Matching Items (42)
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- All Subjects: Depression
- All Subjects: Social Media
- Creators: Department of Psychology
Description
The recent popularity of ChatGPT has brought into question the future of many lines of work, among them, psychotherapy. This thesis aims to determine whether or not AI chatbots should be used by undergraduates with depression as a form of mental healthcare. Because of barriers to care such as understaffed campus counseling centers, stigma, and issues of accessibility, AI chatbots could perhaps bridge the gap between this demographic and receiving help. This research includes findings from studies, meta-analyses, reports, and Reddit posts from threads documenting people’s experiences using ChatGPT as a therapist. Based on these findings, only mental health AI chatbots specifically can be considered appropriate for psychotherapeutic purposes. Certain chatbots that are designed purposefully to discuss mental health with users can provide support to undergraduates with mild to moderate symptoms of depression. AI chatbots that promise companionship should never be used as a form of mental healthcare. ChatGPT should generally be avoided as a form of mental healthcare, except to perhaps ask for referrals to resources. Non mental health-focused chatbots should be trained to respond with referrals to mental health resources and emergency services when they detect inputs related to mental health, and suicidality especially. In the future, AI chatbots could be used to notify mental health professionals of reported symptom changes in their patients, as well as pattern detectors to help individuals with depression understand fluctuations in their symptoms. AI more broadly could also be used to enhance therapist training.
ContributorsSimmons, Emily (Author) / Bronowitz, Jason (Thesis director) / Grumbach, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsSimmons, Emily (Author) / Bronowitz, Jason (Thesis director) / Grumbach, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
Exercise has emerged as an effective way to treat anxiety and depression. This project first examines the early research on this topic so we can provide a historical context for the thesis. We then look into the contemporary context, where we can see how the topic is being talked about in modern forms of media. Finally, we apply the research to college students. At the end of the paper, you will find a brochure we made specifically for the college student struggling with anxiety or depression.
ContributorsCristante, Lilia (Author) / Ritter, Hailey (Co-author) / Sturgess, Jessica (Thesis director) / Hoffner, Kristin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Exercise has emerged as an effective way to treat anxiety and depression. This project first examines the early research on this topic so we can provide a historical context for the thesis. We then look into the contemporary context, where we can see how the topic is being talked about in modern forms of media. Finally, we apply the research to college students. At the end of the paper, you will find a brochure we made specifically for the college student struggling with anxiety or depression.
ContributorsRitter, Hailey (Author) / Cristante, Lilia (Co-author) / Sturgess, Jessica (Thesis director) / Hoffner, Kristin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
The coronavirus pandemic has proven to be a challenging time for the Hispanic community, facing impacts on stress and depression symptoms at disproportionate rates. The current study examined the associations between socioeconomic COVID stressors and depression symptoms; and coping styles, including problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, and depression symptoms amongst Mexican heritage parents. Coping styles were also examined as a moderator of the association between socioeconomic COVID stressors and depression symptoms
ContributorsSanchez, Natalee (Author) / Cruz, Rick (Thesis director) / Doane, Leah (Committee member) / Perez, Marisol (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2022-12
Description
Reasons to Stay Alive is a short story that follows the protagonist, Corinne Larson, and her experiences with depression and anxiety as well as self-harm and suicidal ideations. It is meant to act as an antithesis to media that romanticizes suicide, such as the television show 13 Reasons Why (2017), and instead glorify growth and healing. Specifically, it focuses on the importance of social support in the healing process. The story is separated into three different formats: narrative, letter, and free-verse poetry. It is prefaced by a poem titled ‘death by suicide’ that discusses the stigma around suicide and the reason why the phrase ‘commit suicide’ was changed to ‘death by suicide’. The story then starts with a letter written by Corinne to her future self during a time she was really struggling with depression and self-harm and suicidal ideations. It is a plea with her future self to tell her everything will be alright. The rest of the story is broken into four parts, each about a specific and important person in Corinne’s life. Each part starts off as a first person narrative from Corinne’s point of view and is a memorable experience she had with each person and ends with a short letter addressed directly to each person. The letters are a chance for Corinne to tell each person how important they are to her, how they made an impact in her life, and how they gave her a reason to stay alive. Between each part is a poem that deals with different themes relating to depression or anxiety. The story ends with a letter written by Corinne to her future self that goes back and addresses the first letter. It gives past Corinne some words of advice and tells her that her reasons to stay alive are the important people in life as well as herself and the person she will become.
ContributorsNosan, Kate (Author) / Soares, Rebecca (Thesis director) / Casey, Hayden (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2021-12
Description
Sophia’s Stuffed Friends is a book written for children of divorce, aged five to eight years. The story deals with anxiety, depression, and misappropriated guilt in the form of character traits in Sophia’s stuffed animals. The story takes place in a dream world after the stuffed animals are thrown into the washer of the new family house. The washer acts as a portal to the dream world. The lessons of the story are learned through flashbacks to Sophia’s life when she personally experienced anxiety, depression, and guilt. Each character learns coping mechanisms and strategies to overcome those feelings.
Squeakie is a positive influence on the way the other characters perceive themselves. The shadow turns each character’s self-doubt and negative feelings into fuel, which he stores in a paintbrush. When he takes the fuel from the character, it fades their body color. Phan has anxiety and uses the 4-7-8 breathing technique to overcome her panic attacks. Her range of color is blue to light blue. Ovid feels guilty and exercises to take his mind off his guilty thoughts. Ovid is either red or light pink. Amelia is depressed and reframes her way of thinking to overcome her inability to fly. Visually she is green or light green. The shadow is later revealed as a misguided character who was just looking to escape the dream world and find friends.
The story is resolved by the stuffed animals joining forces with the perceived antagonist, the shadow, to operate a plane. They each use their strength of color to fuel the plane, which takes them back to the real world. When Sophia’s mom pulls the stuffed animals out of the washer, the shadow comes with them. The shadow, now a cat with rainbow patches, is instantly loved by Sophia. The story ends with the stuffed animals drying on the porch bench while Sophia plays with the shadow in the new backyard.
Squeakie is a positive influence on the way the other characters perceive themselves. The shadow turns each character’s self-doubt and negative feelings into fuel, which he stores in a paintbrush. When he takes the fuel from the character, it fades their body color. Phan has anxiety and uses the 4-7-8 breathing technique to overcome her panic attacks. Her range of color is blue to light blue. Ovid feels guilty and exercises to take his mind off his guilty thoughts. Ovid is either red or light pink. Amelia is depressed and reframes her way of thinking to overcome her inability to fly. Visually she is green or light green. The shadow is later revealed as a misguided character who was just looking to escape the dream world and find friends.
The story is resolved by the stuffed animals joining forces with the perceived antagonist, the shadow, to operate a plane. They each use their strength of color to fuel the plane, which takes them back to the real world. When Sophia’s mom pulls the stuffed animals out of the washer, the shadow comes with them. The shadow, now a cat with rainbow patches, is instantly loved by Sophia. The story ends with the stuffed animals drying on the porch bench while Sophia plays with the shadow in the new backyard.
ContributorsWheeler, Isabella (Author) / Wells, Cornelia (Thesis director) / Fontinha de Alcantara, Christiane (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
This paper focused on the effects of social media on young girls’ and women’s body image and eating disorder symptomatology in comparison to traditional media. A review of the literature on the influence of media on women’s body image and eating disorder symptomatology was conducted and used in conjunction with research specific to the impact of social media in order to best assess how much power social media has on young women’s body image. Although much of the research on traditional media can be extrapolated to social media, the sense of intimacy and the strong bidirectional influence specific to social media arguably amplify the negative effects of traditional media. In addition to analysing past research, the different demographics and effects exerted by different social media platforms - Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, specifically - were assessed and addressed. Due to Instagram’s younger user base and its emphasis on appearance, much focus was placed on Instagram’s influence. This paper found that social media targets vulnerable populations and can increase the likelihood of body image disturbances and disordered eating. Further research must be conducted in order to address the current gaps in the field and to create a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of how social media interacts with eating disorder symptomatology across various demographics.
ContributorsRamalho Rocha, Lia (Author) / Alcantara, Christiane (Thesis director) / Viridiana, Benitez (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The rise in social media usage has sparked a new marketing strategy for brands and entrepreneurs known as influencing. Influencers use marketing tactics to persuade their social media followers to purchase a certain brand. For this thesis, we will be focusing on micro influencers who are defined as people that began as a regular, everyday person and became known for their knowledge about some specialist niche with a range of 10,000-500,000 followers.
To conduct research, we developed a survey that was distributed and taken by students at Arizona State University. The goal of surveying college students was to understand how young people who regularly use social media are persuaded by micro-influencers. To gain more insight, we interviewed three local micro-influencers that we discovered through Instagram and research. The goal of these interviews was to discover tactics that micro-influencers use when posting to market sponsored products. Additionally, we hoped to uncover a pattern that micro-influencers use when building their social media following. Ultimately, we developed a six-step guide from our research that aspiring micro-influencers can follow to strategize their rise as a social media micro-influencer. We also discuss the social media app TikTok, which we believe will be heavily used by influencers and micro-influencers in the future.
To conduct research, we developed a survey that was distributed and taken by students at Arizona State University. The goal of surveying college students was to understand how young people who regularly use social media are persuaded by micro-influencers. To gain more insight, we interviewed three local micro-influencers that we discovered through Instagram and research. The goal of these interviews was to discover tactics that micro-influencers use when posting to market sponsored products. Additionally, we hoped to uncover a pattern that micro-influencers use when building their social media following. Ultimately, we developed a six-step guide from our research that aspiring micro-influencers can follow to strategize their rise as a social media micro-influencer. We also discuss the social media app TikTok, which we believe will be heavily used by influencers and micro-influencers in the future.
ContributorsPangburn, Morgan Lane (Co-author) / Harazim, Genevieve (Co-author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Children with cancer can experience decreased emotional health along with deteriorating
physical health compared to children without cancer. Many studies have been done to examine the effects of emotional distress and mental health on the cancer patient, as well as the role of familial support. It was found that children with cancer may suffer from depression, anxiety, PTSD, and socio-emotional problems as a result of the trauma of being diagnosed and treated for a pervasive, life-threatening disease. Late effects may also worsen co-morbid mental health disorders. Childhood cancer patients who experience co-morbid mental health problems of depression and anxiety end up having a longer duration of recovery, as well as a worsened outcome than others with a single disorder (Massie, 2004). It was also shown that family members are affected emotionally and mentally from dealing with childhood cancer. Not only is the cancer patient at risk for PTSD during or after treatment, but also family members (National Cancer Institute, 2015). Siblings of the child with cancer may experience feelings of loneliness, fear, and anxiety, as the parent’s attention is focused on the child suffering with cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute (2015), familial problems can affect the child’s ability to adjust to the diagnosis and treatment in a positive way. However, children with strong familial and social support adjust easier to living with cancer. A common theme found in literature is that regular mental health checkups during and after cancer treatment is important for quality of life. Therefore, it is important for all childhood cancer patients and their families to receive information about mental health awareness, as well as therapeutic interventions that are developed for families caring for a child with cancer.
physical health compared to children without cancer. Many studies have been done to examine the effects of emotional distress and mental health on the cancer patient, as well as the role of familial support. It was found that children with cancer may suffer from depression, anxiety, PTSD, and socio-emotional problems as a result of the trauma of being diagnosed and treated for a pervasive, life-threatening disease. Late effects may also worsen co-morbid mental health disorders. Childhood cancer patients who experience co-morbid mental health problems of depression and anxiety end up having a longer duration of recovery, as well as a worsened outcome than others with a single disorder (Massie, 2004). It was also shown that family members are affected emotionally and mentally from dealing with childhood cancer. Not only is the cancer patient at risk for PTSD during or after treatment, but also family members (National Cancer Institute, 2015). Siblings of the child with cancer may experience feelings of loneliness, fear, and anxiety, as the parent’s attention is focused on the child suffering with cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute (2015), familial problems can affect the child’s ability to adjust to the diagnosis and treatment in a positive way. However, children with strong familial and social support adjust easier to living with cancer. A common theme found in literature is that regular mental health checkups during and after cancer treatment is important for quality of life. Therefore, it is important for all childhood cancer patients and their families to receive information about mental health awareness, as well as therapeutic interventions that are developed for families caring for a child with cancer.
ContributorsBuchanan, Chantel Tatiana (Author) / Seeley, Bridget (Thesis director) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05