UNT Theses and Dissertations - 22 Matching Results

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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.
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Partner: UNT Libraries
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ADHD Symptomology and Overweight Among College Men

Description: Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood disorder that often persists into adulthood. Among adults, ADHD is highly comorbid with addictive behaviors (e.g., substance abuse and dependence), and depressive disorders. Recently, an association between ADHD and obesity has been reported in the literature; emotional and binge eating may be “addictive behaviors” that contribute to weight gain in this population. The purpose of this study was to test competing models of the hypoth… more
Date: December 2011
Creator: Johnson, Leslee M.
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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
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Bipolar Disorder in the Family: Impact on Functioning and Adjustment to College

Description: Bipolar disorder is a serious mental disorder, affecting anywhere from 2 to 4 percent of Americans. Though research has indicated that this disorder can be devastating for patients, less is known about how the disorder impacts family members. There is no research that has considered impacts on family members adjusting to college. The purpose of the current study was to determine the extent to which having a family member with bipolar disorder impacts adjustment to college, as well as factors th… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Crandall, Erin
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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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.
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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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Effects of Defensiveness on the Reporting of Personality Disorder Symptoms

Description: Personality disorders are not granted the same clinical attention accorded Axis I disorders despite their instrumental role in treatment and outcome. Even when standardized assessments are used, their clinical utility may be limited by an overly favorable self-presentation. The current study focused on defensiveness, the intentional denial of symptomatology, by examining individuals’ ability to minimize their presentation on personality disorder diagnostic measures. Using a within-subjects simu… more
Date: December 2011
Creator: Fiduccia, Chelsea E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Executive Control of Craving: An Examination of College Students

Description: Previous research has shown that alcohol abuse may cause a deficit in frontal lobe functioning, specifically, areas of the frontal lobe that are related to executive function. Additionally, problems with executive function have been related to increased difficulty in managing cravings to addictive substances. The current study explored the relationship between alcohol use and performance on measures of executive functioning in a sample of 121 traditional college students. Students were given 5 … more
Date: May 2011
Creator: Yates, Robert Dean, III
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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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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Intuitive Eating Scale: An Examination Among Adolescents

Description: Intuitive eating assesses the degree to which individuals eat based on physiological cues rather than emotional or situational cues. The Intuitive Eating Scale was initially developed using college women. This study extends the work of Tylka and reports on the psychometric evaluation of the Intuitive Eating Scale (IES) in a sample of 515 middle school boys and girls. Exploratory factor analysis uncovered 4 factors: unconditional permission to eat, eating for physical rather than emotional r… more
Date: December 2011
Creator: Dockendorff, Sally A.
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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Oh G-d, A Borderline: Clinical Diagnostics As Fundamental Attribution Error

Description: Researchers raise concerns that the diagnostic approach can create stigma and lead to clinical inferences that focus on dispositional characteristics at the expense of situational variables. From social cognitive theory to strict behavioral approaches there is broad agreement that situation is at least as important as disposition. The present study examined the clinical inferences of graduate student clinicians randomly presented a diagnosis (borderline PD) or no diagnosis and either randomly g… more
Date: December 2011
Creator: Schmalz, Jonathan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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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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Predicting The Impact Of Abuse: Is Experiential Avoidance A Mediator?

Description: Intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs between two individuals who have formerly been or are currently in an intimate relationship. IPV includes physical violence, sexual violence, threats of physical or sexual violence, and emotional abuse (Kernic, Wolf, & Holt, 2000; Rennison & Welchans, 2000). Experiencing IPV is associated with a serious impact on psychological health (Afifi, MacMillan, Cox, Asmundson, Stein, & Sareen, 2008; Calvete, Corral , & EstΘvez, 2008). Research on other forms of … more
Date: December 2011
Creator: Mannon, Kristi A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Psychological Maltreatment and Adult Attachment: The Protective Role of the Sibling Relationship

Description: A positive sibling relationship may protect individuals against poor developmental outcomes associated with psychological maltreatment. The current study assessed the moderating role of a positive sibling relationship in childhood and adulthood on associations between early psychological maltreatment and adult attachment anxiety and avoidance. College students (N = 270) completed self-report measures of psychological maltreatment, sibling relationship quality, and adult attachment. Psycholog… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Collier, Laura C.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder: Gender Differences in Empathy and Alexithymia

Description: Traditional conceptualizations of psychopathy highlight the importance of affective features of the syndrome in perpetuating social deviance. However, little research has directly investigated the callousness that psychopathic offenders display toward society and their victims. The current study investigated the roles of empathy and alexithymia in psychopathy among male and female incarcerated offenders, particularly in distinguishing psychopathy from antisocial personality disorder. Gender dif… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Rogstad, Jill E.
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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PTSD Symptoms and Dominant Emotional Response to a Traumatic Event: An Examination of DSM-IV Criterion A2

Description: To qualify for a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder the DSM-IV requires that individuals report dominant emotions of fear, helplessness, and horror during the trauma. Despite this stipulation, traumatic events can elicit a myriad of emotions other than fear such as anger, guilt or shame, sadness, and numbing. The present study examined which emotional reactions to a stressful event in a college student sample are associated with the highest levels of PTSD symptoms. Results suggest mixed… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Valentine, Lisa M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Quantitative EEG Analysis of Patients with Chronic Pain: An Exploratory Study

Description: This study examined quantitative EEGs of six individuals with chronic pain and compared them to an age- and gender-matched normative database of healthy control subjects in an attempt to discern whether a particular pattern of resting state EEG activity is associated with chronic pain. In the chronic pain group, significantly reduced absolute power was seen in delta and theta bandwidths at frontal sites in the eyes-closed condition. In the eyes-open condition, significantly reduced absolute p… more
Date: December 2011
Creator: Burroughs, Ramona D.
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
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Religious Coping and Experience of Body Satisfaction Among College Women

Description: This study examined whether religious coping moderated the effects of thin-ideal images on body satisfaction among college women. Religious (N = 178) participants met for a pre-test to complete religiosity measures. A week later, the participants reconvened and were assigned to one of two conditions: before (n = 83) or after (n = 95). Within each of these two groups, participants were randomly assigned to read a list of statements: positive religious statements, positive nonreligious statements… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Bell, Keisha
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
Partner: UNT Libraries
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