Clinical Psychology Commons^™

A Daily Study Of The Sleep-Pain Relationship In Fibromyalgia, Maren Elizabeth Hyde-Nolan

Wayne State University Dissertations

Fibromyalgia (FM) impacts millions of individuals around the world and is characterized by widespread chronic pain and tenderness as well as nonrestorative sleep, fatigue, and stiffness (Wolfe et al., 1990; Wolfe et al., 2010). Poor sleep quality is reported by more than 90% of individuals with FM, suggesting that sleep disturbance may be a contributing factor to the pain experience (Moldofsky, 2008). Recent reviews of the literature have established the connection between sleep and pain, although the direction of this relationship remains unclear (Finan et al., 2013; Moldofsky, 2001). This dissertation sought to examine the daily relationship between sleep and …

Associations Between Maternal Maltreatment-Specific Shame, Maternal-Infant Interactions, And Infant Emotion Regulation, Rena A. Menke

Wayne State University Dissertations

The current study focuses on maltreatment-specific shame as a potential mechanism by which mothers' histories of childhood maltreatment might influence parenting and infant emotion regulation. Shame is a common reaction to childhood maltreatment, and the persistence of maltreatment-specific shame is associated with psychopathology and other psychosocial problems long after the abuse ends (Andrews, Brewin, Rose, & Kirk, 2000; Feiring, Taska, & Lewis, 2002a; Feiring & Taska, 2005). Despite being associated with psychopathology (e.g., depression, PTSD), shame is a conceptually distinct abuse-specific reaction that can interfere with self and interpersonal development (Feiring, Cleland & Simon, 2010; Feiring, Simon, Cleland, 2009; Feiring, …

Mental Health Service Utilization Among African-American Adolescents, Marilyn Franklin

Wayne State University Dissertations

Underutilization of mental health services by ethnic minorities has been identified as a major public health threat by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2001). Research on ethnic disparities has focused on identifying the sociodemographic correlates of between group differences in treatment attendance. The current study adds to the utilization literature by exploring within group differences amongst a sample of African-American families. Based on extant literature related to treatment utilization in other samples, this study examined the associations between multiple modifiable factors and adolescent treatment engagement amongst 90 African-American caregiver-adolescent dyads.

Consistent with previous research, psychological symptoms, functional …

Peers, Parent-Child Conflict, And Familial History In The Prediction Of Substance Use In College, Angela M. Holth

Departmental Honors Projects

Using a cross-sectional study design, we examined whether peer relationships, parent-child conflict and family history of substance problems predicted substance use (frequency and quantify of alcohol, nicotine and marijuana use, age at first and alcohol and marijuana use, and maximum number of drinks consumed in a 24 hour period) in a sample of college students (N=194). Our findings suggested the following: 1) deviant peers and deviant substance using peers were significantly related to increases in all substance use measures, and a decrease in age at first alcohol, use but not age at first marijuana use. 2) there were no gender …

Effects Of Memantine And One-On-One Caregiver Contact On Antipsychotic Medication Prescribed To Elderly Veterans With Dementia, Abimbola Farinde

Presidential Alumni Research Dissemination Award

The reduction of antipsychotic medications for elderly patients diagnosed with dementia is an important goal for treatment because of the negative side effects and increased mortality risk associated with these drugs. Prior research has suggested the benefit of adding one-on-one caregiver intervention and memantine to a cholinesterase inhibitor protocol to reduce the amount of antipsychotic medication. This research examined the differences between these treatment protocols (cholinesterase inhibitor only and combination therapy) on antipsychotic drug dosage prescribed to 98 elderly male veteran outpatients with dementia. The theoretical foundations for this study are based on the neurochemical model, related to the cholingeric …

Training Law Enforcement In Mental Health: A Broad-Based Model, Rachael Elaine Hatfield

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Police officers respond to many calls involving people suffering from a mental illness; yet many law enforcement training programs and workshops do not include mental health training. A literature review was conducted to explore the problems resulting from the lack of mental health training available for law enforcement officers and identify specialized training programs currently being implemented to address those problems. The review identified several program models being implemented throughout the United States including: Joint Police/Mental Health Team Model, Mobile Crisis Unit Model, Crisis Intervention Team Model, and the Broad-Based Training Model. These models include empirically supported components used to …

Undergraduate Women's Self-Reported Body Image After Exposure To Weight-Related Versus Nonweight-Related Media Images, Casey Elizabeth Swick

Honors Projects

The proposed study aims to determine whether there is a relationship between exposure to weight-related media images and self-reported body image. About 60 undergraduate women at Bowling Green State University will participate in the study. Half of these women will view five weight-related media images and the other half will view five nonweight-related media images. After exposure to either the experimental or control condition, the women will be asked to complete the Body Ideals Questionnaire as well as reveal their age, year in school, race/ethnicity, and number of women’s studies courses taken on a survey. Correlational data will be obtained …

Undergraduate Women's Self-Reported Body Image After Exposure To Weight-Related Versus Nonweight-Related Media Images, Casey Elizabeth Swick

Honors Projects

The proposed study aims to determine whether there is a relationship between exposure to weight-related media images and self-reported body image. About 60 undergraduate women at Bowling Green State University will participate in the study. Half of these women will view five weight-related media images and the other half will view five nonweight-related media images. After exposure to either the experimental or control condition, the women will be asked to complete the Body Ideals Questionnaire as well as reveal their age, year in school, race/ethnicity, and number of women’s studies courses taken on a survey. Correlational data will be obtained …

The Difference In Perception Of Gerotranscendence Between College Students And Healthy, Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Duc Viet Lai

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Within the field of gerontology, some notable attempts to explain the aging process include activity theory, disengagement theory, Erikson's eight stages model, and socioemotional selectivity theory. The theory of gerotranscendence, recently developed by Lars Tornstam (1989), incorporates some aspects of these theories, and seeks to provide an overarching theme to the process of aging. The theory of gerotranscendence explains a shift in meta-perspective that a person experiences as they live, from a more materialistic and pragmatic view of the world to a more cosmic and transcendent one. Corresponding with this shift, the gerotranscendent individual exhibits certain behaviors, some of which …

Symptom Severity, Treatment Acceptability, And Motivational Predictors Related To Patient Improvement For Insomnia, Shelby Marie Afflerbach

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

With the widespread presence of sleep disorders in the United States, especially insomnia, it is pertinent to investigate beliefs that patients have about insomnia, symptom severity, and treatment acceptability in order to assess patients' motivation for behavioral change. Participants in this archival study were thirty-one patients seeking help for sleep-related issues, whom were primarily from a Midwestern metropolitan area. Patients had completed pre-treatment measures that assessed insomnia symptoms, outcomes, treatment acceptability, and willingness to change and one post-treatment measure assessing insomnia outcomes. Because the purpose of the present study was to examine whether these variables predict patient improvement (higher scores …

The Influence Of Father-Child Relationship On Adolescents' Mental Health, Yea Seul Pyun

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is a lack of studies focused on fathers despite of the growing attention on the importance of father's role in children and adolescents' mental health. The current study examined the influence of father-child relationship on marginalized adolescents' internalizing problems and inattentive/hyperactive behaviors. Participants were 48 adolescents recruited through the Youth Voice community program, who completed self-report questionnaires. The results indicated that adolescents who had better relationships with their fathers had lower levels of internalizing problems and inattentive/hyperactive behaviors. Older adolescents had higher symptoms of internalizing problems than younger adolescents. However, age was not associated with internalizing problems and inattentive/hyperactive …

The Initial Response And Behavioral Patterns Exhibited By An Officer To A Weapon Being Drawn In A Traffic Stop Simulation, Samantha Josephine Tupy

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Traffic stops are one of the most frequent forms of interaction between law enforcement officers and civilians. The traffic stop has been referred to as a "routine traffic stop" when it is not a known felonious traffic stop; however, routine would imply that there is a predictable, unchanging, and safe standard that could be systematically applied to every stop. Traffic stops may present many unforeseen dangers, highlighting the importance of thorough training. Ninety-four officer volunteers completed a traffic stop training simulation included in this archival study. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the initial response, as well as …

The Effects Of Geriatric Sexual Orientation On Caregiver Reactions To Resident Sexual Behavior Within Long-Term Care Facilities, Andrew Jonathan Ahrendt

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Within the paucity of literature regarding older adult sexuality, a larger dearth exists concerning biases of long-term care facility staff toward gay and lesbian older adult residents. Prior literature has documented that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) individuals' perceive that they do not receive the same quality of care as that of heterosexual individuals within long-term care facilities. Thus researchers aimed to evaluate whether these biases truly exist within care facilities that can prevent holistic care from being comprehensively provided to everyone regardless of sexual orientation. 153 residential care facility staff members from two separate facilities read one of …

African American Families' Expectations And Intentions For Mental Health Services, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Richard Thompson, Barbara L. Dancy, Tisha R. A. Wiley, Sylvia P. Perry, Jason Wallis, Yara Mekawi, Kathleen Knafl

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

A cross-sectional qualitative descriptive design was used to examine the links among expectations about, experiences with, and intentions toward mental health services. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 32 African American youth/mothers dyads. Content analysis revealed that positive expectations were linked to positive experiences and intentions, that negative expectations were not consistently linked to negative experiences or intentions, nor were ambivalent expectations linked to ambivalent experiences or intentions. Youth were concerned about privacy breeches and mothers about the harmfulness of psychotropic medication. Addressing these concerns may promote African Americans’ engagement in mental health services.

Psychopathy And The Hexaco Personality Model, M. Todd Lobrano

Doctoral Dissertations

Within the recently published DSM-5, alternative diagnostic criteria for personality disorders have been offered (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). These changes allow for a more dimensional diagnostic system than has been previously used while maintaining some aspects of a categorical system (Skodol et al., 2011). These changes also include a description of specific traits that characterize personality disorders and make it possible for measures of normal personality to have a more significant impact in their diagnosis. Relevant to the present study are the changes in the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy, considered by many to be an extreme …

Adult Attachment And Emotion Identification: A Cognitive Evaluation, Jennifer F. Barron

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Whether adult or infant, attachment bonds aid in the development of beliefs about oneself and others (Collins & Read, 1990; Hazen & Shaver, 1987). Additionally, attachment seems to play a vital role in human development, communication, emotion recognition and comprehension, and the development of appropriate mental representations of emotional experiences (Denham et al., 2002; Greg & Howe, 2001; Raikes & Thompson, 2006). Because attachment is considered a somewhat stable trait, it seems logical that the importance of emotional experiences would not be limited to childhood, and would be important in establishing and maintaining healthy adult relationships (Kerr, Melley, Travea, & …

Help-Seeking Attitudes In India: The Role Of Religion, Intergroup Anxiety, Collective Self-Esteem, & Emotional Intelligence, Ashlee M. Beck

Masters Theses

The present study examined religious differences in help-seeking attitudes, intergroup anxiety, collective self-esteem, and emotional intelligence in Hindus and non-Hindus in India. Data were collected from 55 participants, who were predominantly students at either University of Mumbai or St. John's College Agra. Of these participants, 38 were Hindu and 17 were non-Hindu. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Inventory of Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services, the Intergroup Anxiety Scale, the Collective Self-Esteem Scale, and the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test. Statistical analyses were computed using t tests for independent means, correlational analyses, and descriptive statistics. The results of these …

Personality Traits And Character Strengths As Predictors Of Well-Being, Carissa Johnsen

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how character strengths (i.e., positive characteristics about a person that can be developed) can predict subjective well-being above and beyond personality. Although the relationship between personality and well-being is well-understood, there is little research done comparing personality and character strengths and how character strengths may provide added value in predicting subjective well-being. Thus, the present study sought to examine whether character strengths will predict subjective well-being above and beyond personality. Two-hundred and thirty seven participants responded to scales measuring each person's personality traits, character strengths, satisfaction with life, …

Exploration Of The Relationship Between Schizotypal Traits And Well-Being, James Ciulla

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the construct of schizotypy and whether or not it may have benefits within different conceptions of psychological health, or well-being. Schizotypy is a construct that emerged around the turn of the 20th century. It had historically incorporated aspects later reclassified under other areas of dysfunction, or relegated to social value judgment, and is currently the cause of some debate in the field (Acar & Sen, 2013; Carson, 2011; Farias, Underwood & Claridge, 2013; Kendler, 1985; Tsakanikos & Claridge, 2005; Vollema & van den Bosch, 1995). There has been little research done on …

Differences In Mental Health Treatment Recommendations For Older And Younger Adults, Michelle M. Smith

Masters Theses

Failure to meet geriatric mental health needs is increasingly problematic. Research indicates that the problem is not simply a matter of insufficient numbers of mental health practitioners (MHPs), but also ageist attitudes and lack of knowledge about and training with older adults. The current study reviews the literature regarding knowledge about older people, education and training that mental health professionals receive, and the attitudes that are held by mental health professionals. The study also assessed for differences in treatment recommendations that MHP made for older versus younger clients, investigated whether MHP knowledge about the mental health of older adults, attitudes …