How Valuable Are Clinical Neuropsychological Assessments? A Meta-Analysis Of Neuropsychological Tests With Comparison To Common Medical Tests And Treatments, Murphy N. Harrell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

There has been a general decrease in neuropsychological assessments at a time when medical diagnostic technology and treatments have expanded, leading to a faulty assumption that medical tests and healthcare treatments provide more reliable or valid data than psychological assessments. A landmark report from the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Psychological Assessment Work Group (PAWG) found that validity coefficients for many psychological tests were indistinguishable from those of medical tests (Meyer et al., 2001). An updated systematic review of the advancement in neuropsychological testing is essential to the continued advancement of the value of neuropsychological assessment in healthcare. This meta-analysis sought …

Investigating The Shared And Unique Mechanisms Of The Development Of Comorbid Eating Disorder-Anxiety Symptoms During Adolescence., Leigh Cara Brosof

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Eating disorders are associated with significant morbidity, psychiatric comorbidity, and impairment. Despite the detrimental outcomes associated with eating disorders, effective treatments for eating disorders are lacking. One factor that has impeded the identification of targets for intervention in eating disorders is the high comorbidity rate with other psychiatric disorders. Comorbidity models can inform treatments by showing which mechanisms are shared in comorbidity and which mechanisms are unique to specific disorders. Anxiety disorders are the most frequently co-occurring disorders with eating disorders, as 85% of individuals with eating disorders have a comorbid anxiety disorder. One mechanistic process in both anxiety …

Contextual Factors Of Harsh Parenting: Investigating The Role Of Impulsivity And Parent Attribution Bias Under Conditions Of Household Chaos, Kelsey T. Ellis

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The use of harsh parenting strategies as a form of disciplining child misbehavior has been identified as an underlying factor for child abuse; thus, it is important to examine underlying causal factors for harsh parenting. While not originally formulated around harsh parenting, social information processing models of reactive aggression have highlighted internal attributions and impulsivity as key processes in social decision-making. Therefore, the current study integrated these theoretical models to explore how these processes are involved in harsh parenting behaviors and how these processes may interact in the context of environmental factors such as household chaos. Results revealed significant direct …

Lifetime Racism And John Henryism On Cognition And Cardiovascular Health In Black Men, Roy Mitchell

Dissertations

Lifetime racism is a type of chronic stress that is often accompanied by depression. Racism is the experience of many Black men because of several psychosocial stressors such as reduced resources and institutional barriers, to name a few. Active coping is typically utilized by Black men as a consistent means to reduce the negative outcomes linked to racism, however, this up-tempo coping style can contribute to poor cardiovascular health and cognitive impairment over time. The present study aimed to provide data to support the effects of lifetime racism and active coping on cardiovascular health and cognition. There were three hypotheses …

The Relationship Between The Quantum Consciousness And Depression, Yarone Grabiner

Dissertations

Depression is a prominent issue in mental health. This research will attempt to improve the quality of available therapies by offering additional helping options and introducing a new perception of depression. Different fields (psychology, quantum mechanics, and Kabbalah) have been integrated with data collection through personal interviews to support the research hypothesis. The subject sample consisted of five people with Kollel experience or similar educational experience in the present or in the past. All participants were orthodox Jewish men, 30 years old or older, married with children, with a high level of education. Participants presented attitudes, life conduct, and perceptions …

Reevaluating The Factor Structure Of The Family Resilience Assessment Scale For African American College Students, Quandrea Rachelle Harper

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to reevaluate the initial validation process of the Family Resilience Assessment Scale (FRAS) and to validate the measure for use with African Americans. Although the FRAS has been previously validated using a sample from the general population in the U.S. and has demonstrated cross-cultural utility, its applicability for use specifically with African Americans is inconclusive, as demonstrated by preliminary research findings. In the current study, data were collected from a sample of African American college students to conduct an exploratory factor analysis using all 66 items initially included in Sixbey’s validation study, and a …

Trauma-Informed Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Substance Abuse, Whitney Nasse

Dissertations

The high co-morbidity of trauma and substance use disorders has prompted the need for more trauma-informed care within the available substance abuse treatments. The purpose of this research was to dissect and identify the strengths of two empirically studied treatment approaches for trauma and substance abuse. Furthermore, a suggested protocol was defined, showing the integration of these two models as a proposed treatment modality for trauma and substance abuse populations. Implications and recommendations for further research on this topic are also highlighted.

Exploring Clinical Implications Of Consensual Non-Monogamy: A Proposed Intake Assessment Tool, Rebecca Tuttle

Dissertations

Relationships in the United States are often assumed to adhere to heteronormative and mononormative standards, which is problematic because a significant minority of individuals are neither heterosexual nor monogamous (approximately 4.5% and 4% of the United States population, respectively). As a result of mononormative biases in particular, alternatives to monogamy, such as consensually non-monogamous relationships, are often socially stigmatized and clinically pathologized. The existing research on consensually non-monogamous individuals indicates, despite negative assumptions, those who engage in consensually non-monogamous relationships demonstrate psychological well-being, physical health, and levels of relationship satisfaction comparable to their monogamous counterparts. While engaging in consensually non- …

Stability Of Neurocognitive Abilities In Heterogeneous Subgroups Of Schizophrenia, Megan L. Becker Wright

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Considerable work has been devoted to characterizing the latent structure of cognition in schizophrenia (SZ) to understand important clinical outcomes associated with generalized or specific deficits but findings are limited in a number of ways. Previous work has not assessed bifactor and other complex models of cognition in SZ, which might provide a better understanding of the structure of cognitive abilities. It is also unclear whether the latent structure of cognitive abilities is similar between men and women with SZ or whether the latent structure of cognitive abilities is stable over time with repeated assessment. These limitations must be addressed …

Evaluating The Scl-90-R For Use In Collegiate Athletes, Elena Gavrilova

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study examines psychometric properties of the Symptom Checklist 90 – Revised (SCL-90-R; Derogatis, 1994) in collegiate athletes. The SCL-90-R is one of the most widely utilized measures of broad psychiatric distress. Current literature, however, suggests its factor structure varies across populations (Ardakani et al., 2016; Bakhshaie et al., 2011; Olsen et al., 2004; Ronan et al., 2000; Sereda & Dembitskyi, 2016; Smits et al., 2014; Urbán et al., 2016). Although the SCL-90-R has been previously utilized in studies involving athletes, the psychometric properties of this scale have yet to be investigated in this population. This study examined the …

Cognitive Testing For Sport Concussion: The Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment And Cognitive Testing (Impact), Julia E. Maietta

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Sport concussion is among the most common injuries for an athlete to experience during sport participation. Because of the complex pathophysiological process that affects the brain during and after concussion, symptoms can be heterogeneous in presence and severity. Although most acute symptoms (e.g., headache, slowed processing speed, loss of consciousness, irritability, depression, anxiety) resolve within seven to 10 days for most athletes, there is evidence that higher initial symptom burden and other genetically based differences can lead to longer symptom duration and complicated recovery post-concussion. Because structural changes that commonly occur as a result of concussion (e.g., diffuse axonal injury) …

An In-Depth Examination Of The Literature On Early Pubertal Timing And Disordered Eating In Women And Girls: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Megan Marie Shope

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Objective: Extant data indicate that earlier onset of puberty increases risk for disordered eating symptoms in girls and women. However, whether earlier pubertal timing is predictive of all disordered eating symptoms, or whether it exerts differential effects across distinct symptoms (e.g., body dissatisfaction versus binge eating), remains unclear given inconsistencies in the literature and the lack of a systematic analysis. A meta-analytic approach can overcome these limitations by providing pooled estimates of early pubertal timing on disordered eating symptoms and testing for methodological moderators (i.e., disordered eating outcome/symptom type, measurement of pubertal timing, age of sample, type of sample, study …

Understanding The Role Of Identity Salience In The Relationship Between Experience Of Ethnic/Racial Discrimination And Mental Health Symptomatology, Michelle Strong

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Ethnic identity salience is shown to be a protective factor in the negative impact of discrimination on mental well-being in BIPOC. However, the extent to which ethnic identity salience is a protective factor in specific BIPOC is unclear. The current study examined whether ethnic identity salience would be equally protective against the negative effects of discrimination on depression and anxiety symptoms in LatinX/Hispanic, Black/African American, and AAPI groups. It included N =168 ethno-racially diverse college students (e.g., AAPI n = 59, Hispanic/LatinX n = 72, and Black/African n = 37 American college students). Hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine …

Factors Related To Formal And Online Help-Seeking Behaviors Among Latinx College Students, Tanya Singh

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The frequency of help-seeking behaviors among Latinx college students is low. Latinx college students are at an elevated risk for mental health problems, such as suicide ideation and behaviors, and there is an urgent need to understand the factors that most influence help-seeking in this population. This study aimed to understand how factors such as help-seeking intentions, suicide literacy, perceived need for help and levels of acculturation relate to help-seeking behaviors, as well as how these associations differed between formal and online sources of help among Latinx college students. Furthermore, this study assessed whether these relationships were moderated by an …

An Evaluation Of The Convergent Construct Validity Of The Boldness Inventory Of Psychopathy Using A Five-Minute, 10% Carbon-Dioxide-Enriched Air Challenge, Morgan Alexandra Hill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Psychopathy is a constellation of maladaptive interpersonal, affective, and behavioral features, including grandiosity, manipulativeness, emotional detachment, and impulsivity (Hare, 2003). Fearlessness, immunity to stress, self-assurance, and social dominance are considered to be adaptive features of psychopathy. Patrick and colleagues (2009) sought to reconcile differences between opposing conceptualizations of psychopathy by formulating a triarchic model of the condition. One core construct in this model, boldness, captures an ability to remain calm in the face of threat, an appetite for dangerous or risky activities, and an increased tolerance for uncertainty and danger. Boldness is believed to originate from differences in the brain’s …

Trauma Treatment For Youth In Foster Care: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Clinician Perspectives And Treatment Model Use, Allison Blake Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Youth in foster care experience trauma exposure and subsequent trauma-related disorders at much higher rates than their peers, with prevalence rates comparable with veterans of war. Although youth in foster care appear to receive services at higher rates than their peers, little is known about what outpatient care consists of, particularly for trauma-related disorders. Furthermore, although several evidence-based treatments exist for the treatment of child and adolescent trauma, little is known about how appropriate and effective existing treatment approaches are for youth in foster care. The current study used a mixed methods approach to examine a) the range of evidence-based …

Racial Differences In Tobacco Use And Risk Factors Among Young Adults: Roles Of Expectancies And Emotion Regulation, Laurel Brockenberry

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

African Americans experience higher mortality from lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases than Caucasian Americans (Kochanek et al., 2016) despite engaging in cigarette and e-cigarette use significantly less or at comparable rates to other racial groups (CDC, 2015; Schoeborn, 2013). During adolescence, smoking prevalence is lower among African Americans than Caucasian Americans, but there is a “cross-over effect” whereby smoking rates become similar later in adulthood (Belgrave et al, 2010). The mechanisms driving this effect are poorly understood. Thus, examining motivating factors for tobacco use, such as outcome expectancies and emotion regulation, may be especially illuminating for young adult African …

Testing A Contextual Framework Of Intimate Partner Violence In Young Adults, Phoebe Tabb Hitson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Bell and Naugle (2008) proposed a comprehensive theoretical framework that includes multiple variables hypothesized to be involved in intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, including distal and proximal variables. The current study (1) assessed the extent to which childhood physical abuse victimization, interparental violence, insecure attachment, accepting beliefs about violence, sexism, stress, alcohol and marijuana use, relationship satisfaction, emotion regulation, and anger management were associated with physical IPV perpetration; (2) determined whether some of these variables influenced physical IPV perpetration more than others; (3) explored the mediation of distal variables by more proximal variables in predicting physical IPV perpetration; and (4) …

Using Nudges To Increase Engagement With Suicide Prevention Resources In An Online Sample Of United State Military Veterans, Brian W. Bauer

Dissertations

Suicide rates have continually increased from 1999 to 2019 in the United States, with populations such as military Veterans showing substantially higher suicide death and attempt rates than civilians. Behavioral economics researchers have demonstrated that people regularly make decisions that are not aligned with their own self-interests (i.e., irrational decisions). These irrational decisions often stem from humans having bounded rationality (i.e., limited computational power), which produce reliable cognitive biases that occur outside of people’s awareness and influence the decisions they make. There are many important decisions leading up to a suicide attempt (e.g., whether to engage with suicide prevention resources), …

Distress And Growth In The Black Community, Devin A. Noel-Harrison

Research Psychology Theses

Racial discrimination is an unfortunate reality that people of color regularly experience. This leaves lasting impacts on the health of individuals and communities. With the increased use of social media, videos depicting violence against black bodies are widely circulated. The consequences of being exposed to these race related traumatic events online (TEO) can be damaging to the mental health of the black community, maybe even more so if one’s racial identity is important and salient to their overall wellbeing. Though witnessing these race related TEO often lead to posttraumatic stress, positive change may also be possible known as posttraumatic growth.

Income Earner Status And Couple Type And Its Impact On Marital Satisfaction, Yudiana Ratnasari, Fath Fatheya

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

The rise of opportunities for females to work outside household settings in Indonesia has changed the division of traditional roles and responsibilities among married couples and thus may affect the quality of marital relationships. This study aims to observe how income earner status (single or dual earner) within families and couple type play roles in marital satisfaction. The participants comprised 224 spousal couples who are analyzed individually and together to categorize couple types measured using the Relational Dimension Instrument and Couple Satisfaction Index. Results indicate that for income earner status, no significant predominant effect on marital satisfaction was observed. The …

Examination Of Autism Symptoms Across Ethnic Groups: Cross-Cultural Validation Of The Baby And Infant Screen For Children With Autism Traits (Biscuit), Esther Hong

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social communication and interaction and the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Variations in prevalence across different racial and ethnic groups have been reported. Though the reason for these variations is unclear, racial and ethnic disparities in access to early screening services, cultural differences in ASD presentation, and the use of culturally insensitive screening tools appear to contribute to disparities in ASD diagnosis. Thus, cultural validation studies of ASD screening tools are needed to investigate the cultural utility of these instruments for use with diverse …

Exploring Components For A Family-Focused Intervention For Families With A Child Diagnosed With Cancer And Other Chronic Illnesses, Nicole Kubinec

Psychology ETDs

Chronic illnesses are often life-long and affect academic performance, social development, psychological well-being, and family functioning. The broad effects of childhood chronic illnesses are often assessed using measures of child health-related quality of life (HRQL). Parent factors (parental distress, perceptions of child vulnerability, overprotection) and family factors (maintaining rituals, open communication, positive coping) have been associated with changes in child HRQL. This study sought to discover how parent and family factors were associated with child HRQL, and how such factors were perceived by families for inclusion in future interventions. Results demonstrated that parental perceptions of child vulnerability were associated with …

Psychosocial And Neuroprediction Of Criminal Recidivism In A Sample Of Adult Female Offenders, Bethany G. Edwards

Psychology ETDs

Recidivism is costly and damaging to society. Despite the narrowing gender gap in the criminal justice system, research on female recidivism falls behind that in males. Biopsychosocial theories suggest a combination of psychosocial and neurobiological factors likely promotes criminal risk in females. This study examined the utility of various risk factors in predicting recidivism in female offenders (n = 298). Results highlight specific psychosocial risk factors (i.e., impulsive/antisocial psychopathic traits, incarceration history, substance use, education, and age) that were especially helpful in identifying females at elevated risk. A particularly novel aspect of this study was incorporation of structural and functional …

The Lived Experience Of Postpartum Anxiety During Covid-19: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Walker Ladd Phd, Jenny De Decker

The Qualitative Report

The experience of pregnancy and postpartum anxiety disorders results in adverse birth outcomes and the disrupted development of infants and children. Since the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has designated pregnant and postpartum women as more vulnerable to COVID-19 (CDC, 2021), and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders rates have increased. However, research regarding the lived experience of women with postpartum anxiety (PPA) during a global pandemic remains lacking. Using van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological research method, we interviewed eight women self-identifying as having had PPA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis revealed five themes describing the lived …

Baseline Differences In Driving Frequency As A Predictor Of Cognitive Decline, Luke R. Miller

LSU Master's Theses

Driving is a complex task heavily dependent on cognitive functions which can decline with age including executive functions and processing speed. Although driving cessation as a predictor of cognitive changes has been studied, driving frequency is understudied in the literature. Thus, the objective of the current study is to evaluate the predictive utility of driving frequency at baseline toward objective cognitive decline beyond other factors associated with cognitive decline (e.g., depression, general functional mobility). The sample included a subset of 1,426 older adults (M age = 77.6, SD = 7.1) from the Rush University Memory and Aging Project. Participants completed …

Development And Validation Of A Measure For Social Support: Perceived Social Support Inventory, Lindsay Marie Clark

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

The literature consistently acknowledges the protective function of social support against various negative psychological and physiological outcomes (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Dunst et al., 1986; Taylor, 2011; Uchino, 2009). Further, social support can emerge from different members that comprise an individual’s social network, such as friends, family, teachers, colleagues, and members of common interest groups. Given the important role that social support plays in health outcomes, the importance of psychometrically sound measures for assessing the construct is essential for use in research and clinical settings. However, many of the current measures of social support are outdated, are limited in …

The Relationship Between Family Environment And Specific Phobias, Jerrica Renee Guidry

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Specific phobias are the most prevalent disorder among adults and highly common among children. Additionally, specific phobias diagnosed in childhood has been associated other serious mental illnesses later in life (de Vrie et al., 2019). Research pertaining to parenting factors associated with anxiety disorders has been extensive, including parental psychopathology, parent-child relationships, parental control, and parental stress. However, less emphasis has been placed on familial factors which may contribute to the development and maintenance of specific phobias. According to the limited literature focusing on the family factors associated with specific phobias, parent psychopathology and parent over-control are important factors. Multiple …

“Finding The Positive” In Recovery: Psychometric Properties Of A Measure Of Human Flourishing In An Alcohol Use Disorder Recovery Sample, Hannah A. Carlon

Psychology ETDs

The fields of alcohol use disorder (AUD) recovery and positive psychology have both rapidly grown in recent years, are paralleled in their philosophy and goals, but have scarcely overlapped. An important first step to applying positive psychology to addiction treatment and recovery is quantifying the extent that treatment-as-usual encourages human flourishing (i.e., holistic well-being and adequate functioning). The PERMA Profiler is a measure based on the PERMA model of flourishing, captured across five positive psychology domains (i.e., Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishments), and has been validated in a wide variety of samples. The …

Factors Associated With Racial And Ethnic Minority Youths' Mental Health Help-Seeking At School, Sam Allouche

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the high prevalence and associated consequences of mental health problems in youth, adolescents with these problems are often left untreated. This service gap is even greater in racial and ethnic minority youth who not only engage in treatment less frequently, but also experience far greater discrimination and systemic inequality than non-ethnic or racial minority students; factors further contributing to a need for service. Schools may provide an ideal location to treat mental health problems in youth, in part because schools eliminate structural barriers, but also because school staff have an opportunity to observe students across a range of functioning. …