Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Let Fall: Hysteria And The Psychoanalytic Act, Matthew W. Oyer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This text proposes to examine the contemporary crisis of psychoanalysis by taking seriously feminist critiques of the theory’s phallocentrism, but arguing that the phallus cannot be metaphorically or metonymically replaced by any substitutive term, as most revisionist theories of psychoanalysis have sought to do. Castration is the central psychoanalytic concept, though the theory always seeks to cover it over. In order to develop a psychoanalysis that can confront this castration that is always repressed and yet, in its persistent return, continuously disrupts the continuity of psychoanalytic theory, a detour is proposed, returning to the origins of psychoanalysis and taking hysteria …

Symptom Patterns Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Deaf Trauma Survivors, Melissa L. Anderson, Amanda Sortwell, Kelly S. Wolf Craig, Douglas M. Ziedonis

JADARA

Details about Deaf people’s pattern of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms remain relatively unknown due to inaccessible methods used in most epidemiological research. We conducted semi-structured American Sign Language interviews with 16 trauma-exposed Deaf individuals to explore their PTSD symptom patterns. Half met criteria for current PTSD, a rate higher than the general population. Underlying this disparity may be heightened rates of dissociation and psychogenic amnesia reported by many Deaf trauma survivors. Future research with large samples of Deaf survivors is needed to clarify this hypothesis, and to inform interventions that more accurately target Deaf people’s pattern of trauma symptoms.

Burnout Is Associated With A Depressive Cognitive Style, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

We examined whether burnout is associated with a depressive cognitive style, understood as a combination of dysfunctional attitudes, ruminative responses, and pessimistic attributions. A total of 1386 U.S. public school teachers were included—1063 women (M_age: 42.73, SD_age = 11.36) and 323 men (M_age: 44.60, SD_age = 11.42). Burnout was assessed with the Shirom–Melamed Burnout Measure (SMBM). Dysfunctional attitudes were measured with the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale Short Form, ruminative responses with the Ruminative Responses Scale, and pessimistic attributions with the Depressive Attributions Questionnaire. For comparative purposes, depression was assessed using the 9-item depression module of the …

The Semantic Memory Imaging In Late Life Pilot Study, Michael Adam Sugarman

Wayne State University Dissertations

Introduction: Several functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have analyzed the famous name discrimination task (FNDT), an uncontrolled semantic memory probe requiring discrimination between famous and unfamiliar individuals. Completion of this simple task recruits a semantic memory network that has shown utility in determining risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Specific semantic memory probes using biographical information associated with famous individuals may build on previous findings and yield superior information regarding risk for AD.

Method: Sixteen cognitively intact elders completed the FNDT and two novel tasks during fMRI: Categories (matching famous individuals to occupational categories) and Attributes (matching famous individuals to …

Burnout’S Prevalence Estimations: A House Of Cards?, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Elmariah et al. (2016) found that 65% of the internal medicine residents who were assessed suffered from burnout. We have 3 concerns about the conclusion. First, the authors used a cutoff score on a burnout measure that is problematic because (a) it is devoid of theoretical or clinical grounding and (b) burnout items were formatted in an unorthodox manner, and (c) including residents who responded "neutral" to a symptom item among those identified as burned out. Second, the authors identified as burned out residents who worked on the night float rotation although the data suggest otherwise. Third information on symptom …

On The Dead End Of Current Research On Burnout's Prevalence, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Dimou et al. (2016) concluded that >50% of surgeons experience burnout. For three reasons, we think that such conclusions are unwarranted. First, there are no consensual or binding diagnostic criteria for burnout. Second, recent research (e.g., Bianchi, Schonfeld, & Laurent, 2015) suggests that burnout is actually a depressive syndrome. Finally, we note that researchers’ recommendations about stress-reducing organizational changes often remain incantatory because they insufficiently consider the economic issues and macrosocial power relationships that can hamper the recommendations’ implementation. Current practices in burnout research have led to an accumulation of results, the clinical meaning of which is obscure.

Burnout-Depression Overlap: A Study Of New Zealand Schoolteachers, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Mayor, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

We examined the overlap of burnout with depression in a sample of 184 New Zealand schoolteachers. Burnout and depressive symptoms were strongly correlated with each other (r = .73; disattenuated correlation: .82) and moderately correlated with dysfunctional attitudes, ruminative responses, and pessimistic attributions. All the participants with high frequencies of burnout symptoms were identified as clinically depressed. Suicidal ideation was reported by 36% of those participants. Three groups of teachers emerged from a two-step cluster analysis: “low burnout-depression,” “medium burnout-depression,” and “high burnout-depression.” The correlation between the affective-cognitive and somatic symptoms of depression was similar in strength to the burnout-depression …

Fear Of Alzheimer's Disease And Its Role In Memory Monitoring And Control, Annalise Marie Rahman

Wayne State University Dissertations

Introduction: Fear of Alzheimer’s disease (FAD), or Anticipatory Dementia, is a healthy adult’s misinterpretation of everyday memory failures as indicators of developing dementia. The current study investigated the construct of FAD and aimed to contextualize FAD within the Health Belief Model through development of a new scale, the Anticipatory Dementia Index (ADI). The study also assessed the relationship between FAD and metacognitive monitoring and metacognitive control.

Methods: 94 cognitively-intact community-dwelling older adults with and without a history of family history of AD completed questionnaires regarding their subjective memory complaints, state and trait anxiety, depression, and multiple measures of FAD, including …

Perceptions Of Female Sexual Pathology: The Role Of Racial Biases In Clinical Decision Making, Jerusha Sanjeevi

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Diversity issues such as multicultural competence and sexual health competence have received increased but separate academic attention in recent years. Although empirical support has been found for the presence of racial biases in the diagnoses of mental health disorders, there is no evidence to date regarding the role of racial biases in the diagnoses of female sexual pathology. In the present study, 101 pre-doctoral psychology interns across the United States assessed the symptom severity of a fictional client via online vignettes in which client race was experimentally manipulated. Participants did not report significantly different symptom severity ratings between the vignettes …

An Analysis Of Reinforcers Maintaining Caregiving Behaviors Of Long-Term Care Facility Staff, Sandra Garcia

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Traditionally, the medical model has been the standard level of care in long-term care facilities. However, many facilities are transitioning from the medical model to a person-centered approach. The core of person-centered care is the relationship between frontline staff and residents. Empirical research has found person-centered care to reduce depressive and behavioral symptoms, levels of loneliness, and increase quality of care in residents; person-centered care has increased job satisfaction in nursing staff. Unfortunately, little is known about what motivates caregiving behavior in nursing staff and whether these motivators are consistent with principles of person-centered care. The current study attempted to …

Impact Of Stigma On Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help For Depression, Anna Marie Dierks

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Depression is the most common mental illness, affecting almost seven percent of Americans each year. Although mental illness treatment through professional psychological services has been proven to be effective, underutilization of these services is high. Underutilization of seeking help could lead to serious consequences, such as suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults aged 15-34 years old and in 2013 the highest rates of suicide were among adults aged 45-64 years old. Stigma has been viewed as a barrier to seeking professional psychological help.

Two age groups were chosen for this research due …

A Latent Profile Analysis Of Drinking Patterns Among Nonstudent Emerging Adults, Cathy Lau-Barraco, Abby L. Braitman, Amy L. Stamates, Ashley N. Linden-Carmichael

Psychology Faculty Publications

Research indicates that nonstudent emerging adults, as compared to their college-attending peers, are at higher risk for experiencing alcohol-related problems, including alcohol use disorders. The present study sought to extend the limited research on nonstudent drinking by (1) identifying sub-groups of nonstudent drinkers based on their drinking patterns and (2) determining the extent to which social-cognitive between-person factors related to drinking (i.e., social expectancies, perceived drinking norms, social drinking motivations) distinguish these sub-groups. Participants were 195 (65.1% men) nonstudent emerging adult heavy episodic drinkers recruited from the community. Mean age was 21.88 (SD = 2.08) years and 45.4% were unemployed. …

Contemplating Mindfulness At Work: An Integrative Review, Darren J. Good, Christopher Lyddy, Theresa M. Glomb, Joyce E. Bono, Kirk W. Brown, Michelle K. Duffy, Ruth A. Baer, Judson A. Brewer, Sara W. Lazar

School of Business Faculty Publications

Mindfulness research activity is surging within organizational science. Emerging evidence across multiple fields suggests that mindfulness is fundamentally connected to many aspects of workplace functioning, but this knowledge base has not been systematically integrated to date. This review coalesces the burgeoning body of mindfulness scholarship into a framework to guide mainstream management research investigating a broad range of constructs. The framework identifies how mindfulness influences attention, with downstream effects on functional domains of cognition, emotion, behavior, and physiology. Ultimately, these domains impact key workplace outcomes, including performance, relationships, and well-being. Consideration of the evidence on mindfulness at work stimulates important …

Relation Between Harsh Parenting Exposure In Childhood And Adult Externalizing Symptoms : Moderating Role Of The Autonomic Nervous System, Samantha Aldea Barry

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Though literature suggests that many individuals with childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) report having symptoms of the respective disorder as adults, little is known about potential predictors of adulthood externalizing symptoms. The proposed study examines the impact of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), as measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), as measured by skin conductance levels (SCL), on the link between harsh parenting experienced during childhood and ADHD and ODD symptoms during young adulthood. Results yielded a significant two-way interaction between harsh parenting and resting RSA, which significantly accounted for …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Clinician Attitudes And Experiences Learning And Implementing Transdiagnostic Evidence-Based Practices For Eating Disorders, Jennifer Marie Oswald

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Clinician experiences with the implementation of new practices are important factors in facilitating the use of new treatment models and evidence-based practices (EBPs). As such, they provide crucial information to behavioral health dissemination and implementation research. Qualitative interviewing allows researchers to learn from clinician experiences with greater depth and nuance. The present study qualitatively analyzed 8 clinicians’ experiences with the implementation of a new transdiagnostic treatment model for eating disorders (ED) at an intensive residential treatment center. Participating clinicians completed a semi-structured interview based on constructs from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), an organizing framework with demonstrated utility …

Exposure To Interparental Aggression During Youth And Internalizing Psychopathology In Adulthood : The Moderating Role Of The Autonomic Nervous System, Alison J. Rivers

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The present study examines the impact of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an indicator of parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity, and skin conductance level (SCL), an indicator of sympathetic nervous systems (SNS) activity, on the relationship between interparental aggression exposure in childhood and adolescence and internalizing psychopathology (anxiety, depression symptoms, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms) in young adulthood. Participants completed self-report questionnaires regarding youth interparental aggression exposure and current young adult psychopathology. Participants included 188 adults (mean age = 19.45 years old; 72% Caucasian/white; 55% female). Results demonstrate that co-activation of the PNS and SNS in the context of high interparental …

Burnout And Depression: Label-Related Stigma, Help-Seeking, And Syndrome Overlap, Renzo Bianchi, Jay Verkuilen, Romain Brisson, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

We investigated whether burnout and depression differed in terms of public stigma and help-seeking attitudes and behaviors. Secondarily, we examined the overlap of burnout and depressive symptoms. A total of 1046 French schoolteachers responded to an Internet survey in November–December 2015. The survey included measures of public stigma, help-seeking attitudes and behaviors, burnout and depressive symptoms, self-rated health, neuroticism, extraversion, history of anxiety or depressive disorder, social desirability, and sociodemographic variables.The burnout label appeared to be less stigmatizing than the depression label. In either case, however, fewer than 1% of the participants exhibited stigma scores signaling agreement with the proposed …

The Effects Of A Trauma-Informed Care Training Program On Mental Health Professionals Knowledge, Skills, And Attitudes With The Smi, Angelina Pelletier

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Trauma has been found to be highly prevalent among individuals diagnosed with SMIs. Mental health professionals have been reported to misdiagnose or avoid addressing trauma in this population. There is a need to provide information about trauma and to foster awareness among mental health professionals who are treating individuals diagnosed with SMIs. With a TIC approach, operating from a recovery-oriented philosophy, there have been interventions created to address trauma and SMIs with the aim of developing awareness about trauma and the impact it may have on someone’s life. With these factors in mind, mental health professionals should be competent in …

Mand Training: An Examination Of Response-Class Structure In Three Children With Autism And Severe Language Delays, Erik Drasgow, Christian A. Martin, Laura C. Chezan, Katie Wolfe, James W. Halle

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Our primary purpose in this study was to examine the structure of a response class when new members are acquired through mand training. To do this, we replaced existing mands (e.g., reaching) in three children with autism with two new functionally equivalent mands. Next, we examined their responding under immediate- and delayed-reinforcement conditions. Then, we assessed generalization to novel social partners. We employed a reversal design to examine the effectiveness of mand training and to assess responding under both immediate- and delayed-reinforcement conditions. Our results suggest that all children acquired the new mands and that two of the children emitted …

Saving Our Heroes: A Longitudinal Study Of Mental Disorders Within The Fire Service, Bailee Pelham

Scripps Senior Theses

Previous research on the mental health of firefighters has shown that they are at a greater risk than the majority of the population to develop various mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, suicidal ideation, and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, very little research has been done on the repetitive cumulative exposure to trauma that is associated with their career, which may lead to elevated levels of mental disorders that may not be detected in one testing. In this study, a series of assessments will be given to a sample of urban firefighters every year for the entirety of their …

Effect Of Prior Trauma Exposure On Alpha Amplitude, Heart Rate, And Self-Reported Negative Affect, Gina L. Denoble

All Master's Theses

This study was conducted to investigate whether the number of traumatic events an individual has previously experienced influences that individual’s physiological and psychological reactions when exposed to a negative affective stimulus followed by a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention. Twenty-eight participants were placed into intact quasi-experimental groups based on their scores on the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire (TLEQ). The negative affective stimulus consisted of a series of photos bearing negative affective valence. The photos were selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), and paralleled the areas of trauma exposure evaluated by the TLEQ. All participants were exposed to the …

Perceptions And Attitudes Of A Sample Of Primary Care Patients Receiving Psychological Care From Their Pcp, Nadine Henzes Gowarty

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

With millions of Americans suffering from a mental health disorder and slightly more than half receiving treatment, the demand for psychological services far outweighs the number of practitioners available to provide direct care. Therefore, the majority of all primary-care visits are based on psychosocial factors; one third of a PCP’s caseloads consist of patients with mental-health problems. Given the fact that PCPs provide comprehensive psychosocial care, it is important to determine the beliefs and perceptions of their patients. Results from this study identified numerous factors that influence the relationship between patients receiving mental health care from their PCP. Specifically, if …

Chronic Pain Causal Attributions In An Interdisciplinary Primary Care Clinic: Patient-Provider And Provider-Provider Discrepancies, Bryan Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of pain causal attributions on patient pain-related functioning, treatment engagement, and clinical outcomes. Additionally, the impact of discordant pain causal attributions between patients and their providers as well as between interdisciplinary providers was examined. Patients rated their pain functioning and causal pain attributions during a regular clinic visit. Following the patient’s visit both the behavioral medicine provider and internal medicine resident provided ratings of similar pain-related functioning domains and causal attributions. Follow-up data were collected from the electronic medical record three months following that clinic visit. Overall, results revealed …

Impact Of Distance, Diagnosis, And Demographics On Attendance For Rural Outpatient Treatment, Trey Howard Jensen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Missed psychotherapy appointments inhibit mental health treatment, limit the availability of treatment to those waiting for care, and reduce clinician revenue. Previous research has revealed that the factors that predict missed appointments vary depending on the geographic location in which that research is conducted. There is not a complete understanding of the characteristics of people who miss appointments in a rural context. This study used information from 281 client records to examine the predictive relationships among missed appointments and the distance traveled to the clinic, mental health diagnosis, age, and gender at a rural outpatient mental health clinic. The purpose …

Decision-Making Processes, Driving Performance, And Acute Responses To Alcohol In Dui Offenders, Walter Roberts

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Alcohol-impaired driving is a major cause of motor vehicle accident and death in the United States. People who are arrested for DUI (Driving under the Influence) are at high risk to reoffend; approximately one in three of these individuals will commit another DUI offense in the three years following their first conviction (Nochajski & Stasiewicz, 2006). This high risk for recidivism in these individuals suggests that cognitive characteristics may contribute to a pattern of pathological decision making leading to impaired driving. Indeed, individuals with a history of DUI report higher rates of impulsiveness and behavioral dysregulation compared to their nonoffending …

Burnout And Depression In Psychiatric Residents, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent, Pierre Vandel, Renzo Bianchi

Publications and Research

Kealy et al. (2016) found that 21% of psychiatric residents were suffering symptoms of burnout. A number of problems call that finding into question. First, the writers used a one-item measure to assess burnout. Second, mounting evidence suggests that burnout is a depressive syndrome. Third, unresolvable job stress is related to depression. Given burnout's overlap with depression and the diagnostic blur around burnout, research on the impact of job stress should connect with depression, which is nosologically well characterized and diagnosable using clinically validated instruments.

Burnout And Depression: Label-Related Stigma, Help-Seeking, And Syndrome Overlap, Renzo Bianchi, Jay Verkuilen, Romain Brisson, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

We investigated whether burnout and depression differed in terms of public stigma and help-seeking attitudes and behaviors. Secondarily, we examined the overlap of burnout and depressive symptoms. A total of 1046 French schoolteachers responded to an Internet survey in November–December 2015. The survey included measures of public stigma, help-seeking attitudes and behaviors, burnout and depressive symptoms, self-rated health, neuroticism, extraversion, history of anxiety or depressive disorder, social desirability, and socio-demographic variables. The burnout label appeared to be less stigmatizing than the depression label. In either case, however, fewer than 1% of the participants exhibited …

The Relationship Between Problem-Solving Ability/Eating Motivation And Perceived Quality Of Life In Individuals Diagnosed With Celiac Disease, Vincenzo Zaccheo

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Celiac disease (CD) is a digestive disorder resulting from gluten intolerance that leads to damage of the small intestine. The only current available treatment for CD involves adherence to a strict gluten-free diet. Due to the restrictive nature of this treatment diet, and the increasing prevalence of CD in recent years, much research has been conducted examining factors that impact the quality of life (QOL) of individuals with CD. However, there has been a dearth of literature identifying those factors which can be modified within a treatment setting. Thus, a need for further research in this area was identified. Through …

Initiation And Retention In Couples Outpatient Treatment For Parents With Drug And Alcohol Use Disorders, Abbly L. Braitman, Michelle L. Kelley

Psychology Faculty Publications

The focus of the current study was to identity mental health, relationship factors, substance use related problems, and individual factors as predictors of couples-based substance abuse treatment initiation and attendance. Heterosexual couples with children that met study criteria were invited to attend 12 sessions of outpatient behavioral couples therapy. Men were more likely to initiate treatment if they had a higher income, had greater relationship satisfaction, were initiating treatment for alcohol use disorder only, were younger when they first suspected a problem, and had higher depression but lower hostility or phobic anxiety. Men attended more treatment sessions if they reported …

Standardized Patient Encounters Periodic Versus Postencounter Evaluation Of Nontechnical Clinical Performance, T. Robert Turner, Mark W. Scerbo, Gayle A. Gliva-Mcconvey, Amelia M. Wallace

Psychology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Standardized patients are a beneficial component of modern healthcare education and training, but few studies have explored cognitive factors potentially impacting clinical skills assessment during standardized patient encounters. This study examined the impact of a periodic (vs. traditional postencounter) evaluation approach and the appearance of critical verbal and nonverbal behaviors throughout a standardized patient encounter on scoring accuracy in a video-based scenario.

Methods: Forty-nine standardized patients scored either periodically or at only 1 point in time (postencounter) a healthcare provider's verbal and nonverbal clinical performance during a videotaped standardized patient encounter. The healthcare provider portrayed in this study was …