Psychology Commons^™

Trauma Responsive Elementary Schools In Virginia, Aleksa Putnam

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

School systems and personnel are beginning to recognize the immense impact that trauma has on their student populations and take initiative to address these factors within the school building using trauma responsive practices. School personnel are likely to encounter the effects of trauma on a regular basis in the management of behavioral concerns, which have a dose-response relationship to traumatic experiences. School principals are leaders in the school building and have a large influence on school-wide practices, thus are in the unique position to alter policy and practice. The current study examined Virginia elementary school principals’ level of trauma training, …

A Qualitative Study Of The Foster Parent Experience: “I Try To Weather The Storm”, Ariel D. Marrero

Dissertations, 2020-current

This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of foster parents to understand how they make meaning of their child’s behavior and their training needs. A survey posted to online foster parent support communities gathered information about foster parents’ level of parental reflective functioning, perceptions of training experiences, and reflections on their parenting experience. Responses from 13 participants were collected and analyzed. Quantitative data gathered was used to characterize the sample of participants. Using thematic analysis, nine themes were rendered. Participants identified positive and negative aspects of their parenting experience, reported strong feelings of love, highlighted the impact of trauma on …

The Influence Of Childhood Trauma And Ptsd Symptoms On Attention And Adhd Symptoms In Adulthood: An Eeg Study, Kylie M. Jupp

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The influence of childhood trauma on clinical and cognitive functioning, specifically attention, has a large research base. However, the majority of studies have examined response inhibition to measure attention, and very few studies have evaluated how childhood trauma influences attentional control behavior and brain activity. Additionally, I aimed to integrate the use of the Allostatic Load Theory (ALT) to examine the outcome of negative attentional outcomes through the input of traumatic stressors. I addressed the above limitation and incorporated the ALT by investigating the influence of childhood trauma, community violence, and PTSD symptoms on attention performance and brain activity …

Mindfulness And Technology: Evaluating An Online Mindfulness Intervention For Symptoms Related To Sexual Assault, Erica Catherine Johnson

Dissertations

Sexual assault has been found to increase the risk of distressing psychological symptoms including PTSD, depression, somatization, drug and substance use, lower quality of life and experiential avoidance. As such, interventions for reducing the distress and negative impacts of sexual assault are of importance. Mindfulness is of particular interest as it addresses one of the prominent factors known to maintain psychological distress after trauma, experiential avoidance (Polusny et al., 2004; Merwin et al., 2009). Furthermore, an online mindfulness-based intervention can increase the accessibility and reduce the barriers to treatment. A within subjects repeated measures open clinical trial design was used …

Natural Disasters And Attachment Quality: The Mediating Roles Of Self-Compassion And Positive Mental Health, Alexandra Teller

Dissertations

Emerging adults exposed to natural disasters may develop posttraumatic stress symptoms, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders. Attachment quality has been found to be negatively associated with psychopathology in emerging adult hurricane survivors; however, the mechanisms by which this occurs have not yet been explored fully. Self-compassion may act as a protective factor against developing psychopathology while potentially promoting positive mental health outcomes following hurricane exposure. Furthermore, positive mental health has been identified as a potential resilience resource and may be impacted by attachment quality and self-compassion. The present study investigated the relationships between attachment quality, self-compassion, positive mental health, posttraumatic …

A Tale Of Two Crises: The Compounded Effect Of Covid-19 And Anti-Immigration Policy In The United States, Luz M. Garcini, Melanie M. Domenech Rodriguez, Alfonso Mercado, Manuel Paris

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting some important sources of health disparities that assail our society’s most vulnerable people, particularly undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. The focus of this commentary is on uncovering those sources of health disparities and making a call for action.

Posttraumatic Growth In The Context Of Grief: Testing The Mindfulness-To-Meaning Theory, Honey Williams

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

The current study utilized a cross-sectional survey design to examine the role of mindfulness and meaning-making in the development of posttraumatic growth following the death of a loved one. Participants were 232 adults (77.2% female, 85% Caucasian), ages 18 to 67 years old (M = 35.7, SD = 12.5) who had experienced the death of a loved one in the last 10 years. Preliminary analysis indicated significant positive bivariate correlations between mindfulness and meaning making (r = .39 ) and mindfulness and posttraumatic growth (r = .20 ), as well significant negative bivariate correlations between mindfulness and …

Critically And Creatively Engaging With Trauma-Informed Mental Health Research And Treatment Of Lgbtqia+ Communities As Expressive Arts Therapists: A Literature Review, Kelli Lavallee

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Expressive Arts Therapists are uniquely situated as both artists and mental health counselors working in psychological pedagogy rooted in systems of oppression. Given the arts-based approaches to the therapeutic relationship, it can be unethical to offer these approaches without acknowledgement of the ways in which the arts intersect with social justice, and justice is only viable if practitioners critically review the clinical mental health education they are consuming from the institutions they learn in, specifically trauma-informed mental health research assimilation and treatment approaches for Expressive Arts Therapists in training, practice, and education. A review of the literature in this paper …

The Criminalized Victim: Can Knowledge Of Trauma And Coercion Influence Free Will Doubt And Perception Of Culpability For Sex Trafficked Individuals?, Megan Korovich

Student Theses

Individuals who have been sex trafficked are continuously being targeted for prostitution and other related offenses instead of being recognized for their victimization. This may occur due to a fundamental lack of understanding of the sex-trafficked experience, allowing for misperceptions to form unhindered. Individuals with these misperceptions then go on to form laws and services intended to aid victims, but instead leave them vulnerable and criminalized. This study assessed whether an educational intervention on the experience of a sex-trafficked individual could influence public perceptions of free will doubt and criminal culpability. This study used a nonequivalent groups posttest-only design to …

The Romanticization Of Violent Male Offenders: How Trauma And Internalized Sexism Can Explain Women's Fascination With Serial Killers, Ella R. Johnson

Student Theses

Past research has noted that women are interested in true crime more than men (Vicary & Fraley, 2014), and that some women romanticize violent male offenders (Isenberg, 1991). This study investigated women’s fascination with serial killers compared to other offenders and the psychological correlates of women who are fascinated with serial killers. I hypothesized women’s fascination was unique to serial killers and may be related to safe and culturally acceptable ways of coping with interpersonal trauma. Results largely support these hypotheses, indicating women were more fascinated with serial killers compared to other offenders, and with PTSD, child abuse, intimacy attitudes, …

The Role Of Emotional Acceptance And Awareness In The Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms And Posttraumatic Growth Among Survivors Of Sexual Assault, Cecilia Maria Melendez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (Morgan & Oudekerk, 2019), sexual assault is defined as an act or attempted act of unwanted sexual violence. The psychological consequences following an assault can lead to a number of negative mental health outcomes, such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey reported that 22.2% of survivors experience symptoms of PTSD following exposure to sexual victimization (Black et al., 2011). However, recent research suggests positive outcomes can also result following trauma, such as enhanced meaning making or clarification of values. Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) refers to a transformation …

Development Of A Method For Utilizing Oriental Belly Dance Rhythms To Deepen A Client’S Understanding Of Their Emotions After Experiencing Trauma, And Move Towards Healing, Jenny Nehir Eish-Baltaoglu

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

A workshop was offered to local women in North Eastern Ohio who have experienced trauma and are facing uncomfortable emotions or unpleasant memories as a result. A guided body scan, Focusing Oriented Art directives, and improvisational movement explorations were employed to deepen awareness and understanding of the emotions and memories participants wished to have better control over. Three movement rhythms, which are central to the ancient feminine dance form popularly known as belly dance, were explored through improvisational movement both as a group and independently. These movement rhythms included staccato pops and locks, fluid figure eights, and vibratory shimmies. Participants …

Rhythm And Safety Of Social Engagement: Polyvagal Theory Informed Dance/Movement Therapy, Suzanne Weare

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The polyvagal theory has exerted great influence on the field of clinical therapy since the 1990s by proposing an understanding of the psychological expression seen in clients as a reflection of their physiological state of safety or threat of danger. When affect and psychological states are viewed through the lens of the autonomic nervous system directed by neuroception through bidirectional vagal nerve information, therapeutic presence and somatic therapy practices, such as those utilized in the field of dance/movement therapy, become more conceivable as best practices to treat a variety of psychological conditions to include trauma recovery, autism spectrum disorders, and …

Exploring The Experience Of Psychological Distress For Young Adults With Cancer: Implications For A New Diagnosis Of Medical Traumatic Stress, Audrey Ryan

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how a serious medical diagnosis, such as cancer, can act as an acute or prolonged trauma. This was explored through the lived experiences of psychological distress of young cancer survivors. Participants were 12 men and women who had been diagnosed with cancer within the past seven years when they were between the ages of 18 and 39. From these interviews several themes emerged that describe the phenomenon of what I have termed medical traumatic stress.

Trauma from a medical event does not currently meet criteria for PTSD in the DSM-5 …

The Role Of Perceived Heterosexism In Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity Among Trauma-Exposed Sexual Minority Individuals, Natalie M. Cereseto

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis employed structured posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) assessments, a micro-longitudinal 30-day daily diary assessment, and multilevel modeling to investigate the unique and interactive effects of traumatic stress and daily sexual minority-related discrimination on PTSD symptoms and negative affect in a diverse sample of 38 trauma-exposed SM individuals.

Trauma And Life-Satisfaction From A Dual-Factor Model Approach, David P. Engel

Psychology and Counseling Theses

The traditional approach in the mental health field is to view psychopathology and indicators of well-being as constructs at opposite ends of the same continuum. Recent evidence suggests that these might be separate, but related, constructs. Participants were 357 undergraduate psychology students who completed online questionnaires measuring trauma symptoms, life satisfaction, and four positive psychological constructs associated with well-being: gratitude, grit, hope, and savoring. Participants were organized into four groups based on life satisfaction level and trauma symptoms. Groups differed significantly on measures of gratitude, grit, hope, and savoring. Results support evidence that psychopathology and indicators of well-being are separate, …

Drawing Out Trauma: Visual Art Therapy For Child Sexual Abuse Victims, Katelynn K. Mckinnon

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a global problem that can have lasting effects cognitively, physiologically, and emotionally for the victim. If the psychological damage from CSA goes untreated, it can lead to unstable conditions within one’s self, and in relationships. When children are affected by sexual abuse, it can be difficult for them to verbalize the traumatic incident. This inability to express can lead to problems in viewing and experiencing the self, and may lead to dissociation. Many aspects of trauma symptoms are difficult for individuals and especially children to express verbally. Visual arts therapy offers an alternative to verbal-based …

Can Spiritual Experiences Promote Empathy In The Context Of Past Adverse Childhood Experiences?, Alison Ickes

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous research suggests that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can greatly impact a child’s physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing later in life. ACE exposure has been associated with lower levels of empathy in the literature. Spirituality is often associated with a number of positive outcomes, including those associated with empathy, like prosocial behaviors. The present study examines spirituality as a buffer against reduced empathy in those with exposure to adverse events in childhood. Participants for this study were recruited through the SONA research platform at East Tennessee State University as part of a larger research project, the REACH (Religions, Emotions, and …

Approach And Avoidance Coping Humor Motives And Their Relation To Trauma Exposure And Physical Health, Andrea D. Dorbu

Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated approach-avoidance motives for humor use and their association with physical health symptoms linked to childhood trauma exposure and adult relationship trauma exposure among military-affiliated people and civilians (N=100). Results indicated that approach-avoidance motives for humor use were not associated with study variables. However, adult relationship trauma exposure had a significant positive association with physical health symptoms among both groups. In addition, childhood trauma exposure was significantly positively associated with adult relationship trauma exposure.

An Exploratory Study Of An Arts-Based Measure And Research Model That Examines The Relationship Between Attachment Style, Trauma, And The Use Of Adhesive Materials In Art Therapy, Lisa Furman

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

Though the use of art materials (pencil, paint, clay) have been widely researched in art therapy, little has been written about the role of adhesives (glue, tape, staples) in the art making process. This exploratory, sequential mixed methods study examined the relationship between attachment style, trauma, and the use of adhesive materials in art therapy and serves as a model for arts-based research which combines the scientific rigor of quantitative inquiry with a rich narrative descriptive of qualitative data. This research was the first step in developing the Arts-based Attachment Style Assessment (ABASA), a newly created art-based diagnostic tool to …

Helping Bereaved Students: The Effects Of Early Traumatic Loss And The Role Of School Personnel And Supportive Services, Sarah Moss, Breanna Couts, Etienne Hopkinson, Emily Jobson, Oliviah Rachael, Abigail Danzig, Gabriella Demelfi, Taylor Pyle

Psychology Presentations

In 1998, Felitti et al. conducted a ground-breaking study that showed how ACES, or adverse childhood experiences, can have major psychological and physical effects not only in the early years, but throughout the lifespan. This study focused primarily on 10 ACES (see chart). Our studies have been investigating whether grief and loss are also ACEs with similar consequences. If so, school personnel and other educators may be in a unique position to support bereaved students.

Individual Attitudes And Perceived Efficacy Toward Bystander Intervention Among Childhood Trauma Survivors, Haley Hansmeier, Taylor Brumbaugh, Bailey Lytle, Kyle Bizal, Adisson Ams, Daniel Stephens, Shaina Kumar, Sarah Gervais, David Dilillo

UCARE: Research Products

◉ Childhood abuse and neglect are related to a number of negative outcomes in adulthood, including increased risk for mental health disorders and additional traumatic experiences, poor self-efficacy, and difficulties with interpersonal relationships (Brietzke et al., 2012; Dube et al., 2003; Sachs-Ericsson, Medley, Kendall-Tackett, & Taylor, 2011).

◉ Women who have experienced childhood sexual abuse in particular are at greater risk for lower levels of self-efficacy in adulthood (Diehl & Prout, 2002).

◉ Because sexual abuse survivors experience low self-efficacy, they might feel less confident with regard to engaging in bystander intervention, even though they want to prevent another victim …

An Application Of The Interpersonal Psychological Theory Of Suicide In College-Age Survivors Of Sexual Assault, Ava Katherine Fergerson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sexual victimization is a pervasive public health concern that disproportionately affects college students and results in severe mental and physical health risks for survivors. Despite low prevalence rates in the general population, a national study found that 33% of survivors of rape reported suicidal ideation, and 13% actually made a suicide attempt (Kilpatrick et al., 1992). Although it is clear that survivors of sexual violence are at increased risk for suicide, knowledge is largely limited to epidemiological studies. Few studies have integrated theories of suicide to understand how and why this population is at such elevated risk for suicidal thoughts …

Adult Criminal Offenders Recollection Of Childhood Exposure To Trauma And Its Impact, Taneshia V. Sims

Dissertations

Trauma can occur at any age and occurs as a result of an individual experiencing or witnessing an event that threatens or has the potential to threaten their life, well-being, or psychological state of mind. The type, duration, and effect of the trauma varied per person and experiences were shared that had negative effects that could last for the duration of their lifetime. The identification of specific risk factors may help in the development of specialized treatment options that may provide an individual with a greater chance of learning skills that could teach them how to deal with the effects …

Making Space For The Adolescent Unconscious: A Case-Based Reflection On Practice, Donna M. San Antonio Dr., Nathan Gorelick

Faculty Scholarship

Community-based psychotherapists and school counsellors work to assist adolescents through sharing resources, building awareness of cognition and behavior, and skill development in communicative competence. However, adolescents, eager to delve deeper into the unknown territory of their being, also present us with speech and acts coming from the unconscious, in the form of metaphors, forgetting, behavioral excesses, mishaps, and physical symptoms. As adolescents search for ways to manage childhood trauma, find meaning and purpose in their lives, and clarify an aspirational direction that makes sense to them, they rarely have opportunities to work at a deeper level. In this article, psychoanalytically …

Colonial Trauma And Testimony In Mary Shelley’S Frankenstein And Jamaica Kincaid’S Autobiography Of My Mother, Leana Rene

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will examine Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle to examine the colonial trauma and loss found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Jamaica Kincaid’s Autobiography of My Mother, not just on a character level, but in a much larger colonial context. Some scholars have suggested that Shelley’s monster is a symbol of a colonized other (due to his appearance and certain features he has). Kincaid’s Xuela is for sure a colonized other because of the heritage of her mother. This thesis explores their abandonment by their creators as the abandonment of colonized nations from their colonizers. Even now, formerly colonized …

Trauma And Identity: A Reciprocal Relationship?, Steven L. Berman, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Kaylin Ratner

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Trauma can alter the course of identity development and destabilize existing identity commitments. Trauma, whether past or current, can also impact the resources a person brings to identity work. However, identity can also be a lens through which trauma is perceived and interpreted, helping to determine whether a traumatic experience results in posttraumatic stress disorder or posttraumatic growth. Despite the apparent implications each construct has for the other, the scholarship at the intersection of trauma and identity remains sparse. This Special Issue explores how and when trauma and identity influence one another by considering their association across various adolescent populations, …

Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Discrimination: An Examination Of The Role Of Blame Cognitions In Ptsd And Depression Symptoms, Timothy Stahl

Theses and Dissertations

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) emerging adults experience higher rates of trauma and discrimination, and subsequent PTSD and depression, than heterosexual emerging adults (Feinstein et al., 2012; Hatzenbuehler et al., 2008; Roberts et al., 2010). Our understanding of the relations between trauma/discrimination and psychiatric sequelae in LGB emerging adults is limited by: (1) uncertainty in the possible differential impact of LGB-specific trauma versus non-LGB-specific trauma, (2) uncertainty of the unique impacts of trauma and discrimination, and (3) lack of studies integrating cognitive theories of trauma (Brewin & Holmes, 2003) into Hatzenbuehler’s (2009) psychological mediation framework. This cross-sectional study included 82 …

A Meta-Analytic Review Of The Relationship Between Interpersonal Trauma And Committed Romantic Relationships, Geneva Polser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effects of trauma can be wide reaching and long lasting. In effort to create more comprehensive theories for the effects of trauma, there is a focus on the association between trauma and intimate relationships. For example, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; APA 2013) is associated with deficiencies in romantic relationship satisfaction through an increase in maladaptive communication patterns, relationship instability and intimate partner violence. Furthermore, relationship satisfaction can predict decreases in an individual reliving the trauma, emotional numbness and irritability.

The focus in this study is on interpersonal trauma. This encompasses trauma enacted from one (or more) individual(s) onto another …

Black Minds Matter: A Phenomenological Inquiry Examining The Prevalence Of Racial Trauma Among Black Doctoral Students, Jazmyne Markeeva Peters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Systemic and institutionalized racism is endemic to life in the United States and contributes to the daily marginalization of Black people. While the negative psychological and physiological effects of racism have been well-documented, the notion that racism can be experienced as a trauma is a newer theory. Racial trauma has been understudied and underappreciated, though it is a theory that clinicians should incorporate when working with Black clients and other clients of color. Exploring the ways in which Black doctoral students attending a predominantly White institution (PWI) have experienced racism is an essential contribution to the existing racial trauma literature. …