UNT Theses and Dissertations - 172 Matching Results

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Overgeneral Memory and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Adults Exposed to Family Violence

Description: Childhood exposure to familial violence increases risk for adult pathology, namely posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Primary PTSD symptoms of hyperarousal and avoidance are implicated in overgeneral memory (OGM) theory in prior research. Individuals with trauma history tend to report OGMs, or non-specific autobiographical memories, perhaps to avoid unpleasant arousal elicited by recalling specific events. OGM, PTSD, depression, and arousal were assessed in adults with and wit… more
Date: May 2010
Creator: Amador, Amy R.
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Understanding Quality of Life in Older Adults

Description: I analyzed the 2004 and 2006 Health and Retirement Study data to test structural equation models of the quality of life (QOL) construct. The participants (N = 1352) were non-institutionalized individuals aged 42 and older (M = 65.70, SD = 10.88), with an average education of 12.73 years (SD = 2.96) and of varied ethnicities. The results indicated that physical functioning, affective experience, life satisfaction and social support could serve as indicators for a second order QOL factor. Further… more
Date: May 2010
Creator: Cardona, Laura A.
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Identifying the Level of Prognostic Information Desired by People with Cancer

Description: The study explored whether certain factors might be used to distinguish between people with cancer who do or do not want detailed information about their disease progress, do or do not want to be informed if their disease is no longer considered curable, and who do or do not want an estimation of life expectancy if their disease is no longer considered curable. The factors included whether an individual has an internal versus external locus of control, uses an active coping strategy or a planni… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Mallory, Laurel J.
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Optimism, Delay Discounting, and Physical Exercise: The Role of Delay Discounting on Individual Levels of Exercise

Description: Deciding to exercise requires trade-offs between immediate and delayed benefits. These momentary decisions may be moderated by personality such that patterns of individual behavior emerge. The aim of the current study was to determine if higher levels of optimism and lower levels of delay discounting were related to exercise frequency. A sample of 360 undergraduate students completed a survey study related to understanding the choices made by undergraduates and how other factors relate to their… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Smith, Lauren Marie
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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The Utility of the Spatial Span from the Wechsler Memory Scales in a Geriatric Population with Cognitive Impairments

Description: Performance on the Spatial Span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale has been viewed as an indicator of working memory and visuospatial processing. A number of factors including age and gender have been posited to effect performance on Spatial Span by older adults. The current study examined the impact of various forms of cognitive impairment and severity of impairment on Spatial Span performance. Five hundred thirty-eight individuals between the ages of 65 and 89 were evaluated in a university… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Wiechmann, April
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Validation of the Spanish SIRS: Beyond Linguistic Equivalence in the Assessment of Malingering among Spanish Speaking Clinical Populations

Description: Malingering is the deliberate production of feigned symptoms by a person seeking external gain such as: financial compensation, exemption from duty, or leniency from the criminal justice system. The Test Translation and Adaptation Guidelines developed by the International Test Commission (ITC) specify that only tests which have been formally translated into another language and validated should be available for use in clinical practice. Thus, the current study evaluated the psychometric propert… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Correa, Amor Alicia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Benefits and Costs of Social Interactions Among Firefighters

Description: Despite high levels of exposure, firefighter posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rates are unclear. Likewise, questions remain regarding how social interactions and beliefs about emotion might interact to influence PTSD in firefighters. In this study, U.S. urban firefighters (N = 225) completed measures of social support, negative social interactions, and fear of emotion which were then used via regression analyses to predict PTSD symptoms. Each independent variable predicted PTSD beyond varia… more
Date: December 2010
Creator: Farnsworth, Jacob
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Correlates of Video Game Addiction

Description: Video game addiction often leads to a tremendous burden on those afflicted with the condition, draining their time, resources, and life away until they have nothing left. To further elucidate the problem of video game addiction, the current research examines the level of video game addiction of 111 participants, along with their motivation for their addictive behaviors, the quality of life of addicted individuals, and possible relations between video game addiction and other forms of addiction.… more
Date: December 2010
Creator: Langley, Alex
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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Demographic and Psychosocial Contributions to the Expression of Schizotypal Personality Traits.

Description: Previous research suggests there are a number of variables that are associated with the expression of schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) symptoms. Such variables include childhood trauma, depression and anxiety, substance use, normal-range personality traits, ethnicity, and gender. However, research to date has not examined all of these variables in a single study to determine how they may be interrelated or differentially related to SPD symptom domains. Of particular interest is the associ… more
Date: December 2010
Creator: Hernandez, Nikki
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Depression in Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Individuals: Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Diet

Description: About 8.3% of individuals diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM) are diagnosed with comorbid depression, a higher rate than the general adult population. This project examined the differences of depression symptoms experienced between diabetic and matched non-diabetic individuals and the relationship of daily activity and nutrition behaviors with depression between these groups. The 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was utilized to assess: depression symptoms, d… more
Date: December 2010
Creator: Edwards, Kate G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Evaluating Social Factors in Diabetes Management by Mexican American Ethnicity

Description: Differences in Mexican American ethnicity, family and friend social support, and importance of diabetes self-management as related to diabetes management in the older adult population were evaluated with the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) 2003 Diabetes Study. Comparisons were made between Mexican Americans with Type II diabetes and similar non-Hispanic Caucasian and African American individuals with Type II diabetes. Neither family/friend social support nor importanc… more
Date: December 2010
Creator: Huerta, Serina
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Methodological Issues in Malingering Research: The Use of Simulation Designs

Description: The accurate determination of malingering relies on the use of validated and clinically relevant assessment measures. Simulation design is the most often-used research design to accomplish this. However, its external validity is sometimes questioned. The goal of the thesis was to systematically evaluate these major elements: situation, incentives, and coaching. The situation in simulation studies can vary from relevant (academic failure in a college population) to irrelevant (capital murder) fo… more
Date: December 2010
Creator: Gillard, Nathan D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Neuropsychological Functioning in Active Duty Soldiers with Physical and/or Psychological Trauma

Description: This quasi-experimental study investigates neuropsychological functioning differences between 63 active duty soldiers who were placed into three groups (MTBI, PTSD, control) to provide better information for differentiating PTSD and MTBI. The ANAM and MicroCog were utilized to measure psychomotor speed, memory, and attention. Participants with PTSD performed worse on most measures of psychomotor speed and attention, and endorsed more symptoms of depression and anxiety when compared to MTBI and … more
Date: December 2010
Creator: Klein, Robert S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Acculturation, Acculturative Stress, and Anxiety Among Hispanic Undergraduates

Description: First generation college students face some unique challenges in the pursuit of higher education. Aside from academic stressors, there are stressors related to social and cultural transitions which may exacerbate pre-existing emotional or psychological distress. Research suggests that acculturation influences psychological well-being and development. The current study examined the relationships between acculturation, acculturative stress, socio-economic status, and symptoms of anxiety among fir… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Durón, Kelly M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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The Biopsychosocial Approach to Understanding, Subtyping, and Treating Depression: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey - Replication.

Description: The most effective and useful way to diagnose and subtype depression has been a long debated topic which even now does not have a definite answer. The biopsychosocial approach to diagnosis may be a solution to this problem by linking various etiologies to symptom presentation. The biopsychosocial model, in regard to depression, takes into account biological risk factors/contributors, psychological or cognitive risk factors/contributors, and social risk factors/contributors to depression when ma… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: McGill, Brittney C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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The Effect of Relationship Quality on Mental Representations of Social Support and Cardiovascular Reactivity

Description: The aim of the current study was to examine how thinking about qualitatively different social network members may differentially affect cardiovascular reactivity to a subsequent stressor. Eighty-two undergraduates were asked to think and write about different types of relationships preceding a social stressor. No differences between conditions in CVR were found during social support induction phase or the stressor task. Women in the supportive condition were found to have slower SV recovery th… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Prather, Courtney C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Effectiveness of Substance use Measures in the Detection of Denial and Partial Denial

Description: Many substance users deny their substance use to avoid negative consequences, thus diluting the accuracy of assessment. To address this issue, indirect items are often included on substance use measures to identify those who deny their use. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of complete denial and partial denial on substance use measures. Partial denial, also termed denial of effects, is the denial of substance use interfering in multiple domains of a person's functioning. The … more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Wooley, Chelsea Nichole
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Perceptions of Control and Social Support: Correlates of HIV-Related Self-Efficacy

Description: This study examines the extent to which locus of control and social support are linked to self-efficacy with regard to disease management in HIV-positive adults. Perceived ability to effectively manage illness was measured with the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease Scale. Scores from the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the Multidimensional Locus of Control Scale were used as predictors. The gender-balanced sample (N = 69) of HIV+ adults was primarily African-Amer… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Lopez, Eliot Jay
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Psychosocial Determinants of Diabetic Control and Satisfaction with Diabetes Care

Description: Diabetes mellitus affects 7.8% of the American population. National health statistic data and other research shows that racial/ethnic disparities exist in terms of prevalence and treatment outcomes. The present study investigated the role of patient health beliefs (i.e., locus of control, self-efficacy) and the doctor-patient relationship (e.g., satisfaction and collaboration with health care provider), as relative predictors of diabetic control (i.e., HbA1c levels) and overall satisfaction wit… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Dzivakwe, Vanessa G.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Relation of Witnessing Interparental Violence to PTSD and Complex PTSD

Description: Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) integrates symptoms common to victims of "complex" traumas, like childhood physical or sexual abuse, with the diagnostic criteria of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It was hypothesized that a history of witnessing interparental violence would be related to adulthood CPTSD symptoms. Results from hierarchical multiple regressions with 287 college students showed that witnessing interparental violence and experiencing child physical abuse predi… more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Miller, Susannah
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Partner: UNT Libraries
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Does Prostate Cancer Begin in the Prostate? Key Predictors of Diagnosis

Description: The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the key predictors of prostate cancer; such study may lead to the development of appropriate interventions and prevention. Previous epidemiological studies have found these following factors to be key predictors for being diagnosed with hormone-associated carcinoma such as prostate cancer: age, ethnicity, physical activity, family history, diet, sleep amount, marital status, and having another form of carcinoma. Many studies have included re… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Orakpo, W. Nnamdi
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Partner: UNT Libraries
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An Examination of Maternal Acceptance among Mothers and their Children with ADHD Symptomatology

Description: The current study examined the role of self-reported and child-reported maternal lack of acceptance in increasing the likelihood of developing internalizing and externalizing symptoms among children with ADHD symptomatology. The effects of a social desirability bias on mother’s self-reports of rejection were controlled for. Mother-child agreement about parenting behaviors like warmth/affection, hostility/aggression and indifference/neglect was also investigated. In addition, variables with the … more
Date: August 2011
Creator: McKelvy, Tara N.
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Influences on Grief Among Parentally Bereaved Adults

Description: The parent-child relationship is significant throughout the life course, although both positive and negative changes occur as children reach adulthood and develop an identity independent of their family of origin. Grief resulting from parental loss during this time may be a product of many variables including age, relationship quality, and sex roles. The current study examined several variables potentially influencing grief after the death of a parent. As part of a larger study, adults (n = 180… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Schiffner, Kellye D.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Managing HIV: Self-Efficacy, Mindfulness, Optimism, and Meaning

Description: The purpose of the current study is to investigate the extent to which mindfulness (observing and describing), dispositional optimism and personal meaning are associated with self-efficacy for managing a chronic disease (SEMCD) among 57 people living with HIV in the DFW Metroplex. Several statistical analyses, including a hierarchical linear regression analysis, were conducted. Results indicate, after controlling for age and gender, the overall model accounted for a significant proportion of th… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Miller, James M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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