Matching Items (18)
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- All Subjects: Counseling psychology
- Creators: Pereira, Jennifer
- Creators: Horan, John J
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Description
Believe It! is an animated interactive computer program that delivers cognitive restructuring to adolescent females' irrational career beliefs. It challenges the irrational belief and offers more reasonable alternatives. The current study investigated the potentially differential effects of Asian versus Caucasian animated agents in delivering the treatment to young Chinese American women. The results suggested that the Asian animated agent was not significantly superior to the Caucasian animated agent. Nor was there a significant interaction between level of acculturation and the effects of the animated agents. Ways to modify the Believe It! program for Chinese American users were recommended.
ContributorsZhang, Xue (Author) / Horan, John J (Thesis advisor) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The Believe It! program developed and evaluated by Kovalski & Horan (1999) was the first interactive, multimedia, psychological-education intervention deployed on the Internet. In a controlled study, the authors reported that the ethnically diverse cartoon models were partially successful in using cognitive restructuring to promote more reasonable career beliefs among Caucasian middle-school young women. It was not clear if the program's lack of efficacy among minority young women was due to computer literacy factors affected by SES. Subsequently, three studies explored the role of matching or mismatching the ethnicity of animated agents in a graphically enhanced program with that of the young women receiving the cognitive restructuring treatment. Each of the studies used the same four outcome measures (Occupational Sex-Role Questionnaire, Believe It Measure, Career Beliefs Inventory, and the Career Myths Scale) before and after matched and mismatched participants received the Believe It! intervention. Webster (2010) analyzed data from African-American participants, Hardy (2011) Latinas, and Zhang (2013) Asian-Americans. The current study examined the matching hypothesis on a sample of ethnically isolated Caucasian young women in a rural setting. The results obtained in the three previous studies are consistent with similar research involving client and counselor dyads (e.g., Cabral & Smith, 2011). The Believe It! program had a clear impact on ethnically matched African-American young women, whereas pairings on ethnicity did not improve outcomes for either Latinas or Asian-Americans. A solitary effect on the Occupation Sex-Role Questionnaire in the current study suggests the hypothesis is worthy of further study.
ContributorsHacker, Robyn (Author) / Horan, John J (Thesis advisor) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
It is crucial for counselors to be aware of their own attitudes and beliefs and to prevent them from influencing the counseling process. The prevalence of obesity is growing and biases against obese people are becoming more apparent. Counselors must become aware of the potential weight bias and what factors influence it. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether counselors- in-training hold negative attitudes toward obese clients and whether the career status of the client affects these perceptions. Seventy-six students in graduate level counseling programs at Arizona State University were randomly assigned one of four vignettes describing either an obese bookkeeper, a normal weight bookkeeper, an obese executive, or a normal weight executive. Negative attitudes were measured using two scales; one evaluating perceived personal characteristics of the client and one evaluating the perceived work efficacy. Results indicated that counselors-in-training perceived the client with more negative characteristics when the client was described as obese rather than normal weight, and also when she was described as having a low status job compared to a high status job. The perceived work efficacy of the presented client was not affected by the client’s weight or job status. It is important for students in counseling programs to receive training regarding weight biases and job status biases.
ContributorsPascal, Brittani (Author) / Robinson Kurpius, Sharon E (Thesis advisor) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Horan, John J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Sexual trafficking, the commercial sexual exploitation of individuals for profit, is reported to occur around the world. Tens of thousands of women and children are reported to be trafficked into the United States each year. Reports indicate a negative impact on an individual’s physical, mental, and interpersonal health. Presently, therapeutic models have been proposed but not yet formalized. Current training programs are not focused on developing therapeutic skills. The primary researcher developed the present study to discern an understanding of the lived experience of mental health professionals who have provided therapy with this population. Moreover, the primary researcher sought to understand how these mental health professionals view current preparation programs.
The present study used qualitative inquiry to examine the experience of practitioners in this field. Constructivism was used to center upon each interviewees’ description of their lived experience. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the data generated within each interview. Thematic structures were intricately linked to the data generated by focusing on the internal elements of the interview rather than a pre-conceived structure. Validation was employed through analytic memo writing and audits.
Findings were consistent with core components of therapy; however, analysis yielded some themes specific to therapy with survivors of sexual trafficking. Interviewees shared a common practice of conceptualizing each client and a motivation to build a safe and collaborative relationship, provide focused therapeutic structure, and support their clients beyond the average boundaries of therapy. Interviewees reported a minimal amount of interaction with training programs due to scarcity.
The findings suggest an increased need for training programs to prepare professionals to provide therapy with this population. Interviewees described a need for sensitive and specific trauma therapy training, consistent with suggestions in the literature. Future research may include further investigation into training programs when more have been developed. Interdisciplinary teams were a common desire among interviewees. Future research may explore the efficacy of interdisciplinary teams with this population. Finally, interviewees indicated advocacy work as an intricate part of their role as a therapist with this population and future research could investigate how this may impact the therapeutic relationship.
The present study used qualitative inquiry to examine the experience of practitioners in this field. Constructivism was used to center upon each interviewees’ description of their lived experience. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the data generated within each interview. Thematic structures were intricately linked to the data generated by focusing on the internal elements of the interview rather than a pre-conceived structure. Validation was employed through analytic memo writing and audits.
Findings were consistent with core components of therapy; however, analysis yielded some themes specific to therapy with survivors of sexual trafficking. Interviewees shared a common practice of conceptualizing each client and a motivation to build a safe and collaborative relationship, provide focused therapeutic structure, and support their clients beyond the average boundaries of therapy. Interviewees reported a minimal amount of interaction with training programs due to scarcity.
The findings suggest an increased need for training programs to prepare professionals to provide therapy with this population. Interviewees described a need for sensitive and specific trauma therapy training, consistent with suggestions in the literature. Future research may include further investigation into training programs when more have been developed. Interdisciplinary teams were a common desire among interviewees. Future research may explore the efficacy of interdisciplinary teams with this population. Finally, interviewees indicated advocacy work as an intricate part of their role as a therapist with this population and future research could investigate how this may impact the therapeutic relationship.
ContributorsBarclay, Ryan (Author) / Pereira, Jennifer (Thesis advisor) / Kinnier, Richard (Thesis advisor) / Koro-Ljungberg, Mirka (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Overt forms of sexism have become less frequent (Swim Hyers, Cohen & Ferguson, 2001; Sue & Capodilupo, 2008). Nonetheless, scholars contend that sexism is still pervasive but often manifests as female microaggressions, which have been defined as often subtle, covert forms of gender discrimination (Capodilupo et al., 2010). Extant sexism scales fail to capture female microaggresions, limiting understanding of the correlates and consequences of women’s experiences of gender discrimination. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to develop the Female Microaggressions Scale (FeMS) based on an existing theoretical taxonomy and content analysis of social media data, which identifies diverse forms of sexism. Two separate studies were conducted for exploratory factor analysis (N = 582) and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 325). Exploratory factor analyses supported an eight-factor, correlated structure and confirmatory factor analyses supported a bifactor model, with eight specific factors and one general FeMS factor. Overall, reliability and validity of the FeMS (general FeMS and subscales) were mostly supported in the two present samples of diverse women. The FeMS’ subscales and body surveillance were significantly positively correlated. Results regarding correlations between the FeMS subscales and anxiety, depression, and life satisfaction were mixed. The FeMS (general FeMS) was significantly positively correlated with anxiety, body surveillance, and another measure of sexism but not depression or life satisfaction. Furthermore, the FeMS (general FeMS) explained variance in anxiety and body surveillance (but not depression, self-esteem, or life satisfaction) above and beyond that explained by an existing sexism measure and explained variance in anxiety and depression (but not self-esteem) above and beyond that explained by neuroticism. Implications for future research are discussed.
ContributorsMiyake, Elisa (Author) / Tran, Giac-Thao Thanh (Thesis advisor) / Bernsten, Bianca (Committee member) / Tracey, Terence (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Traditional autonomy within clinical supervision was reinterpreted by incorporating culturally-encompassing autonomy types (individuating and relating autonomy) from the dual autonomy scale. The relations of vertical collectivism and autonomy measures were examined. Lastly, potential moderating effects of vertical collectivism on experience level and autonomy were assessed. The sample consisted of 404 counseling trainees enrolled in graduate programs across the US, aged between 21 and 68. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed two-factor structure of individuating and relating autonomy among counseling trainees for the adapted dual autonomy scale. Results indicated that individuating autonomy was moderately correlated with relating and traditional autonomy, and relating autonomy was not correlated with traditional autonomy. Vertical collectivism was not correlated with relating autonomy, but significantly predicted individuating and traditional autonomy. Moderating effects of vertical collectivism on experience level and autonomy were not supported. Further implications and future directions are discussed.
ContributorsShi, Yue (Ph.D.) (Author) / Tracey, Terence (Thesis advisor) / Bludworth, James (Committee member) / Pereira, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Stress in romantic relationships is an all-too-common phenomenon that has detrimental effects on relationship well-being. Specifically, stress can increase partners’ negative interactions, ultimately decreasing effective communication and overall relationship functioning. Positive dyadic coping (DC) occurs when one partner assists the other in coping with stress (e.g. empathizing or helping the partner problem-solve solutions to their stress), and has been proposed as a method of buffering the deleterious effect of stress on interaction quality. One possible mechanism between the positive associations between DC and interaction quality could be how partners verbally express their support (e.g., more we-talk) during discussions about external stress. Using real-time interaction data from 40 heterosexual couples, this project examined whether observed positive and negative DC was associated with greater (or lesser) levels of perceived interaction quality. Further, language use (i.e., pronouns, emotion words, cognition words) was assessed as mediators in the associations between DC and interaction quality. Overall, results suggested that language did not mediate the effect of DC on interaction quality; however, there were several interesting links between DC, language, and interaction quality. Implications of these findings for relationship researchers and mental health clinicians working with couples are discussed.
ContributorsLau, Kin Hang (Author) / Randall, Ashley K. (Thesis advisor) / Duran, Nicholas (Committee member) / Pereira, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Training for law enforcement on effective ways of intervening in mental health crises is limited. What is available tends to be costly for implementation, labor-intensive, and requires officers to opt-in. DEFUSE, an interactive online training program, was specifically developed to train law enforcement on mental illness and de-escalation skills. Derived from a stress inoculation framework, the curriculum provides education, skills training, and rehearsal; it is brief, cost-effective, and scalable to officers across the country. Participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental or delayed treatment control conditions. A multivariate analysis of variance yielded a significant treatment-by-repeated-measures interaction and univariate analyses confirmed improvement on all of the measures (e.g., empathy, stigma, self-efficacy, behavioral outcomes, knowledge). Replication dependent t-test analyses conducted on the control condition following completion of DEFUSE confirmed significant improvement on four of the measures and marginal significance on the fifth. Participant responses to BPAD video vignettes revealed significant differences in objective behavioral proficiency for those participants who completed the online course. DEFUSE is a powerful tool for training law enforcement on mental illness and effective strategies for intervening in mental health crises. Considerations for future study are discussed.
ContributorsHacker, Robyn Lea (Author) / Horan, John J (Thesis advisor) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Atkinson, Robert K (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Being married as an undergraduate student is uncommon, considering the average age people marry in the U.S. is 28-years-old. Given that the “traditional” undergraduate student is unmarried, being a married undergraduate student may be associated with the anticipation of stigma due to their marital status, which may be a stressful experience (hereafter-anticipated stigma stress) and have harmful effects on one’s well-being, particularly symptoms of anxiety. As such, it is important to identify ways in which romantic partners can help one another cope with this unique stressor by engaging in positive or negative dyadic coping (DC). Using cross-sectional data from 151 married undergraduate students, this project examined whether perceptions of partner’s positive and negative DC moderated the association between anticipated stigma stress and symptoms of anxiety. There was a significant main effect of anticipated stigma stress on anxiety, such that higher anticipated stigma stress was associated with greater symptoms of anxiety. Delegated DC moderated this association, such that when participants reported high levels of anticipated stigma stress, those who reported higher partner’s use of delegated DC also reported higher symptoms of anxiety as compared to those who reported low partner’s use of delegated DC. Implications for future research and mental health counselors are discussed.
ContributorsMesserschmitt, Shelby (Author) / Randall, Ashley K. (Thesis advisor) / Pereira, Jennifer (Committee member) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Cancer survivors engaged in either six-week Internet-delivered mindfulness training or a usual-care control and were compared on the following outcome battery: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Profile of Mood States, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Fatigue Symptom Inventory. Assessments were conducted before and after treatment and intervention compliance was monitored. Mindfulness treatments were delivered at a time and on a computer of the participants’ choosing. Multivariate analysis indicated that mindfulness training produced significant benefits on all measures (p < .05). Online mindfulness instruction represents a widely-accessible, cost-effective intervention for reducing psychological distress and its behavioral manifestations in cancer survivors, especially those who are unable to participate in in-person training.
ContributorsMesser, David, Ph.D (Author) / Horan, John J (Thesis advisor) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Larkey, Linda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017