Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Shared Leadership: Enactment, Perception, And The Role Of Power Distance, Mina Milosevic

Theses and Dissertations

Interest in shared leadership stems from the growing evidence that adopting this approach to team management results in enhanced team performance, team effectiveness, and team satisfaction. However, to fully realize the value of shared leadership, we must understand exactly what shared leadership is as well as when and how it evolves in teams. This study used teams’ verbal communication data to identify shared leadership behaviors and to explore the relationship between behaviorally-enacted shared leadership and its perception by the team members. In addition, the study examined the impact of power distance on shared leadership. The results show that, despite behaviorally-enacted …

Experience And Knowledge Of Elementary School Teachers Of Emotionally And Behaviorally Disordered Students, Ashley Lynn Higginbotham

Theses and Dissertations

There is very little and out dated research concerning effective teacher methods for managing emotionally and behaviorally disordered children in educational settings. With growing rates of EBD children, it is important that this population gets the attention of researchers to ensure success for them. This study attempted to evaluate the relationship between experience and knowledge of teachers in regards to managing emotionally and behaviorally disordered students. Variables included number of years of teaching, number of EBD students each teacher had in the past five years, and participation in courses or workshops on EBD students. Seventeen teachers of EBD students responded …

Attitudes And Preferences About The Stepped-Care Model Of Depression Treatment In Oncology: A Pilot Study, Juliana Alessandra D'Onofrio

Theses and Dissertations

The current pilot study examines the feasibility of conducting a full-scale study that utilizes a survey-based cross-sectional methodological design. The purpose was to systematically explore the attitudes about the Stepped-Care (SC) Model of depression treatment, specific treatment preferences for depression, and client characteristics of a sample of women diagnosed with breast cancer. A total of 26 women were recruited from a breast cancer clinic located in the Northeastern United States. Preliminary results indicated that participants on average rated treatments within the SC Model as acceptable, tended to prefer step three (e.g. psychotherapy, medication, or a combined approach) or step two …

The Impact Of Ethnic Identity On Psychological Well-Being And Perceived Discrimination Among Arab Americans, Rawan Atari

Theses and Dissertations

The current study intended to expand upon psychological research on the Arab American community, which has faced increased discrimination since 9/11 and recent ISIS-related terrorist attacks. Since perceived discrimination has been associated with greater psychological distress among Arab Americans, it is important to determine whether any protective factors are available for this community. In a sample of Arab Americans, the relationship between perceived discrimination and aspects of psychological well-being (i.e., self-esteem, flourishing, and satisfaction with life) were examined in order to gain a better overall picture of Arab American mental health. Because ethnic identity has been recognized as a protective …

What Is The Role Of The Community? Examining Minority Stress Processes Among Gay And Bisexual Men, Brian Salfas

Theses and Dissertations

This work examines factors affecting the mental health of gay and bisexual men drawing on minority stress theory. Results indicate that community involvement has a positive effect on the mental health of men impacted by minority stress and show a significant interaction between community involvement and internalized homonegativity.

Peer Rejection And Emotion Development: The Role Of Peer Rejection And Coming Out On Emotional Health Among Gay And Bisexual Men, Joseph A. Carter

Theses and Dissertations

Gay and bisexual men experience a higher prevalence of negative mental health outcomes than their heterosexual counterparts. This study examines sexual identity milestone achievement—the age of first coming out to friends—for mediation on the association between childhood experiences of peer rejection and levels of emotion dysregulation in adulthood.

Raising Eaters Part Ii: Generational Effects Of Parenting Styles On Females Eating Behaviors In Childhood, Ellen Kaye Durham

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past four decades pediatric obesity rates have more than tripled and child eating disorders are on the rise, suggesting a significant health concern in children’s eating habits (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2013; Rosen, 2010). As females are identified as most at risk for disordered eating (Collins, 1991) and mothers remain the primary caretakers of children at home, females are the focus of the present study. Following Bandura’s principles of observational learning, attitudes regarding eating practices and body image are likely to be transmitted from mother to daughter and perpetuated across generations through parental control and …

Examining The Potential Relationship Between Religious Identity, Ethnic Identity, And Attitudes Towards Sexualized Clothing Of Women Living In The United States, Diana Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to examine whether ethnic and religious identity have a relationship with attitudes towards sexualized aspects of clothing. The sexualization of women in American culture, particularly in the media, has been noted by several institutions and researchers, including the American Psychological Association. However, there has been very little research examining the attitudes of individual women towards the kind of dress that is overtly hypersexualized. While there is a clearly observable portrayal of women in American media, the attitudes of individual women can be influenced by many other cultural factors, including ethnicity and religion. The …

The Use Of Reappraisal During Expressive Writing And Its Impact On Affect And Insight, Alleana Micaela Maglaque Fuentes

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis looked into the role of reappraisal in expressive writing and its impact on affect and insight. The study looked into (1) differences in reappraisal between writing in the first person versus third person, (2) differences in one’s perceived inclusion of the stressor in the self between the two groups, (3) changes produced in positive and negative affect, (4) outcomes on insight, and (5) the role of reappraisal as a mediator between expressive writing and its outcomes. 64 undergraduate students were asked to answer questionnaires and engage in a writing task. Results of the study are as follows: (1) …

An Examination Of The 16pf Global Factors As Predictors Of The Scale Of Accurate Personality Prediction (Sapp), Maria Christina Mandina

Theses and Dissertations

The Scale of Accurate Personality Prediction (SAPP), first developed by Miller (2000), was designed to measure one’s self-knowledge regarding their personality traits. The SAPP was derived from the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) by means of comparing the differences between a respondent’s predicted and obtained scores on the 16PF. Numerous studies to date have examined both the reliability and validity of the SAPP. A recent study looked at the predictability of the SAPP score utilizing the 16 obtained primary scales of the 16PF (Mazur, 2015) so as to be able to derive a SAPP score directly from the obtained 16PF …

An Examination Of The 16pf Demographic Variables As Predictors Of The Scale For Accurate Personality Prediction (Sapp), Jack Dorian Bartel

Theses and Dissertations

The Scale of Accurate Personality Prediction (SAPP) was first developed in 2000 by Miller. Its principal purpose is to serve as a measure of one’s ability to accurately predict his or her personality traits, and as such, potentially reflect the level of one’s self-knowledge. The measure is derived from the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). The purpose of the current study was to follow up on a recent attempt to identify the best predictors of the SAPP using the 16 primary factors of the 16PF (Mazur, 2013). This study focuses on certain demographics to determine their potential ability to predict …

A Hierarchical Linear Modeling Approach To Predicting Trajectories Of Posttraumatic Growth In Veterans Following Acquired Physical Disability, Lisa Goldberg Looney

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine potential predictors of PTG across time in Veterans with acquired physical disabilities. Specifically, this study aimed to understand how various demographic and injury characteristics, coping styles, appraisals of injury, and social support might predict trajectories of PTG from discharge from inpatient rehabilitation through 12 months after baseline. Initial curvature analyses suggested that a cubic polynomial trend best fit the movement of PTG over time, generally conforming to an initial increase, decrease, and then plateau or slight increase. Four HLMs were run to examine whether demographic and injury characteristics, coping styles, appraisals of …

The Influence Of Family Composition On Adolescent Problem Behavior: The Moderating Roles Of Gender And Adult Support, Jasmine Coleman

Theses and Dissertations

There is convincing support for the link between family composition and adolescents’ problem behaviors. What is less clear is the extent to which these relations exist for African-American adolescents. Previous studies have demonstrated that this relation varies by gender. However, there is limited evidence to suggest the potential moderating influence of adult support. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of family composition on adolescents’ physical aggression, delinquency, and substance use. The study comes from secondary analyses of a larger study that evaluated the effectiveness of a violence prevention program. The current study included 1,116 African-American middle …

Sleep And Pain In Older Adults: The Role Of Negative And Positive Affect, Scott Ravyts

Theses and Dissertations

Poor sleep is known to contribute to increased levels of pain. Preliminary findings suggest that negative and positive affect may mediate this relationship. Given that older adults are prone to both sleep disturbance and pain, the main objectives of the present study were to: 1) examine the relationship between sleep and pain in a non-clinical pain sample of community-dwelling older adults and 2) to examine whether negative and positive affect mediate the relationship between sleep and pain. Baseline measures from 82 older adults participating in the Active Adult Mentoring Project (AAMP) were used for secondary data analysis. A daily sleep …

Social Support, Parent Stress, And Child Aggression: A Longitudinal Model Of Family Ecology, Jill B. Lubansky

Theses and Dissertations

In the last few decades, treatment of problem behaviors in children and adolescents has targeted the entire family rather than more traditional methods that targeted the individual child. This approach is rooted in family systems and other ecological research and theory. The social sciences have maintained a long history of inquiry into the relations among social support, stress, and psychopathology. However, few of these inquiries include child outcomes, such as behavior problems, as the psychopathological outcome. Even fewer studies have utilized longitudinal models that have the capacity to accurately reflect the developmental process of stress and psychopathology. In the current …

Female Student Veterans: A Survey Of Current Transition Challenges And Issues From Active Duty To Collegiate Life, Nicole Starr Biondoletti

Theses and Dissertations

Research on the student veteran population is extremely limited. The literature does tell us, however, that mental health difficulties in veterans has been present for thousands of years, and that recent warfare has led to a steady increased in posttraumatic stress and suicidality. In addition, there has been an exponential increase in veterans enrolling in post-secondary institutions due to the appealing benefits of the post-9/11 GI Bill. The result of these two facts are a relatively new population with unique challenges and needs. The present study utilized the PTSD Checklist, Military version (PCL-M), the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R), the Combat …

The Knowledge And Beliefs Of Childhood Sexual Abuse (Csa) Professionals On The Use Of Animal-Assisted Activities (Aaa) And Animal Assisted Therapy (Aat) In Forensic Interviews, Alyssa Mari Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The present study aimed at exploring the current level of knowledge of professionals in the field on Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA), childhood memory development, and the legal aspects of CSA cases, as well as surveying attitudes and beliefs regarding the practice of using therapy animals during forensic interviews. Forty-five participants, who worked with maltreated children in the mental health profession completed the survey. Based on prior research, I hypothesized that those with higher educational attainment would rate themselves higher on knowledge of childhood memory development, which was not supported by the data. I also hypothesized that those with experience with …

Biological, Cognitive And Psychosocial Variables Associated With Female Students’ Pursuit Of Stem Or Non-Stem Major In College, Anna Brenner Shuman

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States a disproportionately small number of women entering the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This results in women missing out on job opportunities with better earning potential, and influence over the products they use. The current study examined variables involved in female college students’ choice of STEM or non-STEM majors in college. The predictive variables of interest included biological factors (i.e. the relative length of finger digits 2 and 4, and maturation rate as indicated by puberty onset, menarche), cognitive abilities (i.e. mental rotation and quantitative performance scores on college entrance exams), and psychosocial …

Smartphone Use And Mindfulness: Empirical Tests Of A Hypothesized Connection, Darren Todd Woodlief

Theses and Dissertations

The current study is the first test of a newly developed conceptual model of the effect of smartphone use on mindfulness. Previous research has shown the capacity for mindfulness is strongly associated with increased psychological well-being (e.g. higher self-esteem and lower perceived stress, anxiety, and psychological distress). We argue that smartphones can be used in an automatic and mindless or experientially avoidant way, and that this use can lead to a decreased capacity for mindfulness, with adolescents being most vulnerable to this potential impact. Components of mindfulness, such as the capacity for sustained attention and the areas of the brain …

Implementing Integrated Care In Family Medicine: Description And Outcomes In An Underserved Population, Zach Radcliff

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Family physicians provide access to medical and behavioral healthcare for many underserved populations. Integrating behavioral health clinicians into primary care practices has been proposed as one of the most effective ways to increase access to necessary behavioral health services for many Americans. Integrated behavioral healthcare (IBHC) has begun to be implemented in family medicine practices but there is limited research examining the impact for patients and clinic staff. This study begins to fill this gap in the literature by examining the effects of implementing integrated behavioral healthcare in an urban family medicine clinic in a medically underserved area.

Objective: …

Predictors Of Vicarious Traumatization Among Trauma Clinicians And General Mental Health Providers: A Comparison, Shaina Gulin

Theses and Dissertations

Vicarious traumatization (VT) describes the gradual, transformative shifts in internal experience that occur as a result of cumulative exposure to clients’ trauma material. VT is thought to develop in the therapist due to empathic engagement with clients, resulting in profound disruptions in frame of reference. Because VT is conceptualized as a condition that develops due to frequent exposure to clients’ traumatic material, a rapidly emerging body of theoretical literature suggests that clinicians can safeguard against VT by maintaining a more balanced workload (i.e., a caseload of clients with a variety of presenting problems) and limiting the number of trauma cases. …

Pathways Linking Clinician Demographics To Mental Health Diagnostic Accuracy: An International Perspective, Julia Brechbiel

Theses and Dissertations

Significant research efforts have focused on examining the effect of patient factors on providing diagnoses across clinical settings; however, the influence of clinician demographics have received less attention. This study aimed to understand the impact of nonclinical factors such as clinician characteristics and response time on diagnostic accuracy. The study used data from a WHO field study of the ICD-11 development (n = 1822) that required clinicians to diagnose two case vignettes. Clinicians’ slower response times had a significant positive impact on their rates of diagnostic accuracy. However, there was no evidence that clinicians’ demographic features were directly related to …

Using Restoration-Oriented Coping And The Dual Process Model With Bereaved Undergraduates, Farah J. Aslanzadeh

Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 60% of college seniors lost at least one family member or friend since beginning college (Cox, Dean, & Kowalski, 2015). Research reveals that bereaved students are more likely than their nonbereaved peers to struggle with academic problems and attrition (Cousins, Servaty-Seib & Lockman, 2017), highlighting the importance of identifying protective factors for this group of individuals. Researchers have identified restoration-oriented coping as a helpful coping mechanism in other samples (Caserta & Lund, 2007; Caserta, Lund, Utza, & de Vries, 2009). Despite qualitative evidence suggesting bereaved undergraduates often employ restoration-oriented coping, no research has formally assessed the effects of restoration-oriented …

Predictors Of Barriers To Psychosocial Treatment For African American Families Of Children With Adhd, Stephanie A. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

African American families of youth with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traditionally have lower rates of ADHD treatment compared to nonminority groups. These treatment disparities underscore the importance of better understanding the barriers to treatment for these families. Therefore, in a sample of 67 African American caregivers of children with ADHD, the current study examined (1) factors that predict barriers to treatment for African American families of children with ADHD and (2) whether caregiver impairment mediates comorbid behavior problems and barriers to treatment for African American youth with ADHD. Analyses revealed that caregiver impairment predicted barriers to treatment and mediated the relationship …

Sticking To The Recipe: How Do Adherence And Differentiation To A Cbt Protocol Affect Client Outcomes In Youths With Anxiety?, Ruben G. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Understanding the pathways through which treatments work to change symptom and diagnostic outcomes is important to the development and delivery of evidence-based treatments. This study assessed the extent to which adherence (therapist’s delivery of prescribed therapeutic interventions) and differentiation (therapist’s delivery of non-prescribed therapeutic interventions) to Coping Cat, a CBT program, affected client symptom and diagnostic outcomes. Method: The Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy – Revised Strategies Scale (McLeod et al., 2015) was used to characterize therapeutic interventions delivered within and outside of the Coping Cat program with youths aged 7-15 receiving treatment in one efficacy …

Building A Bond: Longitudinal Relations Between Interpersonal School Climate, Student Awareness And Reporting Of Violence, And Peer Victimization And Aggression In Adolescents, Kathryn Behrhorst

Theses and Dissertations

High prevalence rates and negative outcomes of peer-based aggression and victimization during early adolescence underscore the need to identify causes and consequences of these outcomes. Limited research has examined the impact of environmental and contextual factors, such as school climate, on peer aggression and victimization. Few studies have addressed relations between school climate and specific subtypes of physical and relational aggression and victimization. Although school climate has been assessed via interpersonal subsystems (i.e., student-student and student-teacher relationships), little research has incorporated the role of student awareness and reporting of violence and safety concerns. Further, studies are needed that consider the …

Synchrony And Concordance: A Multilevel Analysis Of The Effects Of Individual Differences During A Co2 Challenge, Rachel E. Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

Emotion theories posit that emotion systems (e.g., behavior, self-report, physiology) should be related when an emotion is being elicited because this serves an adaptive purpose and allows the individual to respond appropriately to the present situation. Oftentimes, this coherent relationship is not found, and research has hypothesized that the type of analyses used and lack of examination of individual differences could be affecting this relationship. Most studies examine the relationship between emotion systems between-subjects when within-subjects analyses may be more appropriate. The present study examined the relationship between self-reported distress (SUDS) and heart rate, and whether trait differences of anxiety …

Acculturative Stress And Depression Among Latinos/As: Investigating The Role Of Neighborhood Context, Rebeca Castellanos

Theses and Dissertations

Latinos/as are the fastest growing demographic in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). As they encounter U.S. society, Latino/as may experience acculturative stress (Berry, 1997). Empirical evidence suggests that Latinos/as in the U.S. report high rates of depression symptoms (Wassertheil-Smoller et al 2014). Acculturative stress has been strongly associated with depression (Driscoll & Torres, 2013) and research suggests that Latino/as may experience acculturative stress differently depending on their generational status (i.e., how recently they or their parents immigrated to the U.S). There is evidence to suggest that contextual factors such as neighborhood context may influence both acculturative stress processes …

Comparison Of Intimate Partner Violence And Sexual Assault Among Black And White College Women At Predominantly White Institutions (Pwis), Cynthia Nicole White

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The current study sought to compare Black and White college women’s experiences following sexual assault or physical intimate partner violence (IPV) while attending a predominately White institution (PWI). Prevalence rates, depression, academic effects, binge drinking, and help-seeking among victims was compared by race.

Method: Black (N= 435) and White (N= 4,313) college women from 3 large PWIs in the United States completed online surveys. The survey included questions about race, sexual assault, physical IPV, depression, academic outcomes of victimization, binge drinking, and help-seeking.

Results: Black women were more likely to experience physical IPV than White women, …

Relationships Among Health Counseling Training Experiences And Time Engaged In Counseling, Percentage Of Patients Counseled, Practitioner Confidence, And Perceived Importance, Stephen Edward Lupe

Theses and Dissertations

In the current healthcare system, the need for collaborative care is higher than ever. With current reforms in reimbursement and healthcare policies, it is becoming increasingly necessary for psychologists and other practitioners to break ranks with their traditional roles and to participate as a part of a multidisciplinary team that works in collaboration with other healthcare professionals. This study aims to look at the health counseling behaviors of psychologists and graduate psychology students from an APA accredited clinical psychology graduate program. It aims to examine the relationships among health counseling training variables and time spent engaging in health counseling, highest …