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Description
This study examined the role of substance use in the relationship between the working alliance and outcome symptomatology. In this study, two groups of participants were formed: the at risk for substance abuse (ARSA) group consisted of participants who indicated 'almost always,' 'frequently,' 'sometimes,' or 'rarely' on either of two items on the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 (OQ-45.2) (i.e., the eye-opener item: "After heavy drinking, I need a drink the next morning to get going" and the annoyed item: "I feel annoyed by people who criticize my drinking (or drug use)"). The non-ARSA group consisted of participants who indicated 'never' on both of the eye-opener and annoyed screening items on the OQ-45.2. Data available from a counselor-training center for a client participant sample (n = 68) was used. As part of the usual counselor training center procedures, clients completed questionnaires after their weekly counseling session. The measures included the Working Alliance Inventory and the OQ-45.2. Results revealed no significant differences between the ARSA and non-ARSA groups in working alliance, total outcome symptomology, or in any of the three subscales of symptomatology. Working alliance was not found to be significant in predicting outcome symptomatology in this sample and no moderation effect of substance use on the relationship between working alliance and outcome symptomatology was found. This study was a start into the exploration of the role of substance use in the relationship between working alliance and outcome symptomatology in individual psychotherapy. Further research should be conducted to better understand substance use populations in individual psychotherapy.
ContributorsHachiya, Laura Y (Author) / Bernstein, Bianca (Thesis advisor) / Tran, Giac-Thao (Committee member) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between characteristics of the symptomatology change curve (i.e., initial symptomatology, rate of change, curvature) and final treatment outcome. The sample consisted of community clients (N = 492) seen by 204 student therapists at a training clinic. A multilevel approach to account for therapist effects was followed. Linear, quadratic, and cubic trajectories of anxiety and depression symptomatology, as assessed by the Shorter Psychotherapy and Counseling Evaluation (sPaCE; Halstead, Leach, & Rust, 2007), were estimated. The multilevel quadratic trajectory best fit the data and depicted a descending curve (partial “U”-shaped). The quadratic growth parameters (intercept, slope, quadratic) were then used as predictors of both symptom change and reliable improvement in general symptomatology (pre- to post-treatment), as assessed by the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 (OQ-45.2; Lambert, Hansen, Umpress, Lunen, Okiishi et al., 1996). The quadratic growth parameters of depression and anxiety showed predictive power for both symptom change and reliable improvement in general symptomatology. Patterns for two different successful outcomes (1-change in general symptomatology and 2-reliable improvement) were identified. For symptom change, successful outcomes followed a pattern of low initial levels of depression and anxiety, high initial rates of change (slope), and high (flattening after initial drop) curvature, and the pattern applied to both within- and between-therapist levels. For reliable improvement at within-therapist level, successful outcomes followed a pattern of high initial rate of change (slope) and high curvature. For reliable improvement at between-therapist level, successful outcomes were associated with a pattern of low initial levels of depression and anxiety. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.
ContributorsJimenez Arista, Laura E (Author) / Tracey, Terence (Thesis advisor) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Bernstein, Bianca (Committee member) / Randall, Ashley K. (Committee member) / Levy, Roy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Using a sample of 931 undergraduate students, the current study examined the influential factors on undergraduate students' academic performance, satisfaction, and intentions to persist in their enrolled major. Specifically, the current study investigated the salience of interest-major match in predicting academic success. Interest-major match has been found to be one of the most influential determinants of academic and occupational success. However, support for this relationship has been equivocal and modest at best. The present study was designed to improve upon the current understanding of this relation by examining the moderating effect of gender and employing a longitudinal design to investigate the reciprocal relation between interest-major match and academic outcomes. Correlational results suggested that women reported greater interest-major match and results of the path analyses demonstrated a moderating effect of gender. Although a reciprocal relation was not supported, the findings indicated that a student’s level of academic satisfaction may influence the degree of fit between his or her interest and academic major. The results also highlight the tendency for students further along in their academic tenure to persist to graduation despite poor fit. Implications for educators and administrators are discussed.
ContributorsWilkins, Kerrie G (Author) / Tracey, Terence J. G. (Thesis advisor) / Bernstein, Bianca (Committee member) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Career decision ambiguity tolerance: a longitudinal examination of its relation to career indecision
Description
The current study investigated the dynamic interplay of career decision ambiguity tolerance and career indecision over three assessment times in a sample of college students (n=583). While the previous research has repeatedly shown an association of career decision ambiguity tolerance with career indecision, the direction of this association has not been adequately assessed with longitudinal investigation. It was hypothesized in this study that there is a reciprocal pattern of career decision ambiguity tolerance leading to subsequent career indecision and career indecision leading to subsequent career decision ambiguity tolerance. Using a cross-lagged panel design, this study found support for the reciprocal pattern that aversion with ambiguity led to increased negative experience, choice anxiety, and lack of readiness in career decision making, while negative experience, choice anxiety, and lack of readiness led to increased aversion with ambiguity as well. Additionally, this study revealed that choice anxiety and readiness for career decision making led to increased interests in new information. The key findings were discussed with respect to the theoretical and clinical implications for career counseling along with limitations and suggestions for future research.
ContributorsXu, Hui, Ph.D (Author) / Tracey, Terence J. G. (Thesis advisor) / Bernstein, Bianca (Committee member) / Dawes, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
The demands and expectations of graduate school can be stressful for any student. Graduate students in a romantic relationship, in particular, contend with both individual and dyadic effects of graduate school stress, as stress has been found to be negatively associated with both individual and relational well-being. Asymmetrical graduate student couples, wherein one partner is in graduate school and the other is not, may be particularly vulnerable to relationship strain because of differences in their experience of graduate school. However, non-student partners can help the graduate student cope with stress through dyadic coping. This study sought to examine whether: a) there were associations between graduate school stress on individual (life satisfaction) and relational (relationship satisfaction) well-being, and b) whether these associations were moderated by positive and negative dyadic coping behaviors. Cross-sectional data from 62 asymmetrical graduate student couples were gathered using an online survey. Data were analyzed using Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook 2006). Separate models were conducted to examine overall associations between graduate stress and well-being, and additional analyses were conducted to examine potential moderation effects of perceptions of partner dyadic coping (actor effects) and partner self-reported dyadic coping (partner effects) on the overall associations between stress and life- and relationship satisfaction mentioned above. Results for the overall model suggested that graduate stress is associated with both individual- and relational well-being. Surprisingly, and against prior literature, positive dyadic coping did not buffer the negative association between graduate stress and well-being, and negative dyadic coping did not exacerbate the association. Implications of the findings for future research and for mental health counselors are discussed.
ContributorsSegraves, Megan C (Author) / Randall, Ashley K. (Thesis advisor) / Bernstein, Bianca (Committee member) / Kurpius, Sharon (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Multicultural counseling competencies (MCCs) are fundamental to the ethical practice of providing services to clients. One such competency is the aspect of self-awareness of one's own worldview. As such, it is incumbent that attention to counselor's self-awareness be a part of clinical training. While research has begun to examine multicultural supervision, much of the research holds assumptions about the types of multicultural discussions that take place, as well as what may actually occur within these sessions. Little is known about what is discussed and how. This exploratory, qualitative study examined what actually occurs within clinical supervision sessions with regard to having discussion of multicultural perspectives, as well as how supervisors and supervisees experience these discussions. Five supervisory dyads from university counseling centers in the southwest were recruited to engage in a guided discussion of multicultural perspectives (DMP) in a supplemental supervision session. In these DMPs, dyads were asked to discuss issues related to personal identity, as well as to discuss the relevance of having such discussions in clinical supervision. Both the supervisors and supervisees then engaged in follow-up telephone interviews with the researcher to discuss their experience in having this discussion. All supervision sessions and follow-up interviews were recorded and transcribed. Grounded theory was used to analyze the transcribed sessions and the follow-up interviews for emergent themes. Four domains emerged from the data: dynamics in the relationship, cultural lens, characteristics of the discussion, and impact of the discussion. Further, several areas of congruence between supervisors' and interns' accounts of what occurred during the DMP, as well as congruence between supervisors' and interns' accounts of what occurred and what actually happened during the DMPs were discovered. These areas of congruence that emerged included power, similarities, differences, comfort level, enjoyment, intentionality for future work and increased awareness. The one distinct pattern of incongruence that emerged from the data was in the category of increased connection in supervisory relationship. A theoretical model of supervisors' and interns' experiences in discussions of multicultural perspectives is included. Implications, limitations and suggestions for future research are explored.
ContributorsZapata, Angela Lynn (Author) / Bernstein, Bianca (Thesis advisor) / Coon, David W. (Thesis advisor) / Arciniega, Miguel (Committee member) / Arredondo, Patricia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
Personal finances are an essential part of adulthood, yet we find that many Americans have low financial literacy (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation, 2016). This phenomenon is especially true for young adults (18-25 years old) (Lusardi, 2019). Lusardi, Mitchell, and Curto (2009) found that fewer than one-third of young adults possess basic financial knowledge. The present study examined whether financial self-efficacy and financial hardship were moderators between financial literacy and financial anxiety among a young adult sample (18-25 years old; Arnett, 2000). The current study utilized moderated moderation analyses to explore the associations between financial literacy, financial anxiety (i.e., the concern and worry about finances), financial self-efficacy, and financial hardship for young adults( N = 549, 71.6% female, Mage = 20.49). Based on survey data from the Financial and Social Stress Study (Tran & Mintert, n.d.), moderated moderation results show (a) an inverse association between financial literacy and financial anxiety (direct effects) and (b) financial self-efficacy and financial hardship moderate this relationship. Specifically, for young adults experiencing high financial hardship with high financial self-efficacy, there was a strong inverse association between financial literacy and financial anxiety. This study contributes to our knowledge of the vital role of financial literacy and its association with financial anxiety for young adults. Further, these findings highlight financial self-efficacy as a potential factor for mental health providers to consider when working with young adults experiencing high financial hardship.
ContributorsFaison, Alexis Duckett (Author) / Tran, Alisia (Giac-Thao) (Thesis advisor) / Bernstein, Bianca (Committee member) / Robinson-Kurpius, Sharon (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Teachers represent important agents of gender socialization in schools and play a critical role in the lived experiences of transgender students. What remains less clear, however, is whether the gender of the teacher impacts their response to transgender bullying and specifically how threats to gender identity might influence men who teach to respond negatively. The current study used a 2 (gender) x 3 (gender identity threat, no gender identity threat, and control) experimental design to assess whether the masculine overcompensation theory helps explain how men who teach respond to transgender victimization experiences. It was hypothesized that men in the gender identity threat condition would endorse more anti-trans attitudes (e.g., higher transphobic attitudes, lower allophilia [feelings of liking] toward transgender individuals, more traditional gender roles, less supportive responses to a vignette about transgender bullying, less support for school practices that support transgender students, and less likelihood of signing a petition supporting transgender youth rights) compared to the other conditions. It was also expected that they would endorse more negative affect but higher feelings of self-assurance. Women in the study served as a comparison group as no overcompensation effect is expected for them. Participants (N = 301) were nationally recruited through word of mouth, social media, and personal networks. Results from the current study did not support the theory of masculine overcompensation as there was no effect of threatening feedback. There were a number of significant gender differences. Men reported lower transgender allophilia, higher transphobia, more traditional gender role beliefs, less likelihood of signing the petition supporting transgender youth rights, and more self-assurance than women. No gender effect was found for negative affect or support for school practices supporting transgender students. There were also no observable differences in participant responses to the vignette by gender or condition. The implications and limitations of the current study were discussed.
ContributorsMintert, Jeffrey (Author) / Tran, Alisia (Thesis advisor) / Bernstein, Bianca (Committee member) / Carlson, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020