Multicultural Psychology Commons^™

Considerations In The Provision Of Mental Health Services Toward Arabs, Dalia Khoury

Theses and Dissertations

Existing evidence suggests that disparities exist in the use of mental health services by Arabs in the U.S. While there are likely many factors that contribute, lack of cultural competence of mental health providers is one potentially important barrier for mental health service use among racial/ethnic minorities, including Arabs. The primary purpose of this study was to identify and examine factors related to the development and existence of cultural competence toward Arabs. Variables measuring demographics, professional characteristics, familiarity with Arabs, prior experience and knowledge of Arabs, and readiness for change were tested with a randomly selected sample of mental health …

The Mediating Role Of Cognitive Flexibility On The Relationship Between Cross-Race Interactions And Psychological Well-Being, Robert D. Cardom

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Counseling psychologists are tasked with understanding optimal psychological and cognitive functioning. Recent theoretical predictions (Crisp & Turner, 2011) and growing evidence suggest that cross-race interactions are important ways individuals might improve their cognitive and psychosocial functioning. However, the theoretical predictions from Crisp and Turner have not yet been tested in one model. Further, much of the empirical support for the theoretical predictions has been from studies using 1) undergraduate samples and 2) weak theory-measurement fit.

The present study used an online, community survey (N = 270) to test Crisp and Turner’s (2011) predictions that cognitive flexibility would mediate the …

Gender Nonconformity, Psychosocial Stressors, And Psychopathology: Looking Beyond Sexual Orientation, Kathryn M. Oost

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

LGBT individuals experience disproportionately more victimization than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. Within these populations, perceived gender nonconformity predicts even higher rates of victimization. The current investigation examined relationships between gender nonconformity, experiences with victimization, and psychopathology among 671 students from the University of Montana, including 64 LGBT-identified individuals, who took part in an online study as part of course requirements. Hierarchical regressions were calculated to examine the relationships between gender expression, victimization, and psychopathology while controlling for sexual orientation, gender identity, and ethnicity. Gender nonconformity was a significant predictor of reported victimization, beyond sexual orientation and ethnicity (ΔR …

"Language Preference And Cognitive Availability Of Sexual Identity In Gay Japanese Bilinguals: An Analysis Of Habitual Use Of Linguistic Categories", Sebastian Cordoba

Dissertations and Theses

Sexuality is a very private matter in Japan. Japan’s cultural mores and concepts of family unity have led to very conservative attitudes toward homosexuality. For instance, gay people generally fear disgracing their families, and this fear might prevent them from revealing their sexual identity to others, and so keeping it secret. Thus, homosexuality in Japan is a highly controversial topic. Being gay in Japan is not as tolerated as it is in some Western cultures (McLelland, 2000). Homosexuality is an issue that is not acknowledged by mainstream Japanese society – it is taboo and not spoken about publicly. The present …

The Effects Of Construal Level On Stigmatizing Attitudes Toward An Individual With Mental Illness, Jeremy Glenn Gay

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

People with mental illness often face stigmatization by society. However, little research has examined cognitive factors that may activate or dissipate stigmatizing attitudes toward those with mental illness. Construal level, or the extent that people focus on abstract generalizations versus concrete details of events, may be one such cognitive factor. Two contradictory hypotheses emerged concerning how construal may affect stigmatizing attitudes. One hypothesis suggests that abstract construals will decrease stigmatization because abstract construals tend to increase the activation of similar goals, thus leading to a similarity focus. In contrast, another hypothesis suggests that abstract construals will increase stigmatization because abstract …

Can The Complex Care And Intervention (Cci) Program Be Culturally Adapted As A Model For Use With Aboriginal Families Affected By Complex (Intergenerational) Trauma?, Chipo Mcnichols

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Despite living in a country with a world renowned healthcare system, Canadian Aboriginal children, youth and their families, consistently have poorer access to healthcare as well as higher mortality and morbidity rates, in comparison to non-Aboriginal Canadians (Tang & Browne, 2008). Among factors including their history of residential school and intergenerational trauma, the lack of a culturally specific treatment intervention for complex trauma, is identified as a key factor in maintaining this health disparity. This study used participatory action research within an identified Aboriginal community, to develop a culturally adapted complex trauma intervention model. This was based on an existing …

Intersectional Examination Of Individuation And Emotional Intelligence: Longitudinal Associations With Positive Psychology And Multicultural Psychology, Laura E. Miller

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Emerging adulthood is a unique transitional period that has only recently been introduced into the literature (Arnett & Taber, 1994). Gaps exist in explicating underlying concepts of positive development in this developmental period. Individuation and emotional intelligence have been identified as crucial developmental tasks for emerging adults (Lapsley & Edgerton, 2002; Fernandez, Salamonson, & Griffiths, 2012). Positive psychology and multicultural psychology theories provide insights into how these components may be promoted over time. The purpose of the study was to identify promotional factors to healthy development outcomes in sample of ethnically diverse emerging adults. Participants in the study included 293 …

Addressing The Mental Health Needs Of Women In Rural Communities: A Women’S Wellness Group, Andriana Hench

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

This paper explores the mental health needs of women in rural communities. Based on Myers and Sweeny’s Wellness Model (2008), as well as other relevant research, I have developed a group curriculum as a unique intervention to reach this specific population. This paper provides an overview of relevant literature and includes both a handbook for group facilitators and a participant workbook that compliments the facilitator handbook. This group curriculum is suggested for Clinical Mental Health Counselors and other mental health professionals to promote wellness among rural women.

Ethnic Differences In Self-Efficacy At Southern Adventist University, Seth L. Daly Stennis

Capstone Research Projects

Valid concern has been expressed about the poor academic performance of African American students, in comparison to their other ethnic counterparts. The literature has attempted to explain this anomaly. A large portion of the studies show how socioeconomic standing and parental involvement play a role in this achievement gap. A more modest smattering used psychological factors to explain the deplorable academic achievement in African Americans. One such psychological factor, self-efficacy, was not well represented in the literature; few papers discussed the association of self-efficacy and African American academic success. The purpose of this study was to describe self-efficacy levels of …

Construction Of An Anti-Mexican American Bias Scale And Its Validation, Leslie N. Martinez

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of the dissertation is to develop a meaningful measure of Anti-Mexican American attitudes and to test that measure for its utility in predicting biased attributions for Mexican Americans. Attention has mainly focused on bias against Blacks, and this has produced important gaps in the understanding of race/ethnic bias that must be addressed. For the past few decades, the number of racial minorities, especially the number of Latinos/Hispanics, has been on the rise. The psychometric properties and validation of the new Anti-Mexican American Attitude Scale (AMAAS) were investigated through study 1 and study 2. The principal components analysis pulled …

Six Principles To Consider When Working With Roman Catholic Clients, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

Although the majority of Americans consider themselves to be Christian and affiliated with various Protestant denominations, a quarter of the American population identify themselves as Roman Catholics who are the largest single religious denomination in the country. Yet, surprisingly, fairly little research has been published in the professional psychology literature about working with this very large and diverse group. Psychologists have an ethical responsibility to be aware of and respectful to diversity including diversity based on religious background, affiliation, and perspectives. The purpose of this brief reflection is to offer 6 important principles to keep in mind for professional psychologists …

Construct Validation Of The Psychosocial Costs Of Racism To Whites Scale For Ashkenazic Jews In The United States, Emile Tobias Berk

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study is a construct validation of the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (Spanierman & Heppner, 2004) with Orthodox and non-Orthodox Ashkenazic (of European descent) American Jews. While Jewish-American biculturalism has been explored at length, there is a dearth of psychological research on Jewish-White biculturalism (Langman, 1999). Furthermore, the literature has yet to explore the impact of Jewish religious diversity on Ashkenazic-American self-perception as racially White beneficiaries of unearned privilege.

The Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW) measures three dimensions of White racial attitudes: White Empathic Reactions Towards Racism, White Guilt, and White Fear of Others. …

Culture And Cognition: The Role Culture Plays In Cognitive Development In Rural Tanzania, Eileen Seissen

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper examines the perceived difference of cognition in a Tanzanian classroom. It also examines the effects culture has on cognition. It aims to answer the questions: What role does Tanzanian culture play in shaping the cognitive skills of its children? And, from an American trainers perspective, within an experiential learning environment, what cognitive differences are perceived in abstract thinking, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving? Nine American trainers, one Tanzanian trainer, and one Tanzanian student participated in my study. Each participant filled out a questionnaire geared toward understanding their training methods and perceptions of participant's skills and abilities. After …

The Association Between Stalking And Violence In A Sample Of Spanish Partner Violence Cases, Rosa Viñas-Racionero, Chitra Raghavan, Miguel Ángel Soria-Verde, Remei Prat-Santaolaria

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present descriptive study analyzes stalking in a sample of 278 Spanish court cases involving partner violence and contrasts the benefits of the new bill article 172ter, which criminalizes stalking, compared with the Organic Law 1/2004 on partner violence. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of the total sample included stalking behaviors, which manifested in intimidatory (60%) and controlling (45%) unwanted verbal communications (62%) and physical approaches (42%) that ended violently in a third of the cases (35%). Cases involving violent stalking, non-violent stalking, and physical violence without stalking were compared. A closer look at violent stalking cases uncovered that intimacy-seeking stalking behavior …

A Parent-Child Therapy Program For Latino Families, Michael P. Fung

Dissertations (1934 -)

This study used a randomized control design with treatment and wait-list conditions to evaluate the efficacy of a culturally-adapted version of the Early Pathways program (Fox & Gresl, 2014), an in-home, parent-child therapy program with 137 at-risk Latino children under the age of six referred for severe behavior and emotional problems, such as aggression, oppositional behavior, self-injury and property destruction. Early Pathways directly engaged the parent-child dyad, emphasizing parent-directed training and child-engagement activities, such as psycho-education, child-led play, and cognitive-behavioral strategies. Cultural modifications included establishing community partnerships to identify Latino family needs, translation of materials, offering bilingual services, acculturation assessment, …

The Association Of Racial Identity And Locus Of Control With Eating Attitudes And Obesity In African American College Women, Jamie Grisham

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

African-American women have been disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic in the United States, and studies have suggested that sociocultural factors may have a negative influence on weight and weight loss efforts. Relatedly, other studies have found that African-American women have reported feeling less motivated to lose weight than other ethnic groups. Previous research has also indicated that locus of control plays a role in some health outcomes for African America women. The current study aimed to examine the impact of Black identity, external locus of control, and exercise motivation on obesity in African-American college women. Uncontrolled eating and exercise …

Socially Desirable Responding: Enhancement And Denial In 20 Countries, Jia He, F.J. Van De Vijver, A.D. Espinosa, A. Abubakar, R. Dimitrova, B.G. Adams, Jochen Reb, Samantha Sim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article investigated the dimensionality, measurement invariance, and cross-cultural variations of social desirability. A total of 3,471 university students from 20 countries completed an adapted version of the Marlowe–Crowne scale. A two-dimensional structure was revealed in the pooled sample, distinguishing enhancement (endorsement of positive self-description) and denial (rejection of negative self-description). The factor structure was supported in most countries; medium-sized item bias was found in two denial items. In a multilevel analysis, we found that (a) there was more cross-cultural variation in denial than enhancement; (b) females tended to score higher on enhancement whereas males tended to score higher on …

Primary And Family Stigma Of Mental Illness: Comparing Perceptions Of African Americans And European Americans, Julia Rubinshteyn

Dissertations (1934 -)

Research has shown that stigma is a significant barrier to mental health treatment seeking, and that African Americans tend to have significantly lower rates of treatment seeking compared to European Americans (Wang et al., 2005). Stigma affecting the individual directly is called primary stigma (Corrigan & Kleinlein, 2005), whereas stigma affecting the individual’s family members is referred to as family stigma. In the present study, a vignette was presented to 287 undergraduate students at Marquette University. The study examined attitudes of primary and family stigma toward a target based on race (European American or African American) and type of mental …

Hope Among Resilient African American Adolescents, Jessica Briana Mcclintock

Dissertations (1934 -)

African American youth have historically been disproportionately affected by an array of environmental stressors that have put them at higher risk for poor adjustment outcomes (Adams III et al., 2003; Mcloyd, 1990). Despite their hardships, not all of these youth fall victim to negative environmental influences (Miller & MacIntosh, 1999). Many exceed expectations and their lives take positive trajectories that lead to positive adaptation (Hunter, 2012; Miller & MacIntosh, 1999). This positive adaptation in spite of significant risk is referred to as resilience (Cicchetti, 2010). While the importance of resilience has been well documented in European Americans, the majority of …

Exploring Mindfulness As A Culturally Sensitive Intervention For The Deaf Community, Barrymore R. Rosellini

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Mental health issues are as prevalent in the deaf community as the hearing community, if not more. Yet, Deaf individuals are often treated by mental health professionals less frequently and less effectively. Many systemic barriers exist that influence the lack of services provided to the Deaf community, primarily related to a lack of cultural understanding rooted in perceptions of Deaf individuals. However, the Deaf community may be best understood as a cultural minority, a unique community sharing a distinct culture, history, and language. This paper investigates the effects of systematic barriers and cultural misunderstanding among mental health professions regarding the …