Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Fruit Of Faith, Fruit Of The Spirit, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

As contemporary behavioral scientists living and working within an often secular, scientific, and empirically focused world as well as being affiliated with rigorous academic institutions and research programs, we wonder if the fruits of the spirit have any empirical and scientific basis. Does engagement with religion and spirituality make us better people or make us worse?

Goodness, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

And what does the Lord require of me? To love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with God. -Micah 6:8

This quote from the Hebrew Bible has been one of my favorite quotes from sacred scripture in the Judea-Christian tradition for a very long time. It well summarizes how we should live. It well articulates how to live a good life. In this brief and simple statement in response to what God wants of us, it makes clear that there are three things that we should do throughout our lives if we want to follow the dictates of the God …

Fruit Of The Spirit: Next Steps, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Overall, the chapters provide support for the notion that religious and spiritu al practices, behavior, and engagement are associated with improved psychological, physical, and community functioning and wellbeing. Religion and spirituality can make us better. The fruit of the spirit can result in a better quality of life. However, we must be mindful of the need for future quality research as well as the downside of religious engagement, too. Intolerance, rigidity, and in-group/out-group conflict can be problematic and create a situation in which tills type of religious engagement can lead to fruit that is not healthy but unhealthy. This fruit …

Probability Discounting In A Sample Of American Indians: Gambling As An Escape Predicts Discounting Of Monetary, But Not Non-Monetary, Outcomes, Jeffrey N. Weatherly, J. Douglas Mcdonald, Adam Derenne

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

The present study investigated the relationship between measures of gambling and the process of probability discounting in a sample of participants from a population that has historically shown high rates of gambling problems. Thirty nine American Indian university students complete the South Oaks Gambling Screen, the Gambling Functional Assessment – Revised, and a probability-discounting task involving two monetary and two non-monetary outcomes. Consistent with results from previous research focusing on majority-population participants, severity of gambling problems was more strongly associated with endorsing gambling as an escape than with gambling for positive reinforcement. Endorsing gambling as an escape, but not for …

Evaluating Preference And Rate Of Gambling On Vedio Slot Machines, Mark R. Dixon, Jeffrey R. Miller, Seth W. Whiting, Alyssa N. Wilson, Allie M. Hensel

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

Casinos increasingly are providing access to five-reel video slot machines and as a result are decreasing the use of traditional three-reel slot machines. Limited research has been conducted on the characteristics of play associated with video slot machines. The present study examined participant’s play on a five-reel video slot machine, comparing the number of trials played while wagering one credit on five lines versus five credits on one line. After participants were exposed to both conditions they were asked to choose their preferred condition. The results found that participants played significantly more trials while playing during the five credits on …

Gambling Behavior And Temporal Discounting Among Militaryaffiliated And Civilian Students, Kevin S. Montes, Jeffrey N. Weatherly

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

The present study explored whether the contingencies maintaining gambling behavior differed for military-affiliated and non-military-affiliated students. It also tested for differences in how these groups discounted delayed outcomes. Three groups of students participated: Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students (n = 36), students with a relative in the military (n = 62), and students with no relative in the military (n = 58). Participants completed the Gambling Functional Assessment-Revised and a delaydiscounting task. Results indicated that all participants’ gambling behavior was maintained primarily by positive reinforcement. Moreover, ROTC students scored significantly higher on gambling for positive reinforcement, and significantly lower …

Gambling In A Laboratory Setting: A Comparison Of Gambling For Positive Reinforcement Versus As A Potential Escape, Jeffrey N. Weatherly, Katelyn Mari, Kevin S. Montes

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

Research has shown that most individuals’ gambling is maintained more by positive, than by negative, reinforcement but that disordered gambling is more strongly related to gambling maintained by negative, than positive, reinforcement. Forty five participants were recruited to play video poker in two different sessions: one in which they competed for a $50 gift card and one in which they could play after trying to solve unsolvable anagrams. Higher measures of gambling were observed in the gift-card, than in the anagram, session, but none of the differences were statistically significant and the observed effect sizes were small. Participants’ annual income …

The Relationship Between Identity And Intimacy As Moderated By Culture, Garima Jhingon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several important developmental processes occur in the young adulthood period. Young adults form their identities, determine trajectories regarding careers, and typically they form intimate relationships. Erikson (1963) stated that healthy identity development during adolescence is a necessary precursor to intimacy in romantic relationships during emerging adulthood. Although findings from cross-sectional and short-term longitudinal studies somewhat confirm the proposed link between identity and intimacy development, none of them addresses the role of culture in moderating Erikson‘s tenets of developmental ordering. The primary goal of the present investigation was to determine the role of cultural orientation in identity and intimacy development among …

Culture Ontogeny: Lifespan Development Of Religion And The Ethics Of Spiritual Counselling, Glen Milstein, Amy Manierre

Publications and Research

The counsellor has an ethical obligation to treat the whole person. Humans are cultural beings and the foundation of most cultures is religion. Religion and culture are received from our early relation~ ships and modified through later relationships across the lifespan. The paper introduces the term "culture ontogeny" to emphasize that this is a biological process wherein abstract ideas of culture and religion become material in the developing neurophysiology of each brain. A framework and methods are offered to examine the changing roles of religion in clients' emotional self~ structure, inclusive of those who describe themselves as spiritual, not religious. …

Dishes And Diapers: The Division Of Labor And Marital Quality Across The Transition To Parenthood, Katherine E. Newkirk

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This study examines relationships between the division of housework and childcare and marital love and conflict and perceived fairness as a mediator of those relationships. Gender role ideology is also examined as a moderator of the relationships between the division of labor predictors and perceived fairness. To this end 112 working-class, dual-earner couples having their first child were interviewed at three time points during the first year of parenthood after mothers returned to work. Findings indicate that wives’ reported greater marital love when their husbands performed more housework and more childcare, with fairness as a mediator of those relations. Husbands’ …

The Role Of Family Routines And Rituals In The Psychological Well Being Of Emerging Adults, Yesel Yoon

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are both critical transition phases wrought with developmental changes and challenges. One of the major developmental tasks that families of children, adolescents and emerging adults deal with is facilitating the development of emotion regulation. The practices that families engage in that attempt to create order and stability within the family—their routines and rituals—may be one key family variable that helps develop better emotion regulation. Family routines and rituals tend to create a more stable environment, which in turn may predict better outcomes for individuals (Crespo, Davide, Costa & Fletcher, 2008; Fiese, 2007; Leon & Jacobvitz, 2003). …

Rudd Chair Annual Report, 2011, Harold D. Grotevant

Rudd Adoption Research Program Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Cognitive Reappraisal Ability As A Protective Factor: Resilience To Stress Across Time And Context, Allison S. Troy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emotion regulation is crucially involved in individuals' psychological health. For example, the frequent use of cognitive reappraisal, or changing the way one thinks about an emotional event, is positively associated with psychological health. Recent cross-sectional findings have shown that the ability to use cognitive reappraisal (cognitive reappraisal ability; CRA) is associated with lower depression in the context of high stress. However, two important questions about CRA remain unexamined: 1) Does CRA predict long-term adjustment to stress? 2) Do the protective effects of CRA depend upon the type of stress encountered? To examine these questions, a community sample of men and …

Cultural Correlates Of Condom Use, Cecilia Brooke Cholka

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Hispanics are disproportionately contracting sexually transmitted infections relative to other ethnic groups. This study assessed the relationships between condom usage, acculturation, and cultural values (i.e., familismo, religiosity, machismo, and marianismo) in a Hispanic college student sample. Participants (N = 456) were recruited through Sona Systems, flyers, and in highly frequented areas on campus. After informed consent was obtained, participants completed measures of Hispanic cultural values, past condom use, and future intentions to use condoms. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed; dependent variables included condom use (lifetime) and future intentions to use condoms, while independent variables include sex/gender and relationship status (step …

Chronic Orofacial Pain Influences Self-Regulation In A Rodent Model, Tracey Christine Kniffin

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Self-regulation is the capacity to exert control over cognition, emotion, behavior, and physiology. Since chronic pain interferes with the ability to self-regulate, the primary goal of this study was to examine, in rodents, the effects of chronic pain on self-regulation processes. Sixteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups: (1) chronic constriction injury of the infraorbital nerve (CCI-ION) and (2) naïve. Testing confirmed that CCI-ION animals had significant mechanical allodynia compared to naïve animals (p<0.001). A two-part self-regulation behavioral paradigm consisting of a cued go/no-go task and a subsequent persistence task was developed based on human paradigms. In the cued task, both groups made fewer incorrect lever presses in post-surgery trials (p<0.001); naive animals had a greater decrease in number of incorrect presses than CCI-ION animals (p=0.06). Similarly, both groups had a larger correct to total lever presses ratio in post-surgery trials (p<0.001); naïve animals had a greater increase than CCI-ION animals (p=0.06). In the persistence task, naïve animals experienced a greater decrease in lever presses (p=0.08) than did CCI-ION animals (p=0.66). These results suggest that animals experiencing chronic pain were not able to learn as well as naïve animals, and may have difficulty responding to novel environmental demands.

Impacts Of Race/Ethnicity And Self-Esteem On Body Dissatisfaction In Women, Kristie Vail Schultz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, there is a push for individuals to be of a particular size, and for women, that ideal size is extremely thin (Katzmarzyk & Davis, 2001). Overall, females indicate a greater drive for thinness and put more emphasis on weight and shape salience than do men (Anderson & Bulik, 2001), and they prefer a less muscular body type than men as well (Oehlhof, Musher-Eizenman, Neufeld, & Hauser, 2009). Among women, Caucasian females report more body dissatisfaction than do African American women (e.g., Kelly et al., 2011). Body dissatisfaction can be influenced by many factors; in addition to …

A Qualitative Study Of Recovery-Oriented Services In Inpatient Forensic Settings, Deanna Pecora Mellie

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Recovery principles are currently guiding the transformation of mental health practice and policy in the United States (Anthony, 2000; Davidson et al., 2005; Davidson et al., 2006; Ralph & Corrigan, 2007). Although principles of recovery have become the focus of mental health care reform, they have just begun to enter the forensic system (Hillbrand & Young, 2008). This is important because the forensic state hospital population has experienced a significant growth, reportedly approximating 50 % of all beds in given states, while the general civil state hospital population continues to decline (Salzer et al., 2006). Furthermore, Hillbrand and Young (2008) …

Early Adolescent Non-Suicidal Self-Injury And Sensory Preference Differences: An Exploratory Study, Jacquelyn Shea Christensen

CGU Theses & Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) occurs in 13% to 20% of adolescents, and is often indicative of deeper internal or social problems. A close review of current explanatory models of NSSI suggested that underlying individual sensory preferences may contribute substantial explanations for the self-regulatory functions of NSSI, as well as have implications for treatment approaches. In the context of integrating sensory processing models with prominent functional NSSI models, this dissertation research compared sensory preferences in youth who engaged in NSSI to sensory preferences of youth who did not engage in NSSI.

OBJECTIVE: NSSI-engaging youth were hypothesized to have lower threshold sensory …

The Backpack Food Program's Effects On Self-Reported Hunger And On-Task Behavior, Meghan E. Ecker

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Variations of the BackPack Food Program are implemented in cities and states throughout the nation, however little is known regarding the effects that providing this food has on student performance in school. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the BackPack Food Program's effectiveness in combating student's hunger over the weekends and school breaks, thus decreasing student's self-reported hunger levels. Additionally, this study attempted to analyze the program's effects on student's on-task behavior in the classroom. Over the course of three semesters, hunger surveys were evaluated for 82 students and observations of on-task behavior were recorded for 52 students. …

The Relative Effects Of Mindfulness And Values On Therapeutic Relationship: Developing Methods Of Manipulating Alliance, Regan Michelle Slater

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Comfactors research indicates that there is a positive relationship between therapeutic relationship and improved client outcomes. However, little research has been done to examine the nature of this relationship. The current study examined the relationship between mindfulness, values, and working alliance. Participants were 59 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: mindfulness plus values, mindfulness, or control. Depending on condition, participants engaged in a mindfulness plus values exercise, a mindfulness exercise, or a wait control. All participants then engaged in a conversation with the experimenter regarding a recent disagreement. Mindfulness and values connectedness were assessed pre-intervention, …