<p> Disciplining children has been a topic of discussion for many years now. One of the most popular methods of discipline is time out. The term time out refers to &ldquo;a period of time in a less reinforcing environment made contingent on a behavior&rdquo; (Brantner &amp; Doherty, 1983, p. 87). Time out has been studying for many years and research has supported different procedural components to time out. Using evidence-based components, this study focuses on teaching college students how to facilitate a proper time out procedure. The following procedural components are the chosen main components to examine; time in, verbal warning, immediacy, limited reinforcing location, escape plan, release strategies, and consistency. The current study examines the impact of teaching undergraduate students these procedural components and gains a better idea of this population&rsquo;s attitudes, opinions, and future likelihood of use for the time out technique. A possible predictor of perceived parenting style was also included in the model. Results indicated that learning the procedural components of time out in depth did increase individuals&rsquo; knowledge and attitudes towards this particular discipline strategy. It was also found that future likelihood of using time out was not influenced by the information presented, nor was parenting style a strong predictor for any of the three variables.</p><p>

<p> This parent training program was designed to be utilized within the Early Head Start Program. The proposed program is an eight-module program design to be implemented in eight sessions, two hours each, for a one-month duration. The aim of the parent training program is to increase parent participation in their child&rsquo;s therapy sessions. The participants are parents of children with developmental delays who are found to be eligible for the Early Head Start Program. Through attending the parent training program, several outcomes are likely to occur including, increased social and emotional developmental outcomes for the child, a stronger parent-child bond, an increased awareness for the parent regarding how to effectively promote learning for their child with special needs, a more authoritative parenting style to be adopted by the parents, and a decreased likelihood of abuse and neglect for the child. The proposed parent training program provides a parent training implementation outline, an initial parent survey, and several quizzes to determine the parent&rsquo;s competency throughout the modules. Suggestions for future research, discussions of strengths and limitations, and program evaluations were offered for discussion. </p><p>

<p> This applied theoretical paper suggests a new theory for shame due to grieving a traumatic loss. Changes in worldview, the undermining of self-efficacies, complex trauma, soul-wounding and the impacts of traumatic memory resulting from grief are explored. Grief shame, as it is proposed, is a result of bereaved victims recognizing through self-labeling that their grief behaviors violate societal feeling rules and expression norms. This provokes social consequences and forms of sanctioning (exclusion) for those demonstrating traumatic grief behaviors; they are perceived to endanger society&rsquo;s sense of wellbeing, which impedes cultural meaning making. This is noted to occur through differences in the definition of what is considered natural grief that is driven by medicalization of the experience. Being a griever rather than being observed to grieve is the catalyst for the present-day expectations of grief that grief is a something to recuperate from, driving the grief shame experience and the condition for bereaved victimization that there is something wrong with those who grieve beyond standards of grief behavior set by Western society. The shame experience itself may cause the griever to experience an attack on self, which separates shame from guilt, leading to withdraw from the shame influence (society) with soul wounding social/emotional consequence. </p><p>

Parkinson’s disease (PD) disrupts many aspects of visual perception, which has negative functional consequences. How PD affects perception of moving human bodies, or biological motion, is unknown. The ability to accurately perceive others’ motion is related to one’s own motor ability and depends on the integrity of brain areas affected in PD, including superior temporal sulcus and premotor cortex. Biological motion perception may therefore be compromised in PD but also provide a target for intervention, with perceptual training potentially improving motor function. Experiment 1 investigated whether perception of biological motion was impaired in PD (N=26) relative to neurologically-healthy control (NC; N=24) individuals. Participants viewed videos of point-light human figures and judged whether or not they depicted walking. As predicted, PD were less sensitive to biological motion than NC. This deficit was not associated with participants’ own walking difficulties or with other perceptual deficits (contrast sensitivity, coherent motion perception). Experiment 2 evaluated the hypothesis that PD deficits would extend to more socially-complex biological motion. PD (N=23) and NC (N=24) viewed point-light figures depicting communicative and non-communicative (object-oriented) gestures. The PD group was less accurate than NC in describing non-communicative gestures, an effect driven by PD men, who also had difficulty perceiving communicative gestures. Experiment 3 tested the efficacy of perceptual training for PD. Because biological motion perception is associated with motor function, it was hypothesized that perceptual training would improve walking. Individuals with PD were randomized to Gait Observation (N=13; viewing videos of healthy and unhealthy gait) or Landscape Observation (N=10; viewing videos of moving water) and trained daily for one week while gait data were collected with accelerometers. Post-training, only the Gait Observation group self-reported increased mobility, though improvements were not seen in objective gait data (daily activity, walking speed, stride length, stride frequency, leg swing time, gait asymmetry). These studies demonstrate that individuals with PD have difficulty perceiving biological motion (walking and socially-complex gestures). Improving biological motion perception led to enhancement in self-perceived walking ability. Perceptual training that incorporates more explicit learning over a longer time period may be required to effect objective improvements in walking. / 2018-12-06T00:00:00Z

Investigating the biased processing of emotional faces is essential to our understanding of emotional disorders, particularly given the evidence for depression-related biases in processing positive emotions. The present studies explored emotion recognition (ER) in outpatients presenting for assessment and treatment of emotional disorders, using an ER task that involved watching 40 computer-morphed faces changing from neutral to fully emotional expressions (happy, sad, angry, fearful). In Study 1, 644 outpatients (57.6% female, M age 31.3, range 18-76) completed the ER task, questionnaires, and a clinician-administered, semi-structured diagnostic interview. Study 2 examined the effect of oxytocin on ER and visual attention in 60 outpatients (61.7% female, M age 27.3, range 18-65) using a double-blind, placebo-controlled between-subjects design. Thirty participants with a current mood disorder and 30 with an anxiety disorder (only) received intranasal oxytocin or placebo before completing an ER task with eye tracking. In Study 1, depression severity was expected to be negatively correlated with ER accuracy and intensity. This hypothesis was not supported. Increased age was associated with lower accuracy and slower recognition of sad and fearful faces. In Study 2, the primary hypothesis was that oxytocin would improve ER for happy faces in depressed participants, based on previous findings that oxytocin enhances ER, and that depression is associated with biases in recognizing positive emotions. Diagnostic group (i.e., presence/absence of a mood disorder) moderated the effect of oxytocin on ER, but not in the expected direction: Oxytocin significantly slowed the speed of ER for all facial emotions in participants with anxiety disorders, but did not affect performance in participants with mood disorders. The main effect of oxytocin on ER accuracy, speed, and fixations in the eye region was not significant. The results were not influenced by age or gender. Significant Group x Drug interactions showed that depressed participants who received oxytocin made significantly fewer fixations in the eye region of happy and sad faces than anxious participants who received oxytocin. Before oxytocin can be used to target ER biases, additional research is needed to examine the differential impact of oxytocin on ER speed in patients with anxiety versus mood disorders. / 2020-10-08T00:00:00Z

<p> Two studies tested whether reminders of safe sex and risky sex would lead to higher mortality salience, and if that higher mortality salience would lead men who have sex with men to be more sexually risky than men who have sex with women. In Study 1, both partner gender groups reported higher mortality salience after the risky sex and death primes, but not after the safe sex or the control primes. In Study 2, the men in both groups only reported higher mortality salience after the death primes. Partner gender moderated the effect of mortality salience primes on men&rsquo;s willingness to engage in risky sexual behavior. Men who have sex with women reported greater willingness to engage in risky sexual behaviors than men who have sex with men after the death prime, and less willingness after the safe sex prime, compared to both the risky sex and control prime. Men who have sex with men did not report any differences in their willingness to engage in risky sexual behavior after any of the priming conditions. Estimates of peer engagement in risky sexual behavior correlated with both groups willingness to engage in risky sexual behavior, whereas self-esteem did not significantly correlate, moderate or mediate willingness to engage in risky sexual behavior in either group. Combining data from Study 1 and Study 2 found both groups reported higher mortality salience after the risky sex and death primes, but not after the safe sex or control primes. Implications for partner gender differences in responses to mortality salience as well as how to design safe-sex interventions are discussed.</p><p>

This portfolio thesis contains three separate parts: a systematic literature review, an empirical study and a set of associated appendices. Part one is a systematic literature review which synthesises published literature which explores the experiences of those who care for an adult who has hypoglycaemia. A systematic database search identified nine articles which were included in the review. The synthesis resulted in four overarching themes: emotional impact on the caregiver, effect on the partnership, restricting activities and seeking knowledge and support. Overall results are discussed in terms of their quality and their implications for future research and clinical practice. Part two is an empirical paper exploring patient experiences of having both diabetes mellitus and hypoglycaemia unawareness. A qualitative methodology was used to explore lived experiences. Six participants shared their subjective experiences which were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three overarching themes were identified: ‘I call my diabetes the beast because it just doesn’t do as it’s told,’ ‘It’s like waking up every day with a giant above your bed saying right; you’ve got to look after me today’ and ‘I’ve got this condition and it’s ruining my life. I just want to be normal.’ The findings are considered within the context of existing literature and clinical implications are discussed. Part three includes appendices from both the systematic literature review and the empirical paper. An epistemological statement and a reflective statement outlining the research process are also included.

abstract: Research shows that general parenting practices (e.g., support and discipline), influence adolescent substance use. However, socialization theory suggests that parental socialization occurs not only through general parenting practices, but also through parents' attempts to influence specific behaviors and values. A growing literature supports links between substance-specific parenting and adolescent substance use. For adolescent alcohol use, there are considerable limitations and gaps within this literature. To address these limitations, the present study examined the factor structure of alcohol-specific parenting, investigated the determinants of alcohol-specific parenting, and explored its association with nondrinking adolescents' attitudes about alcohol use. Using a high-risk sample of nondrinking adolescents and their parents, the current study found three dimensions of alcohol-specific parenting using both adolescent and parent reports, but also found evidence of non-invariance across reporters. Results also revealed complex roles of parental alcohol use disorder (AUD; including recovered and current AUD), family history of AUD, and current drinking as determinants of the three dimensions of anti-alcohol parenting behaviors. Moreover, the current study showed that the effects of these determinants varied by the reporter of the parenting behavior. Finally, the current study found the dimensions of alcohol-specific parenting to be unique and significant predictors of nondrinking adolescents' attitudes about alcohol, over and above general parenting practices, parent AUD, and parent current drinking. Given its demonstrated distinctness from general parenting practices, its link with adolescent alcohol attitudes, and its potential malleability, alcohol-specific parenting may be an important complement to interventions targeting parents of adolescents. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Psychology 2012

<p> Nationally, there is increased attention on the number of Black males killed by police. Systemic racism is supported through numerous research findings, in which discriminatory practices are employed and negatively affect minority members of society. This study explored the lived experience and response of church leadership to the death of Michael Brown and subsequent events in Ferguson, Missouri. Black and White churches (n=9) were selected using criterion sampling. A semi-structured interview was completed with church leaders with specific questions related to their observations of the uprising, needs of the community and congregation, and church&rsquo;s response to Brown&rsquo;s death and the non-indictment of Officer Darren Wilson. This study utilized a phenomenological qualitative approach to analyze the leader&rsquo;s responses and to identify themes. Several themes emerged regarding church advocacy, spiritual integration, provision of support to members, and practical strategies to dismantle racism in the church and community. Study limitations and implications for church and clinical practice as well as future research are discussed. </p><p>

<p> This paper presents a qualitative research study that investigated participants&rsquo; lived experiences of receiving a Bodymap Protocol (BMP) and whether there was a perceived therapeutic effect, in relationship to the participant&rsquo;s trauma conditions. The BMP integrates the modalities of focusing and therapeutic art expression, and utilizes the outline of the body as a container. </p><p> The BMP was administered to nine adults, each of whom were receiving therapy for trauma at the time of the study. Following the administration of the protocol, semistructured interviews were conducted to explore with each participant&rsquo;s art work and lived experience of the BMP. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was applied to transcripts of the semistructured interviews and the artwork. NVivo-Pro 11 software was utilized to explore the predominant themes that emerged. The study resulted in positive outcomes, as expressed through participant&rsquo;s semistructured interviews and artwork, thereby providing a foundation and motivation for continued trauma studies with this protocol.</p><p>