Other Psychology Commons^™

Reclaiming Healing Spaces: A Phenomenological Study On The Transformative Power Of Outdoor Therapy From The Lived Experiences Of Black Clinicians Working With Black Clients, Lynn Murphy

Dissertations

This phenomenological study involved assessing the experiences of Black therapists who engaged Black clients in outdoor therapeutic contexts. The study was founded on the existing literature that shows the quality of the therapeutic relationship is pivotal for client retention and the Western standards that have historically favored treatment within indoor environments. To contextualize this research, a comprehensive literature review was commenced, covering topics such as the decolonization of therapy, the historical and present-day relationship between Blacks and the outdoors in the United States, sedentary lifestyles, the psychological benefits of time spent in nature, various types of outdoor therapy, and the …

Teacher Voices: Stress And Coping Mechanisms Among The Teaching Profession, Jasmine Suttles

Education | Master's Theses

Stress is a natural response that occurs in our body when we feel overwhelmed, and it can manifest in both positive and negative instances. The teaching profession is not exempt from this phenomenon, as it is unique in that educators have multiple roles to play and have to manage and interact with many students simultaneously. Teachers have been described as "exasperated by heavy loads of emotional labor in the classroom" (Ferguson et al., 2022). This "heavy load" can place the teaching profession at risk of stress and burnout if self-care is not addressed or mental health resources are not offered. …

Test Anxiety Inflation, Brian Podkulski, David P. Valentiner

Honors Capstones

Mental health conditions are higher than ever worldwide, despite best efforts to increase public awareness and deliver informed solutions. To account for this rise, some suggested models argue that measures taken to ameliorate mental health problems are actually contributing to their inflation through iatrogenic effects. The current proposed study seeks to identify the possibility of iatrogenic effects on test anxiety as a product of psychoeducational material. The scope of this study includes the immediate effects of viewing a typical short-form informational video on core and adjacent symptoms of test anxiety. Participants will engage with our study entirely through an online …

Effectiveness Of A Peer-Supported Digital Brief Intervention: Reducing Alcohol Use & Related Harms In Young Adults With Histories Of Interpersonal Trauma, Caitlin Mcgettrick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Alcohol is the most frequently used substance in the United States, and young adults ages 18-25 have the highest rates of heavy alcohol use. Heavy and persistent alcohol use is associated with a host of negative outcomes in young adults, including poor mental health, lower life satisfaction, cognitive impairments, poor academic performance, increased risk for motor vehicle accidents, and substance use disorders. Brief interventions (BI) are low-resource, short-term interventions designed to reduce problematic substance use and mitigate the substantial harms posed by heavy and persistent use of substances such as alcohol. BIs have limited effectiveness in trauma survivors despite trauma …

Classroom Technology Policies, Technology Usage, And Mind-Wandering, Halley Stecht

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Technology usage has been rapidly increasing in college classrooms since 2019. This has shown to be a challenge for educators in higher education due to the increase in off-task usage. Many educators try to combat technology usage in their classrooms through technology policies in their syllabus, in hopes of reducing off-task behaviors such as mind-wandering. The purpose of this study was twofold: first we determined whether classroom technology policies impacted students’ technology usage. Then, we investigated whether access to technology in the classroom was associated with more mind-wandering during class. Two hundred sixty-eight college students completed an online survey that …

Student Mental Health During And After The Coronavirus Pandemic, Olivia Harner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The educational setting serves as an influential force when considering the impacts that school can have on student mental health. Following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, research revealed negative effects on mental health for a variety of populations across the globe; however, comprehensive reviews about the effect that the pandemic had on the mental health of American K-12 students are limited. Consequently, the purpose of this specialist project is to evaluate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the mental health of American students in grades K-12 through a review of literature. Utilizing PRISMA procedures, 19 articles were selected …

Impostor Phenomenon, Perfectionism, Psychological Distress, And Burnout In Pre-Health Undergraduate Students, Victoria Lee

Poster Presentations

Careers in the healthcare field are demanding, and each stage closer to attaining the career aspirations is filled with increasing amount of stress. Previous research highlighted impostor phenomenon, perfectionism, psychological distress, and burnout in graduate students; however, this study‘s primary focus was to investigate the relationships between these constructs in an undergraduate pre-health population. This study aimed to find whether or not impostor phenomenon, perfectionism, and psychological distress could be considered predictors of burnout and whether or not pre-health students differed from non-pre-health students in their levels of these constructs.

Cultural And Structural Barriers Of Utilizing Mental Health Services In A School-Based Setting For Latinx Populations, Silvia Lozano, Bridgette Guadalupe Calderon

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This qualitative research study aimed to reduce mental health service disparities in Latinx communities and helps fill in the gap by addressing cultural and structural barriers to utilizing MHS in a school-based setting for Latinx youth. There is limited research regarding Latinx parents’ perspectives and the reservations they have on utilizing school-based mental health services (MHS) for their children. This study identified six important themes: cultural factors, trust and rapport, reservations, access and awareness, parental involvement and challenges, and school-based resources. Implications for school districts are that they can use these findings to increase early intervention mental behavioral health programs …

A Content Analysis Of Common Relationship Challenges Among People Who Practice Polyamory, Kalyn Su, Sophie Camilleri

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Approximately 1 out of 9 people in the U.S. have engaged in polyamory (Moors et al., 2021), a relationship type in which all involved agree to have multiple romantic and/or sexual partners. Despite the commonness of polyamory, there are many misconceptions about the polyamorous experience. However, research has yet to examine common challenges that people engaged in polyamory endure. The goal of the present qualitative study was to identify the disadvantages and stressors of polyamory in order to shed light on the unique experiences of people in these relationships. 219 adults who were currently in a polyamorous relationship were asked …

Impostor Phenomenon, Perfectionism, Psychological Distress, And Burnout In Pre-Health Undergraduate Students, Victoria Lee

Honors Theses

Preparing for a career in the healthcare field is incredibly strenuous and demanding, and previous research endeavors have demonstrated that students in professional healthcare programs show an increased susceptibility to impostor phenomenon, perfectionism, psychological distress, and burnout. Previous studies have indicated a possible link between impostor phenomenon, perfectionism, psychological distress, and burnout; however, these studies only considered two or three constructs at a time in graduate students (Rosenthal, et al., 2021; Seong, et al., 2020; Garratt-Reed, et al., 2018). The current study’s purpose was to investigate the whether or not impostor phenomenon, perfectionism, and psychological distress could be potential predictors …

The Media’S Influence On Disordered Eating And Body Dysmorphia In Males And Females, Alexis Kotanidis, Jamie Vitrano

Molloy Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference

The media typically refers to various means of communication that reach or influence people widely. This includes television, radio, newspapers, magazines, social media platforms, websites, podcasts, and more. Essentially, it has many ways through which information is transmitted to a large audience. The media plays a significant role in shaping public opinion, especially with regard to disordered eating and body dysmorphia in both men and women. Disordered eating refers to a wide range of irregular eating behaviors that may or may not meet the criteria for a specific eating disorder diagnosis such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge-eating disorder. …

The Relationship Of Psychology And Music, Thomas Pulling

Honors Projects

This paper discusses the relationship between psychology and music, examining some of the foundational research in the field, and looks at some of the historical context surrounding the psychological study of music and of music theory. The goal of this project is to use my experience as a performing musician and psychology student to emphasize the importance of furthering research into the psychology of music.

Praise In The Collegiate Classroom: How Narcissism, Entitlement, Empathy, And A Desire For Fame Impact Student’S Preferences For Praise, Alexandra Crissman

Student Scholar Showcase

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between personality traits, namely narcissism, entitlement, empathy, and a desire for fame, and a preference for public praise in a student population. Past research has shown that those who are higher in narcissism are also higher in entitlement and that these rates have been rising with future generations. Past research has also indicated a negative relationship between narcissistic tendencies and empathy, inferring that those higher in narcissism tend to score lower on empathy measures. In this study, undergraduate students were surveyed online to determine scores on four measures of traits …

Promoting Child Rearing For Teen Mothers Within The Foster Care System, Monic Chavez, Rebecca King

Spring 2024 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Teenage pregnancy in foster care is twice the national average, with one-third becoming pregnant by 17. There are limited programs available to assist teen mothers in foster care in developing healthy parent-child relationships and parenting skills despite their desire to break the cycle of trauma and improve their relationships with their children. The objective of the capstone program is to establish and operate a residential maternity home-based trauma-informed parenting program that assists teenage mothers in foster care in developing parenting skills and a healthy parent-child relationship by providing them with the necessary resources and support.

Building Neuro-Inclusive Community, Strengthening Mental Health: The Autism After 21 Utah Project, Sumiko T. Martinez, Anna Smyth, Ann C. Carrick

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Over two decades of research shows strong positive relationships are a consistently powerful indicator of wellbeing and resilience. However, the U.S. Surgeon General notes that loneliness and isolation is an epidemic in the U.S., and that it is exacerbated for individuals with physical and mental disabilities as well as those with isolating economic or environmental situations. A recent review shows that many autistic adults in particular face challenges in finding the connections they want and need. They also often have compounding mental health conditions, such as depression and mental illness, lower incomes, isolating home environments due to a lack of …

Psy-7 Peer Effects Of Seeking Mental Health Help From A Professional, Devanshi Patel, Susan Ruppel

SC Upstate Research Symposium

How does peer support effect the ability of students to seek out mental health help from a professional? In this study, the experimenter investigates the type of support the students receive from their peers and how that affects their ability to seek out help from a professional. Accurate intention-seeking of students was recorded for both the behavioral concerns and their support types. A Mental Help Seeking Intention Scale was used to measure the data collected in this study. It was found that the behavioral concern (mental, physical) of a student does not matter in this study, nor did the type …

2023-2024 Online Student Survey Of Priority Issues, Heather D. Flick

SACAD: John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days

The purpose of the 2023-2024 Online Student Survey is to provide research backed priorities for the incoming elected senate for the 2024-2025 academic year. Each year the survey is revised based on newly obtained knowledge from coursework as an FHSU Online student as well as past years survey results.

The survey intended to gain insight on what issues are priorities to Fort Hays State University (FHSU) Online students to allow the Online Student Government Association (OSGA) to focus on the most important issues FHSU Online students experience. This is an annual survey which has been evolving each year to best …

The Blurry Line Between Corporation And Cult: A Retrospective Autoethnographic Study, Ernst Graamans

The Qualitative Report

In popular management literature corporations are sometimes loosely compared to cults. The comparison is a severe allegation as it implies the transgression of subordinate employees’ integrity. This paper explores to what extent such comparisons with cults are warranted as well as the implications this has for the practice of corporate culture management. On grounds of the author’s unique, first-hand experience in both corporate and cultic environments a retrospective autoethnographic (RAE) approach was chosen to further explore the supposed resemblance. The comparison is structured along Lifton’s eight criteria of thought reform and reveals that although akin to cults in all aspects …

A Manualized Occupational Therapy Communication Skills Intervention For Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Kiara Ainsworth, Steven M. Gerardi

Spring 2024 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects many individual's participation in daily activities. There is a lack of research in the area of occupational therapy (OT) treatment for veterans with PTSD. However, there has been an expressed need in the literature for a developed intervention for veterans with PTSD that includes communication skills as a component. To date, a manualized communication skills OT intervention for veterans with PTSD has not been created. The purpose of this paper was to develop a resource tool for occupational therapists to utilize as an intervention when treating veterans with PTSD using the framework of the Model …

Focus Group And Survey Responses To Postural Feedback During Creative Movement Exploration, Mary C. Matthews

Senior Theses

John H. Riskind’s “appropriateness hypothesis” states that posture, positions, and gestures can be emotionally self-regulating if an individual holds a posture that is appropriate for its context. A litany of studies on power posing suggests expansive postures could increase Feelings of Power. One meta-analytic review demonstrates the “robust” significance for evidence of “power feelings, emotion, or self-esteem” due to postural feedback while cautioning researchers on the empirical invalidity of evidence for behavioral and physiological variables. A qualitative description of individuals’ experiences as they change posture, gesture, and position would direct future research on postural feedback. The current project qualitatively examines …

The Perception Of Children As Reliable Eyewitnesses, Shelby Mcdonald

Psychology Student Papers and Posters

Eyewitness accounts have been integral to the criminal justice system. However, given that not every criminal case has forensic evidence that is available or admissible, the reliance on eyewitness accounts conjures questions about believability. This is an important area of research because the over-belief of witnesses may lead to wrongful convictions, yet under-belief may leave the victim without justice. The current study investigated how child-witness age, race, role as a witness (bystander versus victim), and the gender of the juror influenced the perception of child eyewitnesses through the lens of the Witness Credibility Model. Participants were presented with the testimony …

“My Dog Needs A Job”: Identifying The Motivations Of Therapy Animal Volunteers, Jean Kirnan, Anna Ciarrocca, Matthew Malloy, Shawne Hoehne, Grace Norris, Marc Nuzzo

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Volunteers provide billions of hours in free labor annually and are essential for the success of many organizations. Understanding who volunteers as well as the motivating factors that attract and retain volunteers is critical. This study explored the motivations of therapy animal volunteers (TAVs) identifying commonality with general volunteerism as well as unique motivators. Respondents were 748 TAVs with Pet Partners who completed an online survey. The Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) was used to allow comparisons to prior research. Supplemental items specific to animal handler motivation were added to the 30 VFI items. Additionally, participants responded to an open-ended question …

The Relationship Between Stress Mindset And Burnout In College Athletes, Amber M. Shipherd, Creighton Avery, Sarah Gomez, Kelly B. Renner

Journal of Athlete Development and Experience

High levels of stress can result in college athletes experiencing symptoms of burnout, and electing to terminate their sport participation. Research suggests there may be a relationship between athlete burnout and one’s view of stress (Avery et al., 2022). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between stress mindset and burnout in college athletes, while controlling for gender, coping self-efficacy, and perceived stress. College athletes (N = 118) completed measures of stress mindset, athletic burnout, coping self-efficacy, and perceived stress via online survey software. Non-parametric partial correlations were conducted to determine relationships between variables while controlling …

The Real Experts: Understanding Autism And Adhd Through The Lens Of The Individual, Mary Little

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This presentation aims to spark intentional conversation and change geared towards shattering stigmas around the autistic and ADHD experience. Attendees will enhance their understanding of neuro-divergent populations in order to modify environments and provide interventions aligning with trauma informed care and inclusion. Attendees will also be given the opportunity to embrace the power of self disclosure and mentorship.

At The Intersection Of Religion, Spirituality, And Clinical Psychology: A Conversation With Two Jewish Psychologists, Robert A. Demayo, David A. Levy

Psychology Division Scholarship

This article presents a dialogue between two Jewish psychologists who share their respective personal and professional journeys on how spirituality and religious affiliation impacts their work as clinicians. They address the following questions: How would you identify your cultural background with respect to your religious or spiritual history and identity? How do you manage the competing demands of respecting both individual cultural identity and group cultural identity? How did your early experiences with Judaism influence your professional practice? What were your earliest academic influences on the question of spirituality in psychology? How have religion and spirituality manifested in your clinical …

Taking Pleasure In Distinction: Unlocking Specialty Coffee Preference, Ondrej Mitas, Danny D. Han, Belle Struijer, Lotte Willems, Thomas H. Chatwick

Journal of Global Business Insights

Specialty coffee, comprising a tenth of the global coffee trade, is distinguished by its strict quality requirements and traceable origins. The diverse flavor profiles of specialty coffee raise demands on providers to serve individual taste preferences. Prior research has not sufficiently explored how to predict customer preferences for specific flavor profiles or how these preferences influence behavioral intentions such as revisiting or recommending a café. This study hypothesized that customer involvement, the extrinsic factors of coffee experience, and culinary risk-taking would predict flavor preference, which would in turn affect behavioral intentions. In an experiment involving 47 participants, individuals tasted and …

Power And Control Wheel Tactics: Assessing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd) Epistemology Among Domestic Violence Survivors, Lisa Hady

Theses and Graduate Projects

Domestic violence affects more than 10 million adults in the United States annually (National Network to End Domestic Violence, 2020). The Power and Control Wheel (PCW) places power and control at the center of physical and sexual violence, with eight surrounding tactics representing the abusive behaviors perpetrators use to retain power and control over survivors. Although the PCW has been extended to understand various abusive relationships, and the PCW tactics have been examined in both Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Non-Intimate Partner Violence (NPV; Basile et al., 2004; Scott, 2018), limited research compares tactics used based on the perpetrator’s relationship …

A Thematic Analysis Of The Experiences Of Black Female Coaches’ Evolution In Women’S College Basketball, Jessica E. Jones

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

According to the NCAA Demographics database, among the Division I, Division II, and Division III teams' women's basketball rosters for the 2020-2021 season, Black women only held 12% of head coaching positions, while White women held 45% of head coaching positions. The statistics should raise concern as Black and other female athletes of color make up 50% of NCAA's basketball rosters across all three divisions but they do not transition into coaching or leadership positions.

The current study explored the lived experiences of Black female coaches in NCAA women's basketball, including their career advancement, experiences as coaches, and their perception …

Annual Research Review: The Power Of Predictability – Patterns Of Signals In Early Life Shape Neurodevelopment And Mental Health Trajectories, Elysia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The global burden of early life adversity (ELA) is profound. The World Health Organization has estimated that ELA accounts for almost 30% of all psychiatric cases. Yet, our ability to identify which individuals exposed to ELA will develop mental illness remains poor and there is a critical need to identify underlying pathways and mechanisms. This review proposes unpredictability as an understudied aspect of ELA that is tractable and presents a conceptual model that includes biologically plausible mechanistic pathways by which unpredictability impacts the developing brain. The model is supported by a synthesis of published and new data illustrating the significant …

Stress, Anxiety, And Depression In Aerospace Students, Harley L. Waters

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

This study investigates and compares the levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among a sample of 574 undergraduate students in the Aerospace Professional Pilot concentration, Aerospace majors in concentrations other than Professional Pilot, and Non-Aerospace students at Middle Tennessee State University. This study sought to determine if Aerospace students exhibited higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. The participants of this study completed the DASS-21, a survey instrument that measures three separate constructs: depression, anxiety, and stress. The scores from this survey were used to compare depression, anxiety, and stress levels between the three groups of students using ANOVA and …