Psychology Commons^™

The Integration Of Creative And Expressive Arts In A Young Adult Problem-Solving Court, Ricky J. Pope

Dissertations

Interaction with the criminal justice system exacts substantial costs on human potential, and alternative practices are emerging to address this social issue. This research explores the integration of creative and expressive arts in a young adult problem-solving court. The Young Adult Diversion Court (YADC) was created to help young adults 17- 20 years of age complete requirements for probation. Successful completion of the program provides participants the opportunity for the initial criminal charge to be dismissed and made non-public on the criminal record. This qualitative study is informed by interpretive interactionism and narrative inquiry to provide a method to understand …

Malingering Undetected Successfully: Does Extrinsic Motivation And Coaching Have A Significant Impact?, Jennifer Golanics

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study examined the effectiveness of a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) coaching (i.e., providing information about mTBI symptoms) and motivational incentive (i.e., a $50 gift card lottery) on the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) test performance. The sample included a total of 162 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in an introductory educational psychology course. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six conditions: coached plus warning instruction and motivation incentive, coached instruction and motivation incentive, uncoached instruction and motivation incentive, coached plus warning instruction and no motivation incentive, coached instruction and no motivation incentive, and uncoached instruction and …

An Examination Of Student-Athlete Stress And Risky Alcohol Use, Travis Albert Loughran

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Student-athletes are a sub-population of college students that are likely to engage in binge drinking behavior and experience the negative consequences associated with alcohol use (Barry, Howell, Riplinger, & Piazza-Gardner, 2015; Nelson & Wechsler, 2001). In addition, participating in intercollegiate athletics comes with unique stressors not faced by non-athlete students, such as balancing academic responsibilities with athletic obligations, managing the strain associated with playing competitive sport, and navigating complex interpersonal relationships with coaches, teammates, and peers (Parham, 1993; Watson, 2002). However, there appears to be little research examining the relationship between alcohol risk and the specific stressors associated with being …

The Structure Of Psychopathology And Its Relationship To Personality And Eeg, Vincent Rozalski

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The factor structure of psychopathology has been debated in the literature, with studies showing support for several models, including one-, two-, and three-factor solutions. The factor structures often vary as a function of what symptoms and diagnoses are included, and when a wide array of diagnoses are present, a three-factor solution is often found. Personality has been shown to be related to psychopathology and its higher order structures, but there is little research regarding neurobiological associations that take into account the factor structure of psychopathology along with personality. This dissertation examined the factor structure of a wide range of psychopathology, …

Treatment Preference, Changes In Preference, And Quality Of Life, Chelsea Sage-Germain

Dissertations

The current study investigates whether treatment preferences prior to beginning treatment are different from treatment preferences at later points in treatment, and whether preferences are related to treatment outcome. While research to date supports the notion that matching clients to treatment in line with their preferences can improve retention and outcomes, results have been equivocal. Further, this research is typically conducted by measuring preferences just one time, prior to starting treatment. It is conceivable that preferences for treatment change over time as patients become more knowledgeable about their presenting problems and about the therapy process. A total of 969 participants …

Personal Growth Following The Challenge Of Becoming A New Parent While Working As A Mental Health Clinician: A Narrative Study, Amie L. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Becoming a new parent can cause both immense joy and immense stress that leads to increases and decreases in a new parent’s feeling of life satisfaction. In addition, working as a mental health clinician is a frequently challenging career. Given that many clinicians also become parents while working during the course of their careers, it is surprising that there is not more research on the experience of clinicians who become new parents. More research is needed to find out how people balance the stresses of new parenthood and their emotionally challenging jobs. There is some research on “stress-related growth” that …

Putting Weight In Context: Acceptance And Commitment Therapy (Act) Guided Self-Help For Weight Self-Stigma, Sarah A. Potts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Obesity is a serious public health issue within the U.S. and minimal long-term success is found with standard behavioral weight-loss treatments. Typical weight-loss interventions do not acknowledge psychological factors, such as weight-related stigma, which may play a role in the development and maintenance of poor coping behaviors, such as unhealthy eating patterns. Individuals who are obese may often experience weight-related stigma present in society and are ultimately at risk for weight self-stigma, which is related to poor health behaviors and increased psychological distress. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), can be effective for treating numerous mental health presentations, might also be …

The Culture Of Sexuality: Identification, Conceptualization, And Acculturation Processes Within Sexual Minority And Heterosexual Cultures, Joshua Glenn Parmenter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study aimed to provide insights into the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) people within LGBTQ+ culture, and to explore how they disclose or conceal their sexual identities within different social environments. A qualitative study enabled me to become immersed within the stories of LGBTQ+ people, in order to better understand the construct and importance of LGBTQ+ culture. Through in-depth interviews and focus groups, 14 members of the LGBTQ+ community from around the nation volunteered to share their experiences with LGBTQ+ culture and their negotiation of identity within heterosexual culture.

From participants’ stories, key themes were …

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd) And Positive And Negative Social Support As Components Of The Interpersonal Psychological Theory Of Suicide In The United States Military Veterans, Jordan M. Kugler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Veterans are at a greater risk for suicide compared to the general population. Suicide risk further increases for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS) states that a combination of higher perceived burden and lower thwarted belonging increases risk for suicidal ideation (SI), and when SI is present, higher acquired capability for suicide (ACFS) increases risk for suicide attempt. The IPTS is well supported in samples of the general population, but understudied in military samples. The current study tested the IPTS, using PTSD severity in place of perceived burden, and bothersomeness of negative social …

Contextual Factors In The Identity Development Of Native American And Latinx Undergraduates In Stem Fields, Angela Marie Enno

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study includes two papers that aimed to provide insights into the experiences of high-achieving Latinx and Native American college students studying science. We wanted to better understand factors that influence these students’ ability to develop a sense of identity that weaves together their hoped-for careers as scientists as well as their cultural identities. We looked at how they feel about working with mentors in science fields who were like them in a variety of ways. We found that many students (especially those with a stronger sense of cultural identity) valued working with mentors who were similar to them in …

Using Social Network Analysis To Examine The Intersection Of Adolescent Friendships And Health Behavior, Emily Long

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Adolescence marks a vulnerable developmental period for health behavior, and research demonstrates that social context and interpersonal relationships impact the health behavior choices of adolescents. In addition, theories of adolescent development suggest a bidirectional relationship between environmental factors, including social relationships, and health. Friendships are one of the most salient relationships during adolescence, and new methods from the field of social network analysis allow researchers to explicitly examine the mechanisms through which friends influence health behavior, and simultaneously, how health and health behavior impacts the formation of friendships. Importantly, social network methods (e.g., stochastic actor-based models, exponential random graph models) …

Survey On Services Provided To Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder In U.S. Public Schools, Kendra Mcpherson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is of utmost importance that students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the public school setting across the United States are receiving the best, most researched services and treatments. This study aimed to find out what services and treatments are most commonly being used for students with ASD in the public schools, to see whether or not those practices are supported by research, and to discover how involved parents and families are in the services being provided to their students. This study found that of the top 25 most commonly used practices, 17 of those were supported by …

Look Again—Traditional Women As Nontraditional Students: A New Face In Higher Education, Candi Jones Newell

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the experiences of 13 culturally traditional women who returned to higher education as nontraditional students. An individual unstructured interview, with guiding questions, was held with each woman. This provided the opportunity for these women to articulate their experience. The interviews were transcribed and interpreted using a synthesis of qualitative methods based upon Kvale's method. Seven themes emerged: (a) participants would tell a woman considering a return to school to "do it!" (b) participants saw spousal support as significant in their ability to return to school, (c) participants saw their families as generally supportive of their return to …

Beauty As A Confounding Variable: Refining Measure Of Viewing Time, Rachael Caryn Pinkerman

Theses and Dissertations

Current research on viewing time measures of sexual attraction fail to explore potential confounding variables of viewing time. One viewing time measure, the LOOK, has been shown to be reliable over time and generally correlated with self-reported sexual orientation but has been unable to differentiate between a non-offending group and an offending group of individuals. This study utilizes the LOOK to examine the relationship between viewing time and a potential confounding variable of viewing time, beauty, using two constructs of beauty (facial beauty and full-body beauty). Facial beauty scores were created by measuring the degree of adherence to four universal …

Interpersonal Behavior In Couple Therapy: Concurrent And Prospective Associations With Depressive Symptoms And Relationship Distress, Lynne M. Knobloch-Fedders, Stephanie J. Wilson

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: This study investigated associations between couples’ interpersonal behavior, depressive symptoms, and relationship distress over the course of couple psychotherapy. Method: After every other session of Integrative Systemic Therapy (M = 13 sessions), N = 100 individuals within 50 couples rated their in-session affiliation and autonomy behavior using the circumplex-based Structural Analysis of Social Behavior Intrex. Concurrent and prospective associations of interpersonal behavior with depressive symptoms and relationship distress were evaluated via multivariate multilevel modeling using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model. Results: An individual’s hostility, as well as the partner’s hostility, positively predicted an individual’s concurrent depressive symptoms and …

Family Care Partners Of Chronically Ill Older Adults: The Role Of Uncertainty In Illness, Jillian Pine

Dissertations

Abstract This study integrated research on family care partners of older adults and

research on uncertainty in chronic illness. Previous findings were extended by examining care partners of older adults with multiple chronic conditions and highlighting early-stage undiagnosed cognitive impairment as a uniquely unclear condition. Participants were 45 women assisting community-dwelling, earlier generation older adults with multiple chronic health conditions and a prognosis of more than six months. Online survey data were used to test the hypotheses that increased illness uncertainty would be associated with increased care partner-recipient relationship strain and increased care partner perceived stress. This study also hypothesized …

National Security And Education: What Is Graduating College Worth?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

There are newly shared positive correlations between genetics and college graduation. Although higher education including college graduation has national security import, social policy implications based on such data are less clear.

The Effects Of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure On The Resting State Functional Brain Connectivity In A Sample Of Individuals With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Carlos I. Rodriguez

Psychology ETDs

It is well established that alcohol exposure during prenatal development can lead to a heterogeneous and wide ranging set of morphological and neurobehavioral deficits that are collectively known as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs). Previous neuroimaging research conducted on individuals with FASD has primarily employed graph-theoretical based analysis methods on functional imaging data to elucidate the impact of prenatal alcohol on brain connectivity. This study applied a widely used computational algorithm, group independent components analysis (gICA), to extract coherent sets of voxels that were correlated with one another as a measure of functional network connectivity (FNC) in a sample of …

Unpacking Shame As Experienced By Three White Male Engineering Students, Kanembe Shanachilubwa

McNair Scholars Research

The following is a cross-sectional examination of an ongoing investigation of shame in the context of engineering education. White male junior level engineering students were recruited to participate in individual interviews centered around their experiences and expectations as undergraduates. The study sought to investigate how these students experienced shame within the context of engineering education using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as the research method. As the current results and finding only represent three fully analyzed cases out of five total, broad and definitive conclusions about the study group will be withheld. Instead, I will give each of the three represented …

A Digital Immigrant Venture Into Teaching Online: An Autoethnographic Account Of A Classroom Teacher Transformed, Karin A. Lewis

The Qualitative Report

This paper presents an autoethnographic account of a classroom teacher’s experience transitioning to teaching online within the shifting culture of academe in the 21^st Century. After decades as a classroom teacher, the author engages in autoethnography to reflexively analyze her challenging transition to teaching online. The author examines her perspectives, beliefs, thought process, learning, and development. Findings regarding her new way of teaching, thinking, and living as an online instructor may provide insights for others in academe.

It's Not Just A Dog: The Role Of Companion Animals In The Family's Emotional System, Cassandra Leow

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Past studies have looked into the role of companion animals in families. This study intended to explore the role of companion animals in the family’s emotional system through the lens of Bowen Family Systems Theory. Data from a study on companion animal loss and grief were used. A qualitative phenomenological approach was adopted to analyze the data from interviews. Three primary themes emerged from the data: balanced family emotional system, response to relational anxiety and role of the absence companion animal. The first theme suggested that human family members and companion animals developed a balanced family emotional system through companion …

Bystander Intervention To Prevent Campus Sexual Violence: The Role Of Sense Of Community, Peer Norms, And Administrative Responding, Erin Christine Mcconnell

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years, the use of bystander intervention training to address campus sexual violence has risen rapidly. More research is critically needed to guide the ongoing development and implementation of prevention efforts by campuses utilizing this relatively new approach. This investigation examined associations between college students' bystander intervention behavior and three key factors: (1) perceived peer norms supportive of sexual violence; (2) perceived campus administrative response to sexual violence; and (3) sense of campus community. Data from a sample of 2370 college students was analyzed using hierarchical linear regression to test both direct and moderated effects. Findings revealed that both …

Ignatian Spirituality In Vocational Career Development: An Experimental Study Of Emerging Adults, Scott Campanario

Industrial-Organizational Psychology Dissertations

Traditional undergraduate students fall in an age range known as emerging adulthood, a development stage of life characterized by freedom and exploration in pursuit of understanding one’s identity. This is an important developmental process because a failure to discern this identity and what one finds meaningful can be associated with numerous harmful outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Conversely, coming to a better understanding of one’s identity is also associated with the number of positive outcomes such as hope, life satisfaction, and career planning. Therefore, institutions of higher education have both an opportunity and an obligation to consider …

Impact Of Tropical Climate On Selective Attention And Affect, Guillaume R. Coudevylle, Maria Popa-Roch, Stéphane Sinnapah, Olivier Hue, Nicolas Robin

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

Heat has an impact on several aspects of human cognition but the effects of the tropical climate (i.e., hot and wet) have rarely been explored. The purpose of this study was to determine whether selective attention and affect are negatively impacted by the tropical climate. The study followed a within-participants design: participants responded to an affective scale (PANAS) and performed an attention task (d2 Test) in two experimental climate conditions (tropical vs. neutral) with a one-week interval between sessions. The results indicated that they had lower positive affect and selective attention in the tropical climate than in the neutral climate. …

Deaf Lesbian Identity, Noël E. Cherasaro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deaf lesbians are a population that is underrepresented in the academic literature. Through the use of narrative inquiry, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews with a woman who self-identified as Deaf and lesbian. She shared her experiences growing up as a woman who is Deaf and later in her life, realized she is lesbian. The researcher juxtaposed her experiences as a hearing, lesbian woman and an ally to the Deaf community to better illuminate the Deaf lesbian experiences. The research delved into how these dual minority identities have affected the Deaf lesbian participant as she makes her way in the world …

Individual Differences In Relational Learning And Analogical Reasoning: A Computational Model Of Longitudinal Change, Leonidas A. A. Doumas, Robert G. Morrison, Lindsey E. Richland

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Children’s cognitive control and knowledge at school entry predict growth rates in analogical reasoning skill over time; however, the mechanisms by which these factors interact and impact learning are unclear. We propose that inhibitory control (IC) is critical for developing both the relational representations necessary to reason and the ability to use these representations in complex problem solving. We evaluate this hypothesis using computational simulations in a model of analogical thinking, Discovery of Relations by Analogy/Learning and Inference with Schemas and Analogy (DORA/LISA; Doumas et al., 2008). Longitudinal data from children who solved geometric analogy problems repeatedly over 6 …

Rural Teacher Practices And Partnerships To Address Behavioral Challenges: The Efficacy And Mechanisms Of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, Susan M. Sheridan Dr., Amanda Witte, Gina M. Kunz, Lorey A. Wheeler, Samantha R. Angell, Houston F. Lester

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The efficacy of conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC), a family-school partnership intervention, for teachers’ practices and process skills was evaluated. Participants were 152 teachers of gradesK–3 in 45Midwest rural schools randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Treatment group teachers participated in an 8- to 10-week CBC intervention. Outcome measures were (a) self-reports of classroom practices and collaborative process skills and (b) direct observations of teachers’ use of effective behavioral strategies. Relative to control group participants, there was a significant positive intervention effect on CBC teachers’ self-report of appropriate behavioral strategies (b p .47, p ! .001), observations of their use …

Complexities And Challenges Of Nonduality, Elizabeth Stephens

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

States of consciousness referred to as nonduality, awakening, enlightenment, moksha, peak experience, unitive states, or void states, among other terms, have garnered increasing secular attention and have become a topic of psychological and neuroscientific research. A review of the literature revealed many challenges to studying this set of states, such as inconsistent conceptualizations, a variety of models and theories, and conflicting descriptions indicating that the actual experience may not live up to the superlative descriptions found in historical texts or the expectations put forth by nondual teachers. A great deal more empirical research on this topic is needed, and researchers …

Fake News: Is Truth Really Under Attack?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

Attacking fake news may be as fake as fake news. Or so suggests Western epistemology.

Gendered Partner-Ideals, Relationship Satisfaction, And Intimate Partner Violence, Sylvia Marie Ferguson Kidder

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation identified and developed indicators of a new potential predictor of relationship satisfaction and intimate partner violence (IPV): discrepancies between the ideal and perceived gendered characteristics of romantic partners. Past research has overlooked the implicitly gendered nature of these "partner-ideals." Two pilot studies were conducted to develop measures of gendered partner-ideals and -perceptions based on existing measures of gender ideology.

The main study examined survey data collected online from adults (n = 643) living in the U.S. who were in a heterosexual romantic relationship for at least six months. Three main hypotheses were tested regarding the associations among gender …