Health Psychology Commons^™

Lived Experiences Of Cancer Patients Who Chose To Stop Receiving Treatment, Amreen A. Ali Dr., Neena Kohli Dr., Shreshtha Yadav Dr.

Patient Experience Journal

The study aimed to understand the lived experience of cancer patients who abandon treatment. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the data was examined using interpretative phenomenological analysis. It resulted in four superordinate themes: (i) ‘Lack of knowledge about cancer’ dealt with patients’ knowledge and perceptions about their cancer. (ii) ‘Hopelessness with oneself and God.’ (iii) ‘Distress caused by numerous cancer-related issues’ captured the challenges faced by cancer patients. The last superordinate theme, (iv) Patient dissatisfaction with physicians and treatment’ dealt with cancer patients’ interaction with and expectations from their oncologists and the medical staff. It was found that these …

The Media’S Influence On Disordered Eating And Body Dysmorphia In Males And Females, Alexis Kotanidis, Jamie Vitrano

Molloy Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference

The media typically refers to various means of communication that reach or influence people widely. This includes television, radio, newspapers, magazines, social media platforms, websites, podcasts, and more. Essentially, it has many ways through which information is transmitted to a large audience. The media plays a significant role in shaping public opinion, especially with regard to disordered eating and body dysmorphia in both men and women. Disordered eating refers to a wide range of irregular eating behaviors that may or may not meet the criteria for a specific eating disorder diagnosis such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge-eating disorder. …

Accommodation And Treatment Seeking For Those With A Concealable Stigmatized Identity Disability In The Undergraduate And Workforce Environments, Sophie K. Louis

Psychology Honors Papers

The goal of the present study was to examine the influence of stigma, disclosure, and affect on treatment and accommodation seeking (uptake and confidence) in both an undergraduate and workforce population for those with an invisible disability. Invisible disability, a form of concealable stigmatized identity, lacks research in terms of the barriers and motivators for seeking help, especially within a stigma framework. To fill in this gap in the literature, two studies were conducted via questionnaires for each setting respectively, in order to understand how to navigate disability concerns across multiple contexts. Binomial logistic regressions and linear regressions revealed that …

Positive Epidemiology, Revisited: The Case For Centering Human Rights And Economic Justice, Farah Qureshi, Christy Denckla, Julia K. Boehm

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

In recent years, a growing body of research in positive epidemiology has sought to expand the traditional focus of epidemiologic research beyond risk factors for disease and towards a more holistic understanding of health that includes the study of positive assets that shape well-being more broadly. While this paradigm shift holds great promise for transforming people’s lives for the better, it is also critiqued for showcasing decontextualized perspectives that could cause great harm to the public’s health if translated uncritically into population-based interventions. In this commentary, we argue for orienting positive epidemiology within a human rights and economic justice framework …

The Anatomical Embodiment Of Morning Routines In The Reduction Of Anxiety: An Intervention, Natalie Wright

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The topic under investigation is whether physically embodying a morning routine that was designed through the lens of Laban Bartenieff Movement Analysis (LBMA) will reduce daily symptoms of individuals diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Since morning routines play a significant part in one’s preparation for the day, I created an individualized LBMA morning routine for a specific client to embody. In addition to the routine, the client documented the process of their anxiety levels on a weekly basis. This client was a white, female, 19-year-old, lesbian college student who was previously diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The movement analysis …

Psychological Science: Who’S Really In Charge? Popular Media’S Influences On Food Behavior, Chakuen W. Rambang, Amilya Bryant, Benjamin Ramer, Delvin Porter

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

With mass media, consumption being very accessible, many individuals are being impacted in their daily lives. Mass media influences have had the opportunity to persuade people in their daily choices such as nutritional behaviors. With different nutritional trends on the rise, the presentation of popular media applications, such as TikTok, may have correlations to how individuals react to different trends regarding nutrition. Many videos on the platform have different algorithms that persuade their viewers to partake in different trends. In addition to popular media possibly having the impact of changing an individual's behavior, the overall understanding of nutrition may play …

Exploring The Experience Of Healthcare-Related Epistemic Injustice Among People With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Joanne Hunt, Jessica Runacres, Daniel Herron, David Sheffield

The Qualitative Report

Myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic, disabling yet clinically “contested” condition, previously theorised through a lens of epistemic injustice. Phenomena conceptually close to epistemic injustice, including stigma, are known to have deleterious consequences on a person’s health and life-world. Yet, no known primary studies have explored how people with ME/CFS experience healthcare through a lens of epistemic injustice, whilst a dearth of research explicitly exploring healthcare-related injustice from a patient perspective has been noted. This qualitative study seeks to address this gap. Semi-structured interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) were used to explore the experiences of …

Exploring The Occupation Of Education Of Children With Undocumented Immigrant Parents, Denise Perez, Susan Macdermott, Jazminne Orozco Arteaga

Spring 2024 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

This research study highlights the detrimental effects of family separations on children's well-being, academic performance, and long-term outcomes. It emphasizes the urgent need for research on the mental health effects of immigration policies on children at risk of parental deportation. A qualitative research study was used to understand the experiences and challenges of adults with undocumented immigrant parents during various stages of schooling. The research utilizes the Kawa model to explore emotional factors and barriers affecting students' occupational engagement in an educational setting. The study aims to identify supports and barriers to school engagement for students with undocumented immigrant parents, …

Biopsychosocial Management Of Long Covid Fibromyalgia: Lessons From The Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Fibromyalgia Program, Joseph Harrison, Dennis Given Psy.D.

The Journal of Integrated Primary Care

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the prevalence of chronic health concerns worldwide, leading to a new population of patients suffering from Long Covid. Patients with Long Covid often experience persistent symptoms impacting multiple organ systems, including neuroimmune and neurological manifestations. Recently, attention has grown toward Long Covid patients developing chronic widespread pain similar to fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a nociplastic pain disorder characterized by widespread pain and central sensitization with fatigue, sleep disturbances, and impairments in cognitive functioning. Given the nascent and limited research exploring new treatment options, patients need support now from biopsychosocial multi-modal pain management strategies. The Fibromyalgia Program …

Psy-7 Peer Effects Of Seeking Mental Health Help From A Professional, Devanshi Patel, Susan Ruppel

SC Upstate Research Symposium

How does peer support effect the ability of students to seek out mental health help from a professional? In this study, the experimenter investigates the type of support the students receive from their peers and how that affects their ability to seek out help from a professional. Accurate intention-seeking of students was recorded for both the behavioral concerns and their support types. A Mental Help Seeking Intention Scale was used to measure the data collected in this study. It was found that the behavioral concern (mental, physical) of a student does not matter in this study, nor did the type …

Latent Classification Of Multi-Model Non-Homogeneous Continuous-Time Markov Chains, Joonha Chang

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) model and latent clustering models are commonly used to study longitudinal measures of categorical outcomes. Because of its simple but powerful Markovian property, CTMC models have been widely used in medical and public health researches. Due to limitations in the standard CTMC model, there have been some studies on non-homogeneous continuous-time Markov chain (NH-CTMC) that utilized time-dependent rates, but the progresses have been limited. NH-CTMC can be more powerful than CTMC by its default nature of time-dependent rate that can be fitted to a wider range of applications in medical studies. In this study, we …

Music As A Coping Mechanism: Clinical Implications Of How College Students Utilize Music To Cope With Anxiety, Depression, And Daily Stressors, Karly Pikel

Senior Theses

Many college students face stress, anxiety, and/or depression in their daily lives which they cope with in their own ways. Listening to music or playing an instrument are particularly powerful forms of coping that can have a plethora of positive effects on an individual. The purpose of this study was to conduct a survey amongst the University of South Carolina student body to determine how they utilize music to cope in their daily lives. Of 847 respondents, almost all of them reported experiencing some extent of anxiety and/or stress and listening to music to help them cope. Respondents agreed that …

Prevalence Of Adverse Childhood Experiences And Its Dose-Response Association With Anxiety-Related Stress Symptoms In Young Adults Ages 18 To 44 Years Old In The United States, Kenechukwu O. Nwosu

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences are common in the United States with about 64% of the population affected. Adverse childhood experiences are predictors of many chronic diseases including mental illnesses like anxiety. Though non-Hispanic whites are mostly afflicted by anxiety compared to their racial counterparts, minority races like non- Hispanic Black/African Americans disproportionately suffer more dire consequences due to the chronicity of untreated conditions which often result from lack of access to care among other barriers. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. BRFSS 2022 data set was used to identify 56,598 respondents, ages 18 to 44 years old for analysis. …

Imaging In The Fitness Industry: A Connection To Body Dysmorphic Disorder In Women, Joseliz Andujar Pimentel

Posters - 2024

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a psychiatric illness characterized by distress and excessive preoccupation with perceived defects in physical appearance that are not at all, or only slightly, observable to others (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). BDD can be found in many individuals; among these individuals are women in the fitness industry. This is due to the idea that there is an “ideal” body image portrayed by fitness industries that provoke women to compare themselves. This study examined a variety of fitness websites consisting of fitness apparel websites and fitness websites, where the models used in each website were examined for …

The Association Between Mental Health Disorders And Glycemic Control In Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes, Marcella Pietrzyk

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Adolescence is a very challenging period in a person's life as it is often filled with hormonal changes, emotional turmoil, and time for development socially, emotionally, and mentally. The addition of a chronic illness on top of the transition from child to adult creates a large burden on quality of life. The most common chronic illness diagnosed in adolescence is type 1 diabetes. This is an illness with a significant medical burden as it requires close monitoring of blood glucose levels, constant insulin injections, and diet control. The combination of adolescence and a chronic illness leads to higher rates of …

Maladaptive Social Media Use Motives, Emotional Well-Being, And Drinking Behaviors Among College Students, Rachel Ayala Guzman

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Young adult college students are one of the greatest at-risk populations for problematic alcohol-related behaviors (e.g., excessive use). Experiencing greater emotional distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) has been linked to problematic drinking, and rates of college students struggling with their mental health is higher than other populations. Social media has proliferated in recent years, potentially increasing the risk of experiencing negative emotional effects for avid users like college students. Literature is mixed regarding social media’s impact on emotional well-being and scant studies have investigated how motives of social media use (i.e., why people are using social media) may be …

Equality In Times Of Uncertainty: Economic Downturn And Body Image Messaging Toward Women, Ritsa Giannakas

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

A vast body of literature indicates that the economy and the status of women are interlinked, with higher levels of economic well-being tending to correspond with advancements in women’s rights. However, little of this research has investigated the changes in the wellbeing of women as it pertains to their physical and mental health, especially as it pertains to exploring the impacts of economics on eating disorder rates and societal messaging toward women. This thesis investigates a novel theory linking economic uncertainty and downturn to the spread of pro-eating disorder content online, positing that economic uncertainty may coincide with a “conservative …

The Role Of Sport For Adolescents: The Effect Of Sport Participation As A Unique Form Of Physical Activity On Mental Health And Overall Subjective Well-Being During Adolescence, Caleb M. Rogers

Senior Theses

Well-being is an extremely multifaceted domain, as there are numerous factors that contribute to one’s way of life. Objective well-being focuses primarily on material factors such as access to food, housing, and a steady household income. Although these factors play a large role, it is important to analyze well-being from the perspective of the individual. Subjective well-being focuses on how one perceives one's own well-being. Physical activity has been well established as one factor associated with improvements within this domain for adolescents. This project investigates the role of one specific form of physical activity during adolescence: sport. The general assumption …

Adolescent Marijuana Use And The Contribution To The Development Of Schizophrenia, Jocelyn Spandikow

Psychology Student Papers and Posters

Schizophrenia is an often debilitating mental condition that has become a popular topic of psychological research in recent years. Current research examines the correlation between drug use, genetics, and environment on the development of schizophrenia. Research looks at the structure of the brain in individuals with and without schizophrenia. However, research has failed to look at the specific correlation between marijuana use in adolescent youth and the developmental impact on the brain, including in the development of schizophrenia. The legalization of many recreational drugs, including marijuana, has come to fruition in recent years. This has raised concerns over adolescent access …

Efficacy Of Digital Mental Health Interventions For Ptsd Symptoms: A Systematic Review Of Meta-Analyses, Yue Qi Germaine Tng, Xun Ci Soh, Xun Ci Soh, Andree Hartanto, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Background: The present systematic review aimed to synthesize the results of meta-analyses which examine the effects of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and investigate whether intervention characteristics (i.e., technique, timeframe, and therapeutic guidance) and methodological characteristics including outcome measures and sample inclusion criteria (age, gender, socioeconomic status, country, comorbidity) moderate the efficacy of digital interventions. Methods: A systematic search of various sources (ECSCOhost PsycInfo, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCOhost ERIC, Google Scholar, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses) including five peer-reviewed journals was conducted to identify relevant meta-analyses up to December 2023, and 11 meta-analyses …