Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Family Accommodation In Adults With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Psychometric Properties Of The Family Accommodation Scale - Patient Version, Monica S. Wu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Family accommodation is a salient construct within the context of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and occurs in a large majority of affected individuals and their families. Accommodating behaviors can manifest in various ways, including participation in the patient's rituals, modifying everyday routines, facilitating compulsive behaviors, or providing reassurance. It has been repeatedly linked to negative outcomes, such as attenuated treatment response, increased obsessive-compulsive symptom severity, higher levels of family distress, and lower levels of functioning. As such, it is of significant clinical importance to have a standardized measure that is able to be used in research and clinical practice.

The Family …

Self-Control And Alcohol Expectancies, John M. Ray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research on self-control suggests that people do not do as well at self-control after they have already exerted self-control on something else. Despite the obvious importance of self-control in drinking behavior, few studies have examined alcohol consumption as an outcome measure in the context of self-control depletion and the potential role of cognitive processes in the self-control to drinking relationship remains largely unexplored. Although it is widely agreed that alcohol expectancies play an important role in one's decision to drink, no study has examined the role of expectancies in self-control's influence on drinking. This study addresses this important gap in …

Fear Of Cancer Recurrence In Breast Cancer Survivors Before And After Follow-Up Mammograms, Heather L. Mcginty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) in breast cancer survivors returning for regularly scheduled follow-up mammograms. FCR was hypothesized to increase prior to the mammogram, decrease from immediately pre- to immediately post-mammogram, and then increase following the mammogram. Based on the cognitive-behavioral model (CBM) of health anxiety, greater perceived risk of recurrence, worse perceived consequences of a recurrence, lower coping self-efficacy, and more engagement in reassurance-seeking behaviors were hypothesized to be associated with greater FCR in each time segment. Finally, exploratory analyses evaluated the various trajectories in FCR over time using growth mixture …

Savor The Memory: A Reminiscence Exercise To Increase Positive Emotions And Reduce Depression Risk In Anxious Individuals, Bethany Morris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A growing literature suggests that experiencing positive emotions provides psychological benefits (e.g., Coifman et al. 2007), and interventions increasing positive emotions may reduce depression risk (Geschwind et al., 2011). The present study tested whether reminiscence, a method of positive emotion savoring (Quoidbach et al., 2010), can mitigate depression risk by increasing positive emotions in an unselected sample and a subsample of at-risk anxious individuals. Female participants (n=336) were randomized to a reminiscence or control condition and asked to complete daily mental imagery exercises focusing on a positive memory (reminiscence) or a neutral laboratory memory (control) for one week. As expected, …

Can Cognitive Priming Influence The Reinforcing Efficacy Of Alcohol Within A Behavioral Economic Framework?, Lauren J. Adams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A considerable body of research supports the application of behavioral economic principles to study the relative reinforcing efficacy of drug and alcohol use. One self-report measure, the Alcohol Purchase Task, is thought to account for individual differences in the subjective valuation of alcohol consumption. To date, however, behavioral economic approaches have not evaluated the possible influence of memory-based expectations regarding the cognitive and behavioral effects of substance use on their measures. Alcohol expectancy research has found that more positive expectancies about the effects alcohol directly mediate drinking behavior and are associated with a number of alcohol-related outcomes. Given the importance …

The Effect Of Ovulation As A Male Mating Prime On Drinking And Other Mating Behaviors, Robin Tan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A recent line of research grounded in evolutionary theory has shown that exposure to women's fertility cues affects men's mating cognition and behavior. This area of research has not yet been examined in relation to alcohol. As alcohol has also been shown to facilitate the formation of sexual connections for males, establishing the intersection between these two lines of research seems necessary to understand the impetus behind human behavior. Ninety-eight male participants were primed with either the scent of a fertile woman or the scent of nonfertile woman and then completed measures assessing their level of attraction to pictures of …

How Individual Differences In Self- And Other-Focused Co-Rumination Relate To Internalizing Symptoms And Friendship Quality, Heather Smith-Schrandt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Co-rumination involves friends spending a great deal of time encouraging each other to excessively discuss problems, with content being largely negative (Rose, 2002). Co-rumination appears to strengthen the bonds between best friends, while ironically exacerbating internalizing symptoms. Co-rumination is conceptualized as a mutual dyadic process, but little is known about the reciprocity of excessive problem discussion. The balance of college students' (N = 601) self- and other-focused co-rumination with their best friend was assessed via an online survey. Contrary to expectations, inconsistent and weak evidence was obtained for differentiating self- and other-focused co-rumination, and their balance. Specifically, self- and other-focused …

An Examination Of The Impact Of Hoarding Parent-Adult Child Relationships And Family Functioning, Jennifer M. Park

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Compulsive hoarding is characterized by difficulty discarding unneeded items and the accumulation of items within living spaces and is associated with significant functional impairment and distress. Along with the negative impact on the individual, previous reports have indicated that compulsive hoarding is not only impairing and substantially burdensome for family members, but also linked to disruptions in family functioning. The present study utilized a path model analysis to examine the associations between an array of hoarding variables hypothesized to impact family functioning and parent-adult child relationships in 199 adult children of hoarders. Results revealed that family functioning mediated the relationship …

Longitudinal Validation And Diagnostic Accuracy Of The Minnesota Borderline Personality Disorder Scale (Mbpd), Elizabeth Rojas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) has been previously conceptualized as an extreme variant of normal personality traits, captured by continuous indices. A previous study successfully developed and validated a self-report BPD measure, the Minnesota Borderline Personality Disorder Scale (MBPD). I conducted two studies aimed at providing further validation for this measure. Results from Study 1 (clinical sample of substance users) indicated that MBPD exhibited strong positive correlations with measures of convergent validity (self-report and diagnostic measures). Additionally, the MBPD showed similar correlations with external correlates as those of the convergent validity measures, in addition to incremental utility in predicting these external …

Treatment Maintenance Of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy For Anxiety In Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Robert Rein Selles

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety disorders commonly co-occur in children and adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recently, treatment of anxiety using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been modified and studied in youth with ASD, with results consistently demonstrating positive treatment outcomes. In typically developing populations, CBT gains are well maintained as long as 14-years post-treatment; however, maintenance of CBT has not yet been studied in anxious youth with ASD. Using a sample of 32 youth who previously completed one of three CBT for anxiety in ASD treatment studies, the present study re-assessed parent report of anxiety symptoms in youth, 12-26 months (M …

Apathy In Parkinson's Disease: A Behavioral Intervention Study, London Butterfield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Apathy, a symptom reflecting motivational and self-initiation impairment, is one of the most common neuropsychiatric symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD), with an average estimated prevalence of 40-45%. Elevated apathy has been associated with a host of negative associates and consequences, including cognitive impairment, poor daily functioning, poor treatment compliance and illness outcome, reduced quality of life, and increased caregiver burden and distress. While some studies have evaluated pharmacologic approaches to the treatment of apathy, few studies have evaluated non-pharmacologic approaches and we have identified no studies that have evaluated the efficacy of non-pharmacologic treatments of apathy in Parkinson's patients despite …

The Development And Validation Of The Physical Appearance Comparison Scale-Revised (Pacs-R), Lauren M. Schaefer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Physical Appearance Comparison Scale (PACS; Thompson, Heinberg, & Tantleff, 1991) is a widely used 5-item measure that assesses an overall tendency to compare one's own appearance to the appearance of others in social situations. Research using the PACS and other measures of appearance comparison has shown this construct to be related to higher levels of body dissatisfaction and eating pathology. However, the measure is limited in that it only assesses comparison tendencies within a narrow range of social contexts and body sites. In the current investigation, the PACS was revised to examine a broader range of social contexts (e.g., …

Motivational Interviewing To Promote Physical Activity In Breast Cancer Survivors, Yasmin Asvat Patel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Despite documented health benefits, most breast cancer survivors (BCS) do not meet physical activity (PA) guidelines. Hence, evaluating diverse intervention approaches to promote PA in BCS is imperative. Motivational Interviewing (MI) offers a non-prescriptive, client-centered approach to PA promotion that has not been adequately evaluated in BCS. In this randomized-controlled trial, 66 Stage 0-IIIa BCS within three years post-treatment, insufficiently active and contemplating increasing PA were randomly assigned to a MI intervention or an active control condition. The MI intervention implemented motivational and behavior change strategies consistent with MI principles. The active control condition provided education and prescriptive recommendations …

Emotional Invalidation: An Investigation Into Its Definition, Measurement, And Effects, Meredith Brown Elzy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Emotional invalidation is a construct closely related to childhood maltreatment, which has been linked theoretically and empirically to the development of psychopathology. This study sought to advance the empirical investigation into emotional invalidation through three primary objectives: 1) to critically review the way emotional invalidation is currently defined and measured in the existing literature, 2) to offer a novel approach at conceptualizing and measuring emotional invalidation as a two part construct comprised of emotionally invalidating behaviors and perceived emotional invalidation, and 3) to experimentally test the effects of invalidating behaviors on a person's perception of emotional invalidation and their level …

The Role Of Acquired Capability As A Differentially-Specific Risk Factor For Disordered Eating And Problematic Alcohol Use In Female College Students: A Measure Development And Validation Study, Christa D. Labouliere

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditional college students are members of an age bracket noted for high levels of risky behavior, and research has shown that certain risky behaviors, such as disordered eating and problematic alcohol use, are particularly common among undergraduates. It is well established that certain events in the learning history predispose vulnerable persons to engage in maladaptive risky behaviors. What is less clear is why some persons facing these events go on to develop maladaptive behavior while others do not, or why people facing similar events develop different varieties of maladaptive behaviors. Current research has focused extensively on risk factors that are …

Exercise Barriers In Cancer Survivors: A Multi-Dimensional Approach, Morgan Lee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The population of cancer survivors is rapidly expanding, and promotion of health and quality of life for these individuals is a priority. Exercise confers numerous general and cancer–specific benefits, yet many cancer survivors are insufficiently active. Research on perceived exercise barriers in cancer survivors has been limited by methodological and conceptual problems. Recent research suggests barriers may be multi–dimensional, and different types of barriers may be salient depending on whether or not a person intends to engage in a given behavior. Global (i.e., abstract) barriers may be negatively associated with intention, while practical (i.e., concrete) barriers may be positively associated …

The Influence Of Campus Culture On Mental Health Help-Seeking Intentions, Jason I. Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mental health issues are widespread on college campuses. However, the majority of these individuals do not seek help. Prior research suggests many factors which may be related to mental health help-seeking including age, gender, and prior treatment experience. There has however been little work considering the context of the college campus on mental health help-seeking, specifically the influence of campus culture. Accounting for the context of mental health help-seeking may help to determine which social groups have the greatest influence on mental health treatment processes.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between perceived peer, student body, …

Efficacy Of A Dissonance-Based Intervention For Self-Objectification: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Jessie Erin Menzel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self-objectification is the process by which women take on a third-person perspective in evaluating their physical appearance and sexual attributes. Objectification theory states that self-objectification may lead to negative mental health outcomes in women; a growing body of cross-sectional and experimental research supports the connection between self-objectification and the experience of shame, disordered eating, depression, and sexual dysfunction. This study sought to evaluate an intervention designed to reduce self-objectification behaviors and beliefs in order to prevent the development of disordered eating, depression, and sexual dysfunction. An efficacious prevention program using cognitive dissonance induction was adapted to target self-objectification. The efficacy …

Pharmacological Versus Social Alcohol Expectancies: Making An Important Distinction Between The Anticipated Rewarding Effects Of Alcohol, Megan Victoria Mcmurray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite over 30 years of research investigating alcohol expectancies, they have never been examined in terms of the anticipated pharmacological versus social rewards resulting from alcohol consumption, and both appear to play a central role in drinking motivation and behavior. The purpose of this study was to develop a two-dimensional instrument designed to assess both the pharmacological alcohol expectancies of pleasurable, internal states that result from alcohol consumption, as well as the social expectancies that drinking alcohol will result in higher social status and increased effectiveness in social situations. This measure, called the Pharmacological and Social Alcohol Expectancy Scale (PSAES), …

Social Situations And Alcohol: The Effect Of Social Context On Alcohol Expectancies, Idan Ariel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol is one of the most widely used recreational drugs in the United States today, despite being associated with a myriad of negative effects. Alcohol consumption occurs most frequently within social contexts, and seems to be strongly related to many social factors. It is known that an individual's expectations of the effects of alcohol influences his/her drinking behavior, and that social alcohol expectancies are some of the most frequently reported expectancies. In this study, we explored the relationship between alcohol expectancies and social influences by examining whether exposure to a social context would differentially activate alcohol expectancies. 115 young-adult male …

Does Inclusion Of A Disclaimer Versus Warning Reduce The Effects Of Exposure To Thin-Ideal Media Images On Body Dissatisfaction And Intent To Diet?, Rheanna Nichole Ata

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between exposure to media images of ultra-thin models and body dissatisfaction has been documented in numerous correlational and experimental studies. Given the association between body dissatisfaction and negative outcomes such as eating disorders, prevention and intervention programs have sought to minimize the effects of the media on body dissatisfaction by, for example, providing education on the air-brushing techniques used to enhance the thinness of models depicted in advertisements. More recent efforts in Britain and France include the proposal of legislation that would require advertisements featuring hyper-thin models to include a disclaimer. To determine whether the inclusion of a …

Groupdrink: An Examination Of The Social Facilitation Of Reward Evaluation And Alcohol-Related Behavior, Maureen Caroline Below

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Emerging adults- youth between the ages of 18-25- experience high rates of alcohol use and drinking-related consequences, yet risky drinking in this group seems to occur in the context of adaptive developmental processes. Such risk-taking behavior is thought to result from neurobehavioral changes impacting personality, cognitive development, and social functioning beginning in early adolescence. Youth seek out stimulation that, while objectively dangerous, may provide opportunity for evolutionary pay-offs. Social environmental cues signaling such pay-offs may facilitate risky behavior. This study aimed to manipulate social context, subsequent drinking-related behavior, and related shifts in risk and reward evaluation. Participants participated in a …

Goal Attainment As A Function Of Depressive Status In Women: The Role Of Problem-Solving, Lindsay Brauer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the theoretical importance of goal-related deficits in individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), relatively empirical research has examined goal generation and perceived goal attainment in depression vulnerable individuals. The

current project sought to examine the impact of depressive status on perceived goal attainment in currently depressed, remitted depressed, and never-depressed women. In addition, perceived problem-solving skills, a construct thought to be critical for goal

striving and in goal attainment was also examined. Unexpectedly, no effects of depressive status on perceived goal attainment or overall perceived problem-solving skills were observed. Results did however reveal group differences in perceived control in …

Quality Of Life In Adult Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: The Role Of Moderating And Mediating Variables, Brittany Belle Speisman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: This study examined the contribution of various aspects of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) on quality of life (QoL) in 102 adults with a principal diagnosis of OCD from an archival database. Method: Participants were assessed for DSM-IV diagnoses by trained clinicians using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule, 4th Edition (ADIS-IV), the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), and an unstructured interview. Further information was attained using the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory Revised (OCI-R) and the Medical Outcome Study-36 (MOS-36). Results: Results indicated that obsessive-compulsive symptom severity was positively correlated with diminished emotional health, social …

Inter-Rater Reliability Of The Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule For Dsm-Iv In High Functioning Children And Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Danielle Ung

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined inter-rater agreement on the Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule DSM-IV Child and Parent Interview (ADIS-IV-C/P) in youth with autism spectrum disorder and if age and ASD diagnosis moderated agreement. Diagnoses established for 70 7-16-year-old youth with ASD during a live administration of the ADIS-IV-C/P were compared to diagnoses identified by a second rater after listening to audiotaped recordings of the interviews. Inter-rater agreement on parent and child reports was excellent (k=1.00). Inter-rater agreement on principal diagnoses (k=0.91), individual anxiety diagnoses (k=0.85-0.97), and other comorbid diagnoses (i.e., major depressive disorder, dysthymia, oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder-Inattention/Hyperactivity/Combined …

A Retrospective And Prospective Comparison Of Hungarian Children Who Have One Or Two Episodes Of Depression, Vanessa Panaite

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Early onset depression is associated with high recurrence rates later in life. Recurrent depressive episodes during childhood may be particularly problematic, if additional episodes have a scarring effect that hinders healthy development. Distinguishing between first onsets and recurrences has been useful in understanding adult depression. This distinction has seldom been examined in pediatric depression, in part because it is difficult to enroll adequate samples of children with recurrent depression. We conducted archival analyses of carefully-diagnosed pediatric probands with depression first onset between ages of 4 and 12. Probands who reported one depressive episode (N = 435) were compared with probands …

A Structural Equation Analysis Of Family Accommodation In Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Nicole Elise Caporino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Family accommodation of symptoms conflicts with the primary goals of cognitive-behavioral therapy for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and can be an obstacle to positive outcomes. This study examined a structural equation model of parent and child variables related to family accommodation using a sample of 65 parent-child dyads recruited from a university-based clinic. Additionally, parents' motivations for engaging in accommodation were explored. Results generally supported the hypothesized model. Family accommodation mediated the relationship between OCD symptom severity and parent-rated functional impairment, child internalizing problems mediated the relationship between parent anxiety and family accommodation, and parent empathy and consideration of future …

Does D-Cycloserine Augmentation Of Cbt Improve Therapeutic Homework Compliance For Pediatric Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?, Jennifer M. Park

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial agonist that acts on the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor of the glutamatergic receptor complex, may enhance fear extinction learning during exposure-based therapy. Clinical studies in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and non-OCD anxiety disorders - and a recent trial in pediatric OCD - have shown that DCS can improve treatment response to exposure therapy relative to placebo and exposure therapy. Some have hypothesized that improved treatment response is a function of increased compliance and engagement in therapeutic homework tasks, a core component of behavioral treatment. The present study examined the relationship between DCS and homework compliance in …

The Role Of Microvascular Complications In The Relationship Between Glycemic Control And Depressive Symptomatology In Patients With Type 1 Diabetes: A Mediational Study, Laura Lynn Mayhew

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

People with diabetes are at double the risk of developing depression. Depression is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in people with diabetes. Levels of A1c have been linked to microvascular complications (e.g., retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy) as well as depression. The interrelationship between A1c, microvascular complications, and depression has not previously been investigated in a comprehensive model, and a better understanding of the nature of these associations is needed. Preliminary analyses test the assumption that A1c mediates the relationship between group assignment in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and microvascular complications. The primary purpose of the study …

Cyber-Bullying In High School: Associated Individual And Contextual Factors Of Involvement, Marissa Alexis Feldman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For the past several decades, researchers have extensively investigated the impact of bullying on the nation's youth. Although we may now have a better understanding of these maladaptive behaviors, recent technological advances have created a new forum for bullying. The current study investigated adolescent experiences with cyber-bullying using a self-report survey. Youth (N=2,086) from five high schools (grades 9-12) were surveyed to identify individual, peer, parenting, and school factors hypothesized to be related to involvement in cyber-bullying as a victim, perpetrator, or both. Results indicated that cyber-involvement was related to a variety of psychosocial factors, with students who were both …