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Full-Text Articles in Clinical Psychology

The Fear-Avoidance Model And Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms In University Students, Michael Broggi Nov 2023

The Fear-Avoidance Model And Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms In University Students, Michael Broggi

Doctoral Dissertations

Ten to 20% of individuals who sustain a concussion continue to experience symptoms outside the typical window of recovery. Pre-morbid and post-injury anxiety are risk-factors for persistent post-concussion symptoms (PCS). However, mechanisms linking anxiety and persistent PCS are unclear. The fear-avoidance model of disability could add clarity to associations between anxiety and persistent PCS. This study examined if factors of the fear-avoidance model (e.g., catastrophic thinking, fear of symptoms, anxiety sensitivity) would mediate the association between persistent PCS and maladaptive coping responses (e.g., avoidance, limiting activities) following concussion. To achieve this aim, university students (N = 43) with resolved …


A Latent Profile Analysis Of Four Characteristics Of Intimate Partner Violence And Associations With Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Ana Uribe Nov 2023

A Latent Profile Analysis Of Four Characteristics Of Intimate Partner Violence And Associations With Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Ana Uribe

Masters Theses

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent potentially traumatic experience that increases risk for posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). However, there is still considerable heterogeneity in PTSS among women exposed to IPV. Research on IPV has examined the ways in which different characteristics of IPV exposure have separately related to risk for PTSS, specifically the type (physical, psychological, economic, sexual), frequency (number of incidents), severity (minor, severe), and mode of violence (in-person, online). However, it may be important to examine how the integration of these characteristics of IPV differ across ���������������������� ���� ������ ���� ������������ �������������������� �������������� ���������� The current study …


Professional And Personal Humility In Relation To Between-Therapist Differences In Effectiveness, Heather Muir Nov 2023

Professional And Personal Humility In Relation To Between-Therapist Differences In Effectiveness, Heather Muir

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: Research demonstrates that mental health clinicians vary in their general effectiveness—the “between-therapist effect.” Thus, it is important to identify determinants of such differences in order to understand and cultivate the therapist characteristics or actions that reliably foster better patient outcomes. To date, several of such variables have emerged empirically. For example, therapists who exhibit higher versus lower levels of professional self-doubt (PSD; a critical questioning of one’s skills as a clinician) have been shown to achieve better interpersonal outcomes with their average patient. Although arguably counterintuitive, the beneficial influence of PSD may make sense if, instead of simply reflecting …


Borderline Personality Disorder And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Unique Patterns Of Emotion Reactivity And Regulation, Clara Defontes Oct 2022

Borderline Personality Disorder And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Unique Patterns Of Emotion Reactivity And Regulation, Clara Defontes

Masters Theses

Both borderline personality disorder (BPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are associated with emotion dysfunction and often co-occur. Emotional reactivity is also evident in some studies in BPD and PTSD. Despite the frequent co-occurrence of these diagnoses, only a few studies have examined the independent and joint effects of BPD and PTSD on emotional functioning. Some data suggest that co-occurring PTSD may drive discordance between domains of emotional reactivity in BPD, dampening physiological reactivity but increasing subjective reactivity. Low reliance on acceptance-based emotion regulation may also account for this divergence. The current study examined the independent and interactive effects of …


Borderline Personality Disorder And Learning: The Influences Of Emotional State And Social Versus Nonsocial Feedback, Elinor E. Waite Oct 2022

Borderline Personality Disorder And Learning: The Influences Of Emotional State And Social Versus Nonsocial Feedback, Elinor E. Waite

Masters Theses

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been linked to impulsive behaviors, interpersonal difficulties, and emotional reactivity. Although these impairments imply underlying deficits in decision-making, theory suggests that such deficits may be context dependent. Both emotional state and social context may influence learning in BPD. Reinforcement learning models offer an avenue to parse types of impairments in learning. The current study used reinforcement learning models to examine whether the type of feedback (social vs. nonsocial) moderates the association between BPD and learning under conditions of distress. Adults with BPD (N = 37), subthreshold BPD (N = 29), and without BPD …


Acculturative Parenting Cognitions: Bicultural Socialization Beliefs Among Chinese American Parents, Albert Lo Oct 2022

Acculturative Parenting Cognitions: Bicultural Socialization Beliefs Among Chinese American Parents, Albert Lo

Doctoral Dissertations

Chinese American and Chinese immigrant parents within the United States possess parenting cognitions that reflect their multidimensional cultural experiences. One such parenting cognition is parents’ bicultural socialization beliefs, defined as their desire for their children to adopt both heritage Chinese values as well as destination American values in order to be successful in the United States. The aim of the current dissertation was to quantitatively examine bicultural socialization beliefs among Chinese American parents of adolescents and young adults. Four studies were conducted to model a pathway from parents’ social and cultural experiences to outcomes in their children. Study 1 examined …


Social Stressors, Emotional Responses, And Nssi Urges And Behaviors In Daily Life, Lauren A. Haliczer Oct 2022

Social Stressors, Emotional Responses, And Nssi Urges And Behaviors In Daily Life, Lauren A. Haliczer

Doctoral Dissertations

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is prevalent among young adults, and is associated with myriad negative outcomes, including heightened suicide risk. The defective self model of NSSI theorizes that individuals who are highly self-critical and who feel they are deserving of punishment are more likely to choose NSSI over other emotion regulation strategies. This empirically-supported model has a number of under-examined implications. Specifically, individuals who engage in NSSI may be more prone to experiencing self-conscious emotions in response to negative social feedback, and this may place individuals at heightened imminent risk for NSSI in everyday life. Few studies have examined self-conscious emotional …


Interpersonal Process Differentiating Patient-Therapist Dyads With High Versus Low Convergence In Alliance Ratings, Brien Goodwin Oct 2022

Interpersonal Process Differentiating Patient-Therapist Dyads With High Versus Low Convergence In Alliance Ratings, Brien Goodwin

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: In a study of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), greater early patient-therapist convergence on post-session perceptions of their shared alliance quality was associated with better subsequent outcomes (Coyne et al., 2018). To further understand this evidence-based process, the present study examined whether in-session interpersonal microprocesses differentiated dyads known to possess high versus low early alliance convergence. First, I hypothesized that high versus low convergence dyads would be characterized by more overall positive interpersonal complementarity; moreover, in light of an interpersonal vulnerability associated with GAD (i.e., high deference to others), I investigated whether a …


It’S Not Black & White: Relationship Quality Within Interracial Couples, Alexandrea Craft Sep 2022

It’S Not Black & White: Relationship Quality Within Interracial Couples, Alexandrea Craft

Doctoral Dissertations

Within the United States, there has been a significant rise in multiracial families and biracial children. Approximately 17% of marriages occur between spouses of different races and/or ethnicities while 1 out of every 7 children born identify as multiracial. In light of the growing number of racially and ethnically diverse families, it is of concern that interracial couples are at heightened risk for divorce or separation compared to monoracial couples. Little research has explored why these disparities exist. Poorer relational outcomes in multiracial families may be the result of heightened conflict caused by a greater difference in partners’ values and …


Patient–Therapist Expectancy Convergence And Outcome In Naturalistic Psychotherapy, Averi N. Gaines Mar 2022

Patient–Therapist Expectancy Convergence And Outcome In Naturalistic Psychotherapy, Averi N. Gaines

Masters Theses

Aim: Research on close relationships demonstrates that dyadic convergence, or two people becoming more concordant in their experiences and/or beliefs over time, is commonplace and adaptive. As psychotherapy involves a close relationship, patient–therapist convergence processes may influence treatment-specific outcomes. Although prior research supports that patients and therapists tend to converge on their alliance perspectives over time, which associates with subsequent patient improvement, no research has similarly examined belief convergence during therapy. Accordingly, this study focused on patient–therapist convergence in their outcome expectation (OE), a belief variable associated with patient improvement when measured from individual participant perspectives. I predicted both that …


Therapist-Level Moderation Of Within- And Between-Therapist Process-Outcome Associations, Alice E. Coyne Oct 2021

Therapist-Level Moderation Of Within- And Between-Therapist Process-Outcome Associations, Alice E. Coyne

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: Although higher-quality patient-therapist alliance and more positive patient outcome expectation (OE) consistently predict improvement in psychotherapy, most research has failed to capture the inherent nuance in these process-outcome relations by parsing them into within-therapist (i.e., differences between patients treated by the same therapist) and between-therapist (i.e., differences between therapists’ average process/outcome ratings across all patients in their caseloads) components. Moreover, the few studies that have done so have produced mixed results, suggesting the possibility of systematic variability in these associations (i.e., moderators). One potential source of such variability could be providers themselves; that is, different therapists could use these …


Neural Precursors Of Apathy And Depressive Symptoms In Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Molly A. Mather Oct 2021

Neural Precursors Of Apathy And Depressive Symptoms In Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Molly A. Mather

Doctoral Dissertations

Depressive symptoms and apathy are common in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and are associated with increased risk of conversion to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The shared neuropathological model of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in AD suggests that symptoms of depression and anxiety represent noncognitive manifestations of neuropathological changes. Neurodegeneration in aMCI occurs in areas of the brain that support emotion regulation, including the limbic system and prefrontal control regions. Depression and apathy in aMCI have been linked to atrophy in the limbic system and prefrontal cortex and reduced connectivity in resting-state networks. However, it is not yet established whether neural changes …


Parental Conflict In The Context Of Multiethnoracial Relationships, Christina A. Rowley Jul 2021

Parental Conflict In The Context Of Multiethnoracial Relationships, Christina A. Rowley

Masters Theses

The percent of families with parents from different racial or ethnic backgrounds has risen exponentially in the last decades. Approximately 14% of children were born into multiethnoracial (MER) families in the United States in 2015, more than double the rate from 1980 (Bialik, 2017). Studies show that MER couples are more likely to separate or divorce than their monoethnoracial (MoER) counterparts, perhaps due to greater conflict stemming from differing values, coping strategies, and conflict management styles and decreased access to family and community support (Fu, Tora, & Kendall, 2001; Zhang & Van Hook, 2009). With the growing rates of MER …


It’S All The Rage: An Animated Approach To Screening For Postpartum Depression, Amanda Gorham Dec 2020

It’S All The Rage: An Animated Approach To Screening For Postpartum Depression, Amanda Gorham

Doctoral Dissertations

Postpartum depression presents a complication for mothers which can, in some cases, be severe and even life-threatening. Instruments commonly used to screen for this psychological condition have been challenged by an extensive body of literature, with many mothers being unidentified and even untreated for their symptoms. The presented research introduces a newly developed screening instrument for detecting probable postpartum depression using text-free scenario-based animations, based on the lived experience of the condition as qualified by empirical research and the existing body of literature. Developed items were controlled for quality via Think Aloud Protocol and alignment studies with subject matter experts …


Associations Between Cumulative Concussion And Academic Success In University Students, Michael Broggi May 2020

Associations Between Cumulative Concussion And Academic Success In University Students, Michael Broggi

Masters Theses

Individuals with a history of multiple concussions may be at risk for relative weaknesses in executive functioning and processing speed. These weaknesses could adversely influence academic skills and academic success. This study determined if the relative weaknesses in executive functions and processing speed mediate associations between multiple concussions and academic outcomes in university students. To achieve this aim, university students with a history of three or more concussions (n = 58) were compared to two control groups (ns = 57) on measures of executive functions, processing speed, academic skills, and academic success. Results indicated no significant differences between the groups …


Early Neural And Environmental Predictors Of Later Emotion Dysregulation In Children With And Without Adhd Symptoms, Shannon Gair Apr 2020

Early Neural And Environmental Predictors Of Later Emotion Dysregulation In Children With And Without Adhd Symptoms, Shannon Gair

Masters Theses

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood neurodevelopmental disorders and is characterized by excessive inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsivity. There is evidence that many children with ADHD experience emotion dysregulation, but little is known about the mechanisms by which children with ADHD develop difficulties with emotion dysregulation. The goal of the present study is to identify early neural and environmental predictors of emotion dysregulation and determine whether these factors interact in contributing to later emotion dysregulation. In this study, children (aged 4-7) with ADHD symptoms and typically developing children participated. Measures of emotion socialization and neural …


Associations Between Emotion Regulation Flexibility, Executive Functioning, And Borderline Personality Disorder Features, Marykate Oakley Mar 2020

Associations Between Emotion Regulation Flexibility, Executive Functioning, And Borderline Personality Disorder Features, Marykate Oakley

Doctoral Dissertations

A substantial body of research has examined emotion regulation (ER) deficits in connection with borderline personality disorder (BPD) based on individuals’ use of specific ER strategies. However, studies historically have focused on the putative adaptability or maladaptability of individual strategies without adequate focus on the fit between specific strategies and context. Thus, ER flexibility as an index of the ability to vary the use of multiple ER strategies based on changing environmental demands and goals may allow for such an approach. Yet, to date, there remains uncertainty about how to best operationalize ER flexibility, and little research has examined this …


Emotional Response To Negative Mood Induction In Mild Cognitive Impairment And Cognitively-Intact Older Adults, Gennarina Diane Santorelli Oct 2019

Emotional Response To Negative Mood Induction In Mild Cognitive Impairment And Cognitively-Intact Older Adults, Gennarina Diane Santorelli

Doctoral Dissertations

Older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) report greater rates of psychiatric symptoms than cognitively-intact older persons. This may be associated with emotion dysregulation, which is prevalent in cognitively-impaired populations. No research to date has investigated responses to emotionally-provocative stimuli in persons with MCI. Aim 1 of this study determined differences in emotional reactivity to and recovery from negative mood induction in older persons with amnestic MCI (aMCI) and cognitively-healthy older adults. Moreover, emotion dysfunction in MCI may be linked to impairment in executive function (EF), a common feature of MCI. Theoretical models postulate that EF is essential to the …


Trajectories Of Depressive Symptoms Among Low-Income Perinatal Women: The Role Of Father Involvement, Hillary Halpern Oct 2019

Trajectories Of Depressive Symptoms Among Low-Income Perinatal Women: The Role Of Father Involvement, Hillary Halpern

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study sampled a racially diverse group of 207 women at five time points from the third trimester of pregnancy until one year postpartum. Group-based developmental trajectory modeling was used to examine unique trajectories of women’s depressive symptoms (CES-D) across the perinatal period. Analyses yielded four distinct depression trajectory groups, conceptualized as the low symptom group, the intermediate symptom group, the desist-return group, and the chronic depression group. Next, fathers’ roles were examined as predictors of maternal depression trajectories in resident- and non-resident father families. Specifically, aspects of father involvement were assessed as predictors of women’s membership to …


Racial Differences In Perceptions Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Behavior, Sungha Kang Mar 2019

Racial Differences In Perceptions Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Behavior, Sungha Kang

Masters Theses

Previous research has suggested there may be racial differences in how adults perceive and rate children’s ADHD behavior (i.e., inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity). The current study examined these differences between African-American/Black (AA/B) parents and European-American/White (EA/W) parents and teachers. Participants watched video clips of children in classrooms and rated their ADHD behaviors and their likelihood of having ADHD. Results showed that EA/W parents and teachers rated African-American boys’ ADHD behaviors and their likelihood of having ADHD higher than AA/B parents. Mechanisms by which these differences exist were explored, including beliefs about stigma related to ADHD, values in movement and expressiveness, experiences …


Patient Motivational Language As A Predictor Of Symptom Change, Hazard Of Clinically Significant Response, And Time To Response In Psychotherapy For Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Brien J. Goodwin Mar 2019

Patient Motivational Language As A Predictor Of Symptom Change, Hazard Of Clinically Significant Response, And Time To Response In Psychotherapy For Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Brien J. Goodwin

Masters Theses

Change-talk (CT), or self-arguments for change, has been associated with favorable patient outcomes, while counter change-talk (CCT), or self-arguments against change, has been associated with poorer outcomes. Most studies on change language have focused on the prediction of distal posttreatment outcomes, while the prediction of more proximal outcomes has remained largely untested. Addressing this gap, we examined early treatment CT and CCT as predictors of worry change trajectories, “hazard” of clinically significant response, and time to response (i.e., outcome efficiency) in CBT and CBT integrated with MI (MI-CBT) for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). We also explored whether treatment type moderated …


Maternal Postpartum Depression And Father Involvement Across The Transition To Parenthood, Katie Newkirk Oct 2018

Maternal Postpartum Depression And Father Involvement Across The Transition To Parenthood, Katie Newkirk

Doctoral Dissertations

Maternal postpartum depression is a common complication of childbirth that affects the whole family. Fathers’ greater involvement in childcare can buffer children from the negative effects of mothers’ depression, and aid in mothers’ recovery, so it is important to understand under what conditions fathers become more or less involved when mothers are depressed. Prior research has supported both a compensation hypothesis, whereby fathers compensate for the effects of mothers’ depression on mothers’ parenting by being more involved in parenting, and a spillover hypothesis, whereby mothers’ negative emotionality causes fathers to pull back from family life and be less involved in …


Assessing The Long-Term Sequelae Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Janna Mantua Mar 2018

Assessing The Long-Term Sequelae Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Janna Mantua

Doctoral Dissertations

A mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), also known as a concussion, is defined as an injury that results in an alteration of consciousness or mental status. Previous studies have shown mTBI populations experience a number of chronic (> 1 year) symptoms, such as sleep disturbances (e.g., sleep stage alterations), mood alterations (e.g., depressive symptoms), and cognitive alterations (e.g., poor concentration). The three chapters of this dissertation sought to explore these long-term sequelae and the possible interrelations between them. In the first experiment, sleep-dependent memory consolidation of neutral stimuli was probed in a chronic mTBI sample and a control, uninjured sample. …


Age Group Differences In Affect Responses To A Stressor, Molly Mather Mar 2018

Age Group Differences In Affect Responses To A Stressor, Molly Mather

Masters Theses

Older adults may be better able to modulate their emotional experiences than younger adults, and thus may recover more quickly from negative stressors. Additionally, older adults may be more likely to experience co-occurrence of negative and positive emotions in the setting of negative stressors, which may facilitate emotion recovery. To date, few studies have investigated the nature of age group differences in spontaneous emotional responses to a standardized stressor. The current study utilizes a laboratory mood manipulation to determine age group differences in emotion recovery in negative and positive affects, as well as age group differences in the co-occurrence of …


Borderline Personality And Risk-Taking: Examining The Role Of Impulsivity Across Domains, Colten Karnedy Mar 2018

Borderline Personality And Risk-Taking: Examining The Role Of Impulsivity Across Domains, Colten Karnedy

Masters Theses

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and high levels of BPD traits have demonstrated greater rates of engagement in risky, self-destructive behaviors compared to healthy controls. Specifically, impulsivity has been theorized to underlie many of these risky behaviors. Although existing self-report literature suggests that individuals with BPD are more impulsive than controls, evidence from behavioral measures remains inconclusive. Likewise, there is scant research examining specific domains of impulsivity associated with risky behaviors in BPD, which is problematic given that impulsivity is a diagnostic criterion for BPD. Thus, the proposed research aims to bridge this gap in the literature by examining …


Mediators And Moderators Of Childhood Family Adversity And Adult Cortisol Response: The Role Of Marital Conflict Behavior, Jeffrey P. Winer Nov 2017

Mediators And Moderators Of Childhood Family Adversity And Adult Cortisol Response: The Role Of Marital Conflict Behavior, Jeffrey P. Winer

Doctoral Dissertations

Childhood family adversity influences behavioral and physiological response processes to acute interpersonal stress. Additionally, conflict behaviors in marriage are primary determinants of stress response and related psychological problems in adulthood. As little research has examined these two important literatures simultaneously, further work is warranted to clarify the role of marital conflict behavior in the relation between childhood family adversity and adult cortisol response to conflict. The current study examined relations between childhood family adversity, observed marital conflict behaviors, and salivary cortisol in response to acute marital conflict among 228 different-sex newlywed couples. We examined intrapersonal “actor” effects as candidate mediators …


Intraracial And Intraethnic Microaggressions Experienced By Korean American Internationally And Transracially Adopted Persons, Karin J. Garber Nov 2017

Intraracial And Intraethnic Microaggressions Experienced By Korean American Internationally And Transracially Adopted Persons, Karin J. Garber

Doctoral Dissertations

This research examined the microaggressions that Korean American internationally and transracially adopted persons (ITAPs) reported based on intraracial/intraethnic interpersonal exchanges. This research tested a conceptual model that: 1) determined the themes of intraracial/intraethnic microaggressions reported by Korean American ITAPs; 2) investigated how psychological symptoms and emotion outcomes were predicted from these microaggressions; and 3) tested specific moderators (i.e., age, engagement coping, disengagement coping, ethnic identity, stigma consciousness, parental racial, ethnic, and cultural socialization, and level of interaction with other Asians) that could change the relationship between these microaggressions and negative psychological symptoms and emotion outcomes. Two studies with different samples …


Examining The Relation Between Family Functioning And Child Hyperactivity: Simultaneously Testing Four Proposed Mechanisms, Rosanna P. Breaux Nov 2017

Examining The Relation Between Family Functioning And Child Hyperactivity: Simultaneously Testing Four Proposed Mechanisms, Rosanna P. Breaux

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study examined the bidirectional relation between multiple measures of family functioning and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms across the preschool years. Additionally, it examined if these relations held when comorbid child ODD symptoms and parental ADHD symptoms were taken into account. Participants included 258 (138 boys) 3-year-old children (M = 44.13 months, SD = 3.39) with and without behavior problems and their parents who took part in a 3-year longitudinal study. Evidence was found for both parent and child effects, depending on the measure of family functioning. Specifically, maternal depressive symptoms, overreactive parenting, and stressful life events were …


Testing A Skills Training Course For Use In A Peer-Delivered Mental Health Intervention, Samantha L. Bernecker Nov 2017

Testing A Skills Training Course For Use In A Peer-Delivered Mental Health Intervention, Samantha L. Bernecker

Doctoral Dissertations

Millions of people who could benefit from mental health services do not receive treatment. If non-professional peers could learn to administer basic psychotherapeutic interventions to each other, taking turns as care provider and care recipient, this unmet need for mental health care could be partially filled. This study sought to test whether non-professionals could learn supportive psychotherapy skills from a massively scalable, free online course. Thirty pairs of individuals who were experiencing psychological distress or who wished to increase their mental well-being were enrolled in the study, and 19 pairs completed the prototype online course. Objective raters assessed participants’ skills …


Validity Of Adhd Symptoms In Toddlers, Hallie Brown Oct 2017

Validity Of Adhd Symptoms In Toddlers, Hallie Brown

Masters Theses

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common child neurodevelopmental disorders. The disorder is typically diagnosed in elementary school, but there is growing evidence for the validity of ADHD in preschoolers, and symptoms likely emerge even earlier than preschool years. Research suggests that ADHD symptoms can be evident in toddlers beyond developmentally appropriate behavior, and symptoms in toddlers are predictive of later impairment. However, few studies have examined the validity of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) ADHD symptoms in this younger population. The present study examined the 18 DSM ADHD symptoms in a community sample …