Clinical Psychology Commons^™

Affective Language And Attitudes Toward Public Policy, Rachel A. Wolitzky

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation project focused on affective and unconscious processes involved in the evaluation of public policy. It follows recent scholarship in political psychology showing how the response to political messages depends greatly on what values and emotions are evoked. Of particular focus has been the notable discrepancy between the conscious way people construe their political judgments and the unconscious operations that more truly account for their views and actions. Motivated by a neuroscientific and psychoanalytic model of the mind and brain that recognizes both the pre-eminence of unconscious (implicit) processing and the primacy of affect in mind (brain) activity, this …

The Neurodevelopment Of Basic Sensory Processing And Integration In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Alice Brown Brandwein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis presents three studies that together explore the neurophysiological basis for the sensory processing and integration abnormalities that have been observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) since the disorder was first described over half a century ago. In designing these studies we seek to fill a hole that currently exists in the research community‟s knowledge of the neurodevelopment of basic multisensory integration -- both in children with autism and as well as in those with typical development. The first study applied event related potentials (ERPs) and behavioral measures of multisensory integration to a large group of healthy participants ranging …

Physiological Correlates Of Emotion Regulation In Depersonalization Disorder, Kai-Mosadi Monde

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Depersonalization disorder (DPD), is an often debilitating DSM V psychiatric disorder characterized by feelings of detachment from the self or others as well as emotional blunting or numbness. Subjective and physiological evidence of decreased emotional arousal may suggest impaired emotion regulation abilities. Deficits in emotional processing of DPD may be the result of dysregulated cortisol and oxytocin levels, however oxytocin levels have never been assessed in DPD. In this series of studies, we aimed to investigate the physiological correlates of emotion regulation in depersonalization disorder. In experiment 1, DPD patients and a normal control group subjectively enhanced and suppressed emotion …

A Longitudinal Study Of The Bidirectional Relations Between Internalizing Symptoms And Peer Victimization In Urban Adolescents, Tess Drazdowski

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the bidirectional relations between anxious and depressive symptoms and two forms of peer victimization (i.e., overt and relational) within a sample of 358 predominantly African-American adolescents living in low-income urban areas across four years. Longitudinal path analyses tested progressively complex models for each type of victimization. For both overt and relational victimization the autoregressive model where only previous levels of each construct predicted future levels of the construct was the most parsimonious explanation. The best fitting model for both types of peer victimization suggested that internalizing symptoms helped to further explain future …

A Pilot Study On The Effects Of Exercise On Depression Symptoms Using Levels Of Neurotransmitters And Eeg As Markers, Timothy H. Barclay, Scott Richards, James Schoffstall, Chad Magnuson, Christine Mcphee, Josh Price, Stephen Aita, Audrey Anderson, Dan Johnson, Jerry Price

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Context: The prescribing of exercise by physicians has become a popular practice, yet the effectiveness of exercise on symptoms of depression is difficult to determine due to a lack of randomized controlled trials with clinical populations. Reports also indicate that only a small percentage of physicians advise their patients regarding exercise and confusion still exists as to how much and what types are best. Aims: To understand the mechanisms that make exercise a viable treatment in depression. Settings and Design: This study employed a six‑week, two group, single‑level trial, pre‑ and posttest design using self‑report of symptoms, blood …

Responsible Self-Stewardship For Counselor And Counselee Well-Being, Lisa S. Sosin

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This column, published in the Center for Counseling and Family Studies Quarterly e-magazine, provides information on responsible self-stewardship for counselor and counselee well-being. This edition covers the use of process notes to help counselors recognize and responsibly manage personal reactions that could potentially interfere with successful treatment. A case study and implications are provided.

The Neurobiology Of Burnout: A Christ-Centered Perspective On Managing Stress, Fear And Depression For Optimal Teaching And Functioning, Lisa S. Sosin

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation focuses on developing a bio-psycho-social-spiritual toolbox for effectively managing stress, fear, and depression to support optimal teaching and functioning. Learning outcomes for the presentation include describing the neurobiology of burn out, exploring responses to stressful situations found in the Scriptures, practicing using tools introduced in the presentation to help regulate stress, fear, and depression, and applying content and skills taught in the presentation to develop a personal bio-psycho-social-spiritual toolbox for effectively managing stress, fear, and depression.

Dimensions Of Grace, Rodger K. Bufford, Timoth Sisemore, Amanda Blackburn

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

No abstract provided.

Measurement Invariance Between Genders On Two Measures Of Borderline Personality Disorder, Amy Paggeot

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Gender bias in the diagnosis and assessment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) has been the subject of much controversy in the psychological research literature. Evidence regarding differential prevalence rates and diagnostic rates in clinical settings between genders has been mixed, and measurement bias is one potential explanation for these mixed findings. Measurement invariance (MI) is considered a prerequisite for comparing group means on any measure or latent construct. Two structured clinical interviews of BPD were subjected to sequential CFAs to evaluate MI between genders. The SCID-II BPD Scale (First, Gibbon, Spitzer, Williams, & Benjamin, 1997) was found to be measurement …

Identity-Related Dysfunction: Integrating Clinical And Developmental Perspectives, Erin A. Kaufman, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Sheila E. Crowell

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Recent changes to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders highlight the importance of identity dysfunction within several psychiatric diagnoses. Despite a long-standing tradition of identity research and theory in the developmental literature, there is limited work establishing intersections between clinical and developmental conceptualizations of identity problems. The relative lack of integration between decades of clinical and developmental work is unfortunate, and likely limits progress in both areas. In this commentary, the authors argue for greater interdisciplinary collaboration and highlight contributions from developmental and clinical theories, which, if integrated, could enhance identity scholarship. The developmental psychopathology …

Marital Adjustment In Parents Of Multiple Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Rachel Mills

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated the relationship between raising multiple children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and martial adjustment and whether perceived social support moderates this relationship. The sample (n = 115) consisted of 77 parents of a single child diagnosed with an ASD and 44 parents of 2 or more children diagnosed with an ASD. There was no significant difference in martial adjustment between the parents of single versus multiple children with ASDs and no significant relationship between number of children with an ASD within a family and marital adjustment. Although the main hypotheses were not supported, data from experimental …

Stress: The Development And Influence On Self-Identity, Earl Grey

2010-2016 Archived Posters

Using a grounded theory methodology and constantcomparative analysis, the investigator sought to develop an empirical understanding of the experience of stress and its influence on identity development. The 23 participants, who did not meet criteria for a DSM-IV-TR diagnoses, received 10 - 60 minutes sessions of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing treatment (EMDR). EMDR treatment targets stressful memories and elicits recall of thoughts, imagery, emotions, and physical body sensations related to the stressful experience. The data from video recorded sessions provided holistic information regarding each participant’s experience and recall of stressful events. The results yielded thematic developmental patterns of thoughts, …

Professional Missionary, Amateur Father: Using Missiological Principles And Family Systems Theory To Raise An Emotionally Healthy Family., David R. Dunaetz, Stephen S. Lambert

Selected Faculty Publications

Missionary fathers are sometimes better equipped to undertake the missionary task than to be successful husbands and fathers in stressful, cross-cultural contexts. This paper examines several missiological principles which are congruent with family systems theory that can help missionary fathers ensure the success of their family life.

Is Burnout A Depressive Disorder? A Reexamination With Special Focus On Atypical Depression, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Whether burnout and depression cover the same psychopathology remains to be elucidated. To date, subtypes of depression have been overlooked in research on the burnout–depression overlap. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of depressive disorders in workers with burnout while examining the overlap of burnout with the atypical subtype of depression. The present study included 5,575 schoolteachers (mean age = 41 years; 78% female). Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Depression was measured with the 9-item depression scale of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Atypical features of depression were examined using a dedicated module, referenced to …

Religiosity-Spirituality And Risky Drinking Over The Transition To College: A Multi-Wave Longitudinal Study, Brian J. Klassen

Wayne State University Dissertations

Although the relationship between religiosity-spirituality and risky alcohol use is one of the most frequently studied topics in mental health, relatively little is known about how these variables relate to each other over time, especially during specific developmental periods such as the transition from high school to college. This study analyzed three waves of self-report data collected from a sample (N=623) of college students over a two-year period. Analyses examined (1) the stability of religiosity-spirituality and risky drinking over the transition to college, (2) the magnitude and direction of relationships between religiosity-spirituality and risky drinking, (3) the degree to which …

Coping Similarity And Psychosocial Risk Factors In Couples With Chronic Pain, Amy M. Williams

Wayne State University Dissertations

Chronic pain is an important public health problem that is associated with a host of negative individual and relationship outcomes. Chronic pain is a chronic stressor that both the individual in pain and their spouse must cope with. The current study examined how pain coping similarity within the couple predicted not only patient adjustment, but also spouse adjustment in a longitudinal study. Participants were 108 heterosexual couples in which one partner had chronic pain. The participants completed measures at 3 time points at 6 month intervals. Both the patient and spouse individually completed questionnaires pertaining to their marriage, mood, pain …

An Analysis Of Self: The Development And Assessment Of A Measure Of Selfobject Needs, Eamonn Arble

Wayne State University Dissertations

The theory of self psychology as advanced by Heinz Kohut (1971, 1977, 1984) emphasized the importance of early developmental experiences, most centrally, the empathic attunement of caregivers as key nutrients for fostering the capacity for healthy self-regulation and interpersonal relations. Kohut elaborated three critical selfobject needs (i.e., idealizing, mirroring, and twinship) that were ideally satiated by these early experiences, deeming the fulfillment of these needs as essential for developing a healthy sense of self, capable of sustaining ambitions, self-soothing, and caring for others and oneself. In the case of psychopathology, these needs were theorized to have gone unmet, leaving the …

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 …