Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Substance Use And Subclinical Psychosis Symptoms, Kelsey Hurm

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Research shows that there may be a connection between substance use and the expression of positive psychosis symptoms, most notably delusions and hallucinations (Stefanis, et al. 2004). While substances such as marijuana have received the most attention in the literature (e.g., Grech et aI.., 2005), other substances such as stimulants (e.g., Curran et aI., 2004), tobacco (e.g., Baeza et aI., 2009), and alcohol (e.g., Compton et aI., 2009) have been implicated in exacerbating the risk of psychosis onset. Further, there is mounting evidence that many psychiatric disorders are not discrete categories but rather the tails of dimensions distributed in the …

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Rural Pediatric Primary Care Practice Patterns As A Result Of An On-Site Behavioral Health Consultant: A Retrospective Analysis, Kayla D. Mccarter

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nationally, it has been estimated that 10 to 21% of children with psychosocial concerns are seen in primary care settings (Jellinek et al., 1999; McInerny, Szilagyi, Childs, Wasserman & Kelleher, 2000; Palermo et al., 2002). Often, however, children go undiagnosed with/treated for psychosocial concerns in pediatric primary care due to lack of physician time and poor referral rates to mental health providers. Evaluations of integrated care models, in which a behavioral health consultant is present in primary care practices, has shown to increase the availability of mental health services (Stancin, Perrin, & Ramirez, 2009). Using extant data from patient records …

Intrusive And Deliberate Rumination Predict Posttraumatic Growth In Members Enrolled In A Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Program, Erika Jade Gerwe

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Posttraumatic growth (PTG) can be defined as the experience of positive change, or psychological growth, that occurs as a result of a highly challenging life event or crisis (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Given that over one-third of the American population lives with some form of cardiovascular disease (American Heart Association, 2011), promoting posttraumatic growth in this population may promote more successful adaptation and coping and may serve to reduce morbidity and mortality (Affleck, 1987). Thus, the present study investigated the predictors of posttraumatic growth in a cardiac rehabilitation setting at rehabilitation entrance (PTG1) and exit (PTG2) and examined change in …

The Effect Of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy On Caregiver Rigidity, Job Satisfaction And Childhood Misbehavior, Victoria Tackett Riley

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

This research studied the effects of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) training in a residential care facility for children with histories of maltreatment. Initially, five direct care staff were trained to provide an adapted version of PCIT to a randomly assigned child in the facility. The goal was to improve staff’s interactions with the children in their care and increase job satisfaction while decreasing the instances of misbehavior among those children. Data was recorded four times (pre, during, and post intervention) to assess the efficacy of the intervention and included completion of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI), the Rigidity scale …

Differential Extinction Of Disgust And Anxiety Among Victims Of Sexual Traumatization, Christal Badour

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Emerging evidence suggests that in addition to fear, traumatic event-related disgust reactions may be integral to understanding the sequelae of sexual traumatization. Importantly, evidence broadly suggests compared to fear, disgust may be resistant to extinction. As such, conditioned disgust reactions may not evidence the same pattern of extinction observed with fear-based reactions. This may have important implications for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As such, the current study sought to fill an important gap in the existing literature by examining specific processes and mechanisms that are likely to affect outcomes of exposure-based interventions following sexual traumatization. Specifically, 72 …

Responding To Trauma: Help-Seeking Behavior And Posttraumatic Growth In A College Sample, Aaron J. Burrick

Honors Scholar Theses

Research indicates that traumatic experiences can impact college students’ mental health, academic abilities, and relationships with peers. Trauma and associated symptoms of PTSD can lower students’ well-being and increase the risk of withdrawing from the university. Research also emphasizes the importance of psychological help-seeking as a way to experience posttraumatic growth. This study examines traumatic experiences, help-seeking attitudes, barriers, and behaviors, and posttraumatic growth in a sample of 168 undergraduate college students. Results indicated an overwhelming preference for informal help-seeking resources and the importance of traumatic severity in the decision to seek help. Additionally, female participants reported greater traumatic severity …

A Resilient Warrior: Coping Positively With Combat Stress Exposure, William Stallard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to explore and examine coping with combat stress exposure in a homogeneous group of 132 U.S. Marines who served in Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom, and who self-reported that they were coping positively. A mixed methods concurrent triangulation strategy was employed with positive psychology as the quantitative theoretical base and Husserlian transcendental phenomenology as the qualitative conceptual framework. Quantitatively, hardiness, hope, social support, personality, and coping strategies were assessed in the participants to examine how these variables may moderate or mediate the relationship between combat stress exposure and subjective well-being. Five hypotheses were …

The Influence Of Bystanders In Subsequent Bullying Behavior, Jenny Lane Morris

Dissertations

Aggression that is targeted towards an individual or a group of individuals who is at a disadvantage to respond is known by several terms in the literature, including bullying, harassment, and mobbing. There has been much interest in this sort of targeted aggression among school-aged children and, therefore, a large body of literature on the topic exists. In adult populations, especially in workplace environments, much research has focused on the respective roles of the victim and bully in this adverse social dynamic, with less information available on the role of the bystander, which has emerged as an important part of …

A Guide For The Psychosocial Treatment Of Infertility, Linnea Esselstrom

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Infertility is a growing area of the medical field and a common problem experienced by couples and individuals during their lifetime. Stress is known to decrease fertility in men and women, and may also impact fertility treatment outcomes. Psychological burden is associated with treatment discontinuation, due to the physical and emotional stress associated with the personal, social, and medical aspects of infertility. A review of the research literature was conducted to examine the impact of infertility on social and psychological domains, as well as identify the relationship between stress, distress, and infertility, to inform how mental health services may improve …

Supporting Positive Parent-Toddler Relationships And Reducing Toddler Tantrums: Evaluation Of Pcat-E, Tara M. Sjuts

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

At the most fundamental level, a positive parent-child relationship is the foundation of child success. However, the toddler period may present difficulties for the parent-child relationship. As toddlers explore their autonomy, they challenge parents with noncompliance and temper tantrums, which may be difficult for the parent-child relationship. This study examined the impact of an extension of Parent-Child Attunement Therapy (Parent Child Attunement Therapy – Enhanced; PCAT-E) on parenting behaviors, toddler tantrum behaviors, and the parent-toddler relationship. This extension featured eight individual didactic and coaching sessions with parent-child dyads focused on teaching positive parenting skills, effective commands, and emotion language modeling. …

Event-Related Potential Correlates Of Social And Nonsocial Cognitive Processes Related To Schizotypy, Charles A. Davidson

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Social cognitive, neurocognitive, and social functioning research in serious mental illness (SMI) have recently proliferated. Their synergy requires translational bridges to applied research. This project aims to develop a measurement protocol capable of measuring independent components of social cognitive and neurocognitive brain functioning. These brain processes should each vary systematically with schizotypal traits whose extremes represent core elements of psychotic disorders. The measurement technology must be affordable, efficient, and acceptable for use in clinical settings.

An ERP protocol was developed that incorporates an array of candidate measures. The stimuli consist of emotional (angry and happy), neutral, and scrambled (non-face comparison) …

The Effects Of Alcohol Intoxication And Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies On Lab-Based Partner Aggression, Laura E. Watkins

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Intimate partner aggression (IPA) is a serious national health concern that affects an alarming number of individuals and can lead to substantial psychological and physical suffering. Situational risk factors that arise in the immediate context of IPA reflect state-like influences that trigger aggression. Because these factors are more variable and fluctuate according to the situation, they are potentially promising targets for prevention and intervention efforts (e.g., through cognitive and behavioral interventions). Within this realm, two factors in particular appear to play a prominent role in the etiology of IPA: alcohol intoxication and cognitive emotion regulation strategies. In contrast to prior …

Who Will Defy Authority? Personality Features And Destructive Obedience In The Milgram Paradigm, Ashton Caroline Southard

Dissertations

The present study examined the potential role of individual differences in personality in the likelihood of engaging in destructive obedience to authority within a modified version of the Stanley Milgram paradigm (Milgram, 1963, 1974). Personality features examined included the Big Five dimensions of agreeableness, openness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and extraversion, and the dimensions of the Dark Triad, which consist of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Participants were 39 undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology classes who participated in exchange for partial fulfillment of a research requirement. Data were collected in two phases. Phase 1 consisted of online completion of …

Co-Worry In Friendship Dyads, Michelle H. Goldstein

Honors Scholar Theses

Anxiety disorders increase in prevalence from childhood into adulthood. Although cognitive theories are prominent in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety, peer relationships are emerging as salient interpersonal risk factors. This study investigates the effects of specific interpersonal interchanges on anxiety symptoms in college students. 60 undergraduates attended the experiment with a same-sex best friend, and were randomly assigned to the co-worry or neutral conversation condition. Each person completed self-report measures of state anxiety, negative affect and positive affect prior to and following an 8-minute conversation about self-generated worry topics such as exams or neutral topics such as the weather. …

Traumatic Life Events And Symptoms Of Anxiety: Moderating Effects Of Adaptive Versus Maladaptive Coping Strategies, Alishia Foster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The experience of trauma is prevalent among young adult college students and is often associated with poor mental health outcomes such as symptoms of anxiety. Not all individuals who have experienced trauma, however, develop anxiety, perhaps due to individual-level adaptive characteristics, such as use of adaptive rather than maladaptive coping strategies. Yet, little research has examined the interrelationships between the experience of trauma, specific types of coping strategies, and subclinical anxiety symptoms. A sample of 915 undergraduate students completed self-report measures of trauma, coping strategies, and anxiety symptoms. We hypothesized that traumatic life events would be associated with anxiety symptoms, …

The Effect Of Ovulation As A Male Mating Prime On Drinking And Other Mating Behaviors, Robin Tan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A recent line of research grounded in evolutionary theory has shown that exposure to women's fertility cues affects men's mating cognition and behavior. This area of research has not yet been examined in relation to alcohol. As alcohol has also been shown to facilitate the formation of sexual connections for males, establishing the intersection between these two lines of research seems necessary to understand the impetus behind human behavior. Ninety-eight male participants were primed with either the scent of a fertile woman or the scent of nonfertile woman and then completed measures assessing their level of attraction to pictures of …

Can Cognitive Priming Influence The Reinforcing Efficacy Of Alcohol Within A Behavioral Economic Framework?, Lauren J. Adams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A considerable body of research supports the application of behavioral economic principles to study the relative reinforcing efficacy of drug and alcohol use. One self-report measure, the Alcohol Purchase Task, is thought to account for individual differences in the subjective valuation of alcohol consumption. To date, however, behavioral economic approaches have not evaluated the possible influence of memory-based expectations regarding the cognitive and behavioral effects of substance use on their measures. Alcohol expectancy research has found that more positive expectancies about the effects alcohol directly mediate drinking behavior and are associated with a number of alcohol-related outcomes. Given the importance …

Psychometric Evaluation Of A Standardized Set Of Alcohol Cue Photographs To Assess Craving, David Edison Lovett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To date, research paradigms using alcohol-related stimuli have been limited in their reliability and generalizability due to a lack of published studies examining the psychometric properties of alcohol cues. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the factor structure of a set of alcohol cues and the associated validity and reliability of examining craving for alcohol in an alcohol cue-reactivity paradigm. Participants (N = 195, 74.4% male, 56.4% Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander) completed a web-based survey in which valence, arousal, and craving ratings were obtained following presentation of picture cues. Prior to picture cues, participants …

The Impact Of Experiential Avoidance On The Relationships Among Military Sexual Trauma, Excessive Behaviors, And Health-Related Outcomes In Female Veterans, Natalie Kate Nugent

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Military Sexual Trauma (MST) as defined in United States Public Law, refers to inappropriate sexual conduct, assault, or harassment experienced by a military service member during his or her course of active duty or active duty for training (38 U.S.C. § 1720D). MST has emerged as a distinct form of trauma, resulting in different and often more severe sequelae than other forms of civilian sexual assault and/or non-sexual trauma. This study sought to explore the potential moderating and mediating roles of experiential avoidance on the relationship between MST and health outcomes in an attempt to identify a unifying mechanism through …