed to negative neuroimaging. This was accomplished with meta-analytic techniques. It was found that neuroimaging does not predict neuropsychological functioning in the chronic state of mTBI.

Gender Differences And Similarities In Perceptions And Experiences Of Secondary Public School Safety, Bryan K. Young

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a description of male and female secondary students' experiences of safety in public schools. Gender differences in reported victimization and perceptions of school safety have been noted. The National Center for Educational Statistics ([NCES], 2006) reported that boys were the victims of violent acts in the schools more often than girls. Many studies have reported different results relating to how safe students perceive their schools to be (Addington et al., 2002; Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1997). This study considered gender differences and similarities in students' perceptions of school safety. The study utilized a qualitative research …

Parents' Perceptions Of Bullying Prevalence, Type, And Intervention Efforts In Utah Schools, Brittney Roberts Warburton

Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a pervasive and disruptive issue in the schools (Stockdale, Hanguduambo, Duys, Larson, & Sarvela, 2002). It has been shown to have serious negative consequences for students who are frequently targeted, including lower academic achievement, lower self-esteem, and more interpersonal problems in adulthood compared to their non-targeted peers (Eisenberg & Aalsma, 2005; Olweus & Limber, 1999; Rigby, 2003; Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005; Yoneyama & Rigby, 2006). However, when parents are engaged as active members of the school community, significant benefits accrue for children, educators, and parents. Such benefits include improved grades and test scores for students, greater job satisfaction …

Levinas, Meaning, And Philosophy Of Social Science: From Ethical Metaphysics To Ontology And Epistemology, Samuel David Downs

Theses and Dissertations

The current approach to science for mainstream psychology relies on the philosophical foundation of positivism that cannot account for meaning as humans experience it. Phenomenology provides an alternative scientific approach in which meaning is constituted by acting toward objects in the world that is more consistent with how humans experience meaning. Immanuel Levinas argues that the phenomenological approach, while more consistent with human experience, does not provide a grounding for meaning. Rather, Levinas argues that meaning is grounded in the ethical encounter with the Other, or other person, such that meaning is given by the Other in rupture. For Levinas, …

Factors Contributing To Premature Maternal Rejection And Its Effects On Offspring, Ashley Mariah Sproul Bassett

Theses and Dissertations

Typically, rhesus mothers begin rejecting their infants' attempts to nurse when the infants are approximately three months of age in order to begin the process of weaning. A small subgroup of mothers begin rejecting their infants earlier, at one or two months of age, typically before infants seek and maintain independence from their mother. The effects of this early maternal rejection on the development of infants and some potential factors that contribute to premature maternal rejection were explored in this study. Infants who were rejected early were hypothesized to subsequently spend less time in positive contact with their mother, have …

Parent Adolescent Attachment As A Mediator Of Relations Between Parenting And Adolescent Social Behavior And Well Being In China, Mengfei Cai

Theses and Dissertations

Attachment is an important aspect of parent-adolescent relationships, and thus it may play a key role in predicting adolescents' behavioral outcomes and well-being. This study examined how parenting dimensions (authoritative, psychological control, and over-protecting) relate to youth outcomes (self-esteem, autonomy, and friend attachment) by way of parent-adolescent attachment, among Chinese families. The sample included 298 Chinese adolescents ages 15-18 years (M age = 16.36, SD =.678 ; 60% female). A series of structural equation models was estimated to examine the hypothesis that authoritative parenting, psychological control, and over-protecting would predict adolescent outcomes as mediated by attachment. The best fitting model …

The Roles Of Shame And Guilt In Hypersexual Behavior, Randy Gilliland

Theses and Dissertations

Studies among people struggling with hypersexual behavior commonly report that shame needs to be addressed when treating this population. These studies theoretically distinguish that it is shame and not guilt that exacerbates hypersexual behavior, yet no study to date has demonstrated this difference empirically. This observation led to the current investigation in which a sample (N = 177) of people seeking treatment for pornography use anonymously filledout measures of hypersexuality, shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and motivation to change unwanted behavior. A hypothetical path model of the constructs was analyzed yielding significant positive relationships between shame-proneness and hypersexuality as well as guiltproneness and …

Does Electroacupuncture Affect Ethanol Modulation Of Mesolimbic Neurons?, Jung Jae Park

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to investigate the mechanism of action of acupuncture on a critical neural substrate involved in alcoholism. Specifically, this study evaluated the effects of stimulation of the acupuncture Shenmen (HT7) point on inhibitory GABA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a midbrain structure implicated in drug and alcohol abuse, and ethanol self-administration. In addition, the role of opioid receptors (ORs) in ethanol and acupuncture effects was explored. Using electrophysiological methods in mature rats, we evaluated the effects of HT7 stimulation and opioid antagonists on the VTA GABA neuron firing rate. With behavioral paradigms, we …

Praise Notes: A Gender Study, Jennifer Berger

Theses and Dissertations

Praise has been found to be an effective promoter of positive school and classroom environments and is used commonly by school adults to promote positive behavior among students. Praise can be given using many different methods; the method studied in this research project was praise notes. As part of a school-wide Positive Behavior Support program, faculty and staff from an elementary school were encouraged to write praise notes to students, identifying targeted positive behaviors. Over a 2-year time period, 2,839 notes were collected, examined for the content of the praise, and further examined according to recipient's gender. This study of …

Classifying Symptom Change In Eating Disorders: Clinical Significance Metrics For The Change In Eating Disorder Symptoms Scale, Anthony D. Hwang

Theses and Dissertations

Despite well-established diagnostic measures and measures of specific dimensions of eating disorder symptomatology, little work has been done to develop a brief, comprehensive, and valid measure for assessing change in eating disorder symptoms. Further, empirically-supported change indices to assess treatment progression and outcome have not yet been developed. The Change in Eating Disorder Symptoms Scale (CHEDS) is a new comprehensive measure designed to assess progress and change during treatment in persons with diagnoses on the eating disorder spectrum. Previous studies have demonstrated the subscale structure, reliability, and validity of the CHEDS. This study determined clinically significant change criteria for the …

Comparison Of Adoptive Vs. Biological Mother-Infant Relationships In Nonhuman Primates, Rachel Ann Bogh

Theses and Dissertations

Studies suggest that adoptees are at risk for a number of psychopathological behaviors. To understand the etiology of this risk, 150 socially housed rhesus macaques were studied, including 107 infants reared with their biological mothers and 43 infants reared with unrelated adoptive mothers. Mother-infant behaviors were recorded across the first 6 months of life. Analyses were performed using a hierarchical linear mixed model. All reported results were tested at p<0.05. Adopted infants were observed on average to approach and leave their mothers more frequently, explore the environment and locomote longer, exhibit more anxiety-like behavior, spend less time being held to their mother's breast, and were rejected by their mothers more when compared to nonadopted infants, indicating they are more likely responsible for maintaining the relationship. They also direct and receive more noncontact aggression on average to other social group members, and showed evidence of higher anxiety exhibiting high levels of anxiety-like self-directed behavior when compared to nonadopted infants. Also, results indicate that adopted infants have significantly lower levels of the CSF serotonin metabolites 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid when compared to nonadopted infants.

The Effects Of Client Therapist Racial And Ethnic Matching: A Meta Analytic Review Of Empirical Research, Raquel Cabral Bowman

Theses and Dissertations

In a widely cited 2003 report, the U.S. Surgeon General criticized mental health and social services within the United States for failing to adequately serve the needs of clients of color. The report highlighted the fact that therapists often do not adequately account for cultural variables in their evaluations or interventions. Clients of color are rarely seen by therapists who adequately understand their cultural values and backgrounds. To address this discrepancy, researchers have explored a variety of therapy process and outcome variables across clients seen by therapists of their same race vs. another race (often called "ethnic matching"). Over 200 …

Selecting Members For Group Therapy: A Continued Validation Study Of The Group Selection Questionnaire, Elizabeth Louise Baker

Theses and Dissertations

Group therapy has been demonstrated to be effective through a number of factors. Group theorists and researchers have attempted to identify client characteristics that would enable the clinician to determine a client's appropriateness for group therapy. Reviews of research have identified client expectancies and positive and negative interpersonal skills as promising predictors of group process, outcome, and attrition. The Group Selection Questionnaire (GSQ) was created to provide clinicians with a short and useful tool to aid them in identifying potential members for therapy groups, and has shown positive preliminary results in the past. This study presents tentative support for the …

Clinical Prediction In Group Psychotherapy, Christopher L. Chapman

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research in individual therapy has provided evidence that therapists are poor predictors of client outcome without the aid of objective measures and often misjudge clients' perceptions of the therapeutic relationship. The focus of the current research was to conduct a similar study in a group setting. Therapists from a university counseling center and a state psychiatric hospital were recruited to test their accuracy in predicting client outcome, quality of therapeutic relationship and their own use of empirically supported group interventions. Results indicated that therapists are poor predictors of all three, providing support for the implementation of measure-based feedback systems …

Spy High: The Secret Of Secret Russian Agents, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses Russian spying the United States, the psychology of espionage, and how spying as such may be part of the human condition.

Reducing Heavy Drinking Among First Year Intercollegiate Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Web-Based Normative Feedback, Diana M. Doumas, Tonya Haustveit, Kenneth M. Coll

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study evaluated the efficacy of a web-based personalized normative feedback program targeting heavy drinking in first year intercollegiate athletes. The program was offered through the Athletic Department first year seminar at a NCAA Division I university. Athletes were randomly assigned to either a web-based feedback group or a comparison condition. Results indicated high-risk athletes receiving the intervention reported significantly greater reductions in heavy drinking than those in the comparison group. Additionally, intervention effects were mediated by changes in perceptions of peer drinking. Findings support the use of web-based normative feedback for reducing heavy drinking in first year intercollegiate athletes.

Examining The Relationship Between Criticism And Muscle Dysmorphia Symptomotology In Collegiate Men, Lauren M. Menees

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The goal of the current study was to examine the relationship between critical comments that men can recall others making about their bodies and their current level of Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) symptomotology. Participants (N = 118) were recruited via study board from a mid-Western university with a population of 20,674 students. The hypothesis of the current study was that men who can recall critical comments about their bodies will report more MD symptomotology than those who remembered no such comments. In addition, it was expected that out of those who recall critical comments, the more severe or threatening they remember …

Editors’ Introduction, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

N/A

Unidentified Allies: Intersections Of Feminist And Transpersonal Thought And Potential Contributions To Social Change, Christine Brooks

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Contemporary Western feminism and transpersonalism are kaleidoscopic, consisting of

interlocking influences, yet the fields have developed in parallel rather than in tandem.

Both schools of praxis developed during the climate of activism and social experimentation

of the 1960s in the United States, and both share a non-pathological view of the human

experience. This discussion suggests loci of synthesized theoretical constructs between the

two disciplines as well as distinct concepts and practices in both disciplines that may serve

the other. Ways in which a feminist-transpersonal perspective may catalyze social change on

personal, regional, and global levels are proposed.

Ecology Of The Erotic In A Myth Of Inanna, Judy Grahn

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Myths of Mesopotamian Goddess Inanna, planet Venus in the ancient Sumerian pantheon, have

been useful in psychological processes of contemporary women. A lesser-known myth, “Inanna and

Shukaletuda,” includes sexual transgression against the deity and ties the deified erotic feminine

with fecundity and sacredness of fields and trees. Interpretation of Inanna’s love poems and poems of

nature’s justice contextualizes ecofeminist relevance to psychological issues. Deconstruction of rich

imagery illustrates menstrual power as female authority, erotic as a female aesthetic bringing order,

and transgender as sacred office of transformation. Meador’s (2000) interpretation of three Inanna

poems by a high priestess of ancient …

Mothering Fundamentalism: The Transformation Of Modern Women Into Fundamentalists, Sophia Korb

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Despite upbringings influenced by modern feminism, many women choose to identify

with new communities in the modern religious revivalist movement in the United States

who claim to represent and embrace the patriarchal values against which their mothers

and grandmothers fought. Because women’s mothering is determinative to the family, it is

therefore central to transforming larger social structures. This literature review is taken from

a study which employed a qualitative design incorporating thematic analysis of interviews

to explore how women’s attitudes about being a mother and mothering change when they

change religious communities from liberal paradigms to fundamentalist, enclavist belief

systems. …

The Word, The Body, And The Kinfolk: The Intersection Of Transpersonal Thought With Womanist Approaches To Psychology, Juko M. Holiday

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Since Alice Walker coined the term womanist in the early 1980s, black feminists and

feminists of color have created a rich, soulful body of scholarly work. Contributions to

womanist thought have emerged primarily in the fields of theology and ethics. The aim

of this article is to put womanism in historical context, examine transpersonal expression

in womanist scholarship, and to articulate the values that inform emotional healing in a

womanist context. Womanism is spiritualized due to its original definition and subsequent

development, making transpersonal thought a resonant fit for unearthing paths to authentic

cultural competency in psychology and other disciplines.

A Transpersonal Feminist Approach To Family Systems, Irene S. Lazarus

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This paper presents a preliminary description of A Transpersonal Feminist Approach to Family

Systems (ATFAFS) as taught at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (ITP) between 1995

and 2002. In this approach, students studied the principles of Murray Bowen’s family systems

theory with attention to feminist revisions of the theory while simultaneously investigating

their own multigenerational family histories. Additionally, students kept a journal, recorded

and worked with their dreams, and worked with a chosen creative expressive modality. They

may also have worked with other transpersonal modalities. Student narratives, informed by

organic inquiry, illustrate aspects of the approach. The paper concludes with …

War And Nature In Classical Athens And Today: Demoting And Restoring The Underground Goddesses, Judy Schavrien

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

A gendered analysis of social and religious values in 5th century BCE illuminates the Athenian

decline from democracy to bully empire, through pursuit of a faux virility. Using a feminist

hermeneutics of suspicion, the study contrasts two playwrights bookending the empire:

Aeschylus, who elevated the sky pantheon Olympians and demoted both actual Athenian

women and the Furies—deities linked to maternal ties and nature, and Sophocles, who granted

Oedipus, his maternal incest purified, an apotheosis in the Furies’ grove. The latter work,

presented at the Athenian tragic festival some 50 years after the first, advocated restoration

of respect for female flesh …

Eclipse, Judy Schavrien

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

A Chakra System Model Of Lifespan Development, Candis K. Best

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This article presents a model of lifespan development based upon the tantric chakra system.

It begins with a survey of the evolution of transpersonal psychology and its alignment with

eastern philosophies as previously espoused by William James, Carl Jung and others. The

chakras are defined in relation to their potential influence on psychological functioning with

a focus on development beyond the level of ego stability and functioning. Building upon

prior work integrating the chakra system with developmental processes, this article presents

an interpretation of the chakras as a model that defines a pathway for growth-oriented

development.

Psychospiritual Development Of Female Adoptees Raised Within A Closed Adoption System: A Theoretical Model Within A Feminist And Jungian Perspective, April E. Topfer

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This article proposes a transpersonal theoretical model suggesting that the embodiment of

the voice of the feminine is a significant catalyst for awakening the psychological and spiritual

growth and development of female adoptees. Existing Jungian and feminist theoretical

models regarding the psychological and spiritual implications for a female adoptee raised

within a closed adoption system will be discussed. The author will share her adopted voice

about her spiritual and psychological process toward finding wholeness using a hermeneutical

process of inquiry. The voices of birth mothers who relinquished their children will also be

included. Voice is then explored to be an …