Matching Items (14)
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- All Subjects: Counseling psychology
- Creators: Horan, John J
- Creators: Randall, Ashley K
- 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
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
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
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
Description
Although women of color have increased their presence in the workplace, many obstacles restricting career opportunities still exist. It is important that mental health professionals contribute in providing interventions to increase career opportunities for women of color. The purpose of this research is to add to the repertoire of interventions by studying the irrational career beliefs of Black women. This research utilizes the Believe It! program, an online career development program that focuses on altering irrational/maladaptive career beliefs that can prevent young females from pursuing career opportunities. An early study of Believe It! found it to be effective for Caucasian females, however the effects for minority females were less clear. The current study re-examined the effectiveness of Believe It! for minorities by altering the appearance of the animated character within the program. It was hypothesized that young African American women interacting with African American animated agents would display greater rationality in terms of career beliefs compared to young African American women interacting with Caucasian animated agents. Forty-four African American girls between the ages of eleven to fifteen were pre-tested with a battery of assessment devices addressing the irrationality of the girls' career beliefs. The measures included the Career Myths Scale, the Career Beliefs Inventory, the Occupational Sex-role Questionnaire, and the Believe It! measure. Four to eight days later, participants engaged in the online Believe It! Program; they were randomly assigned to either a matched condition (viewing the program with an African American animated agent) or a mismatched condition (viewing the program with a Caucasian animated agent). After completion of the intervention, participants were post-tested with the same assessment battery. MANCOVA and ANCOVA analyses showed that participants in the matched condition consistently benefitted from the matched intervention. Implications for this research are discussed.
ContributorsWebster, Jacqueline (Author) / Horan, John J (Thesis advisor) / Atkinson, Robert (Committee member) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
Emerging adulthood (18 – 28 years) is a distinctive period in the life course whereyoung people are involved in the process of transitioning to adult roles in their careers
and social relationships. Due to the ongoing COVID- 19 pandemic, economic instability,
and other social factors, emerging adults in the United States are experiencing greater
stress and challenges than ever before. In this climate of high stress, personal
characteristics such as an individual’s propensity to endorse sociotropy (the tendency to
focus primarily on relationships) or autonomy (the tendency to focus primarily on the
self) may be associated with experiences of stress and resulting depressive feelings based
on the diathesis-stress model of depression proposed by Beck in 1967. However,
perceived partner’s dyadic coping may buffer against the positive association between
stress and depression. Despite this plausible link, not much is known about how personal
characteristics (here sociotropy and autonomy) of emerging adults may influence their
perceptions of their own as well as partner’s dyadic coping. To address this gap, the
present study used survey data from 269 emerging adults to examine whether personal
characteristics such as sociotropy and autonomy are associated with their perceptions of
dyadic coping and to examine if these associations are moderated by perceived
relationship commitment, given commitment has been found to increase relationship
maintenance behaviors. Results found that both sociotropy and autonomy were associated
positively with positive dyadic coping by self and negatively with negative dyadic coping
by partner. Relationship commitment partially moderated these associations. Results of
this study have the ability to inform therapy for emerging adults in romantic relationships
who may be experiencing higher stress, symptoms of depression, and those who may be
experiencing difficulties in their relationships. Limitations and future directions for
research are discussed
ContributorsGandhi, Yuvamathi (Author) / Randall, Ashley K (Thesis advisor) / Bludworth, Jamie (Committee member) / Warner, Cheryl (Committee member) / Iida, Masumi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
The purpose of this study was to understand more about how romantic couples negotiate forgiveness and reconciliation. To do so, this study used purposive sampling and recruited 21 couples (42 individuals) to independently complete diaries two times a week for four weeks. In addition to collecting information about the transgression and background related to the transgression, participants were asked to report their most recent conversations with their partner since their last diary. Analysis revealed that couples’ conversations were triggered in the following seven ways: Intentional repair, during other conversation, during other arguments, airing feelings, everyday interactions, potential for temptation or risk, and chronic behavior associated with violation. This interpretive analysis was also guided by negotiating morality theory. One of the central assumptions of negotiated morality theory is that forgiveness communication is an important site for relational partners to negotiate a shared sense of morality. Moreover, the details of couple’s diaries and conversations provide information that can be used to advance negotiated morality theory. Specifically, this analysis extends theory by 1) demonstrating that conceptualizing the moral functions of forgiving communication hierarchically, renaming constructs, and the addition of a new construct (honoring emotion) will improve its parsimony and explanatory power, 2) illustrating how couples engage in discussion-based forgiveness and reconciliation, and 3) empirically illustrating how defining moral standards and restoring relational justice are the two main moral functions of forgiving communication. Restoring relational justice consisted of the following subthemes: establishing accountability, atonement, honoring the self and other, honoring emotion, and increasing safety and certainty. Among the contributions this analysis makes is identifying and describing honoring emotion. In doing so, the subcategories of honoring emotion provide both heuristic and practical implications. Participants’ diaries provided insights about the range of emotions, the discomfort and difficulty of emotional conversations, and communicating emotions.
ContributorsKloeber, Dayna N (Author) / Adame, Elissa A (Thesis advisor) / Alberts, Jess K (Thesis advisor) / Randall, Ashley K (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Despite an increasing number of women completing doctoral programs each year, there remains a deficit in the representation of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Moreover, Women of Color (WoC) in STEM doctoral programs face unique stressors and barriers that their male colleagues may not, such as microaggressions, racism, and sexism due to their marginalized identities. Although there is a growing body of research focusing on how WoC in STEM successfully navigate academic challenges and symptoms of distress present in rigorous doctoral training, there is limited research examining intrapersonal (i.e., academic resilience) and interpersonal (i.e., perceived social support) factors that may mitigate the negative associations of these experiences. To address these gaps in the literature, the present study gathered data from 174 WoC during December 2021 and January 2022. Results supported the hypothesis that academic challenges would be positively associated with symptoms of distress. Furthermore, based on research showing positive associations between both academic resilience and social support and psychological well-being, the study also examined whether academic resilience and perceived social support from friends and romantic partners. While academic resilience was not found to moderate the association between academic challenges and symptoms of distress, perceived social support was found to have moderating effects, such that low and high levels of perceived social support increased the strength of the positive association between academic challenges and symptoms of distress. Results of the present study have implications for doctoral programs and mental health practitioners working at university college centers and support for need for the enhancement of the structure and process of the doctoral program experience for WoC in STEM.
ContributorsHopkins, Jessica (Author) / Randall, Ashley K (Thesis advisor) / Bekki, Jennifer (Committee member) / Truong, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022