Psychology Commons^™

Loneliness, Meaning In Life, And Depressive Symptomology In College Students, Abigail Oehler

Honors Theses

The present study aimed to better understand the relationship between loneliness, meaning in life, and depressive symptoms in college students. Two-hundred and forty-seven participants, ages 18-37, completed self-report measures about their experience with depressive symptoms (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale), loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale- Version 3), and meaning in life (Meaning in Life Questionnaire). The following was hypothesized: 1) symptoms of depression, loneliness, and meaning in life will be significantly related; 2) meaning in life will mediate the relation between loneliness and depressive symptoms. Results demonstrated all constructs were associated as expected (ps<.001). Contrary to hypothesis, meaning in life did not mediate the relation between loneliness and depressive symptomatology. However, post hoc regression analysis illustrated that loneliness was the only unique predictor of depressive symptoms. This study suggests more research is warranted on understanding specific mechanisms relating loneliness to depressive symptoms in college students.

Consequences Of Job Stress For The Psychological Well-Being Of Teachers, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Renzo Bianchi, Peter Luehring-Jones

Publications and Research

This chapter examines research on the relationship between job stressors and mental health (depressive symptoms, burnout, and mental disorders such as depression) in teachers. Teachers are exposed daily to job stressors (e.g., student disruptiveness) that have been linked to adverse mental health effects. Epidemiologic research indicates that when compared to members of other groups, teachers experience higher rates of mental disorder, although some studies question that conclusion. Large-scale studies indicate when compared to members of other occupational groups, teachers are at higher risk for exposure to workplace violence, with its adverse mental health consequences. Longitudinal research has linked teaching-related stressors …

Intersections Of Culture And Trauma: Understanding Identities And Experiences Of Salvadoran Refugee College Students, Janette Linares, Cara Maffini

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Culture And Parenting Among Teen Fathers, Cecilia Macedo, Cara Maffini

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

‘I Feel Like I Don't Belong’: Examining The Social And Cultural Experiences Of Bicultural And Biracial College Students, Michael West, Cara Maffini

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Smartphone Use And Mindfulness: Empirical Tests Of A Hypothesized Connection, Darren Todd Woodlief

Theses and Dissertations

The current study is the first test of a newly developed conceptual model of the effect of smartphone use on mindfulness. Previous research has shown the capacity for mindfulness is strongly associated with increased psychological well-being (e.g. higher self-esteem and lower perceived stress, anxiety, and psychological distress). We argue that smartphones can be used in an automatic and mindless or experientially avoidant way, and that this use can lead to a decreased capacity for mindfulness, with adolescents being most vulnerable to this potential impact. Components of mindfulness, such as the capacity for sustained attention and the areas of the brain …

A Pilot Wellness Intervention For Parents Of School-Aged Children With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders: Feasibility, Acceptability, And Preliminary Impact, Marissa E. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

The present study used an exploratory sequential mixed method design to evaluate characteristics and needs of parents of children with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBDs) and what services may feasibly and acceptably promote wellness and mindful parenting and alleviate parenting stress in this population. Phase One of the study qualitatively explored the needs of parents of children with EBDs and identified factors of feasibility and acceptability of services to address these needs. Parents reported several themes surrounding their experience of parenting a child with an EBD and the types of services that would meet those needs: including 1) the hectic …

Emergence Of Stranger Fear In Preschoolers With Fragile X Syndrome And Idiopathic Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jessica Scherr

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated multiple behavioral indicators of social fear and their relationship to symptoms of autism in preschool boys with atypical and normative development using a stranger approach design. Participants consisted of 101 male preschoolers that were categorized into four groups: boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS; N= 29), FXS with elevated autism symptoms (fxASD; N = 25), idiopathic autism spectrum disorder (iASD; N = 11), and typically developing boys (TD; N = 36). Results indicated specific behavioral responses to a stranger differentiated preschoolers with more severe symptoms of autism (e.g. fxASD and iASD groups) from those with low autism …

Understanding The Relationship Of Contextual Support, Peer Risk Trajectories, And School Outcomes For At-Risk Youth, Emily B. Mancil

Theses and Dissertations

High school dropout (HSDO) is associated with poor life outcomes across many domains. As such, it is crucial to understand and identify the factors that contribute to HSDO risk early to increase the chance of positive student outcomes. Because students at-risk are heterogeneous, researchers recommend using pattern-centered approaches to identify subpopulations with similar risk profiles to better understand various typologies of risk. This may be a more comprehensive and accurate way to understand students atrisk for HSDO and may facilitate the development of more effective interventions. To date, seven empirical studies have used a pattern-centered approach to examine HSDO. However, …

Comparisons Of Artifact Correction Procedures For Meta-Analysis: An Empirical Examination On Correcting Reliabilities, Lei Zhao

Dissertations

This study reviewed some challenges and issues in artifact correction meta-analysis, particularly around using reliability estimates to correct for measurement error. Two individual correction procedures—the Hunter-Schmidt procedure and the procedure developed by Raju, Burke, Normand, and Langlois (the RBNL procedure)—are addressed in this research. The purpose of this study is to use real-world data to examine the differences between meta-analytic estimations produced by the two artifact correction procedures and those by the traditional bare-bones meta-analysis procedures, under the condition of inter-dependent reliabilities. The impact of this inter-correlation on meta-analysis results needs investigation when artifact indicators, such as reliability of predictor …

The Internalization Of The Model Minority Stereotype, Acculturative Stress, And Ethnic Identity On Academic Stress, Academic Performance, And Mental Health Among Asian American College Students, Hanna Yun-Han Chang

Dissertations

Previous studies in Asian American psychology literature on cultural factors of acculturation and ethnic identity have yielded mixed findings in its relation to psychological outcomes. Furthermore, there is a gap in the knowledge base regarding the internalization of the model minority stereotype and its impact on Asian Americans. Due to Asian Americans' tendency to value academic excellence as a result of socialization by cultural values and family upbringings, this study examined the effects acculturative stress, ethnic identity, and the internalization of model minority on academic stress, academic performance, and mental health.

Results of this study indicated that acculturative stress significantly …

Self-Serving Cognitive Distortions, Externalizing Behaviors, And School Exclusion Among Adolescents With Emotional Disturbance, Claudia Hernandez

Dissertations

Students of color and students with disabilities, especially those with Emotional Disturbance (ED), are at increased risk for exclusionary discipline and juvenile justice involvement (Skiba, Arredondo & Williams, 2014). Within exclusionary discipline research, students' behaviors and discipline referrals are examined, but students' maladaptive thinking patterns or cognitive distortions remain largely unexplored. Within juvenile justice research, however, the cognitive distortions of incarcerated youth have been widely studied. The overarching hypothesis for the current study was that students' self-serving cognitive distortions would be related to their externalizing behaviors, as measured by office discipline referrals (ODRs), and these ODRs would be related to …

Disordered Eating Treatment Programs For Adolescents And Emerging Adults: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Treatment Effectiveness And Moderators Of Treatment Success, Alexandra Kirsch

Dissertations

This meta-analysis systematically reviewed interventions for disordered eating in the adolescent and young adult population. A systematic search identified 30 interventions that could be compared to controls and 88 specific interventions that could be compared to other specific interventions. An in-depth analysis of the current state of the literature is provided. Results indicated that eating disorder interventions were effective overall when compared to control for both eating disorder and non-eating disorder outcomes, with differential effects across diagnoses, outcome categories, and outcome source, as well as some maintenance of effects at follow-up. Additionally, multiple moderators of treatment effectiveness for eating disorder …

Strength In The Face Of Adversity: Resilience Among Mexican Nationals And Mexican Immigrants To The United States, Melissa L. Morgan, Rufus R. Gonzales

Education: School of Education Faculty Publications and Other Works

This exploratory, qualitative study looks at resilience in Mexican Nationals and Mexican Immigrants. Eight Mexican Nationals and six Mexican Immigrants participated in one to three hour semi-structured interviews that asked about their perceptions of stressors, motivation and success in life. Participant responses were analyzed thematically for resilience using Thematic Analysis (Boyatzis, 1998). Contrastive Analysis of themes indicated that resilience can differ based on cultural circumstances (i.e., Mexican National/Mexican Immigrant) given that barriers and therefore potential gains differ by population. In further results, resilience was highlighted as the result of a process, or combination and interaction of experiences as opposed to …

Human-Centered Authentication Guidelines, Jeremiah Still, Ashley Cain, David Schuster

Faculty Publications

PurposeDespite the widespread use of authentication schemes and the rapid emergence of novel authentication schemes, a general set of domain-specific guidelines has not yet been developed. This paper aims to present and explain a list of human-centered guidelines for developing usable authentication schemes.Design/methodology/approachThe guidelines stem from research findings within the fields of psychology, human–computer interaction and information/computer science.FindingsInstead of viewing users as the inevitable weak point in the authentication process, this study proposes that authentication interfaces be designed to take advantage of users’ natural abilities. This approach requires that one understands how interactions with authentication interfaces can be improved and …

Situation Awareness, Sociotechnical Systems, And Automation In Emergency Medical Services: Theory And Measurement, David Schuster, Dan Nathan-Roberts

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Causes And Predictors Of Thematic Intrusion On Human Similarity Judgments, Garrett R. Honke

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Most theoretical accounts of psychological similarity maintain that similarity judgments are based on shared features (and shared relations among those features, e.g., the commonalities between spatula and ladle). Accounts rarely include associations between targets of comparison (e.g., the association between egg and spatula) as a contributor to similarity judgments. This position is taken despite the fact that people will often choose associates over things with shared features and relations in similarity judgment tasks. So-called dual-process models - where thematic integration and feature (and relation) based comparison are component processes of perceived human similarity - have been proposed to handle this …

Dimensionality And Instrument Validation In Factor Analysis: Effect Of The Number Of Response Alternatives, Alexander G. Hall

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the great prevalence in both research and application of Factor Analysis (FA), widespread misinterpretation continues to pervade the psychological community in its application for the development and evaluation of psychometric tools. Fundamental measurement questions such as the number of response alternatives needed, and the power to detect poor model fit in non-normal or misspecified data, still remain in need of further investigation. For example, the power of the chi-square statistic used in structural equation modeling decreases as the absolute value of excess kurtosis of the observed data increases. This issue is further compounded with discrete variables, where increasing kurtosis …

Scene Search Guidance Under Salience-Driven And Memory-Driven Demands, Jenn Ha’Aheo Olejarczyk

Theses and Dissertations

Visual search involves selecting relevant information while ignoring irrelevant information. Most search models predict what relevant features attract gaze; yet few consider search guidance from previous knowledge of scenes. This dissertation used eye movements to examine the guidance of attention when an immediate or delayed distractor appeared during novel and repeated searches.

The experiments showed efficient search for repeated scenes, a classic result of contextual cueing. During repeated searches, an immediate attentional bias was found for distractors close to the target location. Automatic and controlled selective attention processes, measured using the antisaccade, were found within search behavior. The final experiment …

Hope And Social Support: What Types Of Parent, Peer, And Teacher Support Matter To Early Adolescent Females And Males?, Kristin Otis

Theses and Dissertations

In the past decade, researchers in psychology have paid increased attention to identifying psychological qualities in individuals that indicate positive mental health and flourishing. Hope has been proposed to be one of these qualities (Day, Hanson, Maltby, Proctor, & Wood, 2010; Marques, & Lopez, 2014). The majority of the hope literature has concentrated on the outcomes of differing levels of hope, but has not thoroughly examined the antecedents of hope differences. The current study provides a unique investigation of hope that looks at hypothesized antecedents of positive hope development in adolescents. For example, this study looks at the relationships among …

Acculturative Stress And Depression Among Latinos/As: Investigating The Role Of Neighborhood Context, Rebeca Castellanos

Theses and Dissertations

Latinos/as are the fastest growing demographic in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). As they encounter U.S. society, Latino/as may experience acculturative stress (Berry, 1997). Empirical evidence suggests that Latinos/as in the U.S. report high rates of depression symptoms (Wassertheil-Smoller et al 2014). Acculturative stress has been strongly associated with depression (Driscoll & Torres, 2013) and research suggests that Latino/as may experience acculturative stress differently depending on their generational status (i.e., how recently they or their parents immigrated to the U.S). There is evidence to suggest that contextual factors such as neighborhood context may influence both acculturative stress processes …

Comparison Of Intimate Partner Violence And Sexual Assault Among Black And White College Women At Predominantly White Institutions (Pwis), Cynthia Nicole White

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The current study sought to compare Black and White college women’s experiences following sexual assault or physical intimate partner violence (IPV) while attending a predominately White institution (PWI). Prevalence rates, depression, academic effects, binge drinking, and help-seeking among victims was compared by race.

Method: Black (N= 435) and White (N= 4,313) college women from 3 large PWIs in the United States completed online surveys. The survey included questions about race, sexual assault, physical IPV, depression, academic outcomes of victimization, binge drinking, and help-seeking.

Results: Black women were more likely to experience physical IPV than White women, …

The Effects Of Parental Functioning And Socioeconomic Status On Initial Child Psychopathology Symptoms And Treatment Outcomes Following A Brief Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Group, Anna Ros Ros

Master's Theses

The present study will investigate the impact of parental psychopathology and socioeconomic status on the severity of child PTSD and depression symptoms at baseline, in addition to the impact on treatment effectiveness. First, the study will examine how the presence of parental PTSD, depression and hostility act as proximal risk factors for the baseline severity of child PTSD and depression symptoms. Further, the study will investigate how these proximal parental factors affect symptom reduction following intervention for these children. Additionally, the current study will examine how low socioeconomic status affects baseline severity of child PTSD and depression symptoms as well …

The Impact Of Chronic Stress On Childhood Obesity And The Protective Effects Of Parental Warmth, Laura M. L. Distel

Master's Theses

Mexican American children have the highest rates of obesity in the U.S. Mexican American children may experience chronic stress, which has been linked to child obesity. Hair cortisol accumulation has been implicated as a mechanism for this association. Highly sensitive parenting may buffer the harmful effects of chronic stress and hair cortisol on obesity. Thus, the aims of this project were to 1) identify the direct and indirect effects of chronic stress and hair cortisol on children's zBMI and 2) examine the protective effects of parental warmth. This study examined hair cortisol levels, zBMI and chronic stress of children ages …

Coping With Exposure To Community Violence: Assessing The Role Of Avoidance In Reducing Delinquency And Aggression In Low-Income Urban Adolescents, Cara Marie Diclemente

Master's Theses

Exposure to community violence has disabling effects on the mental health of youth in the US, with high rates of exposure for African American adolescents from underserved, urban communities. Past literature suggests that avoidant coping, specifically behavioral avoidance, may be most useful for youth exposed to uncontrollable stress. The current study assessed the utility of coping strategies in reducing aggression and delinquency in 267 sixth through eighth grade African American youth. First, confirmatory factor analyses revealed a three-factor structure of coping: cognitive approach, behavioral approach, and avoidance. Next, moderated moderation findings showed that for boys, avoidance and approach strategies increased …

Impact Of Visitation With Incarcerated Fathers On Behavioral Adjustment Among Children In The Foster Care System, Lauren Ashley Hindt

Master's Theses

This study sought to examine whether in-person visitation with incarcerated fathers related to less behavioral problems among children in foster care. The sample consisted of 282 youth (M = 10.18, SD = 2.36 years). Data were collected from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Hierarchical Generalized Linear Modeling revealed paternal incarceration was associated with increased externalizing slope trajectories (ß1515 = .18, p = .025), but not internalizing. African American youth had lower externalizing slope trajectories compared to the remainder of the sample (ß20 = -.14, p = .032). The association between paternal incarceration and externalizing was attenuated …

Fear Of Missing Out: A Moderated Mediation Approach To Social Media Use, Brynn M. Huguenel

Master's Theses

This study explores whether fear of missing out (FOMO) mediates the relation between social networking site (SNS) use and negative mental health outcomes, with moderators of Facebook activities and individual-level characteristics included. Short-term longitudinal data was collected from undergraduate students (N=296). Mediation analyses indicated that intensity of Facebook use did not predict anxiety or depression, as mediated by FOMO. Further, Facebook activities did not moderate the relation between intensity of Facebook use and FOMO, and social comparison and social connectedness did not moderate the relations between FOMO and negative mental health outcomes. Post-hoc analyses showed that social connectedness moderated the …

Perceived Partner Sexism And Stigma Consciousness: How 'Prince Charming' Undermines Relationship Satisfaction, Danielle Lauren Kellogg

Master's Theses

Perceived discrimination (outside of the relationship) relates to negative relationship outcomes, moderated by stigma consciousness (DeHart, 2017). Women who report higher (versus lower) levels of perceived partner benevolent sexism (i.e., perceptions of one's partner's endorsement of sexist attitudes) experience more negative relationship outcomes as well (Hammond & Overall, 2013; Hammond & Overall, 2014; Hammond & Overall, 2015). In addition, relationship partners adopt more traditional gender roles after becoming parents, which fosters benevolent sexism (Trillingsgaard, Baucom, & Heyman, 2014). In this study, married or cohabiting women with children were randomly assigned to either a sexism manipulation or control condition, prior to …

Developmental Assets And Outcomes: An Analysis Of Male Serious Juvenile Offenders To Promote Evidence Based Approaches For Rehabilitation, Danielle Jordan Nesi

Master's Theses

Positive youth development is an approach that seeks to enhance and promote young people's developmental progress. Although there has been a shift toward asset building in rehabilitation of delinquent youth, research on positive youth development has historically focused on children at risk of adverse outcomes, rather than those who are already engaged in criminal behavior. Without knowledge about the distribution of assets among delinquent youth and the relations of these assets to outcomes later in life, it is unclear if interventions based on research of developmental assets among at-risk youth are appropriate for justice-involved youth. The 40 Developmental Assets (Search …

Children's Exposure To Violence Across Contexts: Profiles Of Family, School, And Community Witnessing And Victimization, Catherine Mary Rice

Master's Theses

Children residing in low-income, urban neighborhoods are at a disproportionately higher risk of exposure to violence (ETV) across multiple contexts compared to their peers, including witnessing violence and direct victimization. The many negative effects of ETV are compounded when youth experience ETV across multiple settings and when these experiences are chronic. Despite this, much of the research on ETV during childhood focuses on a single form of violence (e.g., family victimization or witnessing community violence). The current study examines patterns of frequency of ETV, including witnessing and victimization, across family, school, and community contexts, using person-centered methods to elucidate the …