Counseling Psychology Commons^™

College Students' Suicidal Ideation: Testing The Predictions Of The Existential - Constructivist Theory Of Suicide, Jennifer Danielle Lockman

Open Access Dissertations

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the college student population (Schwartz, 2006), and empirically supported theories for understanding suicide among college students are lacking (Lester, 1989; Prinstein, 2008; Rogers & Benson, 2013). Although not yet examined empirically, Rogers (2001) proposed an Existential - Constructivist Theory of Suicide (ECTS), in which existential distress and the inability to reconstruct meaning from adverse life events contribute to suicidal ideation. ECTS includes both interpersonal and intrapersonal drivers of suicidal ideation, and for this reason, may better explain suicidal ideation in college students than existing theoretical models. Existing research focuses on Joiner’s …

Psychosocial Factors And Mental Health Of Muslims Living In The United States, Lamise N. Shawahin

Open Access Dissertations

Muslim Americans are at risk for experiencing systematic and interpersonal acts of discrimination (Rippy & Newman, 2006). Such experiences of discrimination can lead to the development of depressive symptoms. Thus, it is critical to understand factors that may influence the relationship between experiencing discrimination and developing depressive symptoms. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between psychosocial adversities (i.e., perceived discrimination), psychosocial resources (i.e., coping strategies, religious community support) and depressive symptoms. Hypotheses regarding both the relationships among the variables, as well as the mediating role psychosocial resources play in the relationship between perceived discrimination and …

Exploring Problematic Online Gaming: A Qualitative Approach, Joseph M. Waters

Open Access Dissertations

Online gaming, specifically Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), has become a very popular pastime and often is the subject of scrutiny in the literature regarding problematic play. This study aimed to develop a better understanding of problematic online gaming by recruiting and interviewing MMORPG players who potentially played at problematic levels. Ten participants (9 males, 1 female) from a Mid-Western university were screened and interviewed regarding their online gaming experiences. Consensual qualitative research was used to analyze the data. Eleven domains emerged from the data analysis: (a) antecedents to involvement in online gaming, (b) gaming activity, (c) character creation, …

Help-Seeking Intention Among College Students: Cross-Cultural Study Between East Asian International Students And Domestic Students In The Unites States, Ji Yun Kang

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to understand East Asian international student’s underutilization of counseling services (versus U.S. domestic students) by applying Theory of Reasoned Action/Planned Behavior (TRA/PB) and Ludwikowski, Vogel, and Armstrong (2009)’s stigma model to help-seeking. Participants were 146 East Asian international students and 210 domestic college students at Purdue University. AMOS 23.0 for Structural Equation Modeling was used to conduct a Latent Mean Analysis (LMA) and a multigroup analysis. The multigroup analysis results found that help-seeking intention was explained by the same hypothesized model in both groups, which was based on the TRA/PB (Ajzen, 2012) and the …

South Asian Women's Sexual Relationship Power: Examining The Role Of Sexism, Cultural Values Conflict, Discrimination, And Social Support, Chandni D. Shah

Open Access Dissertations

The lack of literature examining sexual experiences of South Asian women in dating relationships has important implications for the healthy development of long lasting romantic relationships. It is important to understand South Asian women’s relationship experiences in the context of power and sexism (interpersonal power framework; Pulerwitz, Gortmaker, & DeJong, 2000) and the role of specific sociopolitical factors (e.g., discrimination). Understanding South Asian women’s experiences of power in a sociopolitical context will help professionals when working with them to develop healthier sexual relationships through therapy outreach, and community programming. I used a correlational, quantitative study to examine the associations between …

Attachment To God And Psychological Well-Being: Shame, Guilt, And Self-Compassion As Mediators, Mary Elizabeth Varghese

Open Access Dissertations

In this study, I used attachment theory to examine individual differences in people's relationships with God or their Higher Power and the influence of these relationships on shame, guilt, self-compassion, and overall psychological well-being. H1 was that shame, guilt, and self-compassion fully mediate the relatedness of anxious attachment to God and psychological well-being. H2 was that shame, guilt, and self-compassion fully mediate the relatedness of avoidant attachment to God and psychological well-being. Young adults (N = 163) of diverse religious backgrounds from a large Midwestern university completed demographic questions and four scales: (a) The Attachment to God Inventory (AGI; Beck …

Role Conflict, Uncertainty In Illness, And Illness-Related Communication Avoidance: College Students Facing Familial Chronic Illness, Meghana Suchak

Open Access Dissertations

The focus of the current study was on examining possible differences in college students' adjustment based on residency status (i.e., international Asian vs. domestic students) and illness status (i.e., having a family member with a chronic illness vs. not having a family member with a chronic illness). The study also examined the associations between overall college student adjustment and the family and illness-related factors of role conflict, uncertainty in illness, and illness-related communication avoidance for students will a chronically ill family member. The literature review drew from the fields of college student development, family studies, communication, and nursing. Data were …

The Attachment-Satisfaction Relationship On Facebook: Emotional Intelligence And Conflict, Jarred Michael Caldwell

Open Access Dissertations

Caldwell, J. M., Ph.D. Purdue University, February 2013. The Attachment-Satisfaction Relationship on Facebook: Emotional Intelligence and Conflict. Major Professor: M. Carole Pistole, Ph.D.

Because of the unique interpersonal nature of social networking sites, as well as the vast number of people using them, this study examines how attachment differences and other factors, including social networking site romantic conflict behavior and emotional intelligence, link to romantic relationship satisfaction. College students who were in romantic relationships and users of social networking sites (N = 274), completed the following measures: (a) the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale-Short Form (ECR-S; Wei, Russell, Mallinckrodt, & …