Mindfulness And Anxiety Symptoms: The Role Of Cognitive Reappraisal In Community Adults,
2027
Georgia Southern University
Mindfulness And Anxiety Symptoms: The Role Of Cognitive Reappraisal In Community Adults, Calla L. Pritulsky
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
Anxiety is the most common mental health condition worldwide and contributes to substantial societal costs, personal distress, and impairment (World Health Organization, 2023). Given its high prevalence, low treatment utilization, and modest response rates, identifying protective factors to inform prevention efforts is critical (Mamede et al., 2022; Mendelson & Eaton, 2018). Mindfulness, or the ability to nonjudgmentally pay attention to the present moment, comprises five key facets: observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreactivity (Baer et al., 2006b). Although mindfulness is inversely associated with anxiety, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear (Desrosiers et al., 2013). Cognitive reappraisal, defined …
Evaluating Measurement Models Of Problematization: Connections With Identity Empowerment And Community Connectedness,
2027
Georgia Southern University
Evaluating Measurement Models Of Problematization: Connections With Identity Empowerment And Community Connectedness, Angel Long
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
Consistent with Liberation theory, problematization is the process of creating critical reflection, a means by which critical consciousness occurs. It is a method for understanding issues faced by oppressed populations, while centering the perspective of these populations. Within Liberation spaces, problematization is critical for fostering critical consciousness, disrupting oppression, and promoting strength. However, problematization is a theoretical concept frame from narrative responses and lived experiences of marginalized individuals. There are few resources highlighting depictions of problematizing/critical consciousness and cultural strengths captured by measures of BIPOC community functioning. Therefore, there is a need to empirically evaluate major tenets of the concept …
Turning To The Sacred: The Role Of Religious/Spiritual Coping In Psychological Outcomes Of Childhood Interpersonal Trauma,
2027
Georgia Southern University
Turning To The Sacred: The Role Of Religious/Spiritual Coping In Psychological Outcomes Of Childhood Interpersonal Trauma, Vanessa S. Tomasik
College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are widespread and associated with significant and lasting psychological consequences, including posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and dissociation. Much of the existing literature has focused on adult trauma or narrowly examined childhood abuse and neglect, with comparatively limited attention given to other forms of childhood adversity such as witnessing intimate partner violence, parental separation, or household dysfunction. As a result, the differential psychological impact of distinct types of ACE exposure (i.e., maltreatment vs. household dysfunction) remains insufficiently understood. Emerging literature on coping identifies religious and spiritual (R/S) coping as an important factor in trauma adaptation. Positive R/S …
The Relationship Between Acculturative Stress, Body Dissatisfaction, And Disordered Eating Behavior Among Latina Women In The United States,
2026
University of San Francisco
The Relationship Between Acculturative Stress, Body Dissatisfaction, And Disordered Eating Behavior Among Latina Women In The United States, Emily Lillian Johnson
Doctoral Dissertations
The majority of research on body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors focuses predominantly on the experiences of white women, neglecting the significant impact of acculturative stress on these issues, especially among understudied groups like Latina women. The present study seeks to address the gap in the literature by obtaining data that explores the extent to which acculturative stress, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating behavior have a relationships. Additionally, it investigates the roles of cultural values and ethnic identification in protecting against body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behavior within this population. To determine whether acculturative stress is predictive of body dissatisfaction …
Beyond Symptoms: Examining Perinatal Mental Health Care Among Black, Indigenous And People Of Color With Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome,
2026
East Tennessee State University
Beyond Symptoms: Examining Perinatal Mental Health Care Among Black, Indigenous And People Of Color With Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, Vinaya Thomas
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are as a public health concern in the United States. Individuals from minoritized racial/ethnic groups face a significantly elevated risk of maternal morbidity, mortality, mental health disorders, and associated adverse outcomes. Emerging studies also reveal a higher likelihood of experiencing perinatal mental health concerns in individuals with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), currently known as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). People who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC) face unique healthcare challenges given the added structural and social burdens. This online survey study aimed to 1) understand the relationship between PMOS …
Perceptions, Attitudes, And Experiences Of Persons Who Work In Forensic Mental Health Systems,
2026
East Tennessee State University
Perceptions, Attitudes, And Experiences Of Persons Who Work In Forensic Mental Health Systems, Abigail Wiser
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The forensic mental health system serves clients with dual needs —serious mental health concerns like psychosis and suicidality, and management of risk. Experiences and perceptions of professional and direct care staff may impact daily and therapeutic interactions and client success. These experiences may be marked by stigma, such as beliefs about what led to hospitalization, treatability of mental health concerns, and intentionality of behavior. Understanding this stigma, as well as the role of vicarious trauma, workplace burnout, and other relevant individual factors, may help us understand staff experiences and guide training, thus improving client care. 146 staff members across three …
We All Read: Adapting An Early Literacy Program For Children With Developmental Differences And Their Families,
2026
University of Denver
We All Read: Adapting An Early Literacy Program For Children With Developmental Differences And Their Families, Rachel Podl
Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects
Children with developmental differences face elevated risk for early literacy delays, while their caregivers experience significant difficulty accessing appropriate and supportive resources. This paper describes an adaptation of WeRead, an existing story-time and psychoeducation program through the University of Denver's Baby S.T.E.P.S. Lab, for children ages 0–7 with developmental differences and their caregivers. The program integrated a neurodiversity-affirming read-aloud, a strengths-based art activity, movement and music, caregiver psychoeducation on visual schedules, and collaboration with four community partners. The event drew approximately 65 attendees. A post-program survey, though limited by few responses, indicated that caregivers valued the program's accessibility, community partnerships, …
The Effect Of Multisensory Virtual Forest Bathing On Stress Among College Students,
2026
Faculty of Psychology, Padjadjaran University
The Effect Of Multisensory Virtual Forest Bathing On Stress Among College Students, Shinta Mustika, Tiara Ditha Puspita, Tasya Berlian Cittra Friyanti, Wilis Srisayekti, Yanti Rubiyanti, Asteria Devy Kumalasari, Yuliana Hanami
Psychological Research on Urban Society
Stress is a common psychological problem among university students and may be caused by academic, social, and environmental demands. This study aimed to examine the effect of multisensory virtual forest bathing (VFB) on reducing stress among university students. A randomized pretest-posttest waitlist-control design was employed. Participants were 58 undergraduate students from the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Padjadjaran with moderate-to-high stress levels based on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), after outliers were removed. The experimental group received a ±9-minute 360° forest video intervention delivered through virtual reality (VR) with auditory and olfactory stimulation, while the waitlist control group received no intervention …
Foundation Models In Healthcare: Pre-Training, Alignment, And Clinical Applications,
2026
Dartmouth College
Foundation Models In Healthcare: Pre-Training, Alignment, And Clinical Applications, Arvind Pillai
Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations
Foundation models offer an impactful paradigm for healthcare by learning generalizable representations from vast amounts of unlabeled data that can efficiently adapt to a wide range of clinical tasks. This thesis presents five studies organized around three pillars crucial to advance foundation models in healthcare. Pillar I: Pre-training: Chapter I introduces PaPaGei, an open foundation model designed for photoplethysmography (PPG) signals. PaPaGei is pre-trained on large-scale continuous optical data using a morphology-aware self-supervised objective, outperforming general time-series models across diverse clinical tasks while remaining parameter-efficient and robust across skin tones. Pillar II: Alignment: To bridge continuous sensor data and language …
Calm, Connection, Or Just Compensation: A Qualitative Investigation Of Subjective Adolescent Experiences With Behavioral Health Interventions Within A Clinical Trial,
2026
University of Colorado School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colorado, USA
Calm, Connection, Or Just Compensation: A Qualitative Investigation Of Subjective Adolescent Experiences With Behavioral Health Interventions Within A Clinical Trial, Talia Thompson, Katherine Thompson, Sarah Perzow, Holly Spinner, Bentley Porterfield-Finn, Lauren D. Gulley, Rachel G. Lucas-Thompson, Isabel Thorstad, Laura Pyle, Molly Basch, Megan J. Moran, Marian Tanofsky-Kraff, Megan M. Kelsey, Eleanor R. Mackey, Lauren B. Shomaker
The Qualitative Report
Adolescent mental health and cardiometabolic concerns are at an all-time high, necessitating the development of acceptable, feasible, and effective interventions. Investigations of behavioral health interventions with teenagers must incorporate a means of understanding how adolescents perceive and engage with an intervention, and the relevance and meaning they ascribe to its therapeutic goals, as these potentially modifiable factors may ultimately influence future uptake, sustainability, and effectiveness of the interventions. Qualitative research methods provide well-established, rigorous frameworks for addressing these questions, but are underutilized in pediatric research. This qualitative study is part of a multisite, pilot, and feasibility randomized controlled trial of …
Differences In Sustained Attentional Engagement With Emotional Targets In Individuals Reporting High And Low Worry,
2026
University of Texas at Tyler
Differences In Sustained Attentional Engagement With Emotional Targets In Individuals Reporting High And Low Worry, Jinu J. Mathew
Clinical Psychology Dissertations
Attention bias towards emotionally salient or threatening information has been well documented across various populations, and it has been thought to contribute to the development and maintenance of anxiety. While previous research has identified early-stage attentional differences in individuals reporting elevated anxiety symptoms, less is known about how worry might impact later-stage processes involving sustained attentional engagement and visual working memory. The present study examined behavioral and electrophysiological indices of attentional processing during a modified visual search task in individuals reporting high compared to low levels of worry. Sixty-eight participants were recruited and classified into high and low worry groups …
Obsessive-Compulsive Subtraits And Self-Agency,
2026
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Obsessive-Compulsive Subtraits And Self-Agency, Jacob Nelson, Cody Barton, Carissa Phillipi Phd
Undergraduate Research Symposium
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is categorized by persistent, unwanted thoughts, called obsessions. and repetitive behaviors, called compulsions. The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) is a valid measure of OCD, and breaks the condition into six subtraits: Checking, Hoarding, Obsessing, Ordering, Neutralizing, & Washing. Prior research has suggested that one’s sense of agency, measured through the Sense of Agency Scale (SoAS), is lower in those with higher overall OCI-R scores compared to those with lower scores and controls. Additionally, sub-clinical checking has been negatively correlated with sense of agency, and sub-clinical hoarding and ordering have been positively correlated with sense of agency. However, there …
Victims Of Bravery (2): Secondary Trauma And Impacts Of Acts Of Bravery On Key Family Members Of Australian Civilian Bravery Award Recipients,
2026
Geelong, Australia
Victims Of Bravery (2): Secondary Trauma And Impacts Of Acts Of Bravery On Key Family Members Of Australian Civilian Bravery Award Recipients, Tom Voigt, Susan Balandin, Angela Dew
Heroism Science
We explored the experiences of key family members of Australian civilian bravery award recipients using a constructed grounded theory approach. Twenty-four family members participated in qualitative interviews during 2019–2020. Eighteen reported experiences consistent with possible secondary trauma and negative impacts on mental health and well-being. Participants described helplessness in supporting award recipients, limited knowledge of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS), and insufficient support for managing their own emotional responses. They also reported anxiety, uncertainty, hypervigilance, behavioral adjustments, social isolation, and sadness associated with living with a person they perceived as changed by the aftermath of heroic …
Barriers To Psychological Care: Lived Experiences Of Adults With Spinal Muscular Atrophy,
2026
Walden University
Barriers To Psychological Care: Lived Experiences Of Adults With Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Hovhannes Nazaryan
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Adults with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) may experience significant disability-related stressors, yet mental health services remain underused within this population. Although prior research has identified barriers to service use among individuals with SMA and people with disabilities more broadly, there is less literature about how adults with SMA experience the mental health care system. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences of adults living in the United States with SMA as they relate to this system. Guided by the biopsychosocial model and Andersen’s behavioral model, the study involved addressing the question: What are lived experiences …
The Psychosocial Experience Of Black Pentecostal Pastors In Western America Post-Pandemic,
2026
Walden University
The Psychosocial Experience Of Black Pentecostal Pastors In Western America Post-Pandemic, Isaiah Kelley
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted religious institutions, altering how Black pastors provided spiritual leadership, community support, and social connection. Limited research has examined how these disruptions affected the social identity and psychosocial well-being of African American Pentecostal pastors. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of 11 African American Pentecostal pastors in the western United States following COVID-19 church closures. Guided by social identity theory, semi-structured interviews examined changes in participants’ social identity. Data were analyzed using Moustakas’s phenomenological approach: first- and second-cycle coding, member checking, reflective journals, and thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: psychological and emotional burden, social isolation …
Problematic Technology Use And Quality Of Life In College Students With Varying Levels Of Schizotypy,
2026
Rowan University
Problematic Technology Use And Quality Of Life In College Students With Varying Levels Of Schizotypy, Joseph P. Skinner
Theses and Dissertations
Problematic Technology Use (PTU) has emerged as a growing concern with technology’s continual integration into daily living. Individuals higher in schizotypy may be particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of digital environments. The present study cross-sectionally examined associations among schizotypy, PTU, and quality of life (QOL) in 533 college students using structural equation modeling. Consistent with hypotheses, greater total schizotypy was associated with higher PTU and lower QOL. Additionally, positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy all uniquely predicted poor QOL with the negative domain demonstrating the strongest standardized association. Contrary to hypotheses, PTU did not significantly moderate the relation between total …
The Hypnagogic State And Hypnagogic Constraint Modulation In Ocd,
2026
Fort Hays State University
The Hypnagogic State And Hypnagogic Constraint Modulation In Ocd, Ari Rad
Academic Leadership Journal in Student Research
The past few decades of scholarly inquiries on the topic of the hypnagogic state and N1 sleep onset have introduced a new understanding of human general mentation. The underlying phenomenological, psychological, and neurological aspects of the hypnagogic state have been explored in depth by researchers. Hypnagogia and N1 sleep onset have been associated with creativity, spontaneous access to insights, symbolic representation of cognitive processes, and visual and auditory perceptions. The default mode network (DMN) has been largely associated with creativity and spontaneous thinking during N1 sleep onset. This paper reviews the basics of the neurology and phenomenology of N1 and …
The Ramifications Of Covid-19 On Young Adults With Ocd,
2026
National Louis University
The Ramifications Of Covid-19 On Young Adults With Ocd, Clare E. Mcintosh
Dissertations
The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was a profound event in modern history, contributing to significant disruptions on a societal and individual level. This period of time was marked by elevated uncertainty and fear among individuals. COVID-19 contributed to deterioration in not only physical health but also psychological well-being. One mental health condition frequently under-examined and saturated with misconceptions is obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a condition characterized by the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions. Intolerance of uncertainty is a core component of the condition, and the pandemic was riddled with unpredictability. The purpose of this study was to …
Cognitive-Affective And Somatic Depressive Symptom Domains Related To Psychological Mechanisms And Sociodemographic Factors,
2026
CUNY Graduate Center
Cognitive-Affective And Somatic Depressive Symptom Domains Related To Psychological Mechanisms And Sociodemographic Factors, Danielle B. Hazeltine
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Major depressive disorder is prevalent, chronic, and heterogeneous, including cognitive- affective (e.g., maladaptive beliefs or thinking patterns and sad mood) and somatic (e.g., fatigue, appetite, or sleep changes) symptom domains. While depression domains have been long theorized, research examining psychological mechanisms underlying this distinction is limited. Preliminary research suggests cognitive-affective symptoms relate more strongly to cognitive mechanisms (cognitive bias, perseverative thought), somatic symptoms relate more strongly to behavioral mechanisms (behavioral inhibition/activation), and gender, race, and ethnicity moderate these relationships. This study examined whether cognitive-affective and somatic symptom domains differentially relate to cognitive and behavioral mechanisms, and whether these relationships are …
Intimate Partner Violence And Emotion Regulation Among Emerging Adults: Investigating The Roles Of Dispositional Mindfulness And Executive Function In The Context Of A Laboratory-Induced Stress Paradigm,
2026
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Intimate Partner Violence And Emotion Regulation Among Emerging Adults: Investigating The Roles Of Dispositional Mindfulness And Executive Function In The Context Of A Laboratory-Induced Stress Paradigm, Mikell Bursky
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major public health concern that impacts an estimated 10 million men and women in the United States annually. IPV refers to a range of physical, sexual or psychological forms of aggression committed against a current or former romantic partner in the context of a relationship. The highest rates of IPV are observed in emerging adulthood, a developmental period between the ages of 18 to 25 that is significant for the transition from adolescence into adulthood, and the establishment of first meaningful intimate relationships. Although distal risk factors for IPV such as violence in the …
