Theses and dissertations

This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students. 

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A Mechanistic Model of Art Therapy

Description
The goal of my study is to test the overarching hypothesis that art therapy is effective because it targets emotional dysregulation that often accompanies significant health stressors. By reducing the salience of illness-related stressors, art therapy may improve overall mood and recovery, particularly in patients with cancer. After consulting the…

The goal of my study is to test the overarching hypothesis that art therapy is effective because it targets emotional dysregulation that often accompanies significant health stressors. By reducing the salience of illness-related stressors, art therapy may improve overall mood and recovery, particularly in patients with cancer. After consulting the primary literature and review papers to develop psychological and neural mechanisms at work in art therapy, I created a hypothetical experimental procedure to test these hypotheses to explain why art therapy is helpful to patients with chronic illness. Studies found that art therapy stimulates activity of multiple brain regions involved in memory retrieval and the arousal of emotions. I hypothesize that patients with chronic illness have a reduced capacity for emotion regulation, or difficulty recognizing, expressing or altering illness-related emotions (Gross & Barrett, 2011). Further I hypothesize that art therapy improves mood and therapeutic outcomes by acting on the emotion-processing regions of the limbic system, and thereby facilitating the healthy expression of emotion, emotional processing, and reappraisal. More mechanistically, I propose art therapy reduces the perception or salience of stressors by reducing amygdala activity leading to decreased activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The art therapy literature and my hypothesis about its mechanisms of action became the basis of my proposed study. To assess the effectiveness of art therapy in alleviating symptoms of chronic disease, I am specifically targeting patients with cancer who exhibit a lack of emotional regulation. Saliva is collected 3 times a week on the day of intervention: morning after waking, afternoon, and evening. Stress levels are tested using one-hour art therapy sessions over the course of 3 months. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) assesses an individual's perceived stress and feelings in past and present situations, for the control and intervention group. To measure improvement in overall mood, 10 one-hour art sessions are performed on patients over 10 weeks. A one-hour discussion analyzing the participants' artwork follows each art session. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) assesses overall mood for the intervention and control groups. I created rationale and predictions based on the intended results of each experiment.
ContributorsAluri, Bineetha C. (Author) / Orchinik, Miles (Thesis director) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Essary, Alison (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School for the Science of Health Care Delivery (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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Culturally Motivated Clinician Drift in the Treatment of Eating Disorders: How Clinicians Adopt, Adapt, or Abandon CBT for Latino Clients

Description
Prior research has identified that clinicians in the treatment of eating disorders often do not adhere closely to empirically-supported treatments (EST), and are particularly likely to modify Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT). Several reasons for this phenomenon, dubbed "clinician drift", have been identified, including level of clinician training, education, and type of…

Prior research has identified that clinicians in the treatment of eating disorders often do not adhere closely to empirically-supported treatments (EST), and are particularly likely to modify Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT). Several reasons for this phenomenon, dubbed "clinician drift", have been identified, including level of clinician training, education, and type of patient care. In addition to the phenomenon of clinician drift, there has been a growing controversy within the field of clinical psychology about the compatibility of ESTs and multiculturalism. Some argue that the standardization inherent to EST resists the concept of cultural adaptability; while others have countered that cultural adaptability is essential in order for empirically supported treatments to remain relevant, ethical, and effective. In order to shed more light on this issue, this study examined how clinicians tend to drift from CBT in the treatment of Latinos suffering from eating disorders, in order to accommodate Latino culture and elements of eating behavior specific to Latino populations. We both attempted to replicate prior findings regarding predictors of clinician drift, as well as build upon the little existing research into the "culturally-motivated clinician drift." It was discovered that no therapist characteristics or client characteristics were predictive of drift. However, the majority of the sample still adapted or abandoned at least part of the CBT treatment. Their responses regarding the weaknesses of CBT for their Spanish-speaking clients can provide insight into how the treatment can be modified for more diverse clients.
ContributorsJosephs, Jamie Elise (Author) / Perez, Marisol (Thesis director) / Luecken, Linda (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12