Clinical Psychology Commons^™

In Whose Best Interest? Using An Experimental Vignette To Assess Factors Influencing Placement Decisions In Child Welfare, Jeff Sieracki

Dissertations

Building on prior research that utilizes clinical vignettes to analyze child welfare placement decisions (Briar, 1963; Britner & Mossler, 2002; Donnelly, 1980; Drury-Hudson, 1999; Gold, et al., 2001; Taylor, 2006), the present study employs an experimental format to assess the relative importance that social workers place on variables related to placement decisions, and to study any differences regarding decision making that may emerge amongst the child welfare professionals themselves. The study consists of a single hypothetical vignette that will be sent to social workers in the state of Illinois. Prior to administration of the questionnaire, multiple experts in the field …

Comparative Validity Of Mmpi-A Scales Scores In African American And Caucasian Male Juvenile Delinquents, Stacy Natasha Wilson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined comparative validity of the MMPI-A scale scores of African American and Caucasian male juvenile delinquents utilizing a step down hierarchical regression procedure proposed by Laughtenschlager & Mendoza (1986). The MMPI-A (Butcher et al., 1992) was administered to 281 African American and Caucasian juvenile delinquents while their caretakers filled out the CBCL (Achenbach, 1991; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) and DBRS (Barkley & Murphy, 1998), which were used as extra-test measures. Significant overall prediction bias was detected in 15 out of 56 regressions. Statistically significant prediction bias was found for a subset of criterion variables for Clinical Scales 2, …

Evaluation Of An Expectancy Challenge Presentation In Reducing High-Risk Alcohol Use Among Greek Affiliated College Students, Abigail Fried

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol consumption and on college campuses has long been a significant problem. The severity of the situation and lack of effective alcohol programming on college campuses warranted the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to commission a Task Force on College Drinking in 2002, which has been vital in revealing drinking patterns and negative consequences which are specific to the college environment. The Task Force proposed three strategies that were empirically validated for prevention and intervention in the college setting. Of the three recommendations, implementing cognitive behavioral skills training and offering motivational enhancement interventions, while proven effective are costly …

Social Comparison, Self-Objectification, And Objectification Of Others Investigating The Vicious Cycle That Leads To Body Dissatisfaction And Disordered Eating, Danielle M. Lindner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test a new theoretical model that integrates self-objectification, objectification of others, and social comparison as contributors to the development and maintenance of body image disturbance and disordered eating behavior. Within the new theoretical model, self-objectification, objectification of others, and social comparison are conceptualized as a self-perpetuating cycle, rather than as processes that occur independently of one another. Four hundred fifty-nine female college students between the ages of 18 and 32 completed measures of self-objectification, objectification of others, social comparison, body shame, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorder symptomatology. Structural equation modeling with nested model …

The Influence Of Treatment Team Cohesion In The Success Of In-Home Mental Health Treatment For Children And Adolescents With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Jaimie C. Orndorff

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Background: The author pursued this area of interest due to having had a positive experience working as a therapist within a high cohesion treatment team in an in-home setting. This experience with a high cohesion team seemed to lead to more successful results than other teams that were deemed low cohesion, in the same format. This experience led to a general curiosity about why the team this author was on was more effective. Additional research allowed this author to determine the possible link between cohesion, success of treatment and reduced risk for burnout, defined as a response to chronic job …

The Phenomenology Of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder From The Perspective Of The Adult Support Group Attendee, Richard R. Thomas Jr.

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative phenomenological dissertation utilizes the empirical descriptive phenomenological method, a modified Husserlian (1931) approach developed by A. P. Giorgi (1975, 1985, 1997) in order to lend voice to a vulnerable population of eight (four men and four women) adult Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) sufferers while also gleaning a greater understanding of their in vivo (or lived) experience. Though extensive quantitative research into the disorder exists, this study utilizes the words of the participants and searches for emergent themes amongst their collective experience. This study addresses the treatment gap of this crippling disorder, increases community awareness, and allows for emergence of …

Psychological Care For Persons Of Diverse Religions: A Collaborative Continuum, Glen Milstein, Anne Marie Yali

Publications and Research

The purpose of this paper is to describe to psychologists and other clinicians a continuum of mental health care for persons of diverse religions. The continuum delineates boundaries between clinical care provided by mental health professionals and religious care provided by clergy, as well as describes pathways of collaboration across these boundaries. A prevention science based model of Clergy Outreach and Professional Engagement (COPE) is offered to guide this collaboration. The model describes a continuum that moves from the care already present in religious communities, through professional clinical care provided in response to dysfunction and returns persons to their own …

Hippocampal And Anterior Cingulate Cortex Volumes In Amnestic And Non-Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Elizabeth R. Tuminello

Master's Theses

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a syndrome thought to fall between cognitively normal aging and dementia. Although much research has investigated the structural neuroimaging correlates of amnestic MCI, little research has been done on the imaging correlates of non-amnestic MCI. Even less research has examined the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a region important in executive functions (EFs), in these patients. This study attempted to address this gap by examining hippocampal and ACC volumes among amnestic and non-amnestic MCI patients and cognitively normal controls. Those with amnestic MCI were expected to have smaller hippocampal volumes than controls and those with non-amnestic …

Neuropsychological Assessment Of Executive Functioning And Its Association With Depressive Symptomology, Erica Jean Kalkut

Dissertations

The current study explored the construct of executive functioning and neuropsychological measurement techniques used to assess executive functioning (EF). Two current comprehensive measures of executive functioning include the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning-Adult Version (BRIEF-A) and the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System (D-KEFS). The BRIEF-A is a self-report questionnaire that reportedly assesses behaviors associated with EF, and the D-KEFS is a battery of tests that are objectively administered by a trained examiner to directly measure different manifestations of EF ability. This study examined the relationship between gender and general intellectual ability on EF and investigated each measure's construct validity in …

The Transition To College And Psychological Outcomes: The Effect Of Identity Development, College Stress, And Activity Involvement On Body Dissatisfaction And Disordered Eating In First-Year College Women, Ashley Marie Rolnik

Master's Theses

The first year of college is an at-risk time period for the development of body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. Thus, it is important to understand the underlying components of the first-year experience - specifically identity development, college stress, and extracurricular activity involvement - that contribute to these psychological disorders. During this developmental time period, first-year students experience many changes and challenges. The goals of the current prospective study are to examine how identity development, college stress, and extracurricular activity involvement affect the development or exacerbation of eating disorders and body dissatisfaction in first-year college women. This longitudinal study aims to …

Do Family Dynamics Mediate The Relationshp Between Early Pubertal Development And Depression For Girls With And Without Spina Bifida?, Rachel Wasserman

Master's Theses

Girls who experience premature puberty have higher levels of depressive symptoms than their peers (Rierdan & Koff, 1991; Hayward et al., 1997). However, girls with spina bifida (SB) experience different psychosocial changes during puberty. This study proposed two longitudinal, mediated moderation models to investigate whether family variables (i.e., parent-child conflict and emotional distancing) contributed to differences in the connection between early pubertal timing and depressive symptoms for girls with and without SB. 62 families (31 SB, 31typically developing) were recruited for a larger longitudinal study. Constructs were assessed subjectively and objectively with the use of questionnaire and observational data. Findings …

Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Clusters And Externalizing Problems In Young Urban African American Adolescents, Maria Ann Horn-Rollins

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between five posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) clusters and two forms of externalizing problems within and across the middle school years in a low income urban sample of young adolescent African Americans. A secondary aim of this study was to explore moderation effects by gender. Total PTSS positively predicted a little over 58% of the cross-sectional externalizing outcomes and uniquely explained between 5 and 12% of the variance in these outcomes over and above gender and exposure to violence. Total PTSS significantly and positively predicted one-third of the longitudinal outcomes and …

Predictors Of Mental Health Outcomes Among Foster Care Children Receiving Community-Based Services, Alison Merri Dunleavy

Master's Theses

Historically, children served in the foster care system experience less favorable mental health outcomes compared to those in the general population (Anctil, McCubbin, & Pecora, 2006; Burns et al., 2004; Garland et al., 2001; Zima, Bussing, Yang, & Berlin, 2000). As a result, the child welfare system has been described as a "de facto public behavioral health care system" (Lyons & Rogers, 2004), prompting state child welfare agencies to seek to put systems and policies in place to serve the needs of these youth, such as Illinios' statewide community-based program, System of Care (SOC), designed to provide multi-modal services to …

Differential Effects Of Personality Disorders On Treatment Outcome For Adult Patients With Adhd, Emily M. Tomer

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Approximately seven million adults meet the diagnostic criteria for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the prevalence rate is between 3.3 and 5.3%; however, these are likely underestimates because the diagnostic criteria are based on those originally devised for children, aged four to 17 years. Not only does this underdiagnosis cause a problem in making an accurate diagnosis, but also the high rate (65-89%) of psychiatric comorbidity complicates the situation, resulting in poorer treatment outcome for individuals with comorbid diagnoses, when compared with those who have no comorbid diagnoses. Therefore, the current study was designed to examine whether or not the …

The Effect Of Homesickness On Air Force Academy Cadets, Earl J. Banning

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

A slightly modified version of the Homesickness Questionnaire (HQ) was administered to 176 Air Force Academy cadets during the spring semester of 2010. Total HQ scores were positively correlated with cadet somatic complaints. Total HQ scores were negatively correlated with cadet Grade Point Average (GPA), but only for male cadets. Factor analysis of the HQ revealed two factors, as in previous studies, disliking the Academy and attachment to home. There were no significant correlations found between cadet HQ total score and Military Performance Average (MPA), Physical Education Average score (PEA), or number of demerits received. Cadets were less likely to …

A Qualitative Study Examining Factors Related To Treatment Adherence In Persons With Long Qt Syndrome, Alison B. Steinhauser

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an electrophysiological disorder of the heart affecting as many as 1 in 2,000 persons. LQTS can result in potentially catastrophic and fatal arrhythmias in infants, children, adolescents, and adults. Maintaining adherence to treatment can decrease these negative outcomes and result in favorable quality of life in this population. The present study utilized a qualitative research design to examine and understand nonadherent and adherent behaviors in persons with LQTS. This study was part of a larger study and used a sample from an existing online LQTS user group message board consisting of 780 international members. A …

Suicide Survivorship Among Lesbians, Amy S. Davis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

It is commonly understood that approximately 10 % of the U.S. population is gay, lesbian, or bisexual. It has been well-documented that gay people face a heightened risk of suicide that is different and more severe than heterosexuals. Although it is known that both suicide attempts and completions are disproportionately higher among gay adolescents than heterosexual ones, there is a paucity of research on the phenomenon of suicide survivorship. Because lesbian adolescents in particular have higher rates of depression, drug or alcohol abuse, and suicidality than heterosexuals, there is a demonstrated need for studies which explore the experiences of lesbian …

The Impact Of Therapeutic Alliance On Outcomes In Parent-Child Dyadic Interventions, Ryan M. Smith

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

An infant’s attachment relationship with primary caregivers has been demonstrated to have a long-term relationship to an individual’s social and emotional functioning throughout the lifespan. Recognizing the critical importance of this period, interventions to facilitate secure attachment are now being evaluated for treatment efficacy. Evaluation of these treatments has typically focused on the components of treatment, examining changes in maternal sensitivity, parental attachment representations, and concrete support to address basic needs, housing, or other contextual factors, and evidence has been found to support the inclusion of these factors. However, little is known regarding what elements of treatment impact the effectiveness …

Promoting Resiliency: Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth In Trauma Clinicians, Christopher Howard

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth (VPG) and Vicarious Traumatization (VT) are two potential outcomes of clinical work with trauma survivors. The aim of this study was to test a predictive model of these constructs, allowing a fuller understanding of preventive strategies clinicians might employ to inoculate themselves against the potential hazards of service provision and provide the highest quality of clinical care. VPG and VT were investigated in 63 self-identified trauma therapists. The results showed that VPG is facilitated by engagement in successful services subsequent to a traumatic event. Self-Care emerged as a poignant buffer against various indices of vicarious traumatization. Other …

The Influence Of Religion And Spirituality On Rehabilitation Outcomes Among Traumatic Brain Injury Survivors, Brigid Waldron-Perrine

Wayne State University Dissertations

The long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury affect millions of Americans, many of whom report using religion and spirituality to cope. Little research, however, has investigated how various elements of the religious and spiritual belief systems affect rehabilitation outcomes. The present study sought to assess the use of specifically defined elements of religion and spirituality as coping resources in a sample of traumatically brain injured adults. Furthermore, various mechanisms by which religion and spirituality may affect outcome were explored.

The sample included 88 adults with brain injury from 1 to 20 years post injury and their knowledgeable significant others (SOs). …