Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Exploratory Factor Analysis Of Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptom Clusters, Rachel A. Maxwell

Masters Theses

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a distressing condition that involves a preoccupation with a perceived defect(s) in appearance. Despite the importance of early identification, it is often misdiagnosed. The literature suggests that issues with diagnosis may be because BDD is typically defined by the single symptom of dysmorphic concern (i.e., over concern with an imagined or slight defect in physical appearance). Dysmorphic concern is insufficient to fully characterize the disturbance. This study used exploratory factor analysis to identify symptom clusters from four well-known BDD measures completed by 457 undergraduate students. The extracted content suggested the following symptoms: (a) Dysmorphic Concern, …

Fear Of Negative And Positive Evaluation Across Social Evaluative Situations, Jarvis Howe

Masters Theses

Fear of negative and fear of positive evaluation are both important in understanding social evaluative anxiety. Fear of negative evaluation has been linked with social anxiety, public speaking anxiety, and test anxiety; whereas fear of positive evaluation has only been linked with social anxiety. This paper reviews the literature on fear of negative and positive evaluation in relation to each of the social evaluative situations and then presents the findings of a study that will attempt to differentiate the three types of social evaluative situations. Fear of negative evaluation was correlated with each of the three social evaluative situations; whereas …

The Effects Of Existential Salience On State Anxiety, Joseph Morger

Masters Theses

Existential anxiety is theorized to result from one's knowledge of human existence. Four givens of life have been identified that result in existential anxiety: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness (Yalom, 1980). Terror management theory purposes the knowledge of one's own death to be a great source of distress. The theory posits that to cope with these distressing thoughts, one is motivated to adhere to a cultural worldview. Adhering to a cultural worldview allows one to view the world as a structured place, in addition to raising one's self-esteem. Terror management research has shown that making mortality salient results in harsher …

Does Parent Management Of Past Childhood Sibling Aggression Predict Young Adult Emotion Regulation? A Retrospective Study, Joseph P. Berry

Masters Theses

Childhood sibling aggression and its influence on an individual's ability to regulate emotions later in life have not been extensively studied at this point in time. Prior research indicates that repeatedly being the victim of childhood aggression can lead to concurrent social, psychological, and emotional difficulties (Crick, Bigbee, & Howes, 1996). This study used a retrospective approach to explore whether 139 college students' experiences of overt and relational childhood sibling aggression are related to current difficulties with emotion regulation in young adulthood. Overt sibling aggression or relational sibling aggression in childhood predicted difficulties in current emotion regulation. Beliefs about the …

Suicide Promotion Online: Frequency Of Access By High Risk Individuals, Daniel Stabin

Masters Theses

Online suicide promotion is a recent and potentially problematic phenomenon in which individuals provide detailed instructions for or encouragement to enact self-harm to other internet users. These types of resources are freely available to anyone willing to look for them, and there is no legal hindrance to prevent their continued operations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency with which people in the general, nonclinical population access these sites with a particular interested in individuals experiencing depressive symptoms and in young adults. Both populations are likely to be influenced by suicide promotion. I predicted that individuals with …

Testing The Effectiveness Of Cognitive-Behavior And Medication Therapy In The Acute Treatment On Unipolar Mood Disorders: Processes And Case Histories, Alyssa H. Kalata

Masters Theses

The present study sought to investigate two areas of interest: (1) the process issues involved in conducting a randomized controlled trial with low-income individuals being seen at community mental health agencies and (2) patterns in case histories of individuals who participated in depression treatment outcome research at community mental health agencies. This study gives a detailed analysis of conducting a randomized controlled trial for unipolar mood disorders in two community mental health agencies in the Southwestern Michigan region. Process issues at the levels of identification and recruitment of participants, attendance and retention of participants, project implementation, and broader systemic issues …

Schedule Thinning Following Mand Training: Attempts To Enhance Signaled Delay To Reinforcement, Jamie M. Severtson

Masters Theses

Mand training, a common component of language training programs for children with autism, is associated with several clinical benefits (Sundberg & Michael, 2001), yet mand training sometimes results in high-rate responding that is difficult to maintain. One method of reducing high-rate mands to manageable rates is known as graduated signaled delay to reinforcement. The current investigation involved a series of three studies to evaluate the ability of three independent variables (a) highly preferred toys, (b) signal duration, and (c) schedule thinning methods to enhance signaled delay to reinforcement. The results of the three studies indicate that 7 of the 8 …

Teaching Children With Autism To Mand For Information Using Video Modeling, Courtney Dillon

Masters Theses

Skinner's taxonomy of verbal operants defines language in functional terms specifying the relevant controlling variables in terms of antecedent and consequent influences. A mand for information is a request for a specific verbal response that has momentarily high reinforcing value due to the presence of an establishing operation. Contrived establishing operations have been used for teaching mands for information, however, researchers have not yet investigated the effects of using video modeling to teach mands for information to children with autism. This study investigated the effects of video modeling with a contrived establishing operation for teaching two children with autism to …

An Examination Of Explanatory Models, Coping Methods, And Help-Seeking Methods Among Individuals With Social Phobia, Brooke Jasmine Dibello

Masters Theses

In this pilot study, explanatory models, coping methods, and help seeking behaviors among individuals with social phobia were explored using in-depth interviews. Participants were ten female college students with probable social phobia. Researchers created a coding manual to investigate the qualitative data by organizing it into categories. Coders were trained to utilize the coding manual, which explored several factors such as name for social anxiety, explanatory models, perceived level of severity, coping methods, and appraisals of coping methods. Contributions of this study are a semi-structured help-seeking interview, coding manual, and rich data. Although the results were inconclusive, this study provides …

Gender And Ethnic Biases In Personality Disorder Diagnostic Criteria, Danna Frantz

Masters Theses

The present study examined gender biases, ethnic biases, and interaction effects within the DSM-IV-TR Clusters A and B Personality Disorder (PD) criteria. One of the principal controversies of the DSM-IV-TR involves the diagnosis of PDs. The diagnostic criteria have been considered to be subjective, making PDs hard to diagnose, yet easy to misdiagnose. In Phase I, examination of Cluster B PDs, there were 89 female and 31 male participants and in Phase II, examination of Cluster A PDs, there were 60 females and 60 males from introductory psychology courses. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and viewed a PowerPoint presentation depicting …

The Relationship Between College Year And Depressive Symptoms For University Students, Erik Michael Levinson

Masters Theses

The goal of the present study was to examine how gender and grade level relate to depressive symptoms in a sample of university students. Based on previous research, it was expected that students in their first year of college would report more depressive symptoms than nonfreshmen, women would report more depression than men, and that female students in their first year of college would have the highest scores on a depression inventory. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (Beck, 1979) was completed by 131 freshmen and 114 nonfreshmen at a Midwestern university. The final sample included 188 women and 57 men, …

Presenting Issues, Severity Of Problems And Treatment Outcomes Of Asian College Students, Earl Anthony Evangelista

Masters Theses

The current study attempts to add to the limited body of literature on Asian American and Asian international students in counseling. Presenting issues, severity of problems, treatment outcome, and gender interactions of Asian American and Asian international college students were examined and compared to non-Asian college students. Data for this study were obtained from an existing database from an East Coast university counseling center. The overall sample consisted of 209 males and 297 females, all of whom were seeking treatment for the first time at the counseling center. The primary groups of interest were Asian American students (n = …

The Role Of Mood As A Mediator In Trait-Congruent Cognitive Processing: Does Mood State Mediate The Relationship Between Personality Traits And Judgment?, Janice E. Harewood

Masters Theses

The relationship between affective traits and predictive judgment was investigated using a mediation framework approach to examine whether the current mood state of participants acted as a mediator between traits and judgment. This relationship was examined for anxious trait, anxious mood, and judgment for negative events and for subjective well-being, happy mood, and judgment for positive events. A written scenario and an imaginal procedure were used to create anxious, happy, or neutral moods in participants, and a fourth group received a simple cognitive task. Results showed that the mood inductions were invalid. Given that the correlations necessary to test for …

The Effects Of Family Functioning And Parent Structure On The Prevalence And Intensity Of Childhood Fears, Rebecca Leis Pederson

Masters Theses

The current study was designed to examine the relation between family factors, such as family functioning and parent structure, and the prevalence and intensity of childhood fears. One hundred and sixteen children in grades 3-12 were surveyed using the Fear Survey Schedule-II. Of the 116 children surveyed, 75 had parents who returned the Self Report Family Inventory and demographic survey. Results indicated that younger, female participants reported fears of greater prevalence and intensity than male participants. Contrary to predictions, neither family functioning or any of its associated factors were found to be related to the prevalence and intensity of childhood …

Narcissistic Self-Enhancement And Willingness To Seek Feedback On Weaknesses, Jessica J. Dhom

Masters Theses

In the current study, I investigated the relationship between narcissism level and feedback-seeking behavior. Using a dimensional approach to personality classification, I considered narcissism to be a component of normal personality and measured this construct with the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. I also investigated the willingness of narcissistic individuals to view feedback regarding their weaknesses, as well as the relationships between narcissism and different cognitive reactions to favorable and unfavorable feedback. Results indicated that, when given the opportunity, narcissistic people seek favorable feedback that pertains to their strengths, while passing on opportunities to receive feedback regarding their weaknesses. They also react …

The Accounts That Defendants Give For Crime: Relationship Between Accounts Given And The Perceived Seriousness Of The Crime, Danielle Bree Trammell

Masters Theses

The present study examined whether the accounts that defendants give (i.e., apology, excuse, or justification) would have an effect on the perceived seriousness of the crime and assigned penalty. The study focused specifically on burglary, a non-violent crime. It also examined how participant characteristics, such as age, gender, political ideology, and history of victimization, affected the perceived seriousness and assigned penalty. This is a growing area of interest, given the societal impact of crime. There is significant disparity in sentencing that exists for perpetrators who are convicted of similar crimes. It is important to examine the possible explanations for this …

Factors Influencing Substance Abuse/Dependence And Treatment Outcome Of Adolescents In A Residential Substance Abuse Program: An Exploratory Study, Melissa L. Moody

Masters Theses

Previous research examining the risk factors associated with alcohol and other drug use has primarily focused on the adult population. Few studies have investigated the factors which influence adolescent substance abuse and the respective effects on treatment outcome. This in spite of the considerable decline in the age-of-onset for problematic substance use that could, if gone untreated, escalate into dependence and a variety of other interpersonal problems which extend across the lifespan. Effective interventions targeting the adolescent population would therefore seem to be of utmost importance to both researchers and clinicians. It has been suggested that individualized treatment programs focusing …

A Trial Of The Effects Of Intercessory Prayer On Student Performance, Christopher Clark

Masters Theses

The purpose of the present study is to test the efficacy of intercessory prayer on academic performance. One hundred and four students enrolled in a college business class and 63 regular church attendees volunteered to participate in the study. Design for the study was a matched groups reversal design. The students were paired according to their GPA's and randomly assigned to one of two groups. The first test of the semester constituted a baseline measure. For the first four-week period of the class and the first test, neither of the groups received prayer. Next, the church goers each received the …

Prediction Of Mental Health Treatment Outcome In Asian American College Students, Jamie Michelle Pitzman

Masters Theses

The current study aimed to examine the relationship between presenting problems and treatment outcome among Asian American college students compared to non-Asian students. The present study also provides information about the relationship between treatment outcome and the following types of demographic and treatment related variables: age, gender, ethnic status, year in school, religion, marital status, parents' marital status, referral source, previous counseling, medical problems, and family history of medical, emotional, or substance abuse problems. Data for this study were obtained from an existing database from an East Coast university counseling center. The entire sample consisted of 173 males and 271 …

Predictors Of Recurrent Child Maltreatment, Bridget Kielty

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between child maltreatment recurrence and several predictor variables in 7 rural counties in central Illinois, an under-studied population in the child maltreatment literature. Additionally, factors that contributed to the decision by Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to provide post-investigative services were also examined. Data were obtained from an integrated database maintained by Illinois DCFS. All indicated cases of maltreatment occurring between January 1, 2000 and March 31 of 2001 were examined for a 12-month period following the initial indicated report for child revictimization or perpetrator recidivism. The …

Acts Of Misconduct And Perception Of Internal, Powerful Others, And Chance Locus Of Control, Jodi L. Henry

Masters Theses

With the growing numbers of acts of misconduct that are committed in our country each year, it is important to find possible predictors of these behaviors. Because locus of control is a stable characteristic that is central to how an individual perceives causes of action, it is one construct that shows promise for predicting acts of misconduct. One hundred and forty college students answered two questionnaires: a locus of control scale called the Internality, Powerful Others, and Chance Scales and a Self Report Acts of Misconduct Index which was created for this study. A Pearson's Correlation was conducted comparing scores …

Non-Directive Play Therapy: Past, Present And Future, Jeslina Jayanti Raj

Masters Theses

The paper focuses on the history, research and future directions of non-directive play therapy. According to the history of play therapy, the first person to advocate studying the play of children in order to understand and educate them was Henry Rousseau. The history of play therapy is discussed with further details. Few studies have been done that empirically support the effectiveness of non-directive play therapy and there have been no investigations of therapeutic processes. From a behavioral perspective, it is understood that non-contingent attention in the form of attention, the absence of demands and the environmental richness of the playroom …

A Neuropsychological Perspective On The Efficacy Of Typical And Atypical Medication Treatment For Chronic Schizophrenia Regarding Executive Functioning, Eric Hart

Masters Theses

This study investigated the efficacy of current medication treatment procedures for chronic schizophrenics on neuropsychological measures. A total of twenty participants from the Coles County Mental Health Center, who met DSM-IV criteria for chronic schizophrenia, volunteered to be administered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)-64 card version as a means of assessing neuropsychological executive functioning. A total of twenty participants free of any diagnosable psychological disorder also volunteered to be administered the WSCT-64, which served as a control group. The staff psychiatrist at the Coles County Mental Health Center completed the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in order to …

The Effectiveness Of Non-Directive Play Therapy On Decreasing Inappropriate Behavior, Heather M. Sawyer

Masters Theses

The present study investigated the effectiveness of non-directive play therapy, operationalized as non-contingent attention (NCA), no-demands, and an enriched environment, on three developmentally normal children with a history of abuse or neglect. A single-case reversal-replication design was employed. Baseline consisted of contingent attention, demands, and a relatively non-enriched environment. Results indicated that for one of the participants, NCA, no-demands, and an enriched environment successfully decreased inappropriate play behaviors. More specifically, destructive and disrupted play behaviors occurred much less frequently in both treatment conditions compared to the two baseline conditions. The other two participants did not show any clear pattern of …

Protective Factors Of Verbal Aggression, Yuria Morimoto

Masters Theses

The present study aimed to examine the negative long-term outcomes of parental verbal aggression in childhood. It also examined the roles of problem-solving coping skills, family cohesion, and a parental emotional bond as moderators of negative psychological outcomes. Sixty-four-male and169 female university students were recruited from psychology courses and completed a demographic questionnaire, measures of physical maltreatment, psychological maltreatment, family cohesion, parental emotional bonding, and use of coping strategies. Psychological adjustment was assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Aggression Questionnaire, and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems. Results indicated that individuals reporting greater verbal aggression histories …

Perceived Parenting Style, Adolescent Family Life Satisfaction, And Self-Esteem As Predictors Of Adolescent Substance Use, Megan Cox

Masters Theses

This study was conducted to identify predictors of adolescent substance use. Eighty-seven junior high school students completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Adolescent Family Life Satisfaction Index, Parental Authority Questionnaire, and the Michigan Alcohol and Other Drug School Survey. When examining self-esteem, adolescent family life satisfaction, and perceived parenting style, it was found that the authoritarian father parenting style was the best predictor of total adolescent substance use and, more specifically, tobacco use. Self-esteem and the authoritarian father parenting style were found to be the best predictors of adolescent alcohol use. Furthermore, the authoritarian father parenting style was significantly correlated with …

Functional Analysis Of Abused/Neglected Children's Inappropriate Play, Jessica Bauer

Masters Theses

This study investigated the possible governing mechanisms of inappropriate play behaviors of three developmentally normal children with a history of abuse/neglect. A functional analysis was performed using three conditions—contingent attention plus demands, contingent attention, and non-contingent attention. For one child, functional analysis revealed that inappropriate play behavior occurred more frequently in those conditions where contingent attention was present. Demands, at least when contingent attention was provided, did not appear to elicit or evoke inappropriate play behavior. For the other two children, functional analysis did not reveal any significant differences between conditions. The results of this study suggest that for some …

Male Sexual Behavior: Revisiting The Eiu Sexual Experience Survey And Report, Justin W. Freeman

Masters Theses

The EIU Sexual Experiences Survey of 1989 was given to 1693 Eastern undergraduate students in order to determine the incidence rate of sexual assault on campus. The survey report consisted of descriptive findings only, leaving future correlational research to answer any questions that remained. This study designated 664 male survey respondents with the Illinois legal classification system, and analyzed the demographics of the men surveyed to find any correlational relationships. No meaningful correlational relationships were found across the conditions of perpetrator and non-perpetrator for the male survey respondents.

Current Trends In Psychological Testing, Kimberle L. S. Crawford

Masters Theses

Discussions about the adequacy of psychological measurement and assessment can quickly become controversial therefore; I expect some strong reaction to portions of this manuscript. Debates about the usefulness of criticism of psychological testing are longstanding: Even early psychologists such as Cattell and Jastrow disagreed on this issue. To be clear, I do not believe that use of contemporary tests should cease. I share the view that "psychological tests often provide the fairest and most accurate method of making important decisions" (K. R. Murphy & Davidshoffer, 1988, p. xii).

My first purpose, then, is to provide a historical survey of relevant …

The Relationship Between Neurotic Perfectionism And Symptoms Of Eating Disorders In College-Age Women, Valerie L. Devillez

Masters Theses

This study was designed to examine the relationship between neurotic perfectionism and symptoms of eating disorders in college-age women. There is minimal published research addressing this relationship, and only one study has been conducted in which eating-disordered subjects were compared to non-eating-disordered subjects. Sixty-five female participants completed survey materials including the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2) and the Neurotic Perfectionism Questionnaire (NPQ.) Participants were recruited from the Pavilion, the Eastern Illinois University Counseling Center, and from introductory psychology classes at Eastern Illinois University. Results suggest that there is a direct relationship between neurotic perfectionism and symptoms of eating disorders in college-age …