Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Visual Hallucinations Differential Diagnosis Annotated Decision Tree, Shelly D. Davis

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Differential diagnosis of the etiology of visual hallucinations is challenging. Although visual hallucinations can be symptomatic of psychiatric disorder, they more commonly indicate neurological or medical disorders, sensory impairment, or substance intoxication or withdrawal. Accurate diagnosis and treatment is crucial given that misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment intervention can have profound consequences. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the most prevalent causes of visual hallucinations, review the DSM-5 hallucination decision tree, and provide an annotated visual hallucination differential diagnosis decision tree.

Therapeutic Assessment In Sport Psychology, Fernando Frias

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This paper outlines the history of assessment in sport psychology and provides a summary of controversies and criticisms of psychological testing in athletics that have persisted throughout the development of the field. Such concerns include the use of personality inventories and tests for talent identification, the misuse of tests and related ethical concerns, cultural sensitivity of tests, and debates about the validity and reliability of assessment measures. In spite of these concerns, interest and demand for psychological assessment in sport remains. Therapeutic Assessment, an emerging but not yet well-known model of collaborative psychological assessment, addresses many of these criticisms and …

Integrating Clinical Training & Self-Care: Overview, Analysis & Recommendations For Relieving Stress Among Clinicians In Training, Erich Haezebrouck

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Numerous studies over the past two decades have highlighted the prevalence of stress, mental health disorders and interpersonal problems among psychologists. These statistics parallel those for students currently enrolled in clinical psychology graduate programs where such problems have become even more severe. This results in a significant ethical issue in that clinician competency is negatively impacted by emotional problems. This paper seeks to provide an analysis of current self-care literature. The importance of addressing graduate student self-care is first explored and followed by a literature review on interventions that have been successful in maintaining trainee wellness and competence. Recommendations to …

Creating A Digital Community In Colleges Through An Interactive Theater Intervention: Guidelines For Cyberbullying Prevention During Freshmen Orientation Week, Benjamin Hindell

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Cyberbullying has created a demand for trainings and workshops that propose “digital citizenship” in schools. These trainings focus on respect for one’s self, peers, and community on and offline (Collier, 2012). Most research in the area has been on junior-high and high-school-age students. However, studies have shown that college age youth also experience cyberbullying. Freshmen may begin college with the psychological trauma of bullying and/or cyberbullying experienced in junior high and high school. They may be perpetrators, victims or both. I propose an interactive cyberbullying prevention program designed for incoming college freshmen that addresses the dynamics of traditional and cyberbullying, …

Best Practices In Team-Based Treatment Termination, Leslie Minna

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Termination of psychological treatment is a necessary part of the therapeutic process, but it can pose complex clinical, ethical, legal, logistical, and social challenges. This complexity becomes even more evident in the current era of treatment delivered by a team of healthcare professionals. Appropriate termination will usually involve a team decision and synthesis of the various team members’ recommendations for appropriate follow-up, medications, or transfer of care into an integrated formal document to be communicated to the patient. The healthcare team may also face other considerations such as record keeping and communication responsibilities when the patient (or the patient’s insurer) …

Acceptance And Commitment Therapist Views On The Sacred, Amal Abuzalaf Mull

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Spirituality and/or religion (S/R) continue to be an important topic in mental health treatment, especially regarding their relationship to a psychotherapist’s theoretical orientation and practice with clients. Given the increased relevance of spirituality to third-wave cognitive behavioral therapies, the current study explores the S/R of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) psychotherapists and how their S/R is associated to their attitudes and behaviors within mental health and their use of ACT. Online surveys were administered, producing a sample of 97 ACT psychotherapists in the United States. Results indicated low levels of religiosity and high levels of spirituality among ACT psychotherapists in …

Human Trafficking & Commercial Sex Exploitation: Treatment Recommendations For An Invisible Population, Abigail K. Wolfe

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This article addresses the issue of human trafficking, also termed modern slavery, specifically focusing on the treatment of survivors of Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE). Treatment recommendations are made based on a trauma-focused, relational model aimed at reinstating psychological well-being in the survivor. This article reviews the literature on three related bodies of research due to the absence of direct psychological literature. Literature on captivity, control and torture, literature on the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and literature on sexual abuse treatment for those who have been victimized through the sex trade. Additionally, practical aspects of human trafficking are discussed …

Construct Validation Of The Psychosocial Costs Of Racism To Whites Scale For Ashkenazic Jews In The United States, Emile Tobias Berk

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study is a construct validation of the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (Spanierman & Heppner, 2004) with Orthodox and non-Orthodox Ashkenazic (of European descent) American Jews. While Jewish-American biculturalism has been explored at length, there is a dearth of psychological research on Jewish-White biculturalism (Langman, 1999). Furthermore, the literature has yet to explore the impact of Jewish religious diversity on Ashkenazic-American self-perception as racially White beneficiaries of unearned privilege.

The Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW) measures three dimensions of White racial attitudes: White Empathic Reactions Towards Racism, White Guilt, and White Fear of Others. …

Psychopathy In The Criminal Justice System, Jillian K. Peterson, Jerrod Brown

College of Liberal Arts All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Soldiers Returning From Deployment: A Qualitative Study Regarding Exposure, Coping, And Reintegration, Lisa A. Brenner, Lisa M. Betthauser, Nazanin Bahraini, Jaimie L. Lusk, Heidi Terrio, Ann I. Scher, Karen A. Schwab

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Student Scholarship

Purpose/Objective: The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore exposure to deployment-related physical and/or emotional trauma and associated symptoms among Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) soldiers. Interviews also focused on in-theater- and reintegration-related experiences. Research Method/Design: OEF/OIF soldiers (N = 103) participated in semistructured interviews, and a qualitative descriptive methodology was used to analyze the data. Results: Themes were identified regarding (a) common experiences related to emotional and physical traumas and associated symptoms and strategies for coping and making meaning of experiences and (b) how combat and reintegration experiences affected soldiers’ senses of self, relationships with others, …

Cybervictimization As A Predictor Of Aggression And Cyberbullying Among Adolescents: Examination Of Potential Risk And Protective Factors, Laura Ashley Cook

Dissertations

The current study examined how cybervictimization is related to aggression outcomes among adolescents. The current study also examined various potential risk and protective factors, including depressive symptoms, anger rumination, impulsivity, social support, and gender. It was hypothesized that the relation between cybervictimization and aggression or cyberbullying would be intensified when levels of depressive symptoms, impulsivity, and anger rumination were higher and that the relation between cybervictimization and aggression or cyberbullying would be attenuated when levels of social support were higher. Gender was examined as a research question, with no specific directionality hypothesized. The data for the current study were collected …

Lack Of Forgiveness Of Parents And Intimate Partner Violence, Hannah Doucette

Master's Theses

This study examined whether there was an association between lack of forgiveness for adverse events/circumstances perpetrated by parents and intimate partner violence (IPV) in emerging adulthood. Participants were 208 (85.6% female) 18- and 19-year-old undergraduate students. Participants were asked to describe events/circumstances in which they felt hurt by their parents when they were growing up. They then answered questions related to the most hurtful event including items pertaining to forgiveness. Participants also answered questions about the perpetration and victimization of IPV in the past year. The forgiveness-IPV relation was observed primarily for physical injury. Findings indicated that revenge seeking and …

Predictors Of Binge Eating In College Women, Emily E. Prather

Dissertations

Binge eating has received increased attention in the psychological literature, as the health consequences are becoming increasingly well known. The prevalence of subclinical binge eating (i.e., binge eating that is not associated with a diagnosable eating disorder) is elevated among college women, some of whom will go on to develop more serious problems. Thus, improved understanding of subclinical binge eating in this population can help to inform prevention and intervention strategies.

In a sample of 472 college women this study evaluated the relationships among four theoretically relevant factors hypothesized to predict binge eating: trait anger, anger suppression, impulsivity, and emotion …

Unique And Combined Contributions Of Callous-Unemotional Traits And Parental Incarceration On Juvenile Delinquency In An At-Risk Sample, Lacey Loy Herrington

Dissertations

The current study examined the interrelations among callous-unemotional (CU) traits, a history of parental incarceration, and juvenile delinquency. More specifically, although research suggests that both CU traits and parental incarceration are predictors of juvenile delinquent behaviors, their interaction in influencing such behaviors had yet to be investigated. Two-hundred thirteen (213) adolescents (201 males, 12 females) who were enlisted in a residential program designed for adolescents that dropped out of school participated in this study. Participants ranged in age from 16 to 19 (M = 16.92; SD = .77). Higher levels of overall CU traits reported by the adolescent significantly …

Risk And Protective Factors Of Internalized Mental Illness Stigma, Kathleen Klik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The internalization of mental illness stigma is associated with an array of negative consequences; however, not all individuals experience the deleterious effects of internalized mental illness stigma. The present dissertation focuses on factors associated with internalized stigma, and will be the first to examine simultaneously both risk (i.e., shame, shame proneness and shame aversion, insight, and centrality and valence) and protective factors (social support and self-compassion) of internalized mental illness stigma. Using two of the most widely used assessments of internalized mental illness stigma (i.e., Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale [SSMIS] and the Internalized Mental Illness Scale [ISMI]), risk and …

Examining The Role Of Antisocial Personality Disorder In Intimate Partner Violence Among Substance Use Disorder Treatment Seekers With Clinically Significant Trauma Histories, Rita E. Dykstra, Julie A. Schumacher, Natalie Mota, Scott F. Coffey

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study examined the associations among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) diagnosis, and intimate partner violence (IPV) in a sample of 145 substance abuse treatment-seeking men and women with positive trauma histories; sex was examined as a moderator. ASPD diagnosis significantly predicted both verbal and physical aggression; sex moderated the association between ASPD diagnosis and physical violence. PTSD symptom severity significantly predicted engaging in verbal, but not physical, aggression. Overall, these results suggest that an ASPD diagnosis may be an important risk factor for engaging in IPV among women seeking treatment for a substance use …

The Neuropsychological Profile Of Older Adult Musicians And Non-Musicians : Implications For Cognitive Reserve In Late Life., Jessica Vemich Strong,

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Published literature studying children and adults musicians suggests significant differences in neuroanatomy, in brain regions that include the auditory and motor cortices, language centers, and frontal regions and tracts. Studies examining cognitive correlates to these neuroanatomical differences have consistently found that children and adult musicians have better cognitive abilities in the domains of language, verbal or non-verbal memory and executive function. Only one study has examined the differences in cognitive performance between older adult musicians and non-musicians to see how normal age-related cognitive changes may affect these differences. The current study compared cognitive test performance among older adult non-musicians, low-activity …

Testing The Chronic Care Model For Depression In Homebound Older Adults., Brittney Rose Getz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Homebound older adults are a unique population of older adults with many chronic illnesses and complex care needs (Qui et al., 2010). Depression is highly prevalent in homebound older adults (Qui et al., 2010). Many Chronic Care Models (CCMs) have been developed to provide a better system of care to those with chronic health conditions (Bodenheimer, Wagner, & Grumbach, 2002; Wagner et al., 2001; Wagner, Austin, & Von Korff, 1996a, 1996b). The Chronic Care Model for Depressed Homebound Older Adults is a model that was specifically designed for the depressed homebound elderly. It addresses many areas for improvement of care …

Awareness Of Executive Functioning As A Diagnostic Tool For Mild Cognitive Impairment And Alzheimer's Disease., Jeremy Stark Carmasin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the utility of older adults’ awareness of their executive functioning abilities to predict future cognitive decline. The recently revised Cognitive Awareness Model (CAM) forms the conceptual background of this approach, and suggests that executive dysfunction disrupts awareness in a manner distinct from episodic memory dysfunction. The study design examined how awareness of executive functioning ability may predict both continuous decline on neuropsychological testing and qualitative change in diagnostic status. This form of prediction was tested using a longitudinal sample (n = 661) of older adults with either normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or Alzheimer’s disease (AD). …

Self-Compassion And Self-Forgiveness As Mediated By Rumination, Shame-Proneness, And Experiential Avoidance: Implications For Mental And Physical Health, Elizabeth Conway Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-compassion and self-forgiveness appear to have much in common, as both relate to one’s self-regard during challenging circumstances; however, their empirical relationship is largely yet to be explored. The present study examines theoretical and empirical areas of overlap and proposes a theory of their relationship, including its possible impact on health. Self-compassion and self-forgiveness were proposed to have a direct relationship that may be mediated by reduction in rumination, shame, and experiential avoidance. These factors together were also hypothesized to have a positive impact on health functioning. The current study tested these models in a sample of undergraduate students (n …