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open access

The Effects of Priming, Culture, and Context on Perception of Facial Emotion, Self-representation and Thought: Brazil and the United States

Description: Individualist and collectivist cultural approaches describe the relationship between an individual and his or her social surroundings. the current study had a two-fold purpose. the first was to investigate whether Brazilians, like other collective peoples, displayed more group self-representations, categorized items more relationally and paid more attention to context than Americans. the second purpose of this study was to investigate if counter-cultural primes played a role in activating ei… more
Date: December 2011
Creator: Hoersting, Raquel Carvalho
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

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.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

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
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

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.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

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.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Childhood Bereavement and Parents’ Relationship With Children

Description: It has long been recognized that childhood bereavement is a risk factor for depression in adulthood. Research also has consistently demonstrated that parental depression is linked to poor parent-child relationship quality. The current study examined whether bereavement in childhood increases likelihood of current depressive symptoms among parents and explored whether this vulnerability in the parent then alters the quality of the parent-child relationship. Archival data for a sample of 86 famil… more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Benson, Karen M.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Comparing the 2010 and 2011 Appic Match: Applicant Characteristics and Unmatched Applicant Distress

Description: The internship is one of the most important components of doctoral training in professional psychology. Given the serious problem of the internship imbalance, applicant and program characteristics that constitute a good “fit” with internship training programs have become of greater interest as securing an internship becomes a more competitive process. This study surveyed internship applicants from programs part of the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology (CUDCP), before and … more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Hogan, Lindsey R.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Examination of Sleep Disparities Among a Racially/ethnically Diverse Sample of Adolescents

Description: Racial, ethnic and gender disparities have been found among a variety of health variables, but to date no study has comprehensively examined whether similar differences exist between sleep variables such as duration, efficiency and quality, in early adolescence. There is a general consensus among previous literature that adolescence is a time when a decrease in total sleep time and an increase in sleep problems are observed. Previous literature, however, mainly focused on the influence of puber… more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Marczyk, Katherine D.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Exploring the Relationships Between Mindfulness, Self-compassion, and Ethnic Identity Development

Description: Ethnic identity development is a process that occurs for all individuals, and weakness in ethnic identity is associated with numerous psychosocial difficulties. Security in ethnic identity can be difficult for those exposed to varying attitudes and behaviors in a multicultural society. As such, the current study examined the influence of mindfulness and self-compassion on ethnic identity development. a sample of 479 undergraduate students completed online self-report questionnaires measuring de… more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Sinha, Aditi
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Forgiveness and Loneliness: Stress and Anxiety’s Correlates in a Student and Clinical Hiv-positive Sample

Description: Persistent periods of stress exacerbate the symptoms of chronic illness. Additionally, loneliness is strongly correlated with stress and both state and trait anxiety. Prolonged periods of loneliness are linked with depression in both clinical and student samples. Forgiveness, a cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response to interpersonal or intrapersonal conflict, is important to social harmony. in this study I describe three studies that examine forgiveness, loneliness, stress, and anxiety i… more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Hill, Jonathan
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Interpersonal Factors Related to the Pursuit of a Higher Education Among First Generation Undergraduate Students

Description: The typical educational stressors experienced by college students, in conjunction with developmental stressors such as separation from parents, individuation, and perceived social support, can interact to impact adaptation significantly. First generation college students (students who are the first in their family to attend college) can experience stressors beyond the typical educational stressors experienced by later generation college students, including lack of support from family and peers … more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Aguirre, Jacqueline S.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Mental Toughness: An Analysis of Sex, Race, and Mood

Description: Mental toughness has become a focus for researchers as coaches, athletes, and others extol its influence in performance success. In this study I examined mental toughness among collegiate athletes, focusing on its potential relationship to different demographic variables and to the athletes’ mood. Two hundred seventy-two student-athletes representing 12 different sports from a southwestern NCAA Division I university, participated by completing the Sports Mental Toughness Questionnaire (SMTQ), t… more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Beck, Nicholas M.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Psychopathic and Antisocial Personality Disorder Traits As Predictors of Reactive and Instrumental Aggression

Description: Aggression has traditionally been subdivided into two correlated, but distinct, subtypes: reactive and instrumental. Reactive aggression (RA) is considered impulsive, emotionally driven behavior, whereas instrumental aggression (IA) is planned and incentive-motivated. This thesis examines the relationships between RA, IA, psychopathy, and antisocial personality disorder (APD) symptoms in male and female offenders recruited from a jail in north Texas. Contrary to predictions, psychopathic tra… more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Steadham, Jennifer A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Relationship Between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Bmi, Depressive Symptoms, and School Absences Among a Racial/ethnically Diverse Sample of Early Adolescents

Description: The current study examined the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness on differences by sex, race/ethnicity, and SES on BMI, depressive symptoms, and school absences among adolescents. a cross-sectional study was conducted in a north Texas school district, which included 609 Caucasian/Whites, 293 Hispanic/Latinos, and 113 African-American/Black adolescents (10-14 years). Main results of the study showed that that cardiorespiratory fitness was the largest predictor of BMI, followed by ra… more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Garza, Mariana
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Acculturation and Depression in Older Mexican American Adults: the Role of Social Support

Description: Despite socioeconomic disadvantages, less acculturated Mexican Americans tend to exhibit better mental health than their more acculturated counterparts. However, in the case of older Mexican American adults, research has demonstrated the opposite to be true (Gonzalez, Haan, & Hinton, 2001). A variable of interest potentially responsible for this difference is social support. Thus, the current study proposed to investigate the mediation and moderation effects that social support has on the relat… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Caballero, Daniela
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Back in My Hands: The Role of Self-Forgiveness and Stigma in HIV-Positive Adults

Description: While advancements in treatment have made HIV a more manageable disease, only recently have psychosocial variables associated with the health of persons living with HIV (PLH) began to receive increased scrutiny. HIV-related stigma, considered by some researchers to be a “second epidemic,” is one such psychosocial variable and is associated with negative physiological and psychological health outcomes. In an effort to alleviate the effects of stress, increased research attention has focused on f… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Hua, William Q.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Comparison of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, a New Sleep Questionnaire, and Sleep Diaries

Description: Self-report retrospective estimates of sleep behaviors are not as accurate as prospective estimates from sleep diaries, but are more practical for epidemiological studies. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the validity of retrospective measures and improve upon them. The current study compared sleep diaries to two self-report retrospective measures of sleep, the commonly used Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and a newly developed sleep questionnaire (SQ), which assessed weekday and w… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Sethi, Kevin J.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Cross-measure Equivalence and Communicability in the Assessment of Depression: a Fine-grained Focus on Factor-based Scales

Description: Depression is heterogeneous, however, depression measures conceptualize it as homogeneous. To help fulfill NIMH's strategic plan to focus on components of depression, this study analyzed the psychometrics of factor-based subscales in the BDI-II, CES-D, IDAS, and IDS. CCA was also used to explore redundancy across measures. Using a diverse sample of symptomatic undergraduates, this study found the IDAS to be the best measure, with complete DSM-IV symptom coverage and psychometrically sound subsc… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: González, David Andrés
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Emotional and Cognitive Coping in Relationship Dissolution

Description: Romantic relationships are important for social development and can impact an individual’s functioning both positively and negatively, especially when the relationship breaks up. Emotional and cognitive coping strategies including emotion approach coping, avoidance, and rumination and variable response to expressive writing intervention were examined in relation to post-dissolution distress. Undergraduate participants randomized into two groups completed measures of cognitive and emotional co… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Wrape, Elizabeth R.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Event Centrality: Debunking the “Bad Science” Myth That Self-reported Posttraumatic Growth Does Not Reflect Positive Change

Description: Despite strong evidence supporting the existence of posttraumatic growth (PTG), some investigators question whether the construct measured by the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) is that of perceived growth or “actual” growth. In a replication of a recent investigation, the present study sought to refine the methodology used by employing the construct of event centrality. Due to its limited sample size, the results of this analysis did not provide strong evidence in support of the hypoth… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Johnson, Stephanie Feil
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Factor Analysis of the Spouse Observation Checklist-revised Using Attachment Theory As an Organizational Framework

Description: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the factor structure of the Spouse Observation Checklist-Revised using attachment theory as an organizational framework. The study used archival data from a community sample of 92 heterosexual childless couples married 1-5 years and 4 lesbian couples (N = 192). Separate exploratory factor analysis on the Perception of Self-Behavior and Perception of Partner-Behavior items revealed symmetrical 4-factor structures with factors reflecting emotion… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Heffel, Carly J.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Prevalence of Eating Disorders and Pathogenic Weight Control Behaviors Among Male Collegiate Athletes

Description: Training in sport environments that emphasize leanness and muscularity may damage athletes' body image and negatively influence male athletes' eating behaviors and attitudes. The Questionnaire for Eating Disorder Diagnosis and the Bulimia Test – Revised were completed anonymously online by 732 male intercollegiate athletes. Most male collegiate athletes were classified as asymptomatic (82.9%), followed by symptomatic (16%) and eating disordered (1.1%). The most common forms pathogenic behaviors… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Chatterton, Justine M.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Role of Expectations on Attention Performance

Description: AD/HD medications are shown to be significantly more successful at enhancing attention/concentration performance in individuals with AD/HD than placebo treatments. Few studies, however, have investigated the possibility of a placebo reaction in both medication and placebo groups by comparing placebo treatments to no treatment at all. Using an undergraduate population, I evaluated the effect of expectations about a treatment's efficacy on performance in an attention/concentration task. In additi… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Kauffman, Erin, E.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Sleep Loss and Risk-taking Behavior

Description: While sleep loss has been shown to have detrimental effects on cognitive, physiological, and psychological processes, it has only recently been investigated as a possible causal factor of risk-taking behavior (i.e., a conscious choice to engage in dangerous behavior despite knowledge of possible loss or harm). Among the few studies that have been conducted in this field, the majority found that as individuals become sleepier, their propensity to engage in risk-taking behavior increased. The r… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Womack, Stephanie D.
Partner: UNT Libraries
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