Matching Items (12)
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- All Subjects: Counseling psychology
- Creators: Bernstein, Bianca
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
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
Research on psychological help seeking has continued to grow as the field of psychology has expanded. Much of the research is often variable driven and assumes this construct is a global construct. The current study used the Theory of Planned Behavior to provide a theory based approach to understanding psychological help seeking intention. Also, the theory was tested for three common presenting concerns: Anxiety or Depression, Career Choice Concerns, and Alcohol or Substance Use. Two samples of over 400 university students completed surveys for all three concerns. Results produced invariance across path loadings for the concerns being compared. When thinking about seeking psychological help, university students do not appear to consider the type of concern but do rely on attitude, stigma, and how much control and efficacy they have to address their problems on their own. Mean differences emerged for some variables in the model, but no meaningful mean differences were noted for gender. Overall, the variables used in the decision making process do not appear to consider concern when seeking help, but the beliefs about seeking help differ some. These results extend the Theory of Planned Behavior to consider the importance of an individual's ability to address their problem on their own. When considering psychological help seeking, college students have similar attitudes and beliefs about their ability to access mental health resources, their beliefs about stigma, ability to address their problems on their own, and their intention to seek help vary more by concern. The specific concerns being addressed does not appear to impact the weight each variable is given in the decision making process; attitude, stigma, and ability to solve the problem on their own appear to be the variables given greatest consideration.
ContributorsHess, Timothy Robert (Author) / Tracey, Terence J. G. (Thesis advisor) / Claiborn, Charles (Committee member) / Sheu, Hung-Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This work analyzed the role of interpersonal problems in interaction with ethnicity to predict psychotherapy outcome. A total of 262 individuals, who underwent psychotherapy at a counseling training facility, completed the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45) and the reduced version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-32). This study posited the following research question: Is the magnitude of the effect of ethnicity on treatment outcome conditional on certain IP dimensions (dominance or affiliation)? The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not ethnicity, represented by 3 ethnic groups (Whites, Hispanics, and Asians), was related to treatment outcome, and if this relationship was moderated by two interpersonal distress dimensions: dominance and affiliation. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses indicated that ethnicity did not predict post-treatment outcome gain, and neither affiliation nor dominance was a moderator of the relationship between outcome and ethnicity.
ContributorsJimenez Arista, Laura E (Thesis advisor) / Tracey, Terence (Committee member) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Claiborn, Charles (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
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are highly prevalent illnesses that can result in profound impairment. While many patients with these disorders present in primary care, research suggests that physicians under-detect and suboptimally manage MDD and PTSD in their patients. The development of more effective training interventions to aid primary care providers in diagnosing mental health disorders is of the utmost importance. This research focuses on evaluating computer-based training tools (Avatars) for training family physicians to better diagnose MDD and PTSD. Three interventions are compared: a "choice" avatar simulation training program, a "fixed" avatar simulation training program, and a text-based training program for training physicians to improve their diagnostic interviewing skills in detecting and diagnosing MDD and PTSD. Two one-way ANCOVAs were used to analyze the differences between the groups on diagnostic accuracy while controlling for mental health experience. In order to assess specifically how prior mental health experience affected diagnostic accuracy the covariate of prior mental health experience was then used as an independent variable and simple main effects and pairwise comparisons were evaluated. Results indicated that for the MDD case both avatar treatment groups significantly outperformed the text-based treatment in diagnostic accuracy regardless of prior mental health experience. For the PTSD case those receiving the fixed avatar simulation training more accurately diagnosed PTSD than the text-based training group and the choice-avatar training group regardless of prior mental health experience. Confidence ratings indicated that the majority of participants were very confident with their diagnoses for both cases. Discussion focused on the utility of avatar technology in medical education. The findings in this study indicate that avatar technology aided the participants in diagnosing MDD and PTSD better than traditional text-based methods employed to train PCPs to diagnose. Regardless of experience level the fixed avatar group outperformed the other groups for both cases. Avatar technology used in diagnostic training can be user-friendly and cost-effective. It can also have a world-wide reach. Additional educational benefit could be provided by using automated text analysis to provide physicians with feedback based on the extent to which their case diagnostic summaries cover relevant content. In conclusion, avatar technology can offer robust training that could be potentially transferred to real environment performance.
ContributorsSatter, Rachel (Author) / Kinnier, Richard (Thesis advisor) / Mackenzie, James (Committee member) / Claiborn, Charles (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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