Clinical Psychology Commons^™

The Influence Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Binge Eating In A Demographically Diverse Us Community Sample, Jessica H. Habashy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has had profound effects among many individuals with or at risk for eating disorders. The most common primary eating disorder is binge eating disorder which has uniquely reflected more similarities than differences among diverse populations compared to other eating disorder classifications. Considering the upsurge of prevalence rates of eating disorders during the pandemic, it is important to assess the rate of binge eating across the demographic strata to gain a better understanding of who is impacted and provide healing to those who are suffering. Screening for binge eating features across the United States (US) using …

Psychopathy And Moral Decision Making, Dimitra Kourtesi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the 1800s, psychopathy has been regarded as the absence of morality. The goal of our study was to explore whether psychopathic traits can affect the moral decision-making process in sacrificial moral dilemmas. Participants completed multiple self-report measures of psychopathic traits, utilitarian tendencies, and 16 sacrificial moral dilemma vignettes. After each hypothetical vignette, participants decided whether they believed it was morally right, permissible, and whether they behaviorally intended to sacrifice one person to save five people. Positive correlations emerged among all variables, which allowed us to perform a mediation analysis. Instrumental Harm – the idea of sacrificing one individual to …

Case Trial Evaluations Of An Optimization Approach To Mental Health And Sport Performance For Adolescent Athletes, Dereck Davy Phrathep

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation will consist of five chapters – an introduction (Chapter 1), three original empirical studies (Chapters 2-4), and a conclusion (Chapter 5). Chapter 2 was accepted for publication by the Sport Social Work Journal (Phrathep et al., 2022a). Chapter 3 was accepted for publication by Clinical Case Studies (Phrathep et al., 2022b). Chapter 4 was accepted for publication by Frontiers in Sports and Active Living (Phrathep et al., 2023). These three manuscripts are linked by a primary interest in the evaluation of an optimization approach as an efficacious intervention for optimizing mental health and sport performance among adolescent athletes …

The Role Of Cognitive Dysfunction In Late-Life Depression, Matthew Schurr

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Depression is one of the most common psychiatric concerns in older adults. Because of the intersection of biological, emotional, social, and cognitive factors that are at play in depression, symptoms are often heterogeneous in presence and severity. In combination with the expected changes in cognitive abilities as one ages, late-life depression can be additive to these changes. The higher risks of neurodegenerative processes and vascular events in later life can cause, magnify, or accelerate cognitive decline. As such, individuals with late-life depression often present with a complex array of problems that can impact cognition and functioning, and thus complicate the …

Understanding The Role Of Discrimination In The Experience Of Traumatic Stress In Latine, Michelle Strong

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction. Research has found that low provider culture knowledge leads to poor mental health outcomes for Latine clients (Duke et al., 2011). Further, the 2017 APA Multicultural Guidelines emphasize the need for clinicians and researchers to conceptualize clinical and empirical data from a culturally competent lens, especially considering clinician and researcher bias while understanding a psychological phenomenon. Despite this, limited research exists categorizing the unique factors that affect mental health symptoms among Latine living in the United States (U.S.) especially as it pertains to trauma stress and discrimination (Marmot, 2005; Nadal, 2018). As such, the current study used meditational statistical …

Exploring The Everyday Inner Experience Of Grapheme-Color Synesthetes, Cody Michio Kaneshiro

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Synesthesia is a rare, multivariant condition where the stimulation of one sensory or cognitive sense induces extraordinary inner experiences. Grapheme-color synesthesia is a kind of synesthesia where the presentation of letters and/or numbers induce automatic, directly apprehended color phenomena within synesthetes (i.e., individuals with synesthesia). Despite synesthesia’s being defined by remarkable color experiences, first-person investigations that directly study synesthetes’ inner experience are rare. We used descriptive experience sampling (DES) to describe the everyday inner experience of six grapheme-color synesthetes, each sampled for from 6 to 14 sampling days. Our idiographic findings showed that the salient features of each individual participant’s …

Associations Between Coping Style And Perceptions Of Web-Delivered Physical Activity Messages Among Women In Midlife With Cardiovascular Health Risks, Kristen Pasko

Theses and Dissertations

Midlife women are at unique risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and benefit from increasing physical activity (PA). Many PA interventions involve social support, though fail to address related processes such as social comparison. Desire for specific types of social support and comparison may represent emotion-focused versus problem-solving coping, though little is known about women’s preferences for/responses to these coping opportunities. The present study examined women’s selections of PA content in a digital environment. Over 7 days, women in midlife ≥1 CVD risk factor (N = 60, MAge = 50.70, SD = 5.89) wore a PA monitor and visited a proprietary …

Developing A Fair And Interpretable Representation Of The Clock Drawing Test For Mitigating Low Education And Racial Bias., Jiaqing Zhang, Sabyasachi Bandyopadhyay, Faith Kimmet, Jack Wittmayer, Kia Khezeli, David J. Libon, Catherine C Price, Parisa Rashidi

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

The clock drawing test (CDT) is a neuropsychological assessment tool to screen an individual's cognitive ability. In this study, we developed a Fair and Interpretable Representation of Clock drawing test (FaIRClocks) to evaluate and mitigate classification bias against people with less than 8 years of education, while screening their cognitive function using an array of neuropsychological measures. In this study, we represented clock drawings by a priorly published 10-dimensional deep learning feature set trained on publicly available data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS). These embeddings were further fine-tuned with clocks from a preoperative cognitive screening program …

Religion And Social Support As Protective Factors Among African American Women Sexually Abused As Children, Vanessa K. Tower

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a worldwide public health issue. Although CSA has been researched internationally, research on African American women who self-report CSA remains limited. Utilizing secondary data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a quantitative study was conducted to explore whether religion and social support were related and differed as a function of CSA presence versus absence among African American women between ages 33 and 43. This study was grounded in resiliency theory, which is rooted in the study of adversity and is a strength based approach. A cross-comparative correlation design was conducted. Religion …

Self-Harm In Female Youth With Undiagnosed Adhd: Implementing American Academy Of Pediatrics Screening Guidelines, Roselie M. Woodard

Dissertations

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. If undiagnosed or untreated, ADHD can lead to severe psychosocial issues such as academic failure, substance abuse, unplanned pregnancy, and incarceration. The financial burden in the U.S. from diagnostic errors creates an immense, rising fiscal impact. Early diagnosis and management are crucial to prevent these complications.

Females with ADHD, particularly those with the inattentive subtype, often face diagnostic challenges due to symptom masking and over-compensation. This results in poorer cognitive functioning and self-esteem compared to males with ADHD. ADHD is linked to autonomic nervous …

Divine Retribution, Anna Payne

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Sexual abuse has always been an issue in all cultures throughout the world and history. Easton et al. delved into the problems of barriers to disclosing child sexual abuse with 460 male participants which showed that 61.7% of them reported CSA at the hands of a priest. As that study was conducted, Helsel and McCormack tackled the effects of CSA on the nervous system and psyche. While religion is used as a coping mechanism, it is also a tool for maltreatment from clergy sexually abusing children to parents seeking ways to rid the child of demons. There have been over …

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of The Psi-4-Sf In Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Paige Weir

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The factor structure of the Parenting Stress Index - Short Form (PSI-4-SF) was evaluated among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two hypotheses were tested: (1) the original PSI-4-SF model would yield an unsatisfactory fit, and (2) a three-factor alternative model would improve fit compared to the original and other models. A sample of 205 parent-child dyads was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with the lavaan package in R Studio. Preliminary analyses included descriptive statistics, normality checks, and assessments of skewness and kurtosis. Results supported the first hypothesis, showing poor fit indices for the original PSI-4-SF model. …

Predicting Changes In Accommodation Throughout Pediatric Intensive Outpatient Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Rachel S. Inabata

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Family systems play an integral role in the development and maintenance of mental health disorders. In the context of pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), accommodation is a common interpersonal phenomenon in which families may unwittingly reinforce symptoms and avoidance behavior of the patient. Treatments for severe pediatric OCD such as intensive outpatient programs (IOP) often involve family to reduce accommodation. Little research has investigated baseline symptoms as predictors of change in accommodation in IOP contexts serving patients with high-acuity OCD. The current study examined the role of baseline OCD, anxiety, depression, and functional impairment in changes in accommodation throughout OCD treatment …

Case Report Of A Brief Modular Anxiety Intervention For Integrated Primary Care: Addressing Clinician Feasibility Concerns And Barriers To Using Manualized Treatments, Katherine Buckheit, Robyn L. Shepardson, Luke Mitzel, Risa B. Weisberg, Stephen A. Maisto, Jennifer Funderburk

The Journal of Integrated Primary Care

Individuals with anxiety symptoms commonly present in primary care settings and prefer behavioral health (versus pharmacotherapy) treatment, but behavioral health interventions are underutilized. Primary care behavioral health (PCBH) models, in which embedded behavioral health providers deliver behavioral treatment in primary care, may help address the gap in provision of anxiety treatment. However, evidence-based anxiety treatment options feasible for delivery in primary care are limited, and clinicians often report concerns about using manualized interventions. Recent recommendations by the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to increase anxiety screening among adults in primary care may result in increased identification of individuals with anxiety …

Navigating Identity: An Examination Of Intersectional Discrimination And Suicidal Ideation Among Lgbq Latinx Individuals, Jaclyn Pachicano

Dissertations (1934 -)

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, with LGBQ Latinx adults showing higher risk for suicidality and related mental health outcomes. Experiences of discrimination, including heterosexism and ethnic discrimination, are often connected to increased risk for suicidal ideation. In addition to intersectional experiences of discrimination, LGBQ Latinx people often feel an incompatibility between their sexuality and ethnic identity, known as conflicts in allegiances (CIA), possibly increasing risk of suicidal ideation. It remains unclear what mechanisms connect intersectional discrimination and suicidal ideation. The current study expands on intersectional research by utilizing the Interpersonal Theory of …

Alcohol And The Resulting Consequences Of Delirium Tremens, Nicasio L. Santos

2024 Symposium

Alcohol is a depressant drug, inhibiting the function of the central nervous system (CNS) and neurons in the mind (Greenberg, 1953). This results in physiological effects that are typical of an inhibited CNS; slowing of the heartbeat and breathing, and decreasing blood pressure (Scorzelli & Chaudhry, 2009). However, this inhibition of both the CNS and the neural chemistry develops a tolerance, and in turn withdrawal symptoms (Polli et al., 2023). These withdrawal symptoms are the inverse of the inhibition caused by the depressant effects of alcohol (i.e., an overactive CNS, increased activity of neurons; Smith-Alnimer & Watford, 2004). In extreme …

An Investigation Into Loneliness And Solitary Drinking In A University Sample, Daniel C. Faraci

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol consumption tends to occur in social contexts and has been shown to increase prosocial behaviors and facilitate social connection. Simultaneously, socially excluded drinkers tend to increase or continue problematic levels of alcohol consumption when alone, possibly consuming alcohol as a replacement for desired but unavailable social connection. This investigation attempted to examine the relationship between loneliness (i.e., lack of perceived social connection) and subsequent alcohol consumption in solitary versus social contexts using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) techniques. University students recruited through a research subject pool who drank at least once per week were asked to respond to 28 short …

Investigating The Role Of Betrayal Blindness Between High Betrayal Trauma And Dating Violence Among Young Mothers Maltreated As Children, Lauren Catherine Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

Young mothers experience greater rates of dating violence (DV) victimization and perpetration compared to their non-parenting, female peers as well as older mothers (Joly & Connolly, 2016). Child maltreatment is a salient predictor of DV victimization and perpetration (Li et al., 2019; Murphy et al., 2020). According to Betrayal Trauma Theory (BTT), child maltreatment perpetrated by a close loved one, such as a parent or primary caregiver, is defined as a high betrayal trauma (Freyd, 1996). Young mothers who experienced a high betrayal trauma may endorse betrayal blindness as a way to cope with abuse from their caregiver (Freyd & …

Brief Report: Supporting Families In Intensive Treatment For Pediatric Anxiety And Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders, Jacqueline Sperling

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

Pediatric anxiety rates have doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic (Racine et al., 2021), but access to care has not increased commensurately (Panchel et al., 2021). Intensive group- and family-based outpatient treatment that implements cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure and response prevention (ERP) for pediatric anxiety disorders and OCD is a treatment design that treats more children at one time and may facilitate treatment momentum with its intensive nature so that new patients can be treated sooner. This paper describes CBT-based interventions from an intensive treatment program for pediatric anxiety disorders and/or OCD that involves parents and that can be applied …

A Therapist Perspective: Gender Differences In Treatment Recommendations For Adults With Adhd, Inattentive Presentation, Casey Redus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with onset during childhood and often persisting into adulthood. Statistics show that more men are diagnosed with ADHD than women, and that women are more often diagnosed with ADHD inattentive type. Treatment for ADHD has not focused on non-psychopharmacology gender-based treatment recommendations, and this has been identified as requiring further research. This qualitative study explored therapists' process in making treatment recommendations for women versus men diagnosed with ADHD inattentive subtype. Social role theory was used to underpin the research. The participants of the study included ten licensed psychologists in the state …