Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Psychological Stress And Academic Motivation On Psychology Graduate Students, Symone Kierra Calhoun

Theses and Dissertations

Graduate students experience significant amounts of psychological stress in terms of academic and professional settings. In addition, academic performance can fluctuate depending on the circumstance. The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant challenges for mental health, academic motivation, substance use, and other related domains. However, the research specific to psychology graduate students and the impact of COVID-19 is limited, specifically related to performance. Therefore, the current study examined the relationship between the pandemic and its impact on psychology graduate students' psychological health related to depression, anxiety, stress, and experiential avoidance. In addition, the study examined academic motivation related to degree specific requirements …

Making Sense Of Pre-Symbolic Trauma: A Qualitative Study On The Lived Experiences Of Adults Who Were Born Extremely Prematurely, Noia Efrat

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The psychological experiences of adults (n=5) who were born at or before the threshold for extreme prematurity (weeks) was examined using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, Flowers & Larkin, 2009). Subjects were interviewed to learn about how their extreme prematurity has become organized and integrated on the levels of fantasy, identity and personality. Results showed that dysregulation and the propensity to self-contain on both somatic and affective levels were common themes across cases, supporting current research connecting the ongoing impacts of prematurity to the context of overstimulation and fundamental absence in the first months of life in the NICU. Despite …

Health Risk-Related Outcomes Associated With Academic Burnout And Engagement, Madeline Blair Trahan

Theses and Dissertations

Research has demonstrated a connection between burnout and self-rated health and health risk behaviors, specifically substance use, mental health problems, low physical activity, and sleep difficulties. However, studies have focused primarily on job-related burnout, rather than academic burnout. Additionally, engagement (the conceptual opposite of burnout) has not been well examined in relation to behavioral health outcomes. The goal of this study was to examine the association between both academic burnout and engagement concurrently to health-risk behaviors, perceived health status, and perceived academic stress among college students. Participants were recruited through requests to professors and/or social media. Students were asked to …

Trauma Survivors And Perceptions Of Tobacco-Related Health Risks, Alyssa Ann Barsky

Theses and Dissertations

Given the established relationship between trauma and tobacco use, the increased use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), and the research identifying numerous health risks to users of ENDS, examining the relationship between trauma and the use of these products is critical. This study examined trauma survivors’ health risk perceptions of ENDS use on their smoking and vaping behaviors. A total of 126 trauma survivors were included in the study and ranged in age from 18-64 years and were primarily male. In this study’s sample, the majority of participants were “current dual users” of both cigarettes and ENDS products (n …

Examining The Associations Between Experiences Of Perceived Racism And Drug And Alcohol Use In Aboriginal Australians, Victoria Gentile, Adrian Carter, Laura Jobson

Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

Objective
This study aimed to explore the relationships between experiences of perceived racism, mental health and drug and alcohol use among Aboriginal Australians.

Method
Sixty-two Aboriginal Australians, ranging in age from 19-64 years (M_age = 33.71, SD = 12.47) and residing in Victoria completed an online questionnaire containing measures of perceived racism, alcohol use, substance use and mental health.

Results
First, 66% of the sample reported experiencing interpersonal racism, with the highest proportion of reported experiences occurring in health settings, educational/academic settings and by staff of government agencies. Second, perceived racism was significantly associated with poorer mental health …

An Investigation Of How Previous Diagnoses Affect The Developmental Functioning Of Children At Risk For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Michaela Brown

LSU Master's Theses

Research has shown that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have co-occurring medical and/or psychiatric disorders. This current study aimed to investigate how previous diagnoses, which may become comorbidities of ASD if diagnosed, affect the developmental functioning of children presenting as at risk for ASD compared to those presenting with no risk. Developmental areas such as communication, motor, adaptive, cognitive and social, as well as overall developmental functioning, were considered in the analysis. 11,970 children under the age of three were studied. Results found that the presence of previous diagnoses significantly predicted developmental functioning, particularly in the motor functioning …

Do Suicide Attempt Survivors Have Reduced Long-Term Well-Being? A Study Of Veterans Across Three Nationally Representative Cohorts, Bradley A. Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prior suicide attempts are known to elevate the risk for re-attempting suicide and death by suicide. However, most people who attempt suicide will neither die by suicide nor re-attempt suicide. Establishing comprehensive knowledge about the prognosis of suicide attempts would be valuable for multiple stakeholders, including suicide attempt survivors, their loved ones, and mental health professionals treating suicidal patients. Nearly all work on functioning after a non-fatal suicide attempt centers on elevated risk, and the effects of a suicide attempt on long-term psychological well-being are unknown. The present study addressed this gap in the literature by comparing psychological well-being among …

Developmental Functioning Of Infants And Toddlers With Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Megan Callahan

LSU Master's Theses

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), epilepsy, and cerebral palsy (CP) are some of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders among children with prevalence rates of 1.85% (Maenner et al., 2020), 1.2% (Zack & Kobau, 2017), and between 0.21 and 0.31% (Christensen et al., 2013), respectively. These neurodevelopmental disorders are highly comorbid with each other and with other disorders, such as intellectual disability (ID). While previous research has investigated developmental functioning in these neurodevelopmental disorders, it has primarily focused on only two at a time and in older children or adults. The current study aimed to investigate developmental functioning in these neurodevelopmental disorders …

The Gender Freedom Model: A Framework For Helping Transgender, Non-Binary, And Gender Questioning Clients Transition With More Ease, Rae Mcdaniel, Laurel Meng

Journal of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness: Research, Practice, and Education

Transgender/non-binary experiences and identities are often represented in academic literature through narratives of distress and are often pathologized through a medical lens. This holds implications for the field of psychotherapy, as interventions aimed to support transgender/nonbinary individuals often focus solely on risk mitigation. This article presents a therapeutic framework that rests on three pillars—Play, Pleasure, and Possibility—as the focal points for reimagining work with transgender/non-binary clients. This model aims to help this population explore gender transition with more ease through building practical skills, cultivating personal and collective pride, and centering pleasure equity.

Placement Instability, Perceived Social Support, And Internalizing Symptoms In Youth In The Child Welfare System, Michelle Cusumano

Theses and Dissertations

High rates of youth in the child welfare system (CWS) experience placement instability, or frequent moves between household, institution, or placement (Fisher et al., 2013). Placement instability has been shown to predict subsequent internalizing symptoms regardless of the maltreatment type, severity, or frequency experienced by the child in foster care (McGuire et al., 2018). Frequent moves between biological parents, foster or kinship caregivers, or group homes may detrimentally affect youth’s social support networks, which are known to serve as a protective factor for maltreated children and adolescents (Folger & Wright, 2013). The current study aims to examine longitudinally whether perceived …

The Relationships Between Poor Health, Coping Styles, And Health Practices: A Test Of Several Possible Moderators, Pawel Sadowski

Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to examine the relationship between poor health and coping styles and the relationship between poor health and health practices. Another goal of this study was to observe if variables such as depression, religiosity, and locus of control might serve as moderators of these relationships. The participants and data used in this study were from the Eugene-Springfield Community Sample. The materials used included the Health Practices Questionnaire (HPQ), the Personal Attribute Survey (PAS), the Comprehensive Health Survey (CHS), and the Experimental Personality Survey (EPS). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The results revealed that poor …

Clinical Adaptations Of Cognitive Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, And Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy As A Result Of Culture And Language, Rebecca Wade

Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive Behavioral Therapies are frequently used and highly effective; however, most of the research is conducted on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) populations who are relatively homogeneous. The present study evaluated the use and adaptations of Cognitive Therapy (CT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) based upon WEIRD status, language, and cultural values as measured by Hofstede's country comparison (2021). In a survey, therapists worldwide (n=121) reported their use and adaptation of the techniques within their therapeutic orientation. Although no significant differences were found between WEIRD or language groupings specific to CT, CBT, or …

Associations Between Problem Recognition And Help-Seeking Behavior In Mothers Of Preschoolers, Samuel T. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Preschool children are often underserved in mental healthcare. One explanation for this is that caregivers do not recognize preschoolers’ mental health difficulties as problems. While previous research has identified an association between a caregiver’s skill at accurately applying diagnostic labels and help-seeking, factors such as behavior severity, functional impairment, and caregiver stress are important to the help-seeking process as well. The current study examined associations between all these variables. Participants were 82 adult mothers of preschoolers. The participants read a series of vignettes describing preschool-aged children with depression, anxiety, and ADHD, and then answered a series of questions to assess …

The Role Of Social Skills In Protecting Against The Impact Of Family And Community Violence On Youth Psychopathology, Emily Christine Hockenberry

Theses and Dissertations

Children and adolescents are exposed to family and community violence at high rates, and poly victimization is common. Further study is needed to assess the unique and additive effects of witnessing or directly experiencing violence in multiple contexts on psychopathology in urban youth of color. Additionally, analyzing the role of protective factors, such as social skills, in moderating the relation between violence exposure and psychopathology may aid in identifying unique and shared pathways by which different forms of interpersonal violence may impact mental health outcomes. This study sought to examine whether social skills (cooperation and assertion) moderated the relation between …

Patterns Of Change In Caregiver Anxiety And Depression During Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Tohar Scheininger

Theses and Dissertations

Caregivers play an integral role in their child’s trauma-focused cognitive-behavior therapy (TF-CBT; Cohen & Mannarino, 2006), an intervention that has established efficacy in treating children’s trauma-related symptoms (Cohen et al., 2017). Unfortunately, extant literature on TF-CBT lacks a comprehensive understanding and representation of demographic characteristics and baseline symptomatology for caregivers who participate in TF-CBT at community clinics. Furthermore, although researchers suggest that TF-CBT may improve caregivers’ own distress, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression from pre- to post-treatment (e.g., Cohen et al., 2004a; Cohen et al., 2004b; Deblinger et al., 2011; Tutus et al., 2017), there is no assessment of …

Effect Of Shame-Proneness, Guilt-Proneness And Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms On Difficulties In Emotional Regulation, Yekaterina Nikiforova

Theses and Dissertations

Exposure to traumatic events will affect most individuals in their lifetimes, with some going on to develop emotional dysregulation difficulties, posttraumatic stress symptoms, shame, and guilt. The present study used a trauma-exposed college sample of adults from a northeastern university (n = 612, age M = 20.79, SD= 3.33, n = 463 female, n = 149 male) to test for a moderating effect of shame-proneness and guilt-proneness on the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms and difficulties in emotional regulation, and lack of emotional awareness, a subcategory of difficulties in emotional regulation. The correlational relationship between these constructs was also investigated. …

Identifying Subtypes Of Dysfunctional Anger: A Latent Profile Analysis Of The Anger Disorders Scale (Ads), Katharine Romero

Theses and Dissertations

Although we see patients present to outpatient and inpatient settings with problematic anger as frequently as with anxiety and depression (Lachmund et al., 2005), we lack the diagnostic categories for anger that most affective disturbances have been granted by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5: American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Anger is, instead, most often seen as an aspect of the pathology within a wide range of mood and personality disorders. DiGiuseppe and Tafrate (2007) proposed 13 subtypes of disturbed anger via a hierarchical cluster analysis of the Anger Disorders Scale (ADS) standardization data. While more recent attempts …

Family Invalidation And Cognitive Flexibility Within Asian Young Adults, Jennifer Lee

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

The concept of the “invalidating environment” is a core construct of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), serving as a defining component of Linehan’s biosocial theory (1993a). In this context, the understanding and practice of validation helps to strengthen the relationship between young adults and their caregivers. Research proposes that invalidation increases emotion dysregulation and impairs cognitive processing ability (Martel and Fuchs, 2017). Cognitive flexibility, which allows individuals to adapt to distressing, changing environments, seems to play an important role in emotion regulation. Cognitive flexibility within Asian children has been studied in the context of family conflict and parental rejection (Ahn, Kim, …

The Effectiveness Of Psychodynamic Psychotherapy For The Treatment Of Substance Use Problems: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Deena Warshaw

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

Millions of people worldwide use and misuse psychoactive and alcoholic substances, which can cause a plethora of negative outcomes (WHO, 2018). A handful of studies have researched the efficacy of psychodynamic interventions in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for individuals with substance use problems, with most only examining treatment for specific substances (Crits-Christoph et al.; Imel et al., 2008). These studies are thus limited by their narrow focus on specific substances, and their (between-group comparison) findings have not always been consistent. The present study aims to fill several gaps in the literature, in part by broadening the types of eligible outcome …

The Raw Material Of Beauty: A Qualitative Study Of Actors' Perceptions Of Creativity And Mental Health, Alexander J. Seife

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

The following qualitative study aims to further the literature's understanding of actors' attitudes regarding the connection between mental health and creativity. Generally, there has been a one-way relationship between the field of psychology and acting, in that actors have utilized the field of psychology to inform character development, while scare psychological research has been completed with actors as a sample. For this study, 12 professional New York-based actors, ages 22-56, participated in individual interviews with the principal investigator via on-line video conferencing. Interviews were conducted in order to: (a) better understand actors' beliefs about the relationship between creativity and mental …