Clinical Psychology Commons^™

The Impact Of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) On Learning In Children, Jessica J. Shaw

The Confluence

Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) commonly struggle in academic institutions as they face symptoms of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and other traits that prohibit them from succeeding in academics. Children with ADHD may also exhibit behavioral issues such as hostility and aggression towards their peers that may diminish interpersonal relationships with peers and parents. Such issues can cause learning difficulties in children with ADHD as it is difficult to stay still, focus, and listen to teachers in academic settings. Interviews conducted by a clinician are the first step towards an ADHD diagnosis. An ADHD diagnosis is important because the disorder can …

Examining The Moderating Effects Of Adult Social Support On The Relationship Between Adverse Experiences And Psychosocial Adjustment, Zachary Wilde

Master's Theses

Exposure to adverse experiences during childhood place adolescents at a disproportionately high risk of developing physical and mental health problems later in life (Anthony et al., 2019; Basto-Pereira et al., 2016; Brown & Shillington, 2016; Felitti et al., 1998). Further, at-risk adolescents, conceptualized as children and adolescents who lack resources for upward mobility, are more likely to be exposed to adverse experiences and thus are at greater risk for these negative outcomes when compared to adolescents who are not considered at-risk (Fernandes-Alcantara, 2018). To obtain better specificity of what outcomes adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) predict in a sample of vulnerable …

Principles For Managing Burnout Among Catholic Church Professionals, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

While a large body of research literature has explored the assessment, treatment, and prevention of worker burnout, much less research has focused on the unique issues associated with burnout in religious organizations, especially within the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic Church employees, whether clerics or laypersons, are embedded within a 2,000-year-old global hierarchical structure and organization that is unique in that it includes clerics with vows of chastity, obedience, and often poverty as well as ongoing crises related to clerical sexual abuse scandals, significant financial stressors, and a faith tradition that often overvalues sacrifice and suffering. The purpose of this brief …

The Influence Of Language On Thematic Apperception Test Assessment Of Defenses In International Spanish-Speaking College Students, Ilenia Perez-Palen

Theses and Dissertations

Cultural influences, including the use of language, have been shown to affect personality development and are also likely to impact personality assessment results. The influence of language is particularly relevant in story-telling measures such as the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Morgan & Murray, 1935). The purpose of this study was to analyze TAT narratives delivered in English and Spanish to assess the application of defense mechanisms based on the Defense Mechanism Manual (DMM; Cramer, 1991) among Hispanic international students. No study to date has provided insight into Hispanic individuals’ use of language with the TAT, specifically on scores for the …

Moderating Factors In The Relationship Between Bully Victimization And Psychosomatic Symptoms, Tonya Paulson

Theses and Graduate Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between bully victimization and psychosomatic symptoms, and to examine the protective influence of perceived parent and peer support across developmental age groups. Bully victimization frequency, somatic symptom severity, perceived parent support, and perceived peer support were assessed using archival data from 7,304 youth who participated in the 2009-2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) U.S. survey, excluding perpetrators of bullying. Bully victimization and somatic symptoms were significantly positively correlated. Older adolescents consistently reported more severe somatic symptoms, but age did not moderate the relationship between bullying and somatic symptoms. Higher …

P-13 El Laberinto Del Fauno: A Child’S Imagination And Coping With The Trauma Of War, Psychology And Spanish, Hannah Cruse

Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship

Abstract of “El laberinto del fauno: A Child’s Imagination and Coping with the Trauma of War”

Guillermo del Toro’s film El laberinto del fauno, known as Pan’s Labyrinth to English speaking audiences, opens up a fantastical world that is just a touch away from reality, but everyone believes this to be the imagination of one child, Ofelia. She tries to complete tasks and learns the truth of the land of post Civil War Spain that she currently resides in while she yearns for another. A child's imagination can be transported by a simple story; there seems to be a special …

Understanding Self-Compassion Within Narrative Identity: The Struggles Of Japanese Students With Measuring Up, Anton Sevilla-Liu

The Qualitative Report

The psychology of self-compassion is growing in importance for understanding well-being and helping people in therapeutic and educational settings. However, present research may be limited by a narrow focus on nomothetic self-reports like the Self-Compassion Scale. This article supplements that qualitatively, looking at self-compassion in life stories. It is guided by the questions, “How do students experience the struggle between self-compassion and its deficit? And how is this experience manifest in their narrative identity?” This study examined three Japanese university students who submitted their narrative self-reflections, including stories of the high point, low point, turning point, and recurring pattern in …

Personality And Psychopathology Correlates Of Institutional Misconduct Among Juvenile Offenders, Paula Floyd

Dissertations

Juvenile delinquency is a national concern, as delinquent behavior is associated with a host of poor psychosocial outcomes during later adolescence and adulthood. To address delinquency, it is important to understand psychological adjustment among adolescents who have already made contact with the juvenile justice system. One way to explore adjustment within this population involves examining personality and psychopathology correlates of institutional misconduct (i.e., behavioral infractions while incarcerated). While there is a robust body of literature regarding personality and psychopathology correlates of misconduct in adult inmate samples, there has been far less work devoted to these relationships among justice-involved youth. Furthermore, …

Psychophysiological Effects Of Increasing Awareness Of Nondual Consciousness In Young Adults With Depression And Anxiety, Milena Braticevic

CONSCIOUSNESS: Ideas and Research for the Twenty-First Century

Young adults increasingly suffer from anxiety and depression during the time of transition into adulthood. This research study examined the effects of increasing awareness of nondual consciousness in young adults who were experiencing various levels of anxiety and depression. The methodology was mixed-method and included four 1-hour group-based sessions over 4 weeks. Increasing awareness of nondual consciousness through educational, experiential, and behavioural components resulted in reduction in the average depression score from 19.4 (borderline clinical depression) to 10 (normal), and reduction in the average anxiety score from 12.7 (moderate anxiety) to 6.9 (mild). Participants reported increased mental, emotional, physical, and …

Gender Differences In College Drinkers: The Role Of Masculine Norms, Jared A. Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drinking among college students has remained a prominent problem within the United States, with more than 50% of college students drinking alcohol, 30% considered binge drinkers, and 9% considered heavy drinkers (SAMHSA, 2018). Evidence also shows that males are more likely to partake in risky drinking behaviors (e.g., binge drinking or drinking to intoxication) and are at higher risk to be diagnosed with a alcohol use disorder when compared to women (Iwamoto et al. 2014; Grant et al., 2004). Recent findings suggest that adherence to particular masculine norms as a risk factor for problematic alcohol use among men (Mahalik, 2000; …

Correlates Of Psychological Well-Being In Older Adults With Treatment-Resistant Depression, Selmi Kallmi

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that are associated with psychological well-being in older adults with late-life depression and determine if social participation moderates and/or mediates these relationships. This dissertation study utilized secondary pre-treatment data collected from the “Optimum: Optimizing Depression Treatment in Older Adults” study (Cristancho et al. (2019). Community dwelling older adults (N = 369) were included if they currently met criteria for MDD, had failed at least two prior trials of MDD medication treatment, and were able to visit the study site to participate in cognitive and physical functioning assessments. Hierarchical multiple regressions …

Moderating Roles Of Racial Identity In The Effects Of Racial Discrimination On Distress, Sarah Gobrial

Psychology Theses and Dissertations

Racial discrimination has been linked to psychological distress among people of color. The degree to which psychological distress is associated with racial discrimination experiences varies across individuals. Racial identity may be one key set of individual difference factors that can influence how discrimination impacts psychological distress, but existing empirical findings remain mixed on the moderating role of racial identity in the links between discrimination and distress. The present study leveraged virtual reality technology to experimentally invoke experiences of discrimination. The study was aimed to (1) determine the causal effects of racial discrimination on psychological distress (i.e., stress and negative affect), …

Helpful Or Harmful: The Impact Of Shame And Guilt On Concealment In Adulthood Following Childhood Trauma, Xiomara Vanessa Senior

Theses and Dissertations

The current study aimed to examine the moderating role of shame and guilt in the associations between types of childhood maltreatment and levels of self-concealment. Childhood maltreatment has been linked to emotions such as shame and guilt that elicit schemas of self-doubt, incompetence, and failure (Cohen et al., (2011). When an individual internalizes these thoughts and emotions, they may act in maladaptive ways such as avoidance, fear, dissociation, and possible concealment within adulthood (Dorahy & Clearwater, 2012, Smetana et al., 2019). De Seve et al. (2020) recently found that shame proved to be a mediator in the relationship between self-concealment …

Stress Arising From The Covid-19 Pandemic: Impacts On Coparenting Quality And Child Internalizing And Externalizing Problems, Michelle R. Ebrahim

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Since emerging in late 2019, the highly contagious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused worldwide disruptions, with major shutdowns in school, work, and other aspects of life. These stressors uniquely impacted families with young children. The present study investigated the impact of the pandemic on family functioning and risk for child internalizing and externalizing problems during the first year after the pandemic. The study included three waves of data collection from a larger longitudinal study aimed at understanding how couples navigate the prenatal-postpartum transition and the impacts of the family on early child development. We found that family pandemic-related stress was …

Individual Differences And Neural Correlates Of Emotion Reactivity And Regulation: Potential Intervention Targets In Depression, Ian James Kahrilas

Dissertations

Depression, Electroencephalography, Emotion reactivity, Emotion regulation

Burnout In The Field Of Forensic Psychology And Intervention Techniques, Taylor Gary

Dissertations

Forensic psychologists are at a heightened risk for encountering vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout, all of which influence quality and continuity of care (Sansbury et al., 2015). The current literature review aims to discuss how burnout relates specifically to the field of forensic psychology. For the purposes of this discussion, clinical psychologists who perform forensic duties, as well as board certified forensic psychologists are considered. Research questions that are addressed in this discussion include what the existing research states regarding vicarious trauma in forensic settings, likely gender differences in burnout and vicarious trauma, and documented interventions that appear most …

Risk Factors Of Cyberbullying Victimization: The Impact Of Developmental Trauma, Yuliya Mykytyn

Dissertations

Trauma has been considered as one of the significant causes of psychological distress, especially if the traumatic event occurred in the childhood. At the same time, due to wide popularity of social media as a source of communication, cyberbullying emerged as a new way to harass someone, with specific focus on adults and young adults. The area of focus of this research project is to investigate whether experienced trauma, specifically developmental trauma might serve as a risk factor for cyberbullying victimization. Additional focus was on the differences in traumatic experiences and their impact for people with diverse cultural and ethnic …

Consistency Of Sleep Across Development And Relations To Executive Functions; Applications To Emerging Adults Transitioning To College And Adolescents With Spina Bifida, Laura Nicholson

Dissertations

College Students, Development, Executive Functioning, Inhibition, Sleep consistency, Spina Bifida

The Impact Of Peer Supportive Accountability On Use Of A Mindfulness App In Depressed College Students: A Mixed Methods Study, Carol Hundert Gonzales

Dissertations

Depression, Mental Health App, Mindfulness, Supportive Accountability

The Role Of Internalized Homophobia On Conflict Resolution In Same-Sex Couples, Micaela Dawn Magee

Theses and Dissertations

A majority of LGBTQ+ members experience sexual minority stress on a near daily basis (Sue et al., 2007). These stressors may foster higher rates of internalized shame towards one’s sexual orientation, commonly known as internalized homophobia (Frost & Meyer, 2009; Khaddouma et al., 2015; Meyer, 2013). Internalized homophobia has been found to negatively impact both mental health outcomes and relationship satisfaction in same-sex couples (Frost & Meyer, 2009; Totenhagen et al., 2018). Higher rates of internalized shame about one’s sexuality may in turn increase relational conflict (Frost & Meyer, 2009; Mohr & Fassinger, 2006). Despite the growing amount of research …