Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Examining Dehumanization Of Individuals With Schizophrenia, Brianna Drake

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: Previous literature examines dehumanization of marginalized groups; though, most of this work focuses on ethnic and racial groups. Currently, there is a gap in the literature examining the extent to which people with mental illness are dehumanized. This study examined whether people with schizophrenia are dehumanized (relative to other marginalized groups, such as drug addicts). Furthermore, this research will investigate if using “person-first” language can attenuate dehumanization.

Method: Participants (n = 310) were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk to complete a measure of dehumanization and demeaning needs for each of the nine targets (i.e., self, close friend, lawyer, elderly, …

Examining The Impact Of Attachment And Parent Socialization Of Emotion In Childhood On Emotion Regulation In Maltreated Adults, Nikki Major

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between child maltreatment and adult emotion regulation by examining parenting processes of emotion socialization and attachment security as possible mechanisms accounting for this relationship. It was hypothesized that maltreated adults would retrospectively report more unsupportive responses from parents/caregivers, greater attachment insecurity, more difficulty with emotion regulation, and using expressive suppression more than cognitive reappraisal. It was also hypothesized that unsupportive responses to emotions and attachment security would both indirectly effect the relationship between child maltreatment and adult emotion dysregulation.

Method: A sample of 226 participants from Amazon Mechanical …

Integrated Behavioral Health And Primary Care: Refining A Determinant Framework, Ariel Michelle Domlyn

Theses and Dissertations

The integration of behavioral health and primary care is a best practice to improve patient outcomes and achieve health equity. However, the process of integrating is opaque, requiring organizational change and sometimes a complete system overhaul. Implementation science offers useful ideas for helping healthcare organizations to implement care. This field has identified potential environmental conditions and determinants of successful implementation; however, much is still unknown about how these factors may be relevant for organizations seeking to integrate care. To address the limited existing knowledge in this area, this dissertation gathers practice-based evidence using exploratory methods. Results are translated into an …

The Moderating Impact Of Gender And Friendship Quality On The Effects Of Interparental Conflict On Adolescent Internalizing Problems, Jessica Dandan

Theses and Dissertations

In response to escalating concerns about the increasing incidence of adolescent internalizing disorders, several mechanisms have been investigated to understand their etiology. Though genetic predisposition contributes to the risk for psychopathology, its interaction with environmental stressors such as interparental conflict appears to further increase this risk. Girls are more susceptible to stressors and twice as likely as boys to develop internalizing problems. However, friendship quality may buffer some of the adverse effects incurred from exposure to interparental conflict. A recent review of proposed mechanisms through which conflict is associated with youth psychopathology pinpointed the need for further adolescent-focused research including …

Trajectories And Psychiatric Consequences Of Inhibitory Control In Young Males With Fragile X Syndrome, Erin Hunt

Theses and Dissertations

Inhibitory control (IC), the ability to suppress inappropriate responses, emerges late in the first year of life and improves across typical development, concurrent with brain maturation. The development of IC is critical to various social-emotional and behavioral functions, with IC deficits being linked to numerous psychiatric conditions, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a single-gene disorder characterized by IC deficits, and elevated rates of ADHD and ASD, making it a useful model for understanding the early development and consequences of IC. In this longitudinal study, we characterized IC trajectories across multiple time …

Moderating Effects Of Parental Feeding Practices And Emotional Eating On Dietary Intake Among Overweight African American Adolescents, Mary Quattlebaum

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of parental feeding practices and adolescent emotional eating (EE) on dietary outcomes among overweight African American adolescents. Based on Family Systems Theory, it was hypothesized that parental feeding practices, such as parental monitoring and responsibility, would buffer the effects of EE on poor dietary quality, whereas practices such as concern about a child’s weight, restriction, and pressure-to-eat would exacerbate this relationship. Adolescents (N = 127; Mage = 12.83 ۫.74; MBMI % = 96.61 ± 4.14) provided baseline data from the Families Improving Together (FIT) for a Weight Loss trial and an ancillary study. Dietary outcomes …

Race, Racial Matching, And Cultural Understanding As Predictors Of Treatment Engagement In Youth Mental Health Services, Wendy Chu

Theses and Dissertations

Racially marginalized youth experience barriers that impact their ability to maximally benefit from mental health services; thus, efforts to identify strategies that support youth treatment engagement may address mental health and treatment disparities. This study examined the role of youth race, youth-therapist racial matching, and youthreported therapist cultural understanding on youth’s early treatment engagement in mental health services. The youth sample (n = 1159; M_age = 13.8 years, SD = 2.9; 52.1% female) comprised of 778 (67.1%) Latinx, 221 (19.1%) African American, 139 (12.0%) White, and 21 (1.8%) Asian American clients. The therapist sample (n = 126; Mage …

The Challenge-Hindrance Model Of Stress And Its Intersections With The Conservation Of Resources Theory, Divya A. Srijay, Justin Travis Dr.

University of South Carolina Upstate Student Research Journal

This paper briefly summarizes the challenge-hindrance model of stress (CHM) through its basis in the transactional theory of stress, and it integrates modern theories of stress found in social psychology and management literature. In doing so, we provide a content map/process model to guide future research that can contribute to the creation of a more effective measure of the secondary appraisals of stressors.

Although psychometric and related statistical concerns regarding extant measures have been noted and discussed in the literature, our hope is that the proposed model may aid in the conceptualization of the nomological network of the stress process …

A Risk-Averse Mechanism For Suicidality Assessment On Social Media, Ramit Sawhney, Atula Tejaswi Neerkaje, Manas Gaur

Publications

Recent studies have shown that social media has increasingly become a platform for users to express suicidal thoughts outside traditional clinical settings. With advances in Natural Language Processing strategies, it is now possible to design automated systems to assess suicide risk. However, such systems may generate uncertain predictions, leading to severe consequences. We hence reformulate suicide risk assessment as a selective prioritized prediction problem over the Columbia Suicide Severity Risk Scale (C-SSRS). We propose SASI, a risk-averse and self-aware transformer-based hierarchical attention classifier, augmented to refrain from making uncertain predictions. We show that SASI is able to refrain from 83% …

The Relationship Between Cognitive Functioning And Internalizing/Externalizing Behaviors In Children And Adolescents With Down Syndrome, Jessalin R. Good

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Introduction: Down syndrome (DS) is a developmental disorder caused by a complete extra copy of chromosome 21. This genetic error results in a variety of other symptoms related to a range of medical and cognitive challenges. Although it has been reported that a significant relationship exists between cognitive functioning and both internalizing and externalizing behaviors in typically developing (TD) individuals, the literature is severely limited in investigating this relationship in those with DS.

Rationale: Internalizing and externalizing behaviors have been shown to have a negative relationship with cognitive functioning in TD children and adolescents (Shankman et al., 2010; Wood et …

Childhood Sexual Abuse Disclosure And Mental Health Outcomes: The Relationship Between Gender, Parental Style, And Masculinity Norms, Kayla E. Hall

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The current study aims to investigate social reactions to childhood sexual abuse disclosure (CSA) in adult men and women. Additionally, the study explores the relationship between conformity to masculinity norms and perception of parental style on timing of disclosure and resulting internalizing and externalizing symptoms and substance abuse.

Method: Using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, 299 adult men and women residing in the U.S. (M_age = 35.9, SD_age= 10.5; 53% female; 78% European American) completed an anonymous online series of survey items pertaining to childhood sexual abuse, internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms, substance abuse, social reactions …

The Road Home Program: An Efficient Model Of Ptsd Treatment In Veterans, Alexandra J. Fischer, Brian J. Klassen, Rhea A. Merck

Senior Theses

This thesis details my experiences at Rush University’s Road Home Program during the summer of 2021. The Road Home Program is an intensive treatment program for veterans suffering from PTSD. It is unique from conventional PTSD treatments in that it provides the equivalent of six months of treatment in just two weeks. The Road Home Program approaches PTSD in a comprehensive way by implementing a variety of therapies and supplemental treatments to veterans. These therapies include Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Mindfulness Based Resiliency Training (MBRT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Art Therapy. The supplemental treatments include cognitive seminars, acupuncture, and …

Composition, Context, And Community Integration: Evaluating The Relative Strength Of Environmental Factors On Mental Health Outcomes Using A Social Ecology Model, Douglas John Archie Iii

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between environmental factors and individual health outcomes has historically been a major area of interest for multiple scientific disciplines. However, the specific environmental factors relevant for describing this relationship and effective measuring methods are unclear. One approach that may assist in addressing these issues is by analyzing this relationship using a comprehensive theoretical framework. This study used a social-ecological model first proposed by Moos and colleagues (Insel & Moos, 1974: Moos & Moos, 1976) to investigate connections between environmental factors and mental health recovery outcomes of psychiatric distress, management of mental health symptoms, and recovery-oriented behavior. A series …

Social-Motivational Influences On Physical Activity Engagement For Adolescent Girls, Mariajosé Jhamira Paton

Theses and Dissertations

Rates of youth physical activity (PA) drastically decrease during adolescence, with a steeper decline for adolescent girls (Belcher et al., 2010; CDC, 2010). Although afterschool programs (ASPs) have been identified as an ideal context for promoting youth PA, ASPs vary in quality with girls having the highest rates of inactivity (Zarrett et al., 2018). Theory and previous studies have identified social-motivational climate-based factors within ASPs that are critical for promoting adolescents’ PA (Basch, 2011; Eccles et al., 2002; Zarrett et al., 2013, 2015). The present study first examines gender differences in the social-motivational quality of middle school ASPs for promoting …

When Being Strong Hurts: Trauma And The Strong Black Woman Stereotype, Cynthia Nicole White

Theses and Dissertations

There are several research studies which suggest that, when confronted with stress or trauma, Black women in the United States seek help less than other populations, particularly White women. Part of the reason for this reluctance towards help-seeking may be explained by the American cultural stereotype of the Strong Black Woman (SBW). The Strong Black Woman is one who overcomes all obstacles, remains strong despite problems, and sacrifices herself for others. Research on the Strong Black Woman stereotype is scarce, but the limited research that exists found that the stereotype consists of 3 factors: Mask of Strength, Self-Reliance/Strength, and Caretaking. …

Examining The Relationship Between Readiness And Outcomes In Clinical Practices Implementing Integrated Care, Tara Kenworthy

Theses and Dissertations

The integration of behavioral health and primary care (i.e., “integrated care”) is a method to improve health equity and improve health outcomes. However, more research is needed to understand the relationship between practice readiness, implementation, and outcomes of integrated care over time. Therefore, this study involves a mixed methods retrospective process evaluation to explore the relationship between readiness factors and outcomes in clinical practices two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years following a capacity-building program. During that program, practices completed assessments of their readiness to implement integrated care using the Readiness for Integrated Care Questionnaire (RICQ). At follow-up, we conducted surveys, qualitative interviews …

Gender Role Change, Relationship Satisfaction, And Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Latino Men, Melek Yildiz Spinel

Theses and Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as physical, sexual, or psychological violence or aggression by a current or previous partner or spouse. Articles on IPV among Latinxs often speculate that Latinx gender role attitudes, such as marianismo, caballerismo , or machismo, cause IPV among Latinxs. Traditional machismo is the belief that men should be controlling and dominant. Caballerismo is the idea that men should protect their families. Marianismo is the belief that women should be submissive, virtuous and chaste, and self-sacrificing for their families. However, most research on IPV has failed to actually measure Latinx gender role attitudes …

A Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention (Bmbi) To Reduce Teacher Stress And Burnout, Stephen George Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers are exposed to a variety of chronic stressors in their work environments that lead to stress, burnout, and the deterioration of physiological systems that promote adaptive responses to stress. The downstream effects of chronic stress and burnout incur substantial costs associated with attrition and stress-related health concerns. Research demonstrates that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have potential to improve teachers’ capacity to manage stress and mitigate its detrimental effects. However, many MBI studies to date have failed to incorporate key elements of methodological rigor and included large dosages despite research suggesting that such dosages are iatrogenic. Furthermore, these studies have not …

Preliminary Outcomes And Feasibility Of A Brief Online Teacher Training In Culturally Responsive Practices (Crp) To Reduce Disproportionate Discipline In Prek-3rd Grade Classrooms, Samantha Noelle Hartley

Theses and Dissertations

School discipline policies that rely on exclusionary discipline practices, such as office discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions, negatively and disproportionately impact racial minority students, beginning in preschool. Disproportionate discipline persists even when schools implement schoolwide interventions that reduce overall rates of exclusionary discipline, suggesting that schools must do more to address other likely causes of the discipline gap, including implicit racial bias, insufficient teacher training in classroom management, and a cultural mismatch between schools and minority students. There has been an increased call for teacher professional development in culturally responsive behavior management practices, but such interventions are often poorly evaluated …

Toxic Masculinity: An Exploration Of Traditional Masculine Norms In Relation To Mental Health Outcomes And Help-Seeking Behaviors In College-Aged Males, Benjamin Harris

Senior Theses

This study examines the relationships between traits of toxic masculinity, mental health outcomes, and help-seeking behaviors in college-aged males. To perform this analysis, a thorough literature review was conducted, and survey data was collected and analyzed to draw conclusions and implications for future research

The Role Of Interior Design In The Psychotherapist's Office, Vincent Ylagan

Senior Theses

A growing body of research in environmental and design psychology indicates that our surroundings can have subtle but significant effects on how we feel and think. One setting where thoughts and feelings are at the forefront of the work done is the psychotherapist’s office, where clients go to process stressors and learn strategies to overcome emotional difficulties. The current study aimed to investigate how therapists and clients view the therapist office and identify the features associated with the “ideal” therapist office. Therapists, current or past therapy clients, and individuals who have not been to therapy completed short surveys. Surveys asked …

Complex Trauma In Childhood And Its Relationship To Emotion Regulation And Distress Tolerance In College Students, Elizabeth Lombardo

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The influence of childhood trauma has been found to be related to difficulties in emotion regulation and distress tolerance in young adulthood (Berenz et al., 2018a, 2018b). Research has shown that childhood abuse and adversities such as neglect or emotional abuse results in impaired processes related to the development of emotion regulation and efficient interpersonal skills, while also resulting in symptoms reflecting disordered affective self-regulation (Cloitre et al., 2009; Shipman, Edwards, Brown, Swisher, & Jennings, 2005; Shipman, Zeman, Penza, & Champion, 2000). Research has examined emotional regulation and distress tolerance in the context of childhood trauma but has not …

Sleep Quality And The Prospective Pain-Fatigue Relationship Among Youth With Sickle Cell Disease, Julia D. Johnston

Theses and Dissertations

Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at increased risk for poor psychosocial and functional outcomes due, in part, to disease effects like vaso-occlusive pain crises, fatigue, and poor sleep quality (Brown, 2006). A growing body of literature has examined temporal associations between pain, sleep quality, and mood using daily diary studies (Valrie, Gil, Redding-Lallinger, & Daeschner, 2007a; Valrie et al., 2019). These studies help to identify how symptoms are prospectively related to each other, but they are often limited to small sample sizes and may lack generalizability. Additionally, despite ubiquitous reports of fatigue among sickle cell patients, few studies …

Engaging Youth And Families Within The Context Of Evidence-Based Treatment (Ebt) Implementation: Examining Integrity Of Engagement Practices To Different Ebt Information Sources, Eleanor Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Promoting and maintaining client engagement has proven to be a significant challenge across community mental health settings, including within the context of implementing evidence-based treatments (EBTs) (De Haan et al., 2013). Few efforts have been made to equip providers with empirically-sourced engagement strategies outside of the limited set of engagement procedures covered in EBT protocols. To inform efforts for improving EBT accessibility, the current study characterizes the delivery of engagement practices from the literature within the context of EBT implementation, and examines provider integrity of engagement practice use according to two information sources (i.e., the provider’s EBT training history and …

Engaging Youth And Families Within The Context Of Evidence-Based Treatment (Ebt) Implementation: Examining Integrity Of Engagement Practices To Different Ebt Information Sources, Eleanor Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Promoting and maintaining client engagement has proven to be a significant challenge across community mental health settings, including within the context of implementing evidence-based treatments (EBTs) (De Haan et al., 2013). Few efforts have been made to equip providers with empirically-sourced engagement strategies outside of the limited set of engagement procedures covered in EBT protocols. To inform efforts for improving EBT accessibility, the current study characterizes the delivery of engagement practices from the literature within the context of EBT implementation, and examines provider integrity of engagement practice use according to two information sources (i.e., the provider’s EBT training history and …

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 …

Intergenerational Continuity Of Abuse: The Relationship Between Childhood Sexual Abuse History In Adolescent Mothers And Children’S Experiences Of Maltreatment, Karli Kolsut

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Introduction: Previous research has identified maternal history of child abuse as a predictor of their child’s experiences, otherwise known as an intergenerational continuity of abuse (ICA). Adolescent mothers have been identified as having a higher prevalence of childhood sexual, emotional, and physical abuse histories, placing their children at high risk. A prior study with the current sample found that 66% of adolescent mothers had been a victim of childhood sexual, physical, or emotional abuse and of these, 78.1% of their children reported having a history of abuse at age 18. Method: Utilizing data from the 18-year-long Notre Dame Adolescent Parenting …

Risk Factors Associated With Somatic Symptoms Following Military Sexual Trauma In Members Of The National Guard And Reserves, Chelsea J. Mcmahon

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The purpose of the present study is to expand existing literature on risk factors that are associated with poorer physical health outcomes following incidents of Military Sexual Trauma (MST) to include both Military Sexual Harassment and Military Sexual Assault in members of the United States National Guard and Reserve.

Method: The current study used archival data collected by a research team at the Veteran Affairs Boston Healthcare System in order to identify potential factors such as gender, social support, immediate medical treatment, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Depression. Moderation and mediation analyses were performed to examine the association between experiences …

Adhd Symptoms And Alcohol Expectancies: The Moderating Roles Of Parenting And School Climate, Melanie Morse

Theses and Dissertations

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood behavioral disorder that often extends into adulthood and is associated with negative health outcomes, including alcohol use. Alcohol expectancies are a widely studied predictor of alcohol use, and have been shown to predict alcohol use among individuals with ADHD. Positive alcohol expectancies appear to be particularly related to alcohol use as well as ADHD. However, a number of broad social factors including parent, peer, and school/environmental influence likely impact the relation between ADHD and alcohol expectancies. The current study examined positive parenting, parental monitoring, parental involvement, and school climate as moderators of the …

Foster Care And Youth Homelessness: The Impact Of Race And Victimization History, Nakisa Asefnia

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that there are 31,062 unaccompanied homeless youth living in the U.S.. Simultaneously, approximately 250,000 youth exit the foster care system each year, many of whom have little support for a successful transition. Research has shown that emerging adults, who exit foster care by aging out, have an increased chance of homelessness. These youths’ victimization experiences, particularly those leading to child welfare involvement and subsequently foster care, may increase their chances of difficulties with regard to homelessness. In addition to their increased vulnerability and risk of homelessness, race is a compounding …