Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Factors Influencing Resilience Among Haematological Cancer Survivors, Katherine S. Gallager

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Haematological cancers in bone marrow (leukaemia) and the immune system (lymphomas or myeloma) represent the sixth most common adult tumour group in Australia. These cancers often develop without warning and require intensive treatment regimes that last on average eight months, but may continue for a lifetime depending on the diagnosis. Encouragingly, advancing cancer treatments, a key accomplishment of cancer research over the past 40 years, have resulted in a growing community of cancer survivors. Approximately two in three adults diagnosed with haematological cancer (HC) can now expect to survive more than five years. However, they must attempt to navigate the …

Improving Mental Health Care For Transgender Consumers: Providers’ Attitudes, Knowledge, And Resources, Hillary Gleason

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Transgender individuals may present for treatment with a variety of mental health needs, both related and peripheral to their gender identity and expression. Compounding stigma and other life stressors elevate mental health risks in transgender communities, and the barriers to mental health services are manifold. As such, the current research study was designed to determine the competency of mental health care providers to address the unique needs of transgender consumers. Online surveys gauged mental health providers’ knowledge of transgender issues, implicit and explicit transphobic attitudes, as well as treatment decisions with transgender and cisgender consumers; moreover, workplace resources and infrastructure …

A Latent Profile Analysis Of Drinking Patterns Among Nonstudent Emerging Adults, Cathy Lau-Barraco, Abby L. Braitman, Amy L. Stamates, Ashley N. Linden-Carmichael

Psychology Faculty Publications

Research indicates that nonstudent emerging adults, as compared to their college-attending peers, are at higher risk for experiencing alcohol-related problems, including alcohol use disorders. The present study sought to extend the limited research on nonstudent drinking by (1) identifying sub-groups of nonstudent drinkers based on their drinking patterns and (2) determining the extent to which social-cognitive between-person factors related to drinking (i.e., social expectancies, perceived drinking norms, social drinking motivations) distinguish these sub-groups. Participants were 195 (65.1% men) nonstudent emerging adult heavy episodic drinkers recruited from the community. Mean age was 21.88 (SD = 2.08) years and 45.4% were unemployed. …

Positive Illusory Bias In Adolescents With Adhd: Prevalence, Stability, And Accuracy Of Reporters, Elizaveta Bourchtein

Theses and Dissertations

The positive illusory bias (PIB) – over-reporting levels of self-competence compared to other raters – has been demonstrated in youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), despite increased impairment rates. However, due to inconsistent definitions of the PIB, conflicting findings have emerged regarding prevalence of the PIB in youth with ADHD and whether parent or child report is actually “biased” and driving the PIB. Additionally, stability of the PIB across time is unknown. The present study used person-centered methodology cross-sectionally and longitudinally to evaluate the prevalence of the PIB in adolescents with ADHD. Results revealed a cross-domain global PIB group at baseline …

Investigating The Relation Between Self-Compassion And Romantic Relationships, Emily Jacobson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-compassion has recently emerged as a component of psychological health. Research on self-compassion processes has grown in recent years, and shows that self-compassion is related to lower levels of psychological distress and higher levels of positive affect. The current study examined the extent to which self-compassion is related to the quality of romantic relationships. Undergraduates at the University of Mississippi (N=261) completed online self-report questionnaires assessing self-compassion and relationship quality. Correlational and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted in order to assess the relation between self-compassion and relationship quality. Results indicated that self-compassion was positively and significantly correlated with relationship …

The Relationship Of Impulsivity To Eating Behaviors And Alcohol Consumption, Megan J. Newkirk

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Previous research has discovered a significant relationship between problematic eating disorder behaviors and alcohol consumption among women. Within this relationship, past studies have found that impulsivity significantly influences the correlation between these behaviors. The primary aim of the present study was to determine if impulsivity influences the relationship between bingeing behavior and alcohol consumption as well as the relationship between purging behavior and alcohol consumption while using a behavioral measure for impulsivity. Participants included 62 undergraduate females who were recruited from Murray State University. The results indicated that there was not a significant correlation between bingeing behavior and alcohol …

Beyond Mindfulness: Expanding Integration Of Spirituality And Religion Into Psychotherapy, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Since the publication of Bergin’s classic 1980 paper “Psychotherapy and Religious Values” in the Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology, an enormous amount of quality research has been conducted on the integration of religious and spiritual values and perspectives into the psychotherapy endeavor. Numerous empirical studies, chapters, books, blogs, and specialty organizations have emerged in the past 35 years that have helped researchers and clinicians alike come to appreciate the value of religion and spirituality in the psychotherapeutic process. While so much has been accomplished in this area of integration, so much more needs to occur in order for the …

The Effects Of Sleep Quality On Theory Of Mind, Julie Erwin

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Previous research indicates a relationship between Theory of Mind (ToM; the ability to discern others’ thoughts, emotions, intentions, etc.) and psychological disorders. Further, previous research has described a relationship between psychological disorders and sleep disruption. However, no existing research has examined whether sleep quality is associated with ToM. In this study, I explored that relationship in a healthy undergraduate population. To address this question, I proposed to correlate measures of ToM with measures of sleep quality.

Contemplating Mindfulness At Work: An Integrative Review, Darren J. Good, Christopher Lyddy, Theresa M. Glomb, Joyce E. Bono, Kirk W. Brown, Michelle K. Duffy, Ruth A. Baer, Judson A. Brewer, Sara W. Lazar

School of Business Faculty Publications

Mindfulness research activity is surging within organizational science. Emerging evidence across multiple fields suggests that mindfulness is fundamentally connected to many aspects of workplace functioning, but this knowledge base has not been systematically integrated to date. This review coalesces the burgeoning body of mindfulness scholarship into a framework to guide mainstream management research investigating a broad range of constructs. The framework identifies how mindfulness influences attention, with downstream effects on functional domains of cognition, emotion, behavior, and physiology. Ultimately, these domains impact key workplace outcomes, including performance, relationships, and well-being. Consideration of the evidence on mindfulness at work stimulates important …

Measures Of Acculturation And Relations To Weight Among Mexican-Origin Youth, Dorothy L. Mcleod

Master's Theses

Risk for obesity increases dramatically for Mexican-origin immigrants and their children among upon arrival in the United States. Many studies have shown that acculturative factors play a role in this process for adults, which suggests that this could also be the case for children and adolescents. The significance and directionality of this relation may differ based on many factors, including the multitude of methods currently used for the purpose of measuring acculturation. This study examines the relations between several measures of acculturation and child weight in a sample of 6 to 11 year old, Mexican-origin youth, cross-sectionally and longitudinally over …

The Relation Between Appearance Evaluation And Disordered Eating Attitudes Throughout College: Trajectories And Moderators, Amy Heard

Master's Theses

The college years are a time of increased risk for body image concerns and disordered eating in both men and women. Studies have shown that body image concerns may emerge in childhood, increase throughout adolescence, and become more stable in middle adulthood, but less is known about the changes that happen during the college years that may cause these concerns to level off. One of the most common ways of assessing body image is by measuring appearance evaluation, or global satisfaction with appearance. While problematic appearance evaluation and disordered eating attitudes are often associated with one another, all individuals who …

Episodic Memory, Hippocampal Volume, And Effects Of Premature Birth In Young Children, Dana Marie Anderson

Wayne State University Theses

The hippocampus is essential for episodic memory. Preterm birth is associated both with deficits in episodic memory and with alteration on hippocampal structure; however, the effect of term status on the relation between episodic memory and hippocampal volume (HCV) is unclear. We studied the potential of a latent construct of episodic memory as well as the relation between episodic memory and HCV in full-term and preterm born children (ages 5-6). The individual episodic memory measures separated into different components based on the level of association and decision that was required for the tasks. The composite scores were not significantly correlated …

Personality Trait Interactions With Narrator Empathy In A Brief Computerized Intervention, Jennifer Danielle Ellis

Wayne State University Theses

Computer-delivered, brief interventions (CDBIs) have been an increasingly popular way to treat substance use disorders; however, very few studies have examined which characteristics of CDBIs maximize intervention effectiveness. The literature has consistently demonstrated that therapist empathy is associated with reduced substance use; however, it is unclear whether this principal applies to CDBIs. Therefore, one aim of this study was to examine whether the presence of an empathic narrator increases motivation to reduce heavy drinking in a CDBI. A second aim was to examine whether an individual’s personality traits (empathy, psychopathy, and Big Five Traits) interact with treatment characteristics (specifically high …

Relation Between Harsh Parenting Exposure In Childhood And Adult Externalizing Symptoms : Moderating Role Of The Autonomic Nervous System, Samantha Aldea Barry

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Though literature suggests that many individuals with childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) report having symptoms of the respective disorder as adults, little is known about potential predictors of adulthood externalizing symptoms. The proposed study examines the impact of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), as measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), as measured by skin conductance levels (SCL), on the link between harsh parenting experienced during childhood and ADHD and ODD symptoms during young adulthood. Results yielded a significant two-way interaction between harsh parenting and resting RSA, which significantly accounted for …

Perceived Racial Microaggressions And Psychological Well-Being Among African American College Students, Daniel Knauer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among perceived racial microaggressions, social support, and indicators of psychological well-being in a sample of 155 African American college students from a stress and coping perspective. Perceived racial microaggressions were associated with greater symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, life satisfaction did not account for this relationship, as expected. Two forms of social support, general social support and social support matched for racial situations, were tested as buffers of the effects of perceived microaggressions on psychological outcome variables within a regression framework. The buffering model, which predicted that social support …

Protective Psychosocial Factors And Trauma In Multiple Sclerosis Spousal/Partner Caregivers : Intersecting Roles And Interactional Influences, Alison J. Rivers

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating, unpredictable, chronic illness for which many diagnosed individuals are cared for by their spouses or partners (e.g., McKeown, Porter-Armstrong, & Baxter, 2003). These MS spousal/partner caregivers are especially vulnerable to the deleterious outcomes of caregiving (e.g., Buhse, 2008; Corry & While, 2009). The present research examined hypothesized protective psychosocial factors and the impact of trauma in these unique caregivers through two cross-sectional studies (n=93 and n=62). Findings from Study One demonstrate that lower caregiver burden and higher dyadic adjustment were associated with improved caregiver mental health outcomes (Chapter 1). Study One also shows that …

Evaluating The Immediate Impacts Of Brief Mindfulness Versus Lovingkindness Meditation, Jamie Rae Forsyth

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Although meditation has been around for centuries, it’s only recently that the utility of such an ancient practice has gained popularity within Western psychology. A vast body of literature supports the notion that meditation can have important impacts on suffering and psychopathology; however, few studies have evaluated differential effects between various forms of meditation. The aims of this study are threefold: 1) to determine if a brief meditation can have immediate effects on an individuals’ mood, 2) to determine the validity of two different types of meditations (mindfulness and lovingkindness) and 3) to evaluate the differential efficacy of the two …

Do The Perceptions Of Supervisory Working Alliance Mediate The Relation Between Perceived Supervisors' Multicultural Competence And Trainees' Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy?, Arthur Ritmeester

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study tested whether the relation between supervisory multicultural competence (SMC), as perceived by the supervisee, and multicultural counseling self-efficacy (MCSE) was partially mediated by the supervisory working alliance (SWA). This study was conducted in response to (a) a mismatch in previous research between the operationalization of MCSE and the underlying theorizing, and (b) inconsistent results in previous research about the relation between the SWA and counseling self-efficacy development. Participants were 182 health service psychologist trainees in the United States receiving supervision at the time of data collection.

A Qualitative Analysis Of Clinician Attitudes And Experiences Learning And Implementing Transdiagnostic Evidence-Based Practices For Eating Disorders, Jennifer Marie Oswald

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Clinician experiences with the implementation of new practices are important factors in facilitating the use of new treatment models and evidence-based practices (EBPs). As such, they provide crucial information to behavioral health dissemination and implementation research. Qualitative interviewing allows researchers to learn from clinician experiences with greater depth and nuance. The present study qualitatively analyzed 8 clinicians’ experiences with the implementation of a new transdiagnostic treatment model for eating disorders (ED) at an intensive residential treatment center. Participating clinicians completed a semi-structured interview based on constructs from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), an organizing framework with demonstrated utility …

Children's Response To Pediatric Continuous Glucose Monitoring (Cgm) Sensor Insertion : The Role Of Intervention And Individual Differences, Kristen M. Uhl

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Research indicates that nonpharmacological interventions are effective at reducing pain and distress during pediatric procedures. Certified child life specialists often perform these interventions. However, child life delivered procedural interventions have not been well studied in outpatient settings. Additionally, while characteristics that influence pediatric distress levels are known, their impact on procedural response in the presence of nonpharmacological interventions is not fully understood. In particular, the contribution of temperamental negative affect (NA) and effortful control (EC) are relatively unstudied in this context. The present study examined procedural response in a sample of 28 diabetic children and adolescents aged 2-18 years undergoing …