Psychology Commons^™

Functional Polymorphisms Of Alcohol Metabolism Genes And Their Protection Against Alcoholism Via Gene Therapy: A Systematic Review, Olivia Tzeng

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Around 45% of East Asians are unable to fully metabolize ethanol due to functional

polymorphisms of alcohol metabolism genes, specifically alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). These individuals display high levels of toxic blood acetaldehyde when consuming alcohol, causing symptoms such as tachycardia, vomiting, and flushing. The studies included in this review examine how functional polymorphisms of ADH and ALDH protect against alcoholism in addition to how polymorphisms can be utilized as protection against alcoholism via gene therapy. The studies included found that carriers of the ADH and ALDH polymorphisms were 66 to 99% genetically protected against alcoholism. Through …

A Comparison Of Phonetic Convergence In Conversational Interaction And Speech Shadowing, Jennifer S. Pardo, Adelya Urmanche, Sherilyn Wilman-Depena, Jaclyn Wiener, Nicholas Mason, Keagan Francis, Melanie Ward

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Phonetic convergence is a form of variation in speech production in which a talker adopts aspects of another talker's acoustic–phonetic repertoire. To date, this phenomenon has been investigated in non-interactive laboratory tasks extensively and in conversational interaction to a lesser degree. The present study directly compares phonetic convergence in conversational interaction and in a non-interactive speech shadowing task among a large set of talkers who completed both tasks, using a holistic AXB perceptual similarity measure. Phonetic convergence occurred in a new role-neutral conversational task, exhibiting a subtle effect with high variability across talkers that is typical of findings reported in …

Health Risks Of American Long-Distance Truckers Results From A Multisite Assessment, Laura H. Bachmann, Bronwen Lichtenstein, Janet St Lawrence, Margaret Murray, Gregory Russell, Edward Hook

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the general and sexual health of long-haul truck drivers in the United States.

Methods: Drivers were recruited from company sites and truck stops in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi. A sample of 266 drivers was assessed for lifestyle activities; body mass index and blood pressure were measured, and biologic samples were taken for cholesterol, diabetes, and sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV testing.

Results: The drivers in this study had higher levels of cholesterol and higher rates of smoking, obesity, and diabetes than the U.S average. STI/HIV infection rates were lower than the …

Virtual Child-Rearing: An Examination Of Positive Parenting Practices Through The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Athena Christou

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB) evaluates attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control toward a specific behavior as a way to predict intentions to perform a given behavior. Increase in intentions is said to increase the accuracy of predictions of the actual performance of that behavior. The theory has received considerable support and has been used to predict a wide array of behaviors. In the present study, the MyVirtualChild© program was used to examine positive parenting practices through the TPB constructs. Twenty-two participants completed the study and were randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 12) or control group …

Evaluation Of A Rolling Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention Group In A Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Setting: Short-Term Effectiveness And Processes Of Change, Corey Roos

Psychology ETDs

Background: Relapse following treatment is common among individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) and effective treatments that support long-term recovery are needed. Mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP; Bowen, Chawla, & Marlatt, 2011) is a promising intervention, yet there is a lack of evidence on how MBRP can be effectively disseminated and adapted for different real-world treatment settings. MBRP has most commonly been delivered as a closed-cohort group among individuals receiving aftercare treatment. It is unclear whether MBRP can be effectively delivered as a rolling admission group and among individuals at earlier stages in the recovery process. Additionally, there is a need …

Multi-System Collaboration: Supporting Individuals From Pre-Employment Through Employment And Community Engagement Across The Life Course, Rie Kennedy-Lizotte, Adam Sass, Jeanine Zlockie, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

ThinkWork! Publications

In concert with the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) identified potential topical areas for policy white papers that influence employment outcomes and services for individuals served by state intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD) agencies. This is the third white paper in a series of five.

Chronic Hippocampal Abnormalities And Blunted Hpa Axis In An Animal Model Of Repeated Unpredictable Stress, Moustafa Algamal, Joseph O. Ojo, Carlyn P. Lungmus, Phillip Muza, Constance Cammarata, Margaret J. Owens, Benoit C. Mouzon, David M. Diamond, Michael Mullan, Fiona Crawford

Psychology Faculty Publications

Incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ranges from 3 to 30% in individuals exposed to traumatic events, with the highest prevalence in groups exposed to combat, torture, or rape. To date, only a few FDA approved drugs are available to treat PTSD, which only offer symptomatic relief and variable efficacy. There is, therefore, an urgent need to explore new concepts regarding the biological responses causing PTSD. Animal models are an appropriate platform for conducting such studies. Herein, we examined the chronic behavioral and neurobiological effects of repeated unpredictable stress (RUS) in a mouse model. 12 weeks-old C57BL/6J male mice were …

Prediction Of Children's Early Academic Adjustment From Their Temperament: The Moderating Role Of Peer Temperament, Sarah K. Johns, Carlos Valiente, Nancy Eisenberg, Tracy L. Spinrad, Maciel M. Hernández, Jody Southworth, Rebecca H. Berger, Marilyn Thompson, Kassondra M. Silva, Armando A. Pina

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The goal of the study was to examine whether target children’s temperamental negative emotional expressivity (NEE) and effortful control in the fall of kindergarten predicted academic adjustment in the spring and whether a classmate’s NEE and effortful control moderated these relations. Target children’s NEE and effortful control were measured in the fall via multiple methods, academic adjustment was measured via reading and math standardized tests in the spring, and observations of engagement in the classroom were conducted throughout the year. In the fall, teachers nominated a peer with whom each target child spent the most time and rated that peer’s …

Creating Self-Concordance Through Activation Of The Goal Hierarchy, Michelle Thackray

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, environmental sustainability has become a prominent issue. Organizations have attempted to address this issue by utilizing a variety of intervention strategies. Although some interventions have provided promising results, some researchers have suggested that current intervention strategies are perhaps not as effective as originally thought and lack a theoretical framework as guidance (Unsworth, Dmitrieva, & Adriasola, 2013). Given this, the current research attempts to address this from the promising but understudied perspective of self-concordance as theorized in Unsworth et al.’s framework. More specifically, this research examined the possibility of creating self-concordance, a construct defined as an action or …

What Are The Overall Benefits Of Dance Improvisation, And How Do They Affect Cognition And Creativity?, Carley Wright

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to define the terms improvisation, cognition, and creativity, and therefore find the direct correlation between all three, and how they can all be involved within dance. The main intention is to determine whether or not improvisational dance can positively influence one’s creative mindset, thus improving the cognitive learning process. Furthermore, it is to discover if the development of a creative mindset can be established through dance improvisation at an early age. In this exploration, the majority of my research will come from the examination of previously conducted experiments, as well as guiding and observing …

Building A Culture Of Workplace Wellness: Perspectives From Philippine Organizations, Ma. Regina Hechanova, Jaimee Felice Caringal-Go

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

This study explored approaches to building a culture of wellness in the workplace from a developing country perspective. Focus group discussions with HR practitioners and health professionals in the Philippines were conducted. Deductive thematic analysis was used to organize the data. Results showed that organizations use a variety of strategies in building workplace wellness, which could be classified using the CREATE framework – Communicate, Role model, Engage employees, Align systems, structures and policies, Train, Evaluate and reinforce. The identified strategies and CREATE framework can be utilized as a guide for organizations planning to implement workplace wellness initiatives in a holistic …

A Comparison Of Alternative Bias-Corrections In The Bias-Corrected Bootstrap Test Of Mediation, Donna Chen

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

Although the bias-corrected (BC) bootstrap is an oft recommended method for obtaining more powerful confidence intervals in mediation analysis, it has also been found to have elevated Type I error rates in conditions with small sample sizes. Given that the BC bootstrap is used most often in studies with low power due to small sample size, the focus of this study is to consider alternative measures of bias that will reduce the elevated Type I error rate without reducing power. The alternatives examined fall under two categories: bias correction and transformation. Although the bias correction methods did not significantly decrease …

Thousands Of Small Battles: A Case Study On The Impact Of Political Discussion Networks On Vote Choice In Caucuses, Jonathan Jackson

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this dissertation, I seek to refine generalizations about the influence of political discussion networks on voting behavior, mainly developed to explain behavior in general elections, to nomination contests, a comparatively underdeveloped area of inquiry. This study also contributes to a greater understanding of the behavior of Iowa caucus attendees, an understudied area despite Iowa’s importance (along with New Hampshire) in our sequential presidential nominating system. I make several findings affirming theories on social influences on voting behavior within the context of nomination contests. The first is that individuals are reasonably accurate when predicting which candidate a political discussion partner …

A Multifactorial Model Of Threat Assessment Activity Applied To Educational Settings, Maria Rosa Viñas-Racionero

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The current study proposed a multifactorial model of threat assessment activity(MFTA) in order to assess the effectiveness of threat management interventions for preventing problematic physical approach and violence in institutes of higher education (Scalora & Bulling, 2007; Scalora, Zimmerman, & Wells, 2008; Scalora, Plank, & Scheoneman, 2009). In order to answer this overarching goal, the current study analyzed a sample of 332 cases reported to a Police Department of a Midwestern University between 2006 and 2016. The MFTA model was statistically tested via a structural equation model. Overall, the results of this study suggested that the MFTA model provided …

Unexpected Effects: The Dual Effects Of Prevalent Work Characteristics On Goal Accomplishment And The Moderating Role Of Proactivity, Anna Saelinger

Theses and Dissertations

The present study addressed the issue of the inability of current job design models to account for some of the complexities associated with prominent job characteristics (e.g., autonomy, task variety, and interdependence) by examining the effects of these work characteristics on employee goal accomplishment from the perspective of a new conceptual model: the opposing processes model. Specifically, this research proposed intrinsic motivation and interruptions as opposing mechanisms in the work characteristic-work performance relationship, where the positive effect of one (i.e., intrinsic motivation increasing effort and/or desire to reach one’s goal) would be counteracted by the negative effect of the other …

Family Functioning In Latino Families Of Children With Adhd: The Role Of Parental Gender And Acculturation, Anne Malkoff

Master's Theses (2009 -)

It has been well established that parents of children with ADHD report significantly higher levels of parenting stress (Heath, Curtis, Fan, & McPherson, 2015) and chaos in the home (Wirth et al., 2017) than parents of children without ADHD. Parents of children with ADHD also report feeling less efficacious in their parenting abilities compared to parents of children without ADHD (Primack et al., 2012). To date, a majority of the literature on ADHD has focused on European American children and families, resulting in a paucity of research and clinical practice with ethnic minority families of youth with ADHD, specifically among …

Towards Predicting Risky Behavior Among Veterans With Ptsd By Analyzing Gesture Patterns, Tanvir Roushan

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Risky behavior including violence and aggression, self-injury, anger outburst, domestic violence along with self-injury, sexual abuse, rule breaking, use of drugs and alcohol, suicide etc. are alarming issues among US military veterans who return from combat zone deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans are exposed to trauma in war zones which affect most of them with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other metal health problems to some degree. Studies have shown that veterans have much higher rates of PTSD than civilians and are more likely to engage in risky behavior. One of the form of displaying and engaging in risky …

Relations Of Discriminatory Experiences And Marianismo Beleifs With Ptsd Symptoms In Latinx Women, Claire Maria Bird

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Research examining the discriminatory experiences of Latinx women in minimal. The present study examined if various forms of discrimination predicted mental health symptoms in a sample of Latinx women, with the conceptualization of chronic discrimination as a possible form of trauma. There is evidence showing that Latinx individuals are at risk to develop posttraumatic stress disorder at higher rates than their non-Hispanic White counterparts, with many studies pointing to the experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination as a significant contributor (Kaczkurkin, Asnaani, Hall-Clark, Peterson, Yarvis, & Foa, 2016). Given the multiple forms of discrimination that women of color experience, ethnic discrimination, sexism, …

Psychotherapy Utilization And Presenting Concerns Among Asian International And Asian American Students In A University Counseling Center, Hannah La Stokes

Theses and Dissertations

To date, there has not been research that disaggregates the experiences of Asian American and international Asian college students seeking psychotherapy in college campus settings. We examined archival data collected over the course of a 17-year period that focused on experiences of Asian American, international Asian, and European American students at a large university in the intermountain west, US. More specifically, we used archival data to identify differences between the aforementioned groups of students in regard to psychotherapy utilization, presenting concerns, distress levels endorsed at intake, and distress levels endorsed at termination. Results were calculated based on findings from the …

Does Dietary Behavior Mediate The Association Between Hedonic Hunger And Bmi In Overweight/Obese Adolescents?, Kirandeep Kaur

Theses and Dissertations

Heightened reward associated with palatable food, a construct referred to as hedonic reward, can promote excessive energy intake among adults. However, no known studies have examined the influence of hedonic reward on adolescents' eating behavior and weight status. The present study examined whether there was an association between hedonic hunger and weight status in overweight/obese adolescents and whether dietary behavior (caloric consumption) mediated this association. Baseline measures of body mass index, hedonic food reward, and dietary intake were collected from one hundred overweight and obese adolescents. Data were analyzed using mixture modeling. Mediation at varying levels of hedonic hunger was …

Navigating Conflicts Between Religious And Professional Values: Psychologists' Experiences, Michael Ray Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The issue of psychotherapists' values in psychotherapy has become increasingly challenging as philosophers have questioned the viability of concepts such as objectivity and relativism. Historically, psychotherapists have relied on notions such as bracketing or suspending their own values to avoid the moral and ethical implications that such values might be active in psychotherapy. Acknowledging that psychotherapists' values are active in psychotherapy raises a host of important issues, including how to appropriately navigate value conflicts. This study explored the experience of psychotherapists as they navigate conflicts between their religious and professional values. Qualitative interviews with eight religiously committed psychologists were transcribed …

Autism, Alexithymia, And Anxious Apprehension: A Multimethod Investigation Of Eye Fixation, Kevin G. Stephenson

Theses and Dissertations

Reduced eye fixation and deficits in emotion identification accuracy have been commonly reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (AS), but are not ubiquitous. There is growing evidence that emotion processing deficits may be better accounted for by comorbid alexithymia (i.e., difficulty understanding and describing one's emotional state), rather than AS symptoms per se. Another possible explanation is anxiety, which is often comorbid with AS; emotion processing difficulties, including attentional biases, have also been observed in anxiety disorders, suggesting that anxiety symptoms may also influence emotion processing within AS. The purpose of the current study was to test the …

Does The Scientist-Practitioner Gap Have Ontological Roots?, Eric Alexander Ghelfi

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, the nature and extent of practitioners' dissatisfaction with the psychotherapy research literature will first be described. A case will be made that a deeper analysis needs to be conducted to fully understand this dissatisfaction. Next, this dissatisfaction will be framed in the context of a particular ontology that seems to have largely contributed to it. Most importantly, several features of this ontology will be described and connected to practitioners' dissatisfaction. Finally, an alternative framework for understanding practitioners' dissatisfaction will be tentatively proposed, and it will be suggested that this alternative could help researchers and practitioners understand their …

Cognition And Behavioral Outcome In Children And Adolescents With Previous Ecmo Treatment: A Case Series With Neuroimaging Correlates, Juliann Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life-saving procedure for patients in respiratory or cardiac distress. Prior studies have demonstrated several known risks to the procedure, such as hypoxia, stroke, and other neurological complications (Cheng et al., 2014) that can lead to temporary or permanent deficits in motor abilities, developmental trajectory, academic abilities, and cognition (Glass et al., 1995). Although several studies have investigated morbidity and mortality rates of pediatric ECMO patients, few have looked at cognitive deficits, and even fewer at magnetic resonance imaging in relation to neuropsychological outcome and behavioral, emotional, or social functioning. The aims of this study …

Reducing The Impact Of Disabilities In Developing Nations: Implications From A Parent Delivered Behavioral Intervention In Macedonia, Sophie Visick Rindlisbaker

Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is recognized the world over as a major public health issue. Autism is highly prevalent, persists across the lifespan, and is characterized by behaviors that can profoundly impair typical functioning. Interventions based on behavioral strategies have proven effective, but there are significant barriers to care, including cost, intensity of treatment, and access to qualified practitioners. The impact of ASD and obstacles to appropriate care are magnified by systemic limitations in developing countries. Parent training holds promise as a method of disseminating therapy to underserved areas. This study investigated the effectiveness of a pyramidal parent training intervention …

Word Counts In Response To Cognitively Demanding Essay Prompts As Reflections Of General Cognitive Ability And Broad Cognitive Abilities, Michael Beaumont Armstrong

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Natural language processing techniques can be used to analyze text and speech data. These techniques have been applied within many domains to date but have only recently been examined in the domain of personnel assessment. By linking workplace-relevant constructs such as general cognitive ability (GCA) to natural language processing outcomes such as word counts, a foundation for language-based psychological assessment of those abilities can be laid. Over 400 participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk to write cognitively demanding essays and complete a battery of cognitive tests. Essays were analyzed using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC). Structural equation modeling …

Detecting Deceptive Impression Management Behaviors In Interviews Using Natural Language Processing, Elena Margaret Lawrence Auer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Deceptive impression management (IM) is often used by applicants in employment interviews to improve their chances of receiving a job offer. Self-report measures of deceptive IM are typically used to evaluate interview faking in a lab setting but are limited when used in practice due to social desirability concerns. Given this limitation, natural language processing (NLP) has potential as a tool to unobtrusively assess raw interview content and measure deceptive IM. This study examined the use of open and closed-vocabulary NLP approaches for the detection of deceptive IM in mock employment interviews. In general, neither of these approaches successfully predicted …

Race, Rejection Sensitivity, And Identity Centrality Among Young Sexual Minority Women, Denise M. Calhoun

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined to what extent the centrality of sexual and racial/ethnic identities were associated with rejection sensitivity in young adult sexual minority women. The relationships between sexual identity centrality and current alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and sexual minority stress outcomes were also examined with race as a potential moderator. African American/Black and Non-Hispanic White sexual minority women 18-25 years old (N = 676) were recruited through online social media platforms, community organizations, and email advertisements. Participants completed an online survey that included measures of three types of rejection sensitivity (interpersonal, race-based, and sexual orientation-based), sexual minority stress, alcohol use …

The Effects Of Rating Source, Rating Target, And Job Position On Ratings Of Perceived Training Needs, Phillip Joseph Dillulio

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Organizational investments in employee training and development have steadily increased over the past decade, with a recent estimate of $160 billion dollars annually. An important component of any training program is the subsequent training needs assessment (TNA), which provides critical information regarding who and what needs trained. Unfortunately, TNA research is severely limited compared to other aspects of the training process. The primary aim of the current study was to examine two important variables that can potentially influence TNA ratings beyond an actual need for training, the source and target of TNA ratings. Based on the assumptions of attribution theory, …

Exploring The Variant Experiences Through Which Racial/Ethnic Minorities Select Art Therapy As A Career, Mary Ritchie Roberts

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

This study implemented a phenomenological approach to the inquiry of the career decisions of racial/ethnic minorities leading to selection of art therapy as a career. Gottfredson’s Career Theory was used to design interview questions to elicit the perspectives of ten racial/ethnic minority members about their career choice of art therapy. This study used post-intentional phenomenological qualitative coding of data to understand the decisions and contributing factors to racial/ethnic minorities selecting a career in art therapy. The findings suggest factors including: personal characteristics, interests, personal and professional beliefs, cultural beliefs, influential people, social contexts, experiences, and encounters contributed to racial/ethnic minority …