Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Disinhibition And Persistent Maladaptive Behavior, Angela T. West

Student Theses

Objective: There is an urgent need to reduce overpopulation in U.S. prisons, which are inundated with individuals needing substance use treatment. Research on both substance use and antisocial behaviors highlight maladaptive beliefs and behaviors, while also implicating disinhibition as an important factor. Disinhibition is a dynamic trait that can be targeted with therapeutic interventions. The current study explored the relationships between neurocognitive disinhibition, substance use, and recidivism among incarcerated men. The study hypothesized that disinhibition would be associated with history of substance use, history of antisocial behavior, and institutional misconduct, as well as predicting recidivism over and above history of …

Therapists’ Willingness To Access Client Social Media Accounts In The Context Of Suicide Risk, Jacob A. Vermeersch

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The past two decades has seen a proliferation of social media use, leading to a growing body of research on the potential utility for clinical contexts. In the current study, we examine willingness of psychologists to utilize client social media to inform suicide risk-assessment and risk-related treatment decisions, and the ethical principles they used to guide their considerations. Participants were asked of the likelihood they would engage in 1) a social media-informed risk assessment, where the therapist uses client social media to inform their initial determination of risk level, and 2) a digital welfare check, where the therapist accesses an …

Learning To Feel Safe: A Translational Study Of The Influence Of Safety Learning On Anxiety-Related Overgeneralized Fear, Hyein Cho

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health diagnoses, affecting about a third of the population in their lifetime. However, approximately a third of individuals with anxiety do not respond to current treatment approaches, highlighting the need to identify additional potential therapeutic mechanisms. Safety learning is one such mechanism, but methodological challenges and a dearth of research have prevented the field from advancing the understanding of the role of safety learning in the etiology and remediation of anxiety disorders. Animal research, using single-cued safety learning paradigms, has yielded promising early findings, demonstrating that safety learning directly reduces anxiety-related behaviors …

A Psychological Perspective On Police Brutality: Current Statistics, Characteristics, And Trends Regarding Excessive Use Of Force, Ashley Salter

Dissertations

The purpose of this literature review was to utilize a psychological perspective on police brutality to identify current statistics, characteristics, and trends concerning excessive use of force. There were four fundamental goals of this literature review: (a) examine current statistics, characteristics, and trends regarding excessive use of force by law enforcement officers; (b) examine which populations are most likely to suffer from excessive use of force; (c) examine current methods in training law enforcement officers; and (d) propose a new model for training law enforcement officers. Also included is a discussion of a proposed idea for the training of police …

Colombian Women’S Experiences Of Cosmetic Surgery And Its Relationship To Body Image, Austin Gonzalez-Randolph

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand women’s experiences of cosmetic surgery and its effects on body image on women from the Colombian cities of Bogotá and Pereira. The participants of this study were women of Colombian descent, who reside in Colombia. This was done with the hopes of better understanding how culture impacts views on cosmetic surgery. Colombia appears to have a culture that is very enmeshed with cosmetic surgery. This study provides an initial exploratory and qualitative investigation into the perception of body image as it relates to cosmetic surgery among six young women living in Colombia; …

Traces Of Absence: How The Trauma Of The Yemenite, Mizrahi And Balkan Kidnapped Children Affair Is Present In Photographs And Home Movies, Natalie Haziza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Between 1948 and 1956, an estimated thousands of babies and young children were kidnapped through the state medical system, in the newly established State of Israel. They were offered for adoption to barren parents (often Holocaust survivors), sold to international adoptive families (often in the United States), and in the most disturbing cases used in medical experiments. Parents were often told that their children had died during routine medical care, but were provided with neither death certificate nor body. The majority of the victims of these kidnappings were Mizrahi - Jewish immigrant families from Arab and Muslim countries. Most families …

Impact Of Moral Injury For Ethnic/Racial Minority Male Veterans, Kristopher Kern

Doctoral Dissertations

Trends in demographics of post-9/11 veterans (deployments to the Middle East after 2001) describe this group as having higher survival rates, increased service-connected disabilities, and more racially diverse (NCVAS, 2018; Schnurr et al., 2009; Tanelian & Jaycox, 2008). Additionally, their deployment experiences include combat-related experiences that contradict personal moral beliefs, later named “moral injury” (MI) (Litz et al., 2009). Currier, Holland, and Mallot (2015) describe MI as intense emotions of shame, guilt, and anger alongside maladaptive behaviors emerging after “witnessing and/or participating in warzone events that challenge one’s basic sense of humanity” (p. 231).

The research on MI continues to …

Incorporating Religion Into Therapy To Better Treat Depression, Jacob Tubbs

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Depression is one of the most prevalent mental disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common treatment option for depression. Often, CBT is only effective at masking the symptoms of depression without helping the person overcome depression altogether; thus, it may benefit CBT patients if alternative therapies are combined with CBT. Incorporating the patient’s religion into therapy is an alternative that may help many people. A large percentage of Americans are still religious or spiritual. This literature review discusses methods of building a personalized version of CBT that incorporates the patient’s religion, or religiously integrated CBT (RCBT), and the effects …

The Effects Stress Has On Coping Strategies In Populations Uniquely Impacted By Both Developmental Disabilities And Covid-19, Chloe Quinnett, Kaitlyn Drafton, Feller Miles, Taylor Demotta, Beverly J. Wilson

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Populations with developmental disabilities (DD) are at heightened risk of becoming infected with COVID-19, which may lead to high levels of stress challenging their ability to cope effectively. This study was part of a larger web-based survey focused on those uniquely impacted by DD and their coping mechanisms. Participants were 106 individuals and families uniquely impacted by DD. Results indicated perceived stress predicted maladaptive coping mechanisms, however it did not predict adaptive coping mechanisms. These findings highlight the need for more support for these populations, with an emphasis on utilizing adaptive coping strategies when under greater levels of perceived stress.

Call 911: Suicidal Individuals’ Help-Seeking Means As Associated With Their Outcomes, Katherine Oconnell, Molly Hassler, Keyne Law

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Public suicide prevention efforts have done little to dismantle suicide as the tenth leading cause of death in the United States in 2018. The 911 emergency call system is an essential part of these public health efforts; 20% of crisis calls to police originate from individuals battling a mental health crisis or illness. This study examined over 1,071 Washington State Police 911 calls to determine if help-seeking means could help predict the fate of the suicidal individual. The referral means by family and friends, self-referral, or bystanders more likely predicted monitoring by public authorities, safety intervention, or adverse outcome, respectively.

Chronic Mild Stress And Deficits In The Rodent Brain: A Preliminary Examination Of Neuroinflammation-Induced Cognitive And Behavioral Changes In Rats, Hoda Abou Eich, Lizzy Daugherty, Rocky Marks, Keyne Law, Phillip Baker

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

This pilot study investigated the effects of chronic mild stress on a variety of cognitive and behavioral tasks in Sprague-Dawley rats. Our study consisted of two cohorts, one housed individually and one housed in dyad pairs, stressed over six weeks. We then examined the rat’s weight, sucrose preference, forced swim behaviors, and performance on maze-based cognitive tasks. Tests were conducted to examine whether chronic stress was sufficient to induce inflammation in the brain that would result in significant deficits. Results will be compared with analysis of the brains post-mortem to examine potential neurobiological correlates in regions of the rodent brain.

Investigating Gender Differences, Loneliness, And The Coping Skills Of Individuals With Developmental Disabilities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Taylor Demotta, Kaitlyn Drafton, Chloe Quinnett, Miles Feller, Jessica Peterson, Beverly Wilson

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Studies have indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in widespread isolation, which has increased the risk of psychological harm on individuals with developmental disabilities (DD). Previous research posits that adaptive coping is a protective factor against loneliness with females being more likely to engage in active coping than males, but more research is needed on individuals identifying as non-binary. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine adaptive coping, loneliness, and gender differences of individuals impacted by DD. Results indicated that higher adaptive coping scores predicted lower loneliness scores and females displayed higher adaptive coping than non-binary individuals.

Group Differences In Active Coping Abilities Among Individuals And Families Impacted By Developmental Disabilities, Kaitlyn Drafton, Chloe Quinnett, Miles Feller, Taylor Demotta, Beverly Wilson

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) are disproportionately impacted by the negative outcomes associated with COVID-19, potentially impacting their coping abilities (Abedi et al., 2020). This study examined the coping strategies utilized by 106 individuals and caregivers impacted by DD. Results indicated that parents of children with DD who also have a DD themselves engage in greater levels of active coping compared to parents of children with DD and adults with DD. These findings suggest parents with DD may develop strengths in problem-focused coping by learning to manage challenges associated with their experience of having a DD.

#Maskmadness: The Contributions Of Perceived Stigma, Context, And Mask-Wearing On Mental Health, Clara O'Brien, Ashley Righetti, Jaylee York, Lynette Bikos

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Although ample evidence has supported its preventative role in reducing the spread of COVID-19, mask-wearing during the pandemic has been politicized such that noncompliance with mask-wearing recommendations has increased. Our poster will present data collected during the early weeks of the pandemic. In this poster we report the results of a moderated mediation that analyzes the mediating role of mask-wearing in the relationship between perceived stigma about mask-wearing and mental health. We further expect that the proportion of other people who are wearing masks will moderate the relationship between perceived stigma and mask-wearing.

God Perfectionism As A Mediator Of Intrinsic Religiosity And Life Satisfaction, Cory Duffield, Elizabeth Mateer, Madison Foster

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

Intrinsic religiosity is a focus on religion for its own sake versus extrinsic religiosity, which focuses on religion for is perceived benefits (Cohen et al., 2017). God perfectionism is an external source of perfectionism that is perceived to come from a higher power, or God (Wang et al., 2018). God perfectionism includes both adaptive (perceived standards from God) and maladaptive (perceived discrepancy from God) components. Maladaptive God perfectionism has been used as a mediator between intrinsic religiosity and negative mood, with higher levels of intrinsic religiosity predicting lower levels of negative mood. Due to this correlation, we hypothesized that God …

Influence Of Past Non-Suicidal Self-Injury On The Relationship Between Pain Tolerance And Acquired Capability For Suicide, Janelle Wee, Jingyan Gu, Keyne Law

School of Psychology, Family, and Community Research Conference

In our ongoing study, we are examining the mental health of individuals who identify as Asian immigrants, Asian Americans, and Asian international students. Participants are being recruited through social media, listservs, and posters. Participants are asked to complete an online questionnaire which contained measures of pain attitudes (PAQ-R; Yong et al., 2003), acquired capability for suicide (ACSS; Van Orden et al., 2008), and past NSSI (SITBI-SF; Nock et al., 2007). A multiple linear regression will then be used to test if past NSSI will moderate the relationship between subjective pain tolerance and acquired capability.

Examining The Potential Interactions Of Expectancies And Disordered Eating Behavior, Cody B. Staples

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Expectancy models (i.e., cognitions regarding perceived consequences of behavior) have been applied to eating behaviors to understand the development and maintenance of disordered eating. The two primary categories of expectancies, thinness/restriction expectancies (i.e., perceived rewards from being thin or restricting one’s diet) and negative affect reduction expectancies (i.e., the belief that eating will reduce negative emotions) have largely been studied in isolation, despite evidence that individuals can endorse both sets of expectancies simultaneously. To address this, the current study proposed an interactive model of thinness/restriction and eating to manage negative affect expectancies and disordered eating behavior. Specifically, it was hypothesized …

Divining Structural Factors Related To Intervention Success Or Failure: Cultural Sexism Versus Other Macro-Level Factors, Blair T. Johnson, Christine M. Curley

CHIP Documents

This article provides commentary on a spatial meta-analysis published by Price and colleagues (2021); it provides valuable preliminary evidence that a dimension of cultural sexism can countervail efforts for psychotherapy to succeed in samples that focus on girls aged four to 18. Our own study reveals cultural sexism to be markedly associated with at least three macro-level factors: cultural tightness, historical slaveholding (and by implication racism), and sex education inclusiveness. The fact that cultural sexism can be so well predicted by these factors is additional evidence that cultural sexism is real, yet it also suggests caution in interpreting these effects …

Posttraumatic Cognitions As A Pathway From Resilience To Sleep In First Responders, Emily Peterman Cabano

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Abstract

First responders experience repeated trauma exposure within a unique environment that subjects them to multiple personal and professional stressors, discourages vulnerability, and disrupts sleep (Chamberlin & Green, 2010; Vargas de Barros et al., 2013). First responders have been shown to have higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder, as well as more frequent negative effects of their symptoms including adverse effects on their personal and professional functioning (Cheng et al., 2018; Gayton & Lovell, 2012). While first responders face significant risks to their mental health in the line of duty, there is insufficient population-specific research focused on these unique risks, …

Solitary Alcohol And Cannabis Use Among College Students During The Covid-19 Epidemic: Concurrent Social And Affective Correlates And Substance-Related Consequences, Amelia Victoria Wedel

Theses - ALL

Alcohol and cannabis use are remarkably prevalent among college students, with 60% reporting past-month alcohol use and 25% reporting past-month cannabis use. Emerging evidence suggests that a considerable portion of college students use alcohol or cannabis alone, and that rates of solitary use may be higher for cannabis than for alcohol. However, despite substantial evidence connecting solitary alcohol use with a number of affective and substance-related correlates, research on similar associations for solitary cannabis use remains lacking. Furthermore, no college studies to date have assessed solitary use of both alcohol and cannabis and consequently little is known about differences between …