Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Structurally Rich Movement: Measuring Movement For Empirical Psychology And Examining The Dynamic Complexity Of Affect Regulation In Behavior, Michael Timothy Finn

Doctoral Dissertations

Movement not only permeates human life, but structures dimensions of experience. Phenomenological theory points to the dynamic congruency of movement and emotion, via the body schema, as shaping affectivity. For psychology, this calls for an understanding of behavior beyond being discrete events, but also manifesting kinetic melodies. Yet there is a gap in existing methodology for empirically studying the three-dimensional characteristics of human movement continuously across segments of the body. A potential line of research in this area, implicit affect regulation capacities, was described to inform the selection of instrumentation, measurement, and calculations of dynamic structure that would, theoretically, best …

How Technology Interacts With Emerging Adulthood Psychosocial Developmental Tasks: An Examination Of Online Self-Presentation And Cell Phone Usage, Samantha Lynn Gray

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation outlines three distinct, yet interrelated, projects aimed at understanding the role of technology in relation to emerging adulthood developmental tasks: individuation & identity development. The first paper provides a context for understanding the developmental tasks of emerging adulthood, and the role that technology may serve in relation to those developmental tasks. This brief review of the literature on emerging adulthood developmental tasks provides a solid theoretical background and history for the theoretical premises proposed for the respective studies included in this dissertation. The second project is an empirical investigation that seeks to understand how the task of identity …

Unit Cohesion, Attachment, Personality Factors, And Mental Health In Veterans Of Iraq And Afghanistan, Allison Adrienne Whitesell

Doctoral Dissertations

One hundred forty seven veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) and/or Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) completed an internet survey with questions related to unit cohesion, romantic attachment style, personality factors, and mental health symptoms. Participants completed five self-report measures: the PTSD Checklist-Military, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-21, Deployment Social Support scale from the Deployment Risk and Resiliency Inventory, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Short Form, and the International Personality Item Pool Big Five Short Form Questionnaire. Most participants were male and Caucasian. Hierarchical linear regression analysis results indicated that emotional stability predicted both general distress and PTSD symptom severity, while avoidant attachment …

Borderline Features And Attachment In Adolescents Whose Mothers Have Borderline Personality Disorder, Stevie Nikell Grassetti

Masters Theses

The current study examined attachment and borderline features in a sample of adolescents whose mothers have Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) (n=28) and normative comparison adolescents (n=29) using self-reports of parental attachment and borderline features. Statistical analyses revealed, with marginal significance, that adolescents of mothers with BPD provided lower ratings of parents as sources of support than comparison adolescents, but no difference for parents as facilitators of independence. However, adolescents of mothers with BPD did provide lower ratings of affective quality of parental attachment relationships. Dichotomous group differences were not found in adolescent borderline features. However, every …

Using The Personality Assessment Inventory To Diagnose And Discriminate Between Major Depressive Disorder And Generalized Anxiety Disorder In A University Counseling Center, William Edward Nichelson Iii

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) for diagnosing and discriminating between Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) with university counseling center clients. Participants were 1541 male and female students who received services at a student counseling center at a large university. Participants were classified as MDD, GAD, or Other Diagnosis (OD) based on the diagnosis determined by the treating clinician, and PAI profiles were compared between the three groups.

The PAI Structural Summary-Revised contains Diagnostic Consider Clusters (DCC) that were designed to identify PAI scales/subscales that are typically elevated or suppressed when …

Communication In Married Couples: Exploring The Roles Of Betrayal And Forgiveness, Nikki N. Frousakis

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explored the associations between having experienced a major betrayal, forgiveness, and communication behaviors in married couples. The first aim of the current research was to compare the communication behaviors of couples who have experienced a major betrayal and are in various stages of the forgiveness process as delineated by Gordon, Baucom, and Snyder (2005) to couples who reported never having experienced a betrayal in their current relationship. The second aim of the study was to explore whether injured partners and their spouses behave differently when discussing the betrayal event than when they are conversing about a separate problem …