Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Temporal, Perspectives, Dispositional Styles, And Subjective Well-Being, Mary Naeger

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study investigated the relationship between time perspective (TP) and the personality dispositions of optimism, pessimism, and realism with regard to their proposed influence on three measures that collectively assessed subjective well-being (SWB). The Depression-Happiness Scale (McGreal & Joseph, 1993) assessed happiness or the presence of positive affect and the absence of negative affect, the cognitiveaffective components of SWB. The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) provided the measurement of subjective life satisfaction, the essential final cognitive-judgmental component of SWB. The Life Orientation Scale-Revised (LOT-R) (Scheier, Carver, and Bridges, 1994) and a Reality Scale, composed …

Sex, Gender Roles, And Bias In The Diagnosis Of Personality Disorders: A Models Comparison Approach, Jeremy Paul Crosby

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Clinicians have been found to assign differing personality disorder diagnoses based on the patient's sex, raising concerns of sex bias. However, studies assessing symptom ratings have yielded different results than studies assessing the assignment of diagnoses. The present study utilized both approaches to address sex bias. A national sample (N = 167) of psychologists provided both symptom ratings and diagnoses for two case vignettes meeting minimum DSM-IV criteria for Antisocial and Histrionic personality disorders, and the sex of the patients in the cases was manipulated. A sexunspecified condition was used as a baseline measure to assess for over- and underpathologizing …

Understanding The Relationship Between Religiosity And Marriage: An Investigation Of The Immediate And Longitudinal Effect Of Religiosity On Newlywed Couples, Kieran T. Sullivan

Psychology

The association between religiosity and marital outcome has been repeatedly demonstrated. However, a complete understanding of this relationship is hindered by theoretical and methodological limitations. The purpose of the current study was to test three explanatory models by assessing two samples of newlywed couples. Findings indicate that religiosity is associated with attitudes toward divorce, commitment, and help-seeking attitudes cross-sectionally. Longitudinal effects, however, are most consistent with a moderating model, wherein religiosity has a positive impact on husbands, and wives' marital satisfaction for couples with less neurotic husbands, and a negative impact for couples with more neurotic husbands. Overall, the impact …

Faith And Health: What Do We Know?, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

There has been a great deal of interest in the relationship between religious faith and health for thousands of years. Regardless of religious tradition, many have sought religious guidance and spiritual support to help prevent, recover from, or cope with both mental and physical health problems. In fact, it was the healing miracles of Jesus that resulted in so much commotion during the early part of his ministry. "The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk…" clearly highlights the relationship between faith and health.

Mood, Social Goals And Children's Outcome Expectancies, Bridgette Harper

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Past research suggests that emotions, arousal, and goals affect how children reason in social situations, but, thus far, there has been very little research on how these variables interact. It has been hypothesized that emotion could affect any area of social information processing directly, but it has also been hypothesized that emotion might have an indirect effect on social information processing. Therefore, a primary hypothesis of the current study was whether emotion influences each step of social information processing directly or whether emotion influences social information processing indirectly by first influencing goal orientations which, in turn, influence the other areas …

Parapsychological Beliefs And The Effects Of Exposure To Skeptical Inquiry, Augustine Seeger

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Belief in parapsychological/paranormal phenomena is widespread in the American public (Gallup & Newport, 1991). Messer and Griggs (1989) reported that misinformation through the media, including uncritical reports of events and pseudodocumentaries about paranormal phenomena, is a possible reason for the substantial belief in the paranormal evidenced by the American public. The realm of the parapsychological is a particularly important area of research, especially to those who teach psychology. Messer and Griggs (1989) provided evidence that the prevalence of belief in the paranormal was also rather extensive in a sample of college students. Belief and involvement in certain paranormal phenomenon has …

Thinness In Women: The Impact Of Female Body Weight On Relationship Satisfaction And Commitment, Wendy Walter Campbell

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study represents an investigation of the impact of weight change on romantic relationships, and the hypothesized gender difference in the importance assigned to a partner's weight. Participants were 221 undergraduate students (148 women and 73 men) from a medium sized Midwestern University. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions in which their weight in a photo image was increased, decreased or left unchanged. Upon inspecting the image, participants were asked to complete measures of relationship satisfaction and commitment (including among others, items from the Dyadic Adjustment Scale [DAS]), the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale [KMSS], as well …

Treatment Staff Burnout: Measuring The Effect Of Administrative Support In Adult Male Prisons, Brett Garland

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For the past few decades, criminologists have evaluated the success of treatment programs as the primary strategy to identify the best ways to lower offender recidivism. In doing so, they have repeatedly overlooked staff burnout as a potential barrier to rehabilitation. Because past research in human service agencies in general and prisons in particular has found organizational and administrative shortcomings to have the greatest impact on job strain and discomfort, this exploratory study examined the relationship between administrative support and the burnout of prison treatment staff. Burnout, the dependent variable, was measured by a modified version of an exhaustion index …

Stress And Coping Experiences Of Women In Transition: From Welfare To Work, William Jesse Gill

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Welfare reform and the consequent emphasis on employment represent a stressful sequence of events in the lives of women who are already facing the chronic stressors associated with single parenting and poverty. The current study assessed the levels of distress, factors contributing to distress, and coping resources utilized among a sample of 60 mothers who were making the transition from welfare to work. Ninety percent of the women were single or separated, and 71 percent were African American. All were receiving public assistance from two neighboring social services agencies in Virginia.

Psychological distress was measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory …

The Utility Of Psychological Research To Aid And Abet Violence: Terrorist Talent Scouts And The Selection And Management Of Youthful Terrorists, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article identities the political implications of psychological research intended to prevent or minimize youthful violence. The article then focuses on how this research can be used to help select and manage youthful terrorists.

The Nature Of The Traumatic Event As A Predictor Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Chronic Low Back Pain Patients, Lorie Tulia Decarvalho

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The present study investigated the specific nature of the traumatic event in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Specifically, the following questions were asked: (1) Do individuals with CLBP evidence posttraumatic stress disorder?, (2) In patients with CLBP, what is the trauma which predicts the development of PTSD- the specific event which led to the lower back pain, any other traumatic event, or is it the chronic low back pain itself which is traumatic? (3) In CLBP patients who evidence PTSD, do the intensity and duration of the trauma predict the development of PTSD? Participants were 112 patients receiving …

The Effect Of Individual Counseling On Hope And Its Impact On The Utilization Of Services By Individuals With Hiv Disease, Barry Michael Vesciglio

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The interrelationships of participation in counseling, level of hope, and care service utilization in a sample of individuals with HIV disease was the focus of this study. It was hypothesized that individual counseling would improve an HIV-positive person's level of hope, and would increase participation in additional care services. It was also hypothesized that individuals with more hope would seek a greater number of care services. The Health Status Questionnaire, which contains the Hope Scale, and the Social Support Questionnaire were used to collect data. Participation in individual counseling was not related to level of hope. Additionally, stage of illness …

An Examination Of Racial Identity And Auitudes, Perceived Cultural Competence, And Level Of Academic Training Of European-American Graduate Studen!S With Culturally Diverse Clients, Justin Kyckelhann Crawford

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

No abstract provided.

The Ability Of The Child And Adolescent Functioning Assessment Scale (Cafas) To Predict Discharge Status From An Intensive In-Home Treatment Program, Brenda K. Smith

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Mental health providers are increasing required to document symptoms of clients, level of functional impairment, and improvements in treatment due to increasing pressure from managed mental health to provide the best possible services for the least amount of money and time spent. Thus, instruments that reliably predict functional impairment, length and cost of services are increasing utilized in mental health agencies. One such instrument, the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAF AS), will be reviewed. The purpose of the study will be stated, and the method, procedure, and results will be explained. A discussion will follow detailing a summary …

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 …

Research On Faith And Health: New Appoaches To Old Questions, Thomas G. Plante, Allen C. Sherman

Psychology

Does religious faith influence health? Are religious practices associated with altered risks for morbidity or mortality? Do religious or spiritual individuals tend to enjoy better well-being or mental health across the lifespan? Does spiritual or religious involvement change the way individuals adapt to the demands of chronic illness? This volume brings together some of the leading investigators who have explored these intriguing questions. Though research is in its early phases, the chapters that follow review some of what we have learned and begin to trace the outlines of the many mysteries that remain.

Stress, Coping, And Success Among Clinical Psychology Graduate Students, Nancy G. Nelson, Carol Dell'oliver, Chris Koch, Robert Buckler

Faculty Publications - Psychology Department

No abstract provided.

An Open Label Study Of The Effects Of Levetiracetam In Children With Autism, Teresa C. Samsock

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This was an open-label study of levetiracetam in children with autism. Many anticonvulsant medications are used for management of externalizing behaviors and mood stability in autism; however, they are not consistently effective and adverse reactions limit their use. The objective of this study was to test the following research questions: (1) to determine whether levetiracetam reduces problematic externalizing behaviors in children with autism, and (2) to determine whether a nootropic effect from levetiracetam may be seen in cognition, memory, and/or language function in children with autism. Evaluations were gathered pre-treatment and during treatment using a battery of cognitive and behavioral …

Job Satisfaction Among Psychologists In A Managed-Care Environment, Walter R. Vyhmeister

Dissertations

The problem. The efforts of managed care to balance resources, cost, and quality of services have created new issues among mental health professionals, affecting their careers and having the potential to affect their job satisfaction. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to investigate how managed care has impacted career satisfaction among professional psychologists.

The method. The present investigation examined 21 factors in the prediction of job satisfaction among licensed psychologists. A sample of 1,000 licensed psychologists located in California, Oregon, and Washington was randomly selected from the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. Three hundred seventeen participants …

Religious Faith And Mental Health Outcomes, Thomas G. Plante, Naveen K. Sharma

Psychology

In this chapter we review recent research regarding the relationship between religious faith/spirituality and mental health outcomes, as well as provide directions for future research and discussion. The specific aspects of mental health and illness that we focus on include well-being, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and schizophrenia. We also briefly discuss research pertaining to religious faith and personality disorders, eating disorders, somatoform disorders, and bipolar disorder.

The Effectiveness Of Positive Behavior Support With Children Diagnosed Adhd, Lisa K. Smell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Much controversy is centered on treatment options for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Problems finding an appropriate treatment involve the lack of understanding of ADHD, the failure to teach alternative skills, and the lack of parental compliance and consistency with the behavior procedures. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of Positive Behavior Support (PBS), with children diagnosed with ADHD, when parents are consistent and compliant with PBS procedures. Two children participated in this study. Three assessment instruments were used as predictor variables, the PBS and ADHD Pre-test/Post-test Questionnaire, the Observation Rating Checklist of Compliance, and the …

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 …

A Study Of Attempted Suicide Among Female Youths, Aini Omar

Student Works (2000-2009)

Worldwide, suicide is among the top five causes of mortality in the 15 to 19 year age group while majority of suicide attempts is among females (WHO, 2000). The purpose of this study is to identify youth that are likely to be suicidal, their feelings and thoughts and determine the underlying factors that instigate the intention so that remedial actions can be taken before the actual attempt. The questions arise for the research would include a) Who are the female youth that are inclined to suicidal acts? b) What are the causes, feelings and thoughts that prompt them to contemplate …

Self-Disclosure, Clara E. Hill, Sarah Knox

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

A review of the analog literature about therapist self-disclosure suggests that nonclients generally have positive perceptions of therapist self-disclosures. A review of the naturalistic psychotherapy literature indicates that therapist self-disclosure occurs infrequently, is used more often by humanistic-experiential than psychoanalytic therapists, is most often about professional background than about intimate personal details, is used for many different reasons, is used cautiously by therapists, and is helpful in the immediate process of therapy. Effects of therapist self-disclosure on the ultimate outcome of therapy are less clear. Limitations of the research (poor and inconsistent definitions and lack of a clinically appropriate methodology …

Client Weight As A Barrier To Non-Biased Clinical Judgment, Tricia Duncan Hassel, Carol J. Amici, Nancy S. Thurston, Richard L. Gorsuch

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

A sample of 95 Christian and 68 Non-Christian mental health professionals were given a picture of either an overweight or average-weight male or female client and a generic case vignette. Participants were asked to make clinical judgments of pathology and client attributions for the pictured client. Results indicated that mental health professionals ascribe more pathology and negative attributes to obese clients than to average-weight clients. In addition, Christian mental health professionals are just as likely as non-Christians to ascribe more negative attributes to obese clients. Ways to remove barriers to unbiased psychotherapy and deal with countertransference issues are discussed from …