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Description
While the literature on caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD) has continued to grow, the relationship of ethnicity and acculturation factors with regards to the coping strategies used by caregivers has not been extensively explored. The current study included participants from the Palo Alto site of the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH) project. The study examined differences in coping strategies between 140 non-Hispanic White, 45 less acculturated Latina, and 61 more acculturated Latina caregivers. Univariate and Multivariate Analysis of Variance, as well as post hoc analyses, were conducted to determine the differences among the three groups. Results indicated less acculturated Latina caregivers employ more avoidant coping strategies compared to non-Hispanic White caregivers. However, no differences were found among the other groups in their use of avoidance coping. Moreover, there were no differences found in the use of social support seeking, count your blessings, problem focused, and blaming others coping among the three groups. These findings have important implications for the design of culturally relevant psychoeducational and therapeutic interventions aimed towards meeting the individual needs of these three populations. In addition, the findings expand on the understanding of maladaptive coping strategies that may be potentially exacerbating caregiver distress among Latina caregivers.
ContributorsFelix, Vitae (Author) / Arciniega, Guillermo M (Thesis advisor) / Robinson-Kurpius, Sharon (Committee member) / Coon, David W. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Since the inception of what is now known as the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 1970s, criminal profiling has become an increasingly prevalent entity in both forensic science and the popular imagination. The fundamental idea of which profiling is premised – behavior as a reflection of personality – has been the subject of a great deal of misunderstanding, with professionals and nonprofessionals alike questioning whether profiling represents an art or a science and what its function in forensic science should be. To provide a more thorough understanding of criminal profiling’s capabilities and its efficacy as a law enforcement tool, this thesis will examine the application of criminal profiling to investigations, various court rulings concerning profiling’s admissibility, and the role that popular media plays in the perception and function of the practice. It will also discuss how future research and regulatory advancements may strengthen criminal profiling’s scientific merit and legitimacy.
ContributorsGeraghty, Bridget Elizabeth (Author) / Kobojek, Kimberly (Thesis director) / Gruber, Diane (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Over recent decades, euthanasia has been a topic of increasing debate. With legalization of euthanasia in the states of Oregon and Washington and attempted reform in several other U.S. states and nations worldwide, it has become increasingly important to understand the roles and values of helping professionals who might be working with clients considering this option. The current study targeted 85 undergraduate students, 54 doctoral students in counseling psychology, and 53 doctoral-level professionals in psychology to assess both their personal values regarding euthanasia and their willingness to allow a client the autonomy to make a decision about euthanasia. Several factors were analyzed in regards to their relation to client autonomy and attitudes toward euthanasia, including age of client and sex of client. These variables were manipulated in vignettes to create four scenarios: a 24 year old male, 24 year old female, 80 year old male, 80 year old female. Other factors included level of education of the participant, spirituality and strength of religiosity of the participant, and personal experiences with deaths of friends or family members. Results indicated that more education was associated with greater support for euthanasia and that stronger religiosity and spirituality were related to less support for euthanasia. This study also found that participants did not exhibit differential levels of support based solely on the age or the sex of the client depicted in the vignette. Results further indicated that for doctoral students and professionals the loss of a loved one, regardless of cause of death, did not have a significant effect on their attitudes toward euthanasia. It is important for training programs to be aware of these findings in order to monitor trainees in terms of personal biases in the therapy relationship. With objectivity a high priority while working with clients, it is necessary to be aware of outside factors potentially influencing one's work with clients surrounding this value-laden issue.
ContributorsBevacqua, Frank (Author) / Robinson-Kurpius, Sharon (Thesis advisor) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Homer, Judy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Never married parents (NMPs) are a burgeoning population within the Family Court system. However, there is no empirical research on these parents' separation process, though the neighboring literature purports that NMPs are more at risk for negative child wellbeing outcomes than their divorcing counterparts. This study investigated child behavior problems in high conflict litigating never married families by assessing four salient issues collectively termed chaotic environment: economic strain, lack of social support for the parents, parental repartnering, and family relocation, which included parent changing residence and child changing schools. They were then compared to divorcing parents. It was hypothesized that NMPs would experience higher levels of chaotic environment, and subsequent increases in child behavior problems than divorcing parents, but that the relationship for NMPs and divorcing parents would be the same with each of the chaotic environment variables. This study found the contrary. NMPs only had significantly higher mean scores on lack of social support for fathers and marital status did not predict child behavior problems. Both economic strain and child changing schools predicted child behavior problems for both mothers and fathers. Two interaction effects with mothers were found, indicating that the more a never married mothers repartnered and/or changed her residence, the more behavior problems her child had, while divorcing mothers experiencing the converse effect.
ContributorsHita, Liza Cohen (Author) / Braver, Sanford (Thesis advisor) / Sandler, Irwin (Thesis advisor) / Bernstein, Bianca (Committee member) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This study presents a structural model of coping with dating violence. The model integrates abuse frequency and solution attribution to determine a college woman's choice of coping strategy. Three hundred, twenty-four undergraduate women reported being targets of some physical abuse from a boyfriend and responded to questions regarding the abuse, their gender role beliefs, their solution attribution and the coping behaviors they executed. Though gender role beliefs and abuse severity were not significant predictors, solution attribution mediated between frequency of the abuse and coping. Abuse frequency had a positive effect on external solution attribution and external solution attribution had a positive effect on the level of use of active coping, utilization of social support, denial and acceptance.
ContributorsBapat, Mona (Author) / Tracey, Terence J.G. (Thesis advisor) / Bernstein, Bianca (Committee member) / Green, Samuel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This study examined four research questions investigating relationships among the experience of trauma, identity development, distress, and positive change. There were 908 participants in the study, ranging in age from 18 to 24 which is known as the period of emerging adulthood. Participants completed an online survey regarding their exposure to trauma and reactions to these experiences. The first research question examined the experience of trauma for the sample. The second question examined group differences among the participant's identity status, gender, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnostic status on the hypothesized variables. In general, comparisons among the four identity status groups found participants who experienced greater identity exploration (diffused and moratorium) experienced more distress, whereas the identity status groups that reported greater identity commitments (foreclosed and achieved) were associated with positive change. Similar findings were found for PTSD diagnostic status indicating more distress and identity exploration for participants with the diagnosis and more positive change and identity commitments for participants without the diagnosis. Female participants were found to experience more PTS symptoms, centrality of the trauma event, and positive growth than males. Examination of the relationships between trauma severity and posttraumatic growth revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship (quadratic) that was a significant improvement from the linear model. An S-shaped relationship (cubic) was found for the relationship between trauma exposure and posttraumatic growth. Regression analyses found the centrality of the trauma event to one's identity predicted identity distress above and beyond the experience of trauma. In addition, identity distress and the centrality of the trauma contributed to the variance for identity exploration, while only identity distress contributed to identity commitments. Finally, identity development significantly predicted positive change above and beyond, identity distress, centrality of the trauma event, and the experience of trauma. Collectively, these results found both distress and growth to be related to the experience of trauma. Distress within one's identity can contribute to difficulties in the psychosocial stage of identity development among emerging adults. However, the resolution of identity exploration towards commitments to goals, roles, and beliefs, can help trauma survivors experience resilience and growth after stressful experiences.
ContributorsWiley, Rachel (Author) / Robinson-Kurpius, Sharon (Thesis advisor) / Stamm, Jill (Committee member) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This study explored the motivation and persistence factors for non-professional athletes who decided after the age of 40 to begin training for an IRONMAN distance triathlon. The qualitative methodology of grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) was used in conceptualizing and implementing the research. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 individuals in the Southwest region of the United States. Data was coded in accordance with grounded theory methods. Motivation themes that emerged from the data centered around either initiating training for triathlon as an approach toward a specific goal or outcome, or beginning triathlon as a way to cope with personal difficulties. Obstacles to motivation also emerged, such as finances and time, injury, fear and doubt, and interpersonal difficulties. Persistence themes emerged that centered around either taking active steps to help continue training and relying on internal traits or characteristics to promote persistence. Data are discussed in terms of how these individuals adopt triathlon as a part of their lifestyle and identity, and how they come to persist in training beyond IRONMAN.
ContributorsLiddell, T. Michael (Author) / Claiborn, Charles (Thesis advisor) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Perhaps by some ingrained sense of human preparedness, phobias are an outlier in the world of conditioning. Again and again, they are highlighted as the only thing which avoidance makes worse, rather than alleviates. My own fear of insects had reached its most severe level just as I began learning about phobias, and avoidance, in my undergraduate psychology courses. There, I learned that avoidance of the phobic stimulus \u2014 in my case, insects \u2014 seemed to be a fundamental element of maintaining a phobia, and I was more than guilty of it. Following this realization, I endeavored into what I would later come to call Stimulus Confrontation: A self-designed therapeutic course of action to overcome my fear. This thesis, then, is the record of this project. It weaves together my scholarly research on phobias with my own personal narrative concerning the employment of Stimulus Confrontation, beginning with the etymology and proposed etiologies of phobias, followed by an overview of contemporary treatment options available and a recounting of Stimulus Confrontation as applied to my own phobia. Told from her own perspective, English writer and journalist Jenny Diski's book, What I Don't Know About Animals, tells of her own arachnophobia, and includes an honest account of the fear and anxiety it caused for her, as well as her own journey to overcome it. Like my own, Diski's phobia \u2014 arachnophobia \u2014 had come to affect her everyday life. Prior to seeking treatment for her fear at the age of 58, Diski too had learned to avoid the thing which she so feared. Inspired by What I Don't Know About Animals, the personal anecdotes I have included throughout this thesis serve to elaborate upon my personal experience with my own insectophobia, and the cessation of avoidance that led to substantial progress in overcoming my fears. Throughout this thesis, I refer to this cessation of avoidance as Stimulus Confrontation, with the intention that following the same process I did may benefit others in overcoming their own specific phobias.
ContributorsKavanaugh, Ashley Marie (Author) / Gruber, Diane (Thesis director) / Lewis, Stephen (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on interventions for children with conduct disorder. Conduct disorder mainly effects children and adolescents, and is characterized as a pattern of persistent (sometimes anti-social) behavior in which an individual violates the basic rights of others or disregards societal norms and rules. If left untreated, conduct disorder can be a precursor to more severe behavioral problems and consequences, including juvenile delinquency and unlawful behavior as an adult. The interventions reviewed in this paper include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), supportive counseling, experiential therapy, multisystemic therapy (MST), parent management training (PMT), military school, scared-straight programs and boot camps, and medication. Based on empirical data and recommendations from experts in the field, I conclude with suggestions for parents on how best to help their children diagnosed with conduct disorder.
ContributorsHalpern, Victoria Jeanne Nicole (Author) / Kinnier, Richard (Thesis director) / Franklin, Timothy (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between mental illness and capitalist consumer society. Many Americans are suffering from mental illness and there has to be something causing it besides a chemical imbalance in the brain. A capitalist society creates a set of expectations that conflict with human desires. The thesis takes a historical, economical, and psychological approach to answering the following question: Does a capitalist society make its citizens mentally sick? A brief history of capitalism over the past century is discussed, as well as a more in depth look at capitalism and the creation of neoliberalism during the 1980s. The psychological effects capitalism has on human beings is discussed for the majority of the thesis and focuses on ideas from the 1950s as well as the early 2000s. To show the effect capitalism has on modern day society, an analysis of a psychopharmaceutical drug commercial is given. The concluding thoughts attempt to offer solutions to the problems of human unhappiness in a consumer culture.
ContributorsSerki, Aisling Erin (Author) / Gruber, Diane (Thesis director) / Ramsey, Ramsey Eric (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05