Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Aasp Cmpc® Recertification Survey: Analysis Of Perceived Benefits And Barriers, Ben Sammet

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A survey of 212 individuals who recertified or certified as a Certified Mental Performance Consultant® (CMPC) provided information on the perceived benefits of and barriers to the credential. Primary reasons for recertification and certification were the perceived credibility and expertise implied by the credential, with some indicating the certification to be central to their practice. Similarly, the primary value of the CMPC® certification cited by respondents was an indication of meeting professional standards; being listed on the CMPC® registry also was valued. In addition to perceived credibility, being perceived as ethical was highly ranked as a benefit of certification. Supporting …

Gender Differences In The Association Between Emotion Dysregulation And Suicidal Behavior, Eliza Hope Laves

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 years old (Drapeau & McIntosh, 2020). Being younger and female is significantly associated with suicidal behaviors (e.g., suicidal ideation, plan, and attempts), and girls report higher scores on suicidal ideation, plan, and attempts that result in a hospital visit compared to boys (Kann et al., 2018; Nook et al., 2008). Additionally, adolescents (e.g., 17.2%) reported the highest levels of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) engagement compared to young adults (e.g., 13.4%) and adults (e.g., 5.5%), and girls reported more NSSI engagement than boys among adolescents …

Alcohol Use And Emotion Dysregulation In Adolescence, Shelby King

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Underage drinking is a serious public health concern with magnified physical and psychological risks for adolescents. Consequences can include impaired judgement, increased risk for alcohol problems later in life, increased risk of physical and sexual assault, interference with brain development, injuries, and death (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2021). In a 2019 survey, 29% of high school students reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Given the high rates of use and adverse effects associated with adolescent substance use, research on risk factors related to alcohol use among this age …

Emotional Support Animals For College Students: Do The Benefits Outweigh The Costs?, Sidney Street

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Mental health problems have been drastically increasing in recent years among college students. Alongside the rising prevalence of psychological distress, universities have also experienced an increase in requests to have Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) live on campus. To date however, data are scarce on students’ experiences living with and around ESAs. The present study aims to investigate attitudes and perceptions about ESAs, in both owners of ESAs as well as students who do not own an ESA but have interacted with one. Specifically, owners were interviewed to find whether the perceived benefits of owning an ESA outweigh the associated costs …

The Influence Of Parent-Child Relationships On Female Sexual Functioning: A Review Of The Literature, Laura Tillman

Dissertations

This literature review is an examination of the impact of parental communication of sexual functioning in women. Women have many commonalities of sexual experiences and receive similar messages as children and adolescents in regards to their sexual behavior. Current attitudes towards women’s sexuality and sexual functioning and the outcomes that a lack of communication can warrant are areas of importance for this literature review. This Clinical Research Project (CRP) examines how frequently parents communicate about sexual topics with their child, how parents communicate, and parental feelings surrounding discussions. Parenting models and attachment styles are reviewed and how childhood experiences shape …

Experience Of Loss And Resilience In Persons With Chronic Pain, Lauren Abshire

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Chronic pain is one of the most common concerns people seek medical treatment for, yet it is historically difficult to treat. The current best evidence practice in chronic pain treatment is through a multidisciplinary team with psychologists implementing cognitive behavioral therapy or acceptance commitment therapy. These approaches are efficacious in decreasing pain-related behaviors and improving mood and quality of life. Resilience has also been shown to mitigate the impact of chronic pain. However, the sense of loss or grief related to the experience of chronic pain has been inadequately explored in the research literature and may be related to poor …

Developing A Predictive Model Of Depression And Suicidal Tendencies In Pilots, Tanya Kim Bulleigh

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The mental health of commercial airline pilots is as important as their physical health because of their immense responsibility for the safety of their passengers and crews. Pilot suicides that end in fatal aircraft crashes result in many injuries and deaths. Although depression and suicidal tendencies are common across all genders, ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds, the mental health of aviation pilots has been challenging to evaluate and quantify through routine flight medical exams.

The purpose of this study was to determine predictive factors of depression and suicidal tendencies among commercial airline pilots. Previous research has determined predictive factors of depression …

Anxiety In Preschool-Aged Children With Autism: Rates, Symptoms, And Predictors, Neilson Chan

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Epidemiological studies indicate that children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at high risk for developing co-occurring anxiety symptoms and diagnosable anxiety disorders, with prevalence rates ranging from 40% to 78%. Further, studies have suggested that children with ASD experience more clinically significant symptoms of anxiety compared to children without ASD as early as toddlerhood. However, few studies have examined the comorbidity of anxiety and ASD in early childhood. In the current study, we included a sample of young children (ages 3 to 5) with ASD (n = 77) and an age-matched typically developing comparison group (n = 55) to …

Toxic Masculinity: An Exploration Of Traditional Masculine Norms In Relation To Mental Health Outcomes And Help-Seeking Behaviors In College-Aged Males, Benjamin Harris

Senior Theses

This study examines the relationships between traits of toxic masculinity, mental health outcomes, and help-seeking behaviors in college-aged males. To perform this analysis, a thorough literature review was conducted, and survey data was collected and analyzed to draw conclusions and implications for future research

The Role Of Interior Design In The Psychotherapist's Office, Vincent Ylagan

Senior Theses

A growing body of research in environmental and design psychology indicates that our surroundings can have subtle but significant effects on how we feel and think. One setting where thoughts and feelings are at the forefront of the work done is the psychotherapist’s office, where clients go to process stressors and learn strategies to overcome emotional difficulties. The current study aimed to investigate how therapists and clients view the therapist office and identify the features associated with the “ideal” therapist office. Therapists, current or past therapy clients, and individuals who have not been to therapy completed short surveys. Surveys asked …

Pre-Existing Anxiety And Vestibular Symptoms: The Relationship To Coordination, Balance, And Reaction Time In College Athletes, Sydney Danielle Hurt

Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of literature suggests that certain pre-existing physical and mental health conditions can contribute to significant differences in important areas of performance among athletes, such as reaction time and balance. These findings have important implications for concussion testing protocols, as factors that potentially skew performance could place the health of athletes at risk by resulting in inaccurate diagnosis or premature return to play following a head injury. Symptoms of both anxiety and vestibular dysfunction, such as dizziness and vertigo, are frequently reported problems in the adult population, and research has documented notable symptom overlap between these two conditions. …

The Association Between Social Support And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among Survivors Of Betrayal Trauma: A Meta-Analysis, Vanessa Tirone, Daria Orlowska, Ashton M. Lofgreen, Rebecca K. Blais, Natalie R. Stevens, Brian Klassen, Philip Held, Alyson K. Zalta

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

Background: Betrayal traumas have a particularly deleterious effect on mental health. Although social support is a robust predictor of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, it is not clear what factors may impact this relationship among betrayal trauma survivors.

Objective: This study sought to describe the association between social support and PTSD symptom severity among survivors of betrayal trauma and examine whether methodological, sample, trauma, and social support characteristics moderated this association.

Method: A comprehensive search identified 29 studies that assessed the cross-sectional association between PTSD symptom severity and social support among 6,510 adult betrayal trauma survivors.

Results: The average …

Childhood Abuse, Invalidation, And Personality In A College Population, Kayleigh M. Heard

Honors College Theses

Studies show the detrimental effects of childhood maltreatment (i.e., childhood physical abuse, childhood sexual abuse, invalidation, and multiple forms of maltreatment; Afifi et al., 2016). Research demonstrates individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment have distinct patterns of personality characteristics (Allen & Lauterbach, 2007). Specifically, individuals with history of childhood maltreatment typically report high neuroticism, high openness, and low agreeableness compared to those with no history of maltreatment (Distel et al., 2009; Huang et al., 2012). Less is known about personality differences among individuals with different forms of childhood maltreatment (e.g., physical abuse vs. sexual abuse vs. invalidation vs. multiple …

Mental Health Supportive Services During Covid-19: Proposing An Online, Self-Guided Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Program For Parents In The Disability Community, Ty B. Aller, Elizabeth B. Fauth, Sarah Hodgskiss, Jeff Sheen, Michael E. Levin

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Parents of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) often experience stress, and the COVID-19 pandemic has likely increased their stress. In the current paper, we describe four things. First, we describe how mental telehealth treatments can effectively decrease parent stress, including programs that target behavior training and those that provide therapy. Teleheath programs are delivered by phone, computer, or fully online. Second, we describe challenges of these programs and explain how online, self-guided programs may help address these challenges. Third, we explain our online, self-guided program based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is a specific type of …

Mystical Experience And The Evolution Of Consciousness: A Twenty-First Century Gnosis, Gary Lachman

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This article addresses three ideas: mystical experience, the evolution of consciousness, and gnosis. There are different interpretations of these ideas, so I begin by saying how I intend to understand them. Mystical experience I see as a wider, broader, deeper perception of things and their relations than our usual limited view allows. It provides an ‘unitive’ and ‘participatory’ form of consciousness, in which the usual ‘subject/object’ divide has dissolved. The evolution of consciousness is the notion that our present consciousness is not consciousness per se, but has been arrived at over time. This suggests that there have been other forms …

Lawrence Leshan’S Clairvoyant Reality As William James’ Revelation Of Veridical Reality, Jonathan Bricklin

Journal of Conscious Evolution

The “Clairvoyant Reality” of pioneering psychologist Lawrence LeShan and medium Eileen Garrett, reprinted here in honor of LeShan’s recent passing at age 100, may well be the understanding of “veridical reality” that James proclaimed would not be found “in this generation or the next”.

The Journey Back To Wholeness That Already Is, Jenna Dishy Wes

Journal of Conscious Evolution

If we are born into this world with in an already heightened state of consciousness, at what point in human development do we begin to disconnect? Is the human experience innately traumatic? Through the exploration of Piaget’s stages of development, and in coherence with the concept of transgenerational trauma, I explore moments and modes of intervention, with the intention of building on what is already whole instead of waiting until it is broken. Rather than spending another generation spending our lives trying to heal, reaching for enlightenment and soul connection, what if our end point was actually our beginning one?

Decomorose: The Somatic Flowering Of The Living Quality, Shaun J. Martin

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This essay is an exploration of the human maturation process from a transpersonal point of view. The main premise of the essay is the notion that our maturation on the level of consciousness (the living quality) is not synonymous with our bodily maturation or the ongoing construction of our social personality (the identity project). It suggests that transpersonality is a fundamental component in human development, but has been overlooked and left out in most areas of modern culture. The recent rise of mental illnesses and the overall frustration or discontent within our society is a direct result of infrastructures that …

Moth To A Flame: An Investigation Of The Personality Traits And Early-Life Trauma Histories Of Women Who Have Survived Adult Relationships With Men With Pathological Narcissism, Michelle D. Roberts

Dissertations

Although emotional and psychological abuse, in addition to physical assault, are now commonly accepted as aspects of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), narcissistic abuse as a subset of IPV is not widely recognized or understood. Due to the extremely debilitating, chronic mental health effects of narcissistic abuse (Bremner, 2008; Campbell, 2002; Yoon et al., 2009), this study sought to explore the experiences, personalities, early-life (childhood) trauma histories and mental health outcomes of heterosexual women who self-identify as having been in an adult romantic relationship with a man with pathological narcissism. Specifically, this study aimed to identify the nature and frequency of …

Undergraduate Session I: Presentation 1 - Psychedelic Medicine, Nathaniel Qualls

Life of the Scholar Multidisciplinary Conference

My presentation will explain the different medicinal properties and uses of several psychedelic substances.

A Lion’S Blues: Heroism, Heroic Self-Representations, And Emotional Distress In The Life And Character Of Yonatan (Yoni) Netanyahu, Golan Shahar, Raz Bauminger, Shai Itamar

Heroism Science

The realization that heroism – representing either a trait or a value system – is potentially pernicious is important for both scientific and societal reasons. In this article, we adopt a psychobiographical perspective to analyze the character and life of one of Israel’s greatest heroes, Yonathan (“Yoni”) Netanyahu. Yoni was an illustrious military leader, as well as an outstanding intellectual and adored persona. He served as the commander of the special operation forces spearheading the famous Entebbe Operation during which Israeli commando forces rescued hostages taken captive in Uganda. Yoni was the only military causality in this operation, which was …

Fear Of Covid-19 And Depression: Mediating Role Of Anxiety And Stress Among University Students, Noreena Kausar, Amna Ishaq, Hafsa Qurban, Hafiz Abdur Rashid

Journal of Bioresource Management

Fear of CIVID-19 and psychological health issues are most common in general population, health professionals and students after emerging the COVID-19 infection. The literature review elaborated the correlation among fear of COVID-19, stress, depression and anxiety among students at different levels.The current study was conducted with two objectives. First aim was to assess the relationships among fear of COVID-19, stress, anxiety and depression among university students. The second objective was to measure the mediating role of anxiety and stress between the relationship of fear of COVID-19 and depression.Total 500 Government and private university students were selected through convenient sampling technique …

Experiences Of Hospitalization For Suicide Ideation And Suicide Attempt In Gender Diverse Adults, Alix B. Aboussouan

LSU Master's Theses

Individuals who identify as Transgender/Gender Diverse (TGD) have elevated rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). No studies have determined the prevalence of hospitalization for STBs in TGD adults or whether this care is viewed as helpful. Understanding hospitalization experiences may determine potential new treatment targets and training initiatives integral to developing affirming care experiences for TGD individuals. This study sought to explore the lifetime prevalence of hospitalization for suicide ideation (SI) and suicide attempt (SA) for TGD individuals, determine how helpful TGD individuals find hospitalization, and investigate demographics, gender minority stressors, or provider/hospitalization characteristics that correlate with hospitalization helpfulness …

Parental Mental Health Help Seeking: Variables Associated With Asian American Parent Help Seeking Intent, Grace L. Chen

LSU Master's Theses

There is a vast disparity between children who have mental health concerns and rates of service utilization. This disparity is even greater for children of ethnic minority populations. Understanding the factors contributing to parent help seeking behavior may help address the gap in service utilization. Asian Americans specifically have low rates of mental health service utilization among adults. However, there is limited research on parent help seeking in Asian American parents. In combination with low service utilization across children with mental health concerns, Asian American children are an at-risk population. The study aims to advance research by exploring variables relating …

The Effects Of Familial Support, Social Support, And On-Campus Involvement On Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms On Academic Achievement, Kelsey G. Coulthard

LSU Master's Theses

Research demonstrates that students with higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) exhibit lower grades in college (Pereira, et al., 2018). Further, higher levels of PTS during the first semester of college leads to higher rates of withdrawing from school (Boyraz, Horne, Owens, & Armstrong, 2013). Although there is ample evidence that the association between traumatic experiences are negatively correlated with academic performance, little is known about factors that may moderate or influence the relationship. Research has determined that higher levels of social support may facilitate recovery from trauma exposure and may lessen PTS symptoms in college students (Grasso, 2011). …

Exploring Attentional Biases, Dispositional Mindfulness, And The Suicide Stroop, Emma H. Moscardini

LSU Master's Theses

Extant research has found that attentional biases to suicide-related stimuli are relevant to suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). As such, attentional biases are a core feature of both the Fluid Vulnerability Theory of Suicide and the cognitive model of suicide. Individuals with an STB history have demonstrated attentional biases to suicide-related stimuli on a suicide Stroop task, and this attentional bias has been found to aid in prediction of suicide attempts at six-month follow-up. Better understanding this attentional bias may be useful for informing mindfulness-based interventions which target attentional biases, as dispositional mindfulness has been found to be related to …

The General Psychopathology Factor (P) From Adolescence To Adulthood: Disentangling The Developmental Trajectories Of P Using A Multi-Method Approach, Alexandria M. Choate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Considerable attention is directed towards studying co-occurring psychopathology through the lens of a general factor (p-factor). However, the developmental trajectories and stability of the p-factor have yet to be fully understood. Study 1 first examined the explanatory power of dynamic mutualism theory — an alternative framework positing the p-factor to be a product of lower-level symptom interactions rather than the inherent cause of them. Predictions of dynamic mutualism were tested using three distinct statistical approaches including: longitudinal bifactor models, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs), and network models. Next, given prior suggestions that borderline personality disorder (BPD) could be a marker …

How Multidimensional Is Emotional Intelligence? Bifactor Modeling Of Global And Broad Emotional Abilities Of The Geneva Emotional Competence Test, Daniel Simonet, Katherine E. Miller, Kevin Askew, Kenneth Sumner, Marcello Mortillaro, Katja Schlegel

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Drawing upon multidimensional theories of intelligence, the current paper evaluates if the Geneva Emotional Competence Test (GECo) fits within a higher-order intelligence space and if emotional intelligence (EI) branches predict distinct criteria related to adjustment and motivation. Using a combination of classical and S-1 bifactor models, we find that (a) a first-order oblique and bifactor model provide excellent and comparably fitting representation of an EI structure with self-regulatory skills operating independent of general ability, (b) residualized EI abilities uniquely predict criteria over general cognitive ability as referenced by fluid intelligence, and (c) emotion recognition and regulation incrementally predict grade point …

Development Of The Sexual Shame Inventory, Jyssica Seebeck

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Researchers have speculated about the existence of sexual shame, both theoretically and clinically. It has been suggested that sexual shame is maladaptive and influences implications and treatment for shame. However, no valid measure existed to assess these claims. As such, I designed and tested the Sexual Shame Inventory (SSI)– a measure that assesses the domain-specific construct of sexual shame. An initial pool of 35 items were informed through a deductive approach. The scale was completed by a sample of individuals 18 years and older (N = 281). The majority of the sample identified as female, white, heterosexual, and married …

Student Veterans: The Transition Process, Andrew Edwin Crane

Theses and Dissertations

Separation from the military and reintegration into civilian life can be a challenging experience for veterans. One opportunity that veterans pursue during this transition process is secondary education. Despite growing rates of student veterans across campuses limited research exists on the psychosocial functioning and reintegration difficulties faced by these individuals. The current study examined the relationship between factors such as deployment experience, perceived social support following deployment, psychological flexibility, academic functioning, as well as student engagement in collegiate activities. Findings from this study highlight the relationship between experiential avoidance and social support with psychological distress and student engagement for student …