Counseling Psychology Commons^™

The Effect Of Background Information On The Identity Formation And Self-Concept Of Adoptees, Molly Susan Dye

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adoptees are over represented in clinical populations. Issues of self-concept, identity formation and the search for background history may be of particular relevance to adoptee clients and could be addressed as a focus of treatment. This study attempted to assess if lack of knowledge about background information is related to poorer selfconcepts and increased difficulty with identity formation in adoptees. Adults (N=299) who were adopted prior to 6 months of age were recruited from adoption related sites on the Internet. Measures of self-concept, identity formation and adoption related factors were completed on a web page designed for this study. Results …

Teaching My Son To Be A Father: The Plight Of Unmarried Adolescent African American Fathers, Michael George Till

Dissertations

A quantitative research design was utilized to examine and understand the perceptions of fatherhood and manhood held by unmarried African American adolescent fathers. In face-to-face 60-90 minute interviews using a semistructured interview guide developed by the researcher, participants were asked open-ended questions to provide these young men with a voice and an opportunity to express their needs, support, neglect, understanding, and perception of how society views them and its impact on the functioning of the family unit. Using purposeful sampling, 10 unmarried African American adolescent fathers, located in the southwestern area of Michigan, were interviewed for data collection.

Interviews were …

Testing The Effectiveness Of Behavioral Activation Therapy In The Treatment Of Acute Unipolar Depression, Jenifer M. Cullen

Dissertations

The present study sought to investigate the clinical effectiveness of Behavioral Activation (BA) Therapy, the behavioral activation component of Beck's Cognitive Therapy (CT; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). Seventeen adults seeking mental health services for Unipolar Depression were recruited from the Kalamazoo and Southwestern Michigan regions. All participants were randomly assigned to either (a) an Immediate Treatment Group, or (b) a waitlist control group, while both received 10 weeks o f BA therapy. Depressive symptomatology for both conditions were assessed at pretreatment, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, Ball, & Ranieri, 1996), the …

The Effectiveness Of Behavioral Activation Group Therapy: Treating Comorbid Depression On A Specialized Inpatient Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Unit For Combat Veterans, Theodore P. Wright

Dissertations

The comorbidity of depression and PTSD has been shown to be relatively prevalent. Researchers have found a 70% lifetime prevalence o f comorbid PTSD and depression among combat veterans. This study examined the effectiveness of a behavioral activation (BA) group treatment when administered to combat veterans with comorbid depression and PTSD in the residential treatment program at the Battle Creek Veteran Affairs Medical Center. Forty-five veterans participated in the study. Twenty-four veterans participated in a BA treatment group while in the treatment program. Twenty-one veterans attended the treatment program, but did not participate in the BA treatment group and served …

Attachment Styles, View Of Self And Negative Affect, Amy Van Buren, Eileen L. Cooley

Psychology Faculty Publications

We investigated the relationship between attachment styles and negative affect using Bartholomew and Horowitz’s (1991) model of attachment. Attachment styles with a negative self view (i.e., preoccupied and fearful) were expected to be associated with more distress, especially the fearful style which involves negative views of both self and others. Measures of attachment, depression, depression proneness, and social anxiety were administered to 293 undergraduates. As predicted, participants with “negative self” attachment styles reported more symptoms of depression, proneness to depression, and social anxiety, but, contrary to prediction, those with a fearful style did not report more symptoms of depression and …

The Relationship Of Ethnicity Ethnic Identity And Problem Type To Preferences For Counselor Race In College Students: A Survey Of African-American And European-American Students, Sara H. Bausch

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

African-American and European-American participants were surveyed to determine the relationship of ethnicity, ethnic identity, and type of presenting problem on preferences for counselor ethnicity. Participants indicated their preferences for counselor characteristics, including ethnicity, for personal and academic problems. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and regression techniques. The results indicated that African American participants prefer ethnically similar counselors and all participants with high ethnic identity prefer ethnically similar counselors. The results suggested that participants prefer different characteristics for different problems. Participants indicated more willingness to seek help for academic problems. Ethnicity was a significant predictor of preference for an …

Traditional And Nontraditional Foster Parenting, Angela M. Baranzelli-Yoder

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Foster parents in nontraditional foster care programs receive more extensive, ongoing training and support than foster parents in traditional foster care programs. This study examined whether differences exist in the levels of perceived parenting stress, satisfaction, and efficacy among traditional and nontraditional foster parents. Twenty-four foster parents completed the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and the Parenting Sense of Competence scale (PSOC). Nontraditional foster parents reported higher levels of overall parenting stress and lower levels of foster parent role satisfaction than did traditional foster parents. However, response profiles indicated that nontraditional foster parents had children with more emotional and behavioral problems …

Factors Predicting Distress At Marital Therapy Onset, Joseph J.H. Horak

Dissertations

Higher levels of distress at marital therapy onset predict poorer treatment outcomes in several studies. This study selected nine variables to determine their ability to predict distress at marital therapy onset. The first two predictor variables, shame (measured by the Internalized Shame Scale; Cook, 2000) and expressive atmosphere in the family of origin (measured by the Family of Origin Expressive Atmosphere Scale; Yelsma, Hovestadt, Anderson, & Nilsson, 2000), were chosen from the literature and studies that considered these variables to be related to marital distress. The remaining seven sociodemographic predictor variables—(1) parental divorce as a child, (2) pregnancy before marriage, …

Self-Concept And Behavior: Changes As A Result Of Participation In Outward Bound, Douglas Vail Campbell

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-concept is an area of psychology that has received a large amount of attention in recent years. The idea of self-concept subsumes a number of related concepts including identity, self-esteem, and perceived self-efficacy. The clinical implications of self-concept disturbance and possible methods of altering self-concept are discussed. The current study was designed to evaluate several hypotheses about the way in which selfconcept may be changed by investigating the potential impact of Outward Bound on its individual participants. The present study examined the effect of the Outward Bound program, a wilderness educational program, on the self-concept and behavior of a group …

The Relationship Of Verbal-Nonverbal Incongruence To Communication Mismatches In Married Couples, Amy Van Buren

Psychology Faculty Publications

Communication accuracy refers to whether a message sent by a sender is perceived by the receiver to have the same emotional meaning intended by the sender. Previous research using marital dyads suggests that receivers sometimes receive the emotional meaning in senders’ statements differently than senders intend. The present study was conducted to test the possibility that one reason such misunderstandings occur is that senders may convey emotional messages differently than they intend. Twenty-four married couples carried on a ten-minute videotaped free interaction during which they rated the emotional meaning in each others’ statements. Results indicated that senders conveyed messages that …

Underachievement And Movitation : Why Children Underachieve And The School Counselor's Role In Helping Students, Sarah M. Kakacek

Graduate Research Papers

Underachievement and lack of motivation are two matters of concern that are significantly affecting elementary children in North American classrooms (Wigfield & Eccles, 2002). School counselors have responsibilities to encourage and foster growth in children's learning through the use of combined techniques such as self-monitoring and self-evaluation. In addition, counselors are attempting to understand and further explore channels that may stifle a child's progress including, but not limited to: the classroom environment, the child's belief system, internal needs and cognitions, the child's sense of autonomy as well as competency, and basic needs of belonging and fun.

In aiding the underachieved …

Study Of The Efficacy Of A Christian-Based Inpatient Hospital For Treating Eating Disorders, Depression, And Spiritual Distress, Robert Alan Darden

Dissertations

Problem . Outcome studies continue to indicate that a substantial proportion of individuals with eating disorders have a dangerously limited response to treatment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if a Christian cognitive-behavioral-based inpatient hospital that specializes in eating disorders was an effective program for treating eating disorders. Next, this study sought to determine if this inpatient hospital was effective in treating both depression and spiritual distress. Finally, this study examined the relationship between depression and spiritual distress with treatment outcome.

Method . Five hundred and eighty-two patients were admitted to an inpatient hospital between July 1, …

Positive And Negative Symptoms Of Schizotypy And The Five-Factor Model: A Domain And Facet Level Analysis, Scott R. Ross, Catherine J. Lutz, Steven E. Bailley

Psychology Faculty Publications

In this study, we investigated the Five-factor model in the concurrent prediction of positive symptomschizotypy as measured by the Magical Ideation (Eckblad & Chapman, 1983) and Perceptual Aberration (Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1978) scales and negative symptom schizotypy as measured by the Physical Anhedonia (Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1976) and Revised Social Anhedonia (Eckblad, Chapman, Chapman, & Mishlove, 1982; Mishlove & Chapman, 1985) scales. Previous studies suggest that these measures reflect the core symptoms found in schizotypal and schizoid personality disorder (Bailey, West, Widiger, & Freiman, 1993). Negative symptoms were significantly predicted by Neuroticism (+), Extraversion (-), Openness (-), and …

Environmental Factors That Predict Adolescent Smoking Behavior: The Influence Of Parent, Peer, And Sibling Smoking, Christopher J. Hogan

Theses and Dissertations

The majority of adult smoking begins during adolescence, and in order for prevention programs to be optimally effective it is critical to understand the influences of smoking initiation during this developmental period. However, little research has focused on how environmental factors, such as parent and peer smoking. influence smoking initiation exclusively within a rural population. The current study surveyed students from 23 middle schools in rural Virginia and New York State at the end of the sixth grade and then one-year later at the end of the seventh grade. Logistic regressions were used to predict changes in levels of adolescent …

Physician-Related Determinants Of Cervical Cancer Screening Among Caribbean Women In Toronto, Ilene Hyman, Punam Mony Singh, Marta Meana, Usha George, Lilian M. Wells, Donna E. Stewart

Psychology Faculty Research

BACKGROUND: Minority women in Canada are less likely to be screened for cervical cancer than their counterparts in the general population, despite the fact that the proportion of these women who consult a general practitioner about their health each year is similar to minority women. This study examined the physician and practice characteristics associated with Pap testing and perceived barriers to Pap testing of family physicians serving the Caribbean community of Toronto.

METHODS: A mail-back questionnaire was sent to Toronto family physicians practicing in neighborhoods with a high proportion of Caribbean Canadians.

RESULTS: Although 79.7% of the 64 participating physicians …

Is There Such A Thing As "Christian" Sex?, John M. Berecz

Faculty Publications

It is challenging for Christian pastors and counselors to discuss human sexuality in ways which do not alienate liberals on the left, conservatives on the right, or biologists in the middle. Feminists frequently see males as dominating or insensitive, and conservative Christians sometimes feed into this by emphasizing patriarchal models of marriage as if this were the biblical paradigm for all time. Evolutionary biologists view sexuality primarily as a means of propagating the species. Into this cacophony of strident voices the Christian seeks to inject a calm but clear message: Christian sexuality is primarily a search for intimacy. In a …

Spinnen-Angst-Fragebogen (Saf) Validierung Der Deutschen Version Des "Fear Of Spiders Questionnaire" (Fsq)., Patrick Pössel, Martin Hautzinger

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Bislang fehlte im deutschen Sprachraum ein Instrument, das erlaubt, differenzierte Daten zum Thema Spinnenphobie zu erheben. Aus diesem Grund wurde der „Fear of Spiders Questionnaire“ (FSQ) von Szymanski und O´Donohue (1995) als ein Screening-Instrument für solche Zwecke übersetzt. Die interne Konsistenz beträgt für den "Spinnen-Angst-Fragebogen" (SAF) r = .94, und die Retest-Reliabilität über einen Monat ist r = .75. Bei der Faktorenanalyse zeigten sich die Faktoren "Vermeidungs- und Hilfesuchverhalten" und "Furcht vor Verletzung" (aufgeklärte Varianz 58.9 % und 8.6 %). Diese Faktorenstruktur ist weitgehend identisch mit der für die englischsprachige Version. Erwartungsgemäß traten hohe Korrelationen mit dem "Spider-Phobia-Questionnaire" (SPQ), geringere …