Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Counseling Psychology Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Master's Theses

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication Year

Articles 1 - 30 of 80

Full-Text Articles in Counseling Psychology

Perspectives Of Trauma Among Licensed Trauma Therapists: A Concept Mapping Study, Sean W. Bullock Sep 2026

Perspectives Of Trauma Among Licensed Trauma Therapists: A Concept Mapping Study, Sean W. Bullock

Master's Theses

To address gaps between research and psychotherapeutic intervention for trauma and trauma-related issues, the current study elicited and analyzed the perspectives of licensed trauma therapists via a concept mapping process. A literature review was conducted to explore the history and limitations of trauma’s current medical use as outlined by Criterion A of posttraumatic stress disorder in the DSM-5-TR. To answer the research question regarding how practitioners understand trauma, the researcher recruited licensed trauma therapists (n = 17) to participate in concept mapping. Participants generated 126 unique statements, which they then sorted based on similarity and rated individually on importance. Hierarchical …


A Psychometric Evaluation Of The Pbss-20 Among Sexual And Non-Sexual Minority College Students, Alex Melville Dec 2025

A Psychometric Evaluation Of The Pbss-20 Among Sexual And Non-Sexual Minority College Students, Alex Melville

Master's Theses

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Protective-Behavioral Strategies Scale-20 in a large national sample of college students containing sexual minority and non-sexual minority students. Specifically, confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the model fit with this sample, invariance testing was used to compare the model among sexual and non-sexual minority students, and construct validity was evaluated. Participants included college students (N = 1,730; Mage = 19.41) from 12 universities across the United States, who were predominantly White non-Hispanic (63.6%), identified as female (70%), and as completely heterosexual (67.6%). Participants completed demographic information and measures of …


Personality And Perceived Police Legitimacy, Yuxuan Yang Dec 2025

Personality And Perceived Police Legitimacy, Yuxuan Yang

Master's Theses

Police legitimacy refers to one’s trust in the police to be fair and make just decisions in their interactions with the public. Individuals’ perceptions of police legitimacy play a crucial role in predicting how they interact with police. More positive perceptions are associated with cooperative behaviors; less favorable views are associated with resisting behaviors. Few studies have examined the relationship of broad personality traits with perceptions of police legitimacy. The current study examined the HEXACO model of personality and right-wing authoritarianism as predictors of perceived police legitimacy among college students (N = 268). While taking gender, race, and social …


“What Are We And What’S Coming Next?”: Queer People’S Experiences During Sociopolitical Unrest In The Us, Ariana Cristal Morales Nov 2025

“What Are We And What’S Coming Next?”: Queer People’S Experiences During Sociopolitical Unrest In The Us, Ariana Cristal Morales

Master's Theses

Queer (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or other gender and sexual identities) folx have become a major focal point during political elections. As political climates have projected forced attacks towards queer populations, society has followed suit. Investigation on the impacts of such changes towards queer folx is important to uncover, as sociopolitical climates have shifted within the last 10 years in the US. The present study utilizes a phenomenological framework to understand the lived experiences of queer participants living in the US from 2015-2025 during political and social shifts. Semi-structured interviews were utilized to explore 10 queer participant’s lived experience …


Just Deserts: The Moral Foundations Of Antagonistic Personality In Social Aggression, Summer Steely Dec 2024

Just Deserts: The Moral Foundations Of Antagonistic Personality In Social Aggression, Summer Steely

Master's Theses

Social aggression is associated with adverse psychosocial consequences such as anxiety, depression, isolation, reciprocal violence, and suicidality (Zhu et al., 2024). Psychopathic personality traits and moral deficits have been linked to antisocial behavior, including social aggression; however, the role of moral value systems and trait moral disengagement in the context of social aggression is less clear. A more granular analysis of their utility may illuminate new pathways toward intervention. To advance this goal, the present study explored the relationships between the values of Moral Foundations Theory and social aggression among college students (N = 301). Two moral foundations (i.e., care …


Beyond ‘Manning Up’: The Impact Of Hegemonic Masculinity & Gender Norms On Mental Health Help-Seeking Among College Men, Joslyn Barragan Aug 2024

Beyond ‘Manning Up’: The Impact Of Hegemonic Masculinity & Gender Norms On Mental Health Help-Seeking Among College Men, Joslyn Barragan

Master's Theses

This narrative inquiry study was conducted to explore college men's conceptualization of masculinity and gender norms and their relationship with mental health-related help-seeking behaviors. Through semi-structured interviews with seven men, I gathered their perceptions of mental health support and the obstacles they encountered in accessing it. Drawing from Connell's conceptualization of masculinities, this study locates their narratives within the broader framework of societal expectations, highlighting the complexities of men's attitudes and behaviors toward mental health counseling. Ultimately, five critical narratives were discovered: a) Initial models of masculinity emerge through socialization; b) Men encounter barriers to mental health care from all …


The Relationship Between Religiosity And Tobacco Use In A Mexican Spanish Speaking Sample In The United States, Lauren Hales Oct 2023

The Relationship Between Religiosity And Tobacco Use In A Mexican Spanish Speaking Sample In The United States, Lauren Hales

Master's Theses

To address disparities in minority mental health access and treatment, this study examined the relationship between tobacco use and religiosity, focusing on a Mexican Spanish speaking sample. Based on past research, it was hypothesized that religiosity would act as a protective factor against tobacco use characteristics. Participants were recruited through Amazon’s M*Turk survey platform. The sample included 144 adults aged 18+, currently residing in the US, who speak Mexican Spanish, have had an interaction with a medical provider in the last six months, and have used tobacco daily at some point in the last six months. Along with demographic information, …


The Mental Health Of Lgbtq+ Graduate Students: Examining The Role Of Lifestyle Factors, Lindsey Ostermiller Aug 2023

The Mental Health Of Lgbtq+ Graduate Students: Examining The Role Of Lifestyle Factors, Lindsey Ostermiller

Master's Theses

The are many well-documented disparities among LGBTQ+ individuals and a rising concern about mental health in higher education, as LGBTQ+ graduate students may face unique and specific vulnerabilities in relation to their overall health compared to their peers. Part of what might be driving the mental health crisis among LGBTQ+ graduate students are poorer lifestyle factors. There is limited research that examines the impact of health-related lifestyle factors on mental health among LGBTQ+ graduate students, exacerbating our lack of insight into specific problems that may affect LGBTQ+ individuals’ mental health. As such, the present study examined mental health in LGBTQ+ …


Social Anxiety And Relational Aggression In The Peer Relationships Of College Women, Summer Boggs Jun 2023

Social Anxiety And Relational Aggression In The Peer Relationships Of College Women, Summer Boggs

Master's Theses

Relational aggression (i.e., a type of aggression in which the aggressor harms others by damaging their relationships, reputation, and/or feelings of social acceptance) is common among emerging adults and has been linked to several adverse correlates. Research on relational aggression among college students has found some evidence that it is positively associated with social anxiety; however, the specific components of social anxiety and the possible mechanisms through which this relationship may operate are unclear. The current study examined the relationship between social anxiety and relational aggression among college women (N = 292), focusing on fear of negative evaluation (FNE) …


The Relations Between Rumination, Thought Control, And Suicidal Thinking, Morgan Buerke Mar 2023

The Relations Between Rumination, Thought Control, And Suicidal Thinking, Morgan Buerke

Master's Theses

Despite the far-reaching impact of suicide on our communities, we need more research to understand how suicidal thoughts develop, and what leads to their maintenance. As suggested by the depression distress-amplification model (Capron et al., 2013), emotion-regulation strategies such as rumination may cause or worsen suicidal ideation by amplifying the distress associated with negative thoughts. In addition, ruminative thoughts are often described as difficult to control, which may lead people to think about suicide as an escape from these uncontrollable thoughts. The current study examined the relationship between certain forms of rumination (i.e., brooding, reflection, anger rumination, and suicidal rumination) …


Drinking Motives As Mediators For The Relationships Between Overparenting And Alcohol Outcomes, Tatum Freeman Dec 2022

Drinking Motives As Mediators For The Relationships Between Overparenting And Alcohol Outcomes, Tatum Freeman

Master's Theses

The present study investigated the mediating role of drinking motives in the relationship between overparenting and alcohol outcomes using a sample of 207 traditional age college students (i.e., 18-25 years old; M = 19.8, SD = 1.64). Data on participant demographics, drinking motives, the practices of participants’ primary caregiver, typical weekly drinking, hazardous drinking, and alcohol consequences were collected via SONA (an online participant management software that allows researchers to collect data from a university psychology subject pool). Participants were 89.4% female and 54.1% White. Coping and conformity drinking motives partially mediated the relationships between overparenting, alcohol consequences, and hazardous …


The Impact Of Formal Education, Specialized Training, And Offense Type On Perceptions Of Employability: Can Bias Toward Hiring A Person With A Criminal History Be Mitigated?, Rheanna Standridge Feb 2022

The Impact Of Formal Education, Specialized Training, And Offense Type On Perceptions Of Employability: Can Bias Toward Hiring A Person With A Criminal History Be Mitigated?, Rheanna Standridge

Master's Theses

Gaining employment for returning citizens has been shown to reduce recidivism and contribute to a successful community reintegration. Yet, many employers remain skeptical when it comes to hiring formerly incarcerated job candidates for a variety of reasons. Though hesitations are often related to assumptions about a person’s dangerousness, there remain legitimate reasons, such as limited formal education and basic skills, that prevent returning citizens from finding work. Further, previous research suggests that hiring decisions are confounded by offense type, even if an employer would otherwise consider a person with a criminal history. Thus, it is unclear whether returning citizens’ level …


Depressive Symptoms And Marijuana Outcomes In College Students: The Mediating Role Of Protective Behavioral Strategies For Marijuana, Nicholas Militello Aug 2021

Depressive Symptoms And Marijuana Outcomes In College Students: The Mediating Role Of Protective Behavioral Strategies For Marijuana, Nicholas Militello

Master's Theses

The present study evaluated the sequentially mediating role of protective behavioral strategies for marijuana (PBSM) and marijuana use frequency on the relationships depressive symptoms had with hazardous marijuana use and marijuana-related negative consequences in college students Participants were 338 (50.3% male) undergraduate college students age 18 to 25 (M = 22.10; SD = 1.97) who reported marijuana use in the past 30 days. Participants reported their gender and completed measures of depressive symptoms, PBSM use, marijuana use frequency, marijuana-related negative consequences, and hazardous marijuana use through an online survey from a 2018 project. Depressive symptoms were positively associated with …


The Impact Of A Casve-Cq Enhanced Intervention On Group Career Counseling Outcomes, Kendall L. Klumpp Dec 2020

The Impact Of A Casve-Cq Enhanced Intervention On Group Career Counseling Outcomes, Kendall L. Klumpp

Master's Theses

This study aimed to investigate the effect of using the CASVE Cycle Questionnaire (CASVE-CQ) on career group intervention outcomes, specifically career decidedness, negative career thoughts, career decision-making difficulties, and career decision-making self-efficacy. Participants included 45 undergraduate students who receive scholarships from a student retention program which includes a career group intervention as a requirement to receive the scholarship. It was predicted that the use of the CASVE-CQ would result in greater increases in career decidedness and career decision-making self-efficacy, as well as greater decreases in negative career thoughts and career decision-making difficulties compared to those receiving the same intervention that …


Anger, Relational Victimization, And Vengeance In The Context Of Relational Aggression, Alison Poor Aug 2020

Anger, Relational Victimization, And Vengeance In The Context Of Relational Aggression, Alison Poor

Master's Theses

Relational aggression involves the aggressor harming the victim’s social status, reputation, and/or relationships. This form of aggression is a relatively new topic in the literature that would benefit from additional research with emerging adults. The present study examined two models involving relational aggression in a college student sample (N= 247). First, we predicted, based on the general aggression model, that anger rumination would partially mediate the relationship between trait anger and relational aggression. Second, based on the rejection-aggression link, we predicted that vengeance would partially mediate the relationship between relational victimization and aggression. We tested each model separately …


Non-Religious Employee's Perceptions Of Microaggressions And Their Relationship With Job Satisfaction As Moderated By Calling, Jessica Schultz Aug 2020

Non-Religious Employee's Perceptions Of Microaggressions And Their Relationship With Job Satisfaction As Moderated By Calling, Jessica Schultz

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between microaggressions, person-organization fit (P-O fit), job satisfaction, and calling in non-religious individuals. Established research demonstrates that job satisfaction is predicted by P-O fit (Dawis, 2005). Research with minority groups has found that microaggressions are negatively related to P-O fit and job satisfaction (Lyons, Velez, Mehta, & Neil, 2014). However, research has yet to examine these interactions with a non-religious population. Previous investigations have found that calling is positively correlated with both P-O fit and job satisfaction (Duffy & Dik, 2013; Duffy, Allan, & Dik, 2011; Hirschi, 2012), suggesting the …


College Students' Disenfranchised Grief Following A Breakup: The Effect Of Relationship Closeness And Perceived Stigma On Grief, Jennifer E. Reimer Jun 2019

College Students' Disenfranchised Grief Following A Breakup: The Effect Of Relationship Closeness And Perceived Stigma On Grief, Jennifer E. Reimer

Master's Theses

Grief is a universal reaction to loss. Losses are often associated to the death of a loved one, however, they may also originate from the end of an intimate partner relationship. Whereas studies have focused on grief after a divorce or on symptomology students endure after a death, this article attends to the understudied college student experience of grief following a breakup. Within emerging adulthood, the loss of a close romantic relationship may be challenging to navigate alongside the daily stressors of college. Stigmatization by means of social cues convey sentiments, such as the need to get over an ex-partner, …


The Influence Of Socioeconomic Status And Subjective Social Status On The Career Development Of College Students, Dylan Richard Dec 2018

The Influence Of Socioeconomic Status And Subjective Social Status On The Career Development Of College Students, Dylan Richard

Master's Theses

Social class is often examined across social science disciplines and contains two distinct parts: socioeconomic status (SES) and subjective social status (SSS). Researchers have established that college students from various SES backgrounds experience college differently, however little research has examined how universities and those that work with college students can help aid the career development of students given their SES. Career development is a broad area of research; therefore, the current study examines a number of career development variables that are key in understanding college students’ career development, such as career adaptability, career decision-making difficulty, work values, and vocational interests. …


Posttraumatic Stress And Hazardous Alcohol Use In College Students: The Moderating Role Of Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies, Hallie R. Jordan Dec 2018

Posttraumatic Stress And Hazardous Alcohol Use In College Students: The Moderating Role Of Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies, Hallie R. Jordan

Master's Theses

The present study evaluated the moderating role of alcohol protective behavioral strategy subtypes (Al-PBS; Serious Harm Reduction [SHR], Manner of Drinking [MOD], Stopping/Limiting Drinking [SLD]) and gender on the relationships between traumatic stress symptoms and both hazardous drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. Participants were 915 traditional age (18 to 25 years old) college students from nine universities in the United States who reported drinking in the past. All participants reported their gender and completed measures of traumatic stress symptoms, Al-PBS use, hazardous drinking, and alcohol-related negative consequences through an online survey. Experiencing greater traumatic stress symptoms was associated with both …


Parental Attachment And Adult Attachment: The Moderating Role Of Dispositional Forgiveness And Gratitude, Christian Ammons Dec 2018

Parental Attachment And Adult Attachment: The Moderating Role Of Dispositional Forgiveness And Gratitude, Christian Ammons

Master's Theses

Secure parental attachment, characterized by trust, care, and autonomy granting, is associated with improved psychological functioning and adjustment to college and is often associated with adult attachment relationships. Similarly, adult attachment, a characteristic of adult relationships, has been associated with improved college adjustment. Individual differences such as dispositional forgiveness and gratitude are often associated with secure adult attachment but have not been examined in relation to parent child attachment. The current study examined dispositional forgiveness and gratitude as moderators of the relationship between parental attachment and adult attachment. A sample of 185 college students participated and as expected, parental attachment …


The Moderating Role Of Pbs In The Relationship Between Positive Expectancies And Alcohol-Related Negative Consequences, Kray Scully May 2018

The Moderating Role Of Pbs In The Relationship Between Positive Expectancies And Alcohol-Related Negative Consequences, Kray Scully

Master's Theses

Hazardous drinking college students have become an increasingly focused upon group within alcohol research, especially considering the extent of negative consequences they experience. Recently, increased positive expectancies has been identified as an influential contributor to increased hazardous drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. However, more comprehensive evaluation of the domains of positive expectancies (e.g., sociability, tension reduction, sexual enhancement, liquid courage) is warranted to ascertain which types are more salient in predicting hazardous drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. Further, research has yet to explore how protective behavioral strategies (PBS) affect the strength of the associations between specific positive expectancies and alcohol-related …


The Role Of Emotion Regulation In The Relationship Between Trait Anger And Relational Aggression, Skylar Hicks May 2018

The Role Of Emotion Regulation In The Relationship Between Trait Anger And Relational Aggression, Skylar Hicks

Master's Theses

Relational aggression (RA) has been linked to a number of serious problems for all age ranges, especially in young children, adolescents, and emerging adults. Elevated trait anger appears to be positively related to both peer and romantic RA, and there is some evidence that difficulties with emotion regulation are positively associated with RA as well. The present study investigated the role of emotion regulation as a potential moderator of the relationship between trait anger and RA in a college student sample (N = 307) while taking general negative affect into account. As expected, trait anger was a positive predictor …


Natural Disasters And Attachment Quality: The Mediating Role Of Coping, Alexandra Teller May 2018

Natural Disasters And Attachment Quality: The Mediating Role Of Coping, Alexandra Teller

Master's Theses

Research shows a strong relationship between children’s exposure to a natural disaster, parental distress, and development of mental health problems. It is theorized that trauma-related parental distress is associated with maladaptive parenting behaviors, which negatively impact the psychological development of children. The long-term impact of trauma exposure from a natural disaster on parent-child relationship quality and mental health outcomes for emerging adults has only been minimally investigated. The use of adaptive coping strategies has been found to be helpful for preventing mental health problems, while maladaptive coping has been associated with the development of psychopathology. The present study examined the …


What Do Work Value Differentiation And Profile Elevation Predict?, Jinhao Chi Dec 2017

What Do Work Value Differentiation And Profile Elevation Predict?, Jinhao Chi

Master's Theses

Using a sample of 251 college students, it was found that 1) when differentiation (D) of work values was calculated using three indices, high-low D, Iachan D, and variance D, only Iachan D positively related to indecision but high-low D and variance D did not, 2) none of the three indices of D related to career maturity, 3) work values profile elevation (PE) positively related to extraversion, openness, and negatively related to depressive symptoms and career indecision but was unrelated to career certainty and neuroticism and 4) work values PE moderated the relationship between Iachan D and career indecision. The …


Overparenting And Emerging Adults' Mental Health: The Mediating Role Of Emotional Distress Tolerance, Christopher Michael Perez May 2017

Overparenting And Emerging Adults' Mental Health: The Mediating Role Of Emotional Distress Tolerance, Christopher Michael Perez

Master's Theses

Overparenting is a type of parental control that features intense parental involvement, which is negatively associated with the development of age-appropriate autonomous behavior in children and emerging adults. To this point, overparenting has been linked to poor mental health in young children (Bayer, Sanson, & Hemphill, 2006; Gar & Hudson, 2008), as well as in emerging adults (LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011; Segrin, Woszidlo, Givertz, & Montgomery, 2013). The emerging adult population has continued to be one of interest across recent studies concerning mental health, given the unique emotional and behavioral changes that arise during this stage of development. Emotional distress …


Assessing Career Decision-Making Status: The Casve Cycle Questionnaire, Brianna J. Werner May 2017

Assessing Career Decision-Making Status: The Casve Cycle Questionnaire, Brianna J. Werner

Master's Theses

The CASVE Cycle Questionnaire (CASVE-CQ) was developed to assess an individual’s progress in the CASVE cycle. A multi-phase development process was utilized, which included: initial item development, review by the current targeted demographic (i.e., college students), expert review, measure pilot, and measure administration with item refinement at each of the first three phases. Additionally, the CASVE-CQ identifies those who may have passed over important components of the CASVE cycle. As hypothesized and consistent with guided theory, exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 6 factor measure consisting of 55 items. Validity was supported through correlations between the CASVE-CQ and the identity …


The Dark Triad And Hexaco Model Of Personality In Relational Aggression, Niki M. Knight May 2016

The Dark Triad And Hexaco Model Of Personality In Relational Aggression, Niki M. Knight

Master's Theses

Past research has linked relational aggression (RA) to many forms of psychological maladjustment among children and early adolescents. Although less is known about RA among emerging adults, there is a growing body of research demonstrating a number of adverse correlates. This literature has sparked an interest in examining the role of personality in RA. Most investigations to date have focused on the Five Factor Model; however, the six factor HEXACO model of personality (Ashton et al., 2004) may offer some advantages in studying RA. Moreover, the manipulative and often covert nature of RA among emerging adults has theoretical overlap with …


Sex-Related Alcohol Expectancies, Alcohol Consumption, And Risky Sexual Behavior Among African American College Women, Danielle P. Cottonham May 2016

Sex-Related Alcohol Expectancies, Alcohol Consumption, And Risky Sexual Behavior Among African American College Women, Danielle P. Cottonham

Master's Theses

African American college women are experiencing sex-related negative consequences (e.g., contracting sexually transmitted diseases or human immunodeficiency virus, having an unplanned pregnancy) at disproportionate rates in comparison to Caucasian college women. Furthermore, African American college women are likely engaging in risky sexual behaviors (e.g., unprotected anal, vaginal, oral sex) that may be placing them at a greater risk for experiencing sex-related negative consequences. Research suggests that increased alcohol consumption is predictive of more risky sexual behavior among college women. Additionally, sex-related alcohol expectancies, or beliefs about the effects of alcohol on sexual behavior, are positively associated with increased alcohol consumption …


Congruence With College Major In Light Of Cognitive Influence And Work Roles, Erica L. Mathis May 2016

Congruence With College Major In Light Of Cognitive Influence And Work Roles, Erica L. Mathis

Master's Theses

Using Holland’s theory, the author examined moderators that may influence students’ academic success and satisfaction while accounting for cognitive influence. Data from 233 undergraduate students was analyzed using a series of hierarchical multiple regressions. The study sought to determine if student employment and the level of interest profile elevation were significant moderators of the relationship between congruence with college major and academic major satisfaction, as well as academic major success. Uniquely, academic major success was determined through GPA and a 10-subscale self-report measure. Cognitive influences were operationalized as positive and negative thinking and accounted for in all analyses. Correlation results …


Predictors Of Major Commitment, Anna Jill Womack Aug 2014

Predictors Of Major Commitment, Anna Jill Womack

Master's Theses

Contextual (e.g. job fit, job involvement), individual (e.g. job satisfaction, need for achievement), and demographic (e.g. gender, educational level) factors have been related to forms of career commitment (i.e. affective, continuance, and normative commitment), highlighting that the commitment one feels toward his or her career is a complex variable. Furthermore, commitment has been associated with intent to remain within a profession or organization (Bowling, Beehr, & Lepisto, 2006; Den Hartog & Belschak, 2007; Duffy, Dik, & Steger, 2011; Goulet & Singh, 2002), suggesting that commitment is an important component of retention within a career. Correspondingly, commitment to one's academic major …