Psychology Commons^™

Psychosocial Outcomes Of African American Traumatic Race-Based Stress, Zenith Lamb

Senior Theses

Most research into trauma-related mental health concerns has focused predominantly on European American participants, leading to many African American individuals receiving inaccurate diagnoses, if they are able to receive diagnoses at all. This project sought to help fill that gap by identifying clear definitions and examples of “racial trauma” and “race-based stress” - as defined during participation in a focus group interview by the collective experience-based responses of two undergraduate African American students at a predominantly White institution - and identifying symptoms of posttraumatic stress and dissociation - measured by an online survey distributed to the participants that included questions …

Toxic Positivity And Perceptions Of Mental Health, Madeline E. Feltner

Senior Theses

My thesis concerns how toxic positivity, especially the type we commonly see on social media, can affect perceptions and stigma around mental health issues on college campuses. Toxic positivity is the belief that a person should always maintain a positive mindset, no matter what situation they are in, and invalidates negative emotions. Previous research shows that toxic positivity can have a negative effect on mental health, but in this thesis, I study how toxic positivity affects perceptions about others with mental health issues, willingness to interact with those with mental health issues, and self-perception. It is important to research this …

The Relation Between Adhd Symptoms And Life Satisfaction/Self-Esteem Among Youth: Family Structure And Parenting Practices As Moderators, Yvette Rother

Theses and Dissertations

Children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be particularly vulnerable to lower life satisfaction and self-esteem, given negative perceptions about their abilities and self, as well as related impairments in academic, social, and interpersonal functioning. Family factors, such as family structure and parenting behaviors, can impact youth development and behaviors. However, it is unclear what role family factors play in the relation between ADHD symptoms and life satisfaction and self-esteem among youth. This study therefore examined whether ADHD symptoms have an impact on the life satisfaction and self-esteem of children and adolescents in grades 4-12. Moreover, it explored whether …

An Examination Of The Prevalence And Predictors Of Drugging Victimization And Drugging Perpetration In A National Sample, Amber Nicole Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The current study sought to expand the understanding of the nascent phenomenon of drugging, the administering of a drug or alcohol substance to an individual without their knowledge or consent (Swan et al., 2017). Specifically, in this paper, the lifestyle-routine activities theory (L-RAT) is used as a framework to examine what factors may contribute to the occurrence of drugging. Prevalence rates of drugging victimization and drugging perpetration are examined by participant characteristics including gender, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity, and by risk behaviors including illicit drug use, marijuana use, and binge drinking. Trait sensation seeking, which has been shown to …

Describing Parents' Beliefs About The Causes Of Mental Health Problems In Youth: Implications For Service Utilization, Madeline Buchanan

Dissertations (1934 -)

Parents have an important role in accessing mental health services for youth. Understanding what factors might enhance or impede this process is critical to engaging more children and adolescents in treatment. Evidence suggests parents’ beliefs about the causes of youth mental health problems likely influence mental health service utilization, though existing research is limited. The current study examined parents’ causal beliefs about youth mental health problems and their impact on factors related to help-seeking and service utilization. A diverse group of parents (N = 417; 36.9% non-Hispanic White; 33.3% Black/African American; 29.7% Hispanic/Latino) completed a series of questionnaires via an …

Sensing Fear: Fast And Precise Threat Evaluation In Human Sensory Cortex, Wen Li, Andreas Keil

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Animal models of threat processing have evolved beyond the amygdala to incorporate a distributed neural network. In human research, evidence has intensified in recent years to challenge the canonical threat circuitry centered on the amygdala, urging revision of threat conceptualization. A strong surge of research into threat processing in the sensory cortex in the past decade has generated particularly useful insights to inform the reconceptualization. Here, synthesizing findings from both animal and human research, we highlight sensitive, specific, and adaptable threat representations in the sensory cortex, arising from experience-based sculpting of sensory coding networks. We thus propose that the human …

Sexual Health And Relationship Abuse Interventions In Pediatric Primary Care: A Systematic Review, Susheel Kant Khetarpal, Sarah Tiffany-Appleton, Erin E Mickievicz, Romina L Barral, Kimberly A Randell, Jeff R Temple, Elizabeth Miller, Maya I Ragavan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Supporting adolescents in developing healthy relationships and promoting sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is an important responsibility of pediatric primary care providers. Less is known about evidence-based interventions in pediatric settings focused on healthy relationships and SRH.

METHODS: We conducted a systematic review to describe SRH and healthy relationship/adolescent relationship abuse (ARA) interventions for pediatric primary care over the past 20 years. Eligible articles were original research on an SRH-focused or ARA-focused intervention, conducted in-person within pediatric primary care or school-based health centers specifically for middle or high school-aged adolescents. Data abstracted from included articles included intervention description, content, …

A Par Reflection: The Power Of Teacher Voice, Anna Marie Warren

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher voice is missing in systemic change. This PAR study explored some of the barriers in education today that prevent teachers from using their voices and the leadership skills needed to empower teachers to use their voices in change processes. The study was implemented on two secondary school campuses with two teams of PAR researchers. Data were collected using a triangulation of PAR forms, journal reflections, and Likert surveys. While identifying barriers hindering teachers from using their voice, the qualitative study also aimed to provide a platform where teachers could express and use their voice to cause change in their …

Arousing Motives Or Eliciting Stories? On The Role Of Pictures In A Picture–Story Exercise, Philipp Schäpers, Stefan Krumm, Filip Lievens, Nikola Stenzel

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Picture–story exercises (PSE) form a popular measurement approach that has been widely used for the assessment of implicit motives. However, current theorizing offers two diverging perspectives on the role of pictures in PSEs: either to elicit stories or to arouse motives. In the current study, we tested these perspectives in an experimental design. We administered a PSE either with or without pictures. Results from N = 281 participants revealed that the experimental manipulation had a medium to large effect for the affiliation and power motive domains, but no effect for the achievement motive domain. We conclude that the herein chosen …

Effectiveness And User Experience Of Augmented And Mixed Reality For Procedural Task Training, Emily Rickel

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Use of augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) technologies for training is increasing, due in part to opportunities for increased immersion, safer training, and reduced costs. However, AR/MR training effectiveness and user experience, particularly for head-mounted displays (HMDs), is not well understood. The purpose of this study is to investigate user perceptions and retention of AR/MR training delivered through a HMD for a procedural task. This two-part study utilized a within-subjects experimental design with 30 participants to determine how instruction method (paper vs. AR vs. MR) and time of procedure recall (immediate vs. post-test vs. retention) influenced completion time, …

Evaluating The Causal Effect Of Tobacco Smoking On White Matter Brain Aging: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Analysis In Uk Biobank, Chen Mo, Jingtao Wang, Zhenyao Ye, Hongjie Ke, Song Liu, Kathryn Hatch, Si Gao, Jessica Magidson, Chixiang Chen, Braxton D Mitchell, Peter Kochunov, L Elliot Hong, Tianzhou Ma, Shuo Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Tobacco smoking is a risk factor for impaired brain function, but its causal effect on white matter brain aging remains unclear. This study aimed to measure the causal effect of tobacco smoking on white matter brain aging.

DESIGN: Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using two non-overlapping data sets (with and without neuroimaging data) from UK Biobank (UKB). The group exposed to smoking and control group consisted of current smokers and never smokers, respectively. Our main method was generalized weighted linear regression with other methods also included as sensitivity analysis.

SETTING: United Kingdom.

PARTICIPANTS: The study cohort included 23 …

Trauma And Linguistic Markers For Symptom Severity In Prolonged Exposure For Primary Care, As Observed Through The Use Of Narrative Review, Robert Alexander Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional trauma therapies used in the primary care setting (e.g., hospital, medical clinic, etc.) have posed challenges to patient success because they are not designed for the shorter duration treatment that is typical in primary care settings. One alternative solution is the Prolonged-Exposure for Primary Care protocol (PE-PC) that utilizes prolonged exposure using a brief take home assignment and several journaling prompts that are processed using principles from Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). Still in its early stages of development, the PE-PC protocol can provide symptom relief in as little as four, 30-minute sessions and reflects one of the first trauma …

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

Dissertations

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

Girls Just Want To Be Safe: An Analysis Of Drugged Drinking And Prevention Amongst Students At The University Of South Carolina, C. Gray Forsberg

Senior Theses

Drink-spiking has become a well-known phenomenon since the turn of the century, especially on college campuses in the United States. Drink-spiking or drugging can be defined as “adding alcohol or drugs into someone’s drink without their knowledge or permission” (Alcohol and Drug Foundation, 2006). Drink-spiking is not just relevant to the concern of an illicit substance being placed into an alcoholic drink, but adding additional alcohol to drinks or adding alcohol or drugs to non-alcoholic drinks is considered drugging as well. This study collected data through a survey sent to 250 current students at the University of South Carolina regarding …

A Comparative Investigation Of Tonal Memory Improvements With Electronic And Vocal Pitch Stimulus Training, Grayson M. Fletcher

Senior Theses

The study described herein compares improvements in tonal memory for young adults (age 19- 22), specifically retention of pitches, between two groups (n1=8, n2=8) with nearly identical training programs. One group was provided electronic pitch stimuli for the training program, while the other group was given human vocal stimuli. Self-paced computerized training sessions were conducted in a soundproofed testing room and interposed between pre-test and post-test measurements. A pre-test—post-test randomized experimental design allowed for assessment of whether the training was effective for each group in addition to comparing effectiveness of training between groups. Analyses with demographic factors, particularly previous musical …

Moral Injury To Inform Analysis Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Amanda Julia Manea

Senior Theses

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that almost one out of ten veterans struggle with. Although the National Center for PTSD has made extensive progress in characterizing and developing new treatments for PTSD, most veterans still experience symptoms of PTSD following treatment. Novel avenues of investigation, such as developing algorithms to review electronic health record (EHR) data and better understanding moral injury, are being pursued to address the gap that still exists when it comes to treating veterans. Moral injury is the individual evaluation of exposure to a potentially morally injurious event (PMIE) and can lead to …

Musculoskeletal Pain Latent Classes And Biopsychosocial Characteristics Among Emerging Adults, Kaitlin M. Gallagher, Erin K. Howie, Makayla Carney

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Emerging adults (aged 18–29) report high levels of musculoskeletal pain; however, it is unknown if body location and intensity patterns are related to different biopsychosocial characteristics. This study identified patterns of self-reported musculoskeletal pain among emerging adults and assessed if there were differences in their lifestyle and psychological characteristics.

Methods

Data from survey responses from a large public university and a large medical university in the United States were used (n = 1,318). Self-reported pain location and intensity at five body regions were assessed, and latent class analysis identified classes separately for men and women. Mental health, physical activity, …

Antagonistic Pleiotropy In Alzheimer's Disease, Annie Hollis

Undergraduate Research Conference

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele has been linked with Alzheimer’s disease; specifically having two copies of the APOE ε4 allele greatly increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease in older age. Studies have attempted to relate an antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis to this gene, i.e., the ε4 allele has positive effects on cognition and memory in early life and negative effects later in life. Many of these studies have had several limitations and conflicting results, such as testing adults in upper middle age or comparing the absence of the ε4 allele with the presence of at least one ε4 allele. Studies …

What's Your Biggest Secret?, Emely M. Oviedo, Sydney B. Snapp, George Kazanecki

Research Days

Initial study (e.g., Kahneman & Tversky, (1982) has indicated that failed actions (i.e., switches that result in negative outcomes) evoke more regret than inactions (i.e., non-switches resulting in negative outcomes), a vigorous finding in the regret literature. Subsequent work, however, revealed that individuals report more inaction regrets than action regrets (e.g., Gilovich & Medvec, 1994). The current research examines whether regret stemming from actions versus inactions are moderated by one’s attachment style. Attachment can be both crucial when it comes to decision making and one’s ability to mitigate the negative effects following a decision. Participants will be asked to complete …

The Effects Of Mindfulness On Regret: An Explorative Analysis, Emely M. Oviedo, Sydney B. Snapp, George Kazanecki, Timothy Pedigo Ph.D, Figen Karadgon Ph.D

Research Days

Regret has been found to be associated with anxiety, depression, and cognitive distortions (Markman et al., 2009; Markham & Miller, 2006). In relation to regret, past actions and decisions create painful experiences resulting in negative rumination (Olatunji et al., 2013). However, if the negative rumination is reduced there is the potential to learn important feedback from previous decisions that have resulted in painful experiences. Thus, the current research explores the mitigating role of mindfulness on the amount of regret experienced. It was hypothesized that the participants would report experiencing less amount of regret following mindfulness meditation. First, participants were asked …

Py-03 The Effect Of Notifications On Different Levels Of Processing Of Memory, Brandon Stiff, Sarah Connor Burns Phd

SC Upstate Research Symposium

Memory is a process that involves the acquiring, encoding, storing, and retrieving of information obtained from the environment. According to the levels of processing theory, proposed by Craik and Lockhart, the perception of stimuli requires analysis at various cognitive levels (1972). Processing things at greater “depth” involves more cognitive analysis and making connections with already known material. This deeper analysis is associated with longer retention and better performance on memory recall tasks (Craik & Lockhart, 1972).

To process the presence of a stimulus, you must first attend to it. According to Mulligan, divided attention results in worse performance on semantic …

Py-05 Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke: Analysis Of Cases That Children Gained Access To Vehicle, Emily N. Krull, Jennifer Gray Phd

SC Upstate Research Symposium

Since 1998, 937 children have died from Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke (PVH), while this number is small regarding childhood mortality, it is still an important concern because the deaths of these children could have been prevented. Previous research has analyzed the deaths that occurred when children were left in the vehicle knowingly and unknowingly but does not discuss the cases where children gained access to the vehicle. The goal of this research is to determine what went wrong in the cases where children gained access to the vehicle and what parents were doing at the time of the incident, to understand …

The Dark Side Of Leadership: Mid-Level Managers And Their Experience With Hubristic Behaviors Of Executives, Leili Sadaghiani

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify the emotional reactions of mid-level managers to executives’ hubris behaviors in a corporate setting.

Methodology: This leadership study uses qualitative phenomenological methodology was executed to explore the lived experiences of mid-level managers with past executives who practiced hubristic behavior.

Findings: The findings of this research on the lived experiences of mid-level managers with hubristic behaviors of executives suggest that the lack of support lessens the mid-level manager’s confidence; with little support; the mid-level manager was either afraid to fight the executive or gave up trying; the mid-level manager faced stress even …

Please Don’T Label Me: An Examination Of Black-Owned Labels And How A Positive Consumer Activism Movement May Have A Negative Outcome, Khalia C. Jenkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Covid-19 crisis that began in 2020 brought to light many societal issues as people had time to sit and reflect. One of these issues is the systemic injustices against African Americans, which were highlighted after the death of George Floyd. This event re-ignited the Black Lives Matter movement amongst U.S. citizens of all races and within corporations. While some companies pledged to donate to various Black causes, others opted to empower Black businesses economically by supporting the Buy-Black Movement. One of the ways they are accomplishing this goal is by adding a Black-owned label to products and businesses. While …

Understanding Disordered Eating Attitudes And Patterns In University Students And The Relationship To Campus Dining Services, Benjamin A. Bartling

Honors Thesis

University students are particularly vulnerable to disordered eating behaviors and attitudes. This study seeks to expand upon the knowledge base of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors in university students by employing a netnography as a precursor to the main study to establish the following research questions: What is the relationship between the perceived quality of campus dining services and disordered eating attitudes in university students? What is the relationship between the perceived availability of campus dining services and disordered eating attitudes in university students? And, lastly, how does prior experience with campus dining services affect university students eating patterns and …

Beyond Machine Learning: An Fmri Domain Adaptation Model For Multi-Study Integration, Lauryn Michelle Burleigh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Traditional machine learning analyses are challenging with functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) data, not only because of the amount of data that needs to be
collected, adding a particular challenge for human fMRI research, but also due to the change in
hypothesis being addressed with various analytical techniques. Domain adaptation is a type of
transfer learning, a step beyond machine learning which allows for multiple related, but not
identical, data to contribute to a model, can be beneficial to overcome the limitation of data
needed but may address different hypothesis questions than anticipated given the analysis
computation. This dissertation assesses …

Framing Addiction: How Variations Of News Stories Affect Attitudes Toward Addicts, James A. Smith

LSU Master's Theses

Stigma toward drug addicts and alcoholics can act as a barrier to treatment and, ultimately, result in more lives lost. Over previous decades, journalists have largely framed addicts as problematic to society which contributes to public stigma. Prior research in social medicine has found that non-news portrayals of treated addicts can improve public attitudes. Similarly, studies in mass communication have found that different ways of framing news stories can elicit different attitudes from news consumers. The purpose of this study is to test the effects of thematic framing, episodic framing, problem framing, and solution framing on readers’ attitudes when journalists …

The Local Neurologies Of Substance Use Triggers, Breanne I. Casper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Substance use triggers are largely understood to be embedded in drug use contexts and to be a major precipitator of relapse. Yet, the relationship between triggers and future instances of drug use is not quite clear– particularly in understanding the nuances of when triggers are “triggering” and when they are not. Additionally, there is little ethnographic work that explores how individuals interact with triggers in contexts related to substance use, particularly during periods of active use. This project employs ethnographic and survey research methods to interrogate substance use triggers in the harm reduction context. In doing so, it answers the …

The Impact Of Family Support And Rejection On Suicide Ideation And Attempt Among Transgender Adults In The U.S., Guadalupe Marquez-Velarde, Gabe H. Miller, Jesse Ezra Shircliff, Mario Itzel Suárez

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

We evaluate the association of familial factors and suicidality among transgender adults in the U.S. by estimating the odds of lifetime suicide ideation and attempt using the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Predictors include family support, family rejection, and specific experiences related to both. About 79% of sample respondents have experienced suicidal ideation and nearly 43% have made a suicide attempt. The predicted probability of suicide attempt is 0.35 for those with no family rejection experiences, 0.75 for those who have had all five experiences in our models. Rejection predicts both outcomes and experiences of rejection have a cumulative impact.

Towards Scalable Mental Health: Leveraging Digital Tools In Combination With Computational Modeling To Aid In Treatment And Assessment Of Major Depressive Disorder, Matthew D. Nemesure

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating disorder that impacts the lives of nearly 280 million individuals worldwide, representing 5% of the overall adult population. Unfortunately, these statistics have been both trending upward and are also likely an underestimate. This can be primarily attributed to lack of screening paired with a lack of providers. Worldwide, there are roughly 450 individuals living with MDD per mental health care provider. Adding to this burden, approximately half of affected individuals that do receive care of any kind will fail to remain in remission. The goal of this thesis work is to leverage statistical …