Clinical Psychology Commons^™

The Effectiveness Of An Act App In Promoting Wellbeing And Psychological Flexibility, Brooke Short

Honors College Theses

While mental health apps could potentially increase access to mental health resources, only 3.05% of depression and anxiety apps on the Apple App store had published research support as of 2018 (Marshall et al., 2019). The present study aims to evaluate an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) mental health app. ACT aims to cultivate psychological flexibility, the ability to fully experience and accept one’s present context while engaging in behavior that aligns with one’s values (Hayes et al., 2006). Gloster et al. (2020) reviewed ACT metanalyses and found it to be efficacious for a range of conditions. Past research has …

The Influence Of Emotion Regulation And Neural Cognitive Control On Distress Tolerance, Alicia L. Milam

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Tolerance of negative emotions has been associated with transdiagnostic negative mental health outcomes. Theory and research implicate emotion regulation and cognitive control as factors in tolerance of negative emotions. But their unique contributions to tolerance of negative emotions and interdependency have been unclear due to methodological limitations. This study aimed to explicate cognitive and emotional factors affecting distress tolerance in a non-clinical sample of emerging adults. Undergraduate psychology students completed self-report measures of emotion regulation ability and tolerance of negative emotions. The N2 ERP component elicited by a Go-NoGo task was also used as a neurophysiological marker of cognitive control …

Feasibility And Efficacy Of Virtual Darkness In Reducing Intra-Individual Sleep Variability Among Young Adults With Insomnia, Samantha Nicole Sherwood

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

BackgroundInsomnia impacts 30% of people and is associated with increased risk for medical and psychiatric illness. However, pharmacological treatments for sleep yield mixed results and often result in undesirable side effects indicating a need for novel insomnia interventions. Sleep patterns also demonstrate high intra-individual variability which may be associated with greater daytime impairment, and sleep-wake cycles are strongly affected by the timing of exposure to blue-green wavelength light. Virtual darkness, a novel intervention, blocks blue wavelength light from reaching the eye to simulate actual darkness on retinal cells sensitive to light. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to …

The Optimum Performance Program In Sports - Youth: A Case Study, Karolyne Bastos Stucki

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Ethnically and racially diverse youth athletes underutilize mental health services, resulting in social and economic costs to society (Gudiño et al., 2008; Snowden & Yamada, 2005). Almost half of all children and adolescents participate in sport, and sport participation is especially common in youth from ethnically and racially diverse neighborhoods (Holt, 2008; NSCH, 2017). Therefore, sport may be an effective strategy to permit diverse youth to receive mental health services. The current case study examines The Optimum Performance Program in Sports (TOPPS; a sport-specific family behavior therapy) in an Asian American youth athlete evidencing Social Anxiety Disorder (DSM-5). A within …

Identifying Risk Factors For Ptsd Symptom Clusters In Maltreated, Multiracial Youth Using Nonparametric Modeling, Mallory Constantine

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Multiracial youth are one of the most at-risk racial groups for child maltreatment. Multiracial individuals are also more likely to report mental health concerns than other racial or ethnic groups. This study aimed to identify demographic and psychological risk factors that are unique to multiracial, maltreated youth with respect to PTSD symptoms (i.e., re-experiencing, hyperarousal, avoidance) through classification and regression tree (CART) analyses. Participants included 99 multiracial, maltreated youth directly following their placement in an emergency group shelter due to substantiated maltreatment. The first hypothesis was that female gender, English first language, questions related to guilt and self-blame, and depressive …

Mental Health Treatment In Juvenile Correctional Facilities: Utilizing Assessment To Inform Treatment, Sarah Riccio

Dissertations

Youth in juvenile correctional facilities face a wide range of mental health difficulties. Over the years, the juvenile justice system has prioritized the need for providing appropriate and effective treatment services to youth throughout their detainment. Despite these ongoing efforts, treatment practices in juvenile correctional facilities continue to fall short. This study will first focus on assessment practices within these facilities and the impact current practices have on diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of comprehensive evaluations for informing diagnosis and determining the individual treatment needs of detained youth. An integrated approach to assessment will …

Perceptions Of Naloxone Training And Administration Among Law Enforcement Officers, Katelyn Rae Goodall

Theses and Dissertations

The opioid epidemic was officially declared a public health emergency in 2017 when the rate of deaths per day from opioid overdoses was steadily increasing (CMS, n.d.). As of 2019 – 2020, 61,297 of the 83,544 reported drug overdose deaths were attributed to opioids in general, with 48,729 accounted for by synthetic opioids (CDC, 2021). Due to the significant impact on public health and safety, law enforcement departments have been tasked with developing and implementing naloxone policies and trainings. Law enforcement officers are often the first on the scene of an overdose outnumber fire rescue and emergency medical responders across …

Practitioner Use Of And Attitudes Towards Videoconferencing For The Delivery Of Evidence-Based Telemental Health Interventions: A Mixed Methods Study, Kathryn E. Parisi, Alex R. Dopp, Lauren B. Quetsch

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The implementation of evidence-based psychosocial interventions using video-conference delivery (VCD) has the potential to increase accessibility to effective treatments, although its use remains limited and understudied. This study employed a mixed methods approach in surveying mental health practitioners about their attitudes regarding VCD of interventions that are considered evidence-based (i.e., have been shown to improve targeted outcomes in rigorous research). One hundred and eleven practitioners were sampled from several national and regional U.S. practice organizations and were administered quantitative surveys about their use of and attitudes towards VCD of evidence-based interventions (EBI). We examined the relationship between practitioner-level technology access, …

Schizophrenia And Prison Life, Sofia Enes

Kean Quest

This literature review is meant to highlight incarcerated individuals with schizophrenia within the prison system. Evidence from researchers suggests that there are also difficulties gathering data on such individuals when said individuals also have paranoid schizophrenia, as cooperation and blatant refusal to participate is common in these individuals

Relief And Reward Drinking Across Time In Community And Treatment-Seeking Samples, Julia E. Swan

Psychology ETDs

Classifying people with alcohol use disorder into homogenous groups based on observed characteristics (i.e., phenotypes) could match individuals to specific treatments. The reward-relief phenotype classifies individuals based on whether they drink to enhance rewarding experiences and/or to relieve negative states. The current study is a secondary data analysis of a community sample of non-treatment seeking heavy drinkers (n = 189) and two randomized clinical trial samples of individuals with alcohol use disorder (n = 1726, 1383) that aimed to determine if the reward-relief phenotype is identified across samples, is stable over time, and predicts long-term alcohol consumption and consequences. We …

The Personal And Relational Impact Of Varying Responses To Fat Talk In The Context Of Female Friendship, Riley M. Sebastian

Psychology ETDs

The current study aimed to measure the immediate impact of various responses to Fat Talk on college women. Participants were given trait-level questionnaires followed by prompts to imagine a scenario in which they engaged in Fat Talk. Participants were presented with four counterbalanced audio response conditions followed by several single-item measures. Repeated-measures one-way ANOVAs examined the impact of response and significant differences in personal and relational factors across the four response conditions were found. A mixed-model ANOVA demonstrated that baseline variables did not impact participants’ reactions to the different Fat Talk responses. Finally, frequency of Fat Talk was correlated with …

The Predictive Influence Of Challenging Behavior On Parent Stress In Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Paige Weir

LSU Master's Theses

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication, restricted interest, and repetitive patterns of behavior. Individuals with ASD also exhibit challenging behaviors that affect parent and caregiver stress directly. However, researchers have not yet examined the predictive influence of specific challenging behaviors on parent stress, particularly in young children (i.e., infants and toddlers) with ASD. Therefore, the current study expands existing literature by a) investigating the influence that challenging behaviors of young children with ASD have on parent stress and b) examining the unique contribution that each behavior (i.e., aggressive/disruptive behavior, stereotypy, and self-injurious …

Cool Under Fire: Psychopathic Traits And Decision-Making In Law Enforcement-Oriented Populations, Sean J. Mckinley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Law enforcement is an occupation that is typically characterized by high stress, physical danger, and potential for use of excessive force to subdue suspects of criminal activity. Compared to other jobs, the law enforcement profession is considered a high-stakes occupation that has the potential to greatly impact public safety, and officers must face daily dangers not experienced in other professions. While much research has focused on traditional models of personality and police performance (i.e., Big Five traits; Schneider, 2002; Twersky-Glasner, 2005), there may be utility in examining police officer performance through the lens of the triarchic psychopathy domains (Patrick, Fowles, …

Language Analysis In Solution-Focused Therapy Training: Comparing Trainees With Their Trainer, Alberto Zamanillo, Alberto Rodríguez-Morejón

Journal of Solution Focused Practices

No abstract provided.

Parenting Stress And Language Development In Children: Associations In Angelman Syndrome And Down Syndrome, Annalise Bland, Zainab Husain, Breanna Martin-O'Dell, Sarah Gronceski

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

One of the defining characteristics of neurogenetic syndromes such as Angelman syndrome (AS) and Down syndrome (DS) is delayed language development. Although it is commonly reported that parenting stress is associated with language development, these associations have not been widely studied in AS and DS despite other research showing elevated stress levels in the parents of these children. To fi ll this gap in research, the present study examined how parenting stress relates to language production in children with AS and DS. Daylong recordings were obtained from 72 participants using a Language Environment Analysis recording device, which was then processed …

Raising Awareness And Empowering Diverse Survivors: Addressing Mental And Physical Health Needs Among Lgbtqia+ Community Members Post-Sexual Assault, Daniel W. Oesterle, Leah Giorgini, Christopher Eckhardt

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Experiences of sexual violence are commonplace among individuals within the LGBTQIA+ communities, with more than 63% of sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals experiencing victimization. Despite high rates of victimization, few individuals experiencing sexual assault seek services post-assault, with even fewer individuals within the LGBTQIA+ community accessing post-assault care. This is further exacerbated when considering the unmet treatment needs of sexual assault survivors and victims, where individuals commonly experience high rates of internalizing (i.e., post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety) and externalizing (i.e., substance use/misuse) symptoms for years after experiencing an assault. Although these experiences occur at alarming rates on college …

Unintended Consequences? Testing The Effects Of Adolescent-Targeted Anti-Vaping Media Upon Adult Smokers, Leslie E. Sawyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A great deal of controversy surrounds e-cigarettes, with some arguing that protection of youth and non-users is paramount and others maintaining that these products are beneficial from a harm reduction perspective for use by adult smokers for switching from combustible cigarettes and for smoking cessation. Opponents of e-cigarettes have allocated tremendous funds toward advertising campaigns aimed at youth deterrence; however, to date, the effects of these ads upon adult smokers have yet to be examined. The current study used a between-subjects experimental design to investigate the effects of an FDA-distributed youth-targeted anti-vaping PSA, “Vaping is an Epidemic,” upon adult smokers …

Feminist Approach To Clinical Psychology, Mandy Helppi

Conspectus Borealis

The feminist approach to clinical psychology takes into consideration the social context of an individuals life when considering psychological problems. This approach allows for a more inclusive understanding of the source of psychological problems in one life, and increased accuracy in treatment route selection. Review of the history of feminist clinical psychology and discussion of where the theory is today will both be included.

Oral Budesonide Is An Effective Alternative To Prednisone For Treatment Of Autoimmune Hepatitis, Natanie J. Anilovich

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A clinical decision report using:

Manns MP, Woynarowski M, Kreisel W, et al. Budesonide induces remission more effectively than prednisone in a controlled trial of patients with autoimmune hepatitis. Gastroenterology. 2010;139(4):1198-1206. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2010.06.046

for a patient with autoimmune hepatitis developing septic arthritis secondary to prednisone therapy.

Vicarious Traumatization In Therapists Who Treat Sexual Offenders And Have A Personal History Of Sexual Abuse, Darci J. Wikelius

Theses and Graduate Projects

There is limited research on vicarious trauma among therapists who treat sexual offenders and who have a personal history of sexual abuse (Cunningham, 2003). The purpose of this study is to identify how a personal history of sexual abuse, and specific characteristics of the sexual abuse therapists have experienced, may influence the experience of vicarious trauma among therapists who work with sex offenders. The study surveyed clinicians who work with sex offenders in order to examine the relationship between their experiences of sexual abuse and vicarious trauma. The survey included a demographic questionnaire, the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), and …