I Lived

Description
I Lived is a story about an anxious teen girl afraid of new experiences who moves into a house with a ghost who thinks life should be lived to the fullest. This is a project I have wanted to work

I Lived is a story about an anxious teen girl afraid of new experiences who moves into a house with a ghost who thinks life should be lived to the fullest. This is a project I have wanted to work on for years and finally got to complete thanks to Barrett, The Honors College and my wonderful Director and Committee members.
Date Created
2024-05
Agent

Assessment of Screening Techniques for Body Dysmorphic Disorder in Aesthetic Surgery

Description

The structure of this project will open with the dangers posed by inadequate screening techniques to both individuals with Body Dysmorphic Disorder and their plastic surgeons. This discussion will be followed by a summary of the existing mental health screenings

The structure of this project will open with the dangers posed by inadequate screening techniques to both individuals with Body Dysmorphic Disorder and their plastic surgeons. This discussion will be followed by a summary of the existing mental health screenings implemented in plastic surgery clinics and their limitations. The assessments that will be examined include The Body Dysmorphic Disorder Examination, The Body Dysmorphic Disorder Examination - Self-Report, The Cosmetic Procedure Screening Questionnaire, The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and The Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire. These screening techniques were chosen based on a multitude of factors: frequency of use in psychiatric and cosmetic settings, innovation of screening methodology, and significance of studies that utilize the assessments. After describing the screening techniques, there will be a brief discussion of the limitations of developing a screening method for Body Dysmorphic Disorder, along with suggestions for methodology in future research. This thesis will demonstrate that no existing screening method for Body Dysmorphic Disorder in aesthetic surgery is flawless. Still, future research efforts should investigate combining questionnaires and clinical interviews to screen for the disorder within clinics efficiently and more reliably.

Date Created
2023-05
Agent

Language and Stigma in the Field of Mental Health

Description
An interdisciplinary examination of the relationship between stigma and the language used to discuss mental illness, including a proposed course of action for aiding in the destigmatization of mental illness.
Date Created
2022-12
Agent

Box Office Villainization: an analysis of the prejudicial impact of American
‘psycho-thrillers’ on the stigmatization of mentally ill offenders

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Description
There exists a prejudicial influence in the way that psychological thrillers depict their mentally-ill subjects. Accordingly, this creative project closely examines scenes from the following four seminal films: Psycho, Taxi Driver, American Psycho, and Joker -- each of which exemplifies

There exists a prejudicial influence in the way that psychological thrillers depict their mentally-ill subjects. Accordingly, this creative project closely examines scenes from the following four seminal films: Psycho, Taxi Driver, American Psycho, and Joker -- each of which exemplifies four psychosocial themes that have a dominant presence within the ‘psycho-thriller’ sub-genre. These include themes of toxic masculinity, urban corruption, social class, and latent trauma. Each of these are then discussed in terms of their presence and meaning within the genre -- particularly the method in which they reinforce prejudicial understandings of severe mental illness (SMI) despite reflecting the dominant beliefs of medico-scientific communities, criminological theorists, and psychoanalytic schools of thought of the eras in which they were released. Given that these theories continue to inform the public’s understanding of severe mental illness (SMI), this thesis seeks to expose how the enduring presence of these psychosocial themes within the ‘psycho-thriller’ subgenre has conflated the presence of mental illness with criminal disposition. After discussing the representation of these themes in each film, this paper highlights how psychological thrillers may function as instruments of advocacy for mental health in spite of their ‘horrific’ elements, and provides examples of how other entertainment media have helped normalize neurodivergence in a neurotypical society.
Date Created
2021-12
Agent

The Romanticization of Mental Illness and Substance Abuse in Young Adult Media

Description

The following creative project defends that, whether intentionally or not, mental illness and substance abuse are inevitably romanticized in young adult media and discusses the dangers of this romanticization. This project is divided into three parts. The first part consists

The following creative project defends that, whether intentionally or not, mental illness and substance abuse are inevitably romanticized in young adult media and discusses the dangers of this romanticization. This project is divided into three parts. The first part consists of psychological evaluations of the main characters of two popular, contemporary forms of young adult media, Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger and Euphoria by Sam Levinson. These evaluations use textual evidence and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) to determine what symptoms of psychopathology the characters appear to display. The second part consists of a self-written short story that is meant to accurately depict the life of a young adult struggling with mental illness and substance abuse. This story contains various aesthetic techniques borrowed from the two young adult media forms. The final part consists of an aesthetic statement which discusses in depth the aesthetic techniques employed within the short story, Quicksand by Anisha Mehra.

Date Created
2021-05
Agent

Childhood adversity and its relationship with intimate partner violence in young adults.

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Description
Childhood adversity, trauma and maltreatment have been linked to intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood, with many survivors experiencing revictimization. The majority of research in this area focuses on established adults, and does not highlight the mechanism between childhood adversity

Childhood adversity, trauma and maltreatment have been linked to intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood, with many survivors experiencing revictimization. The majority of research in this area focuses on established adults, and does not highlight the mechanism between childhood adversity and IPV. This study examines the impact childhood adversity has on the perceived acceptability of less-obvious abusive behaviors, or “yellow flags”, in young adult romantic and friendly relationships amongst Arizona State University undergraduates (M age = 20.4). Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that young adults are more permissive of yellow flag behaviors in their friendships, as does the frequency of said behavior. Age, sex, minority status, and type of adversity experienced are significantly correlated with increased acceptability and frequency. No significant findings were found for romantic relationships, but may have been limited by sample demographics and the pool from which participants were drawn.
Date Created
2020-05
Agent

An Analysis of Rules and a Token Economy in an Inclusive Preschool Classroom

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Description
Token economies are a type of behavioral reinforcement that are particularly useful in classroom settings for increasing student compliance, for both typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder. During this study, we implemented a token economy in an

Token economies are a type of behavioral reinforcement that are particularly useful in classroom settings for increasing student compliance, for both typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder. During this study, we implemented a token economy in an inclusive preschool classroom with tokens contingent on compliance to classroom rules. Three participants, two with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and one considered typically developing, were included in the study. Results indicated that levels of compliance increased for both the typically developing participant and participants with autism, and did not drop below baseline levels during the withdrawal phase, suggesting there was no lack of intrinsic motivation. Further, the typically developing participant and one of the participants with autism spectrum disorder had very similar levels of compliance, while the other participant had much higher levels of compliance throughout every phase, suggesting that the compliance levels for peers with more advanced repertoires with autism may differ from both typically developing peers and peers who have less developed repertoires. The implications of these results are discussed as they relate to compliance from an ABA perspective.
Date Created
2018-12
Agent

An Investigation into the Influence of Dimensions of Containment on Externalizing Behaviors in Affluent Youth

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Description
Recent evidence suggests that youth from affluent and upper-middle-class, white collar families are at high risk for maladaptive behaviors, such as aggression, rule breaking, and substance use. A major hypothesized underlying factor is lax parental discipline that involves low repercussions

Recent evidence suggests that youth from affluent and upper-middle-class, white collar families are at high risk for maladaptive behaviors, such as aggression, rule breaking, and substance use. A major hypothesized underlying factor is lax parental discipline that involves low repercussions for errant behaviors such as substance use—also known as perceived parents’ “containment” of such behaviors. In this study, the focus is on multiple dimensions of perceived containment among parents and school authorities, in relation to both externalizing problems and drug use behaviors. These associations are examined in four different schools: two boarding schools and two day schools. Results show much stronger links with maladjustment for perceived containment by parents as opposed to perceived containment by school. The largest significant effects within the containment indices were found to be between parent containment of drug use and the levels of substance use behaviors reported by students. These effects were found across gender and all schools, indicating robust links. Overall, the most robust index studied was the perceived parental monitoring variables; monitoring effects were stronger than effects from any containment variables. Students who perceived the highest levels of parental monitoring exhibited the least amount of externalizing behaviors across all schools and genders. A possible explanation includes students perceiving that their parents monitor their behavior due to caring on the behalf of the parent, which then leads to fewer externalizing outcomes. These results suggest that the most effective means of decreasing substance use levels seem to lie within the parents of the students and not the schools.
Date Created
2018-12
Agent

Eating Disorders And Sexual Orientation

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Description
In this study, potential differences in the manifestation and rates of eating disorders and symptoms (body dissatisfaction, weight and shape concerns, food restriction, and compensatory behaviors) in college women across sexual orientations were examined. The sociocultural model of eating disorders

In this study, potential differences in the manifestation and rates of eating disorders and symptoms (body dissatisfaction, weight and shape concerns, food restriction, and compensatory behaviors) in college women across sexual orientations were examined. The sociocultural model of eating disorders was also examined for these women across sexual orientations. The participants were organized into three different sexual orientation groups for analysis: heterosexual (group 1), bisexual, pansexual, and polysexual (group 2), and lesbian, gay, queer, transsexual, asexual, and other (group 3). Using cross-sectional data, it was revealed that there were significant group differences when comparing the three sexual orientation groups on loss of control over eating, but no significant group differences on body dissatisfaction, thin ideal internalization, and weight-related eating pathology, and total eating disorder symptoms scores. The sociocultural model was not predictive of eating disorder symptoms among non-heterosexual groups. Longitudinal analyses revealed that the sociocultural model of eating disorders prospectively predicts eating disorder symptoms among heterosexual women, but not non-heterosexual women. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses indicate that non-heterosexual women may be protected from societal pressure to subscribe to the thin ideal and its subsequent internalization. However, the comparison group of heterosexual women in our study may not have been completely representative of undergraduate women in terms of total eating disorder symptoms or eating pathology. Additionally, regardless of sexual orientation, our sample reported more total eating disorder symptoms and emotional eating than previous studies. These findings have both clinical and research implications. Future research is needed to determine what risk factors and treatment target variables are relevant for non-heterosexual women.
Date Created
2016-05
Agent

Development and Validation of Make-up and Sexualized Clothing Questionnaires

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Description
Today's society increasingly sexualizes women (Kilbourne, 2003). Women are constantly confronted with an image of beauty through various forms of media. Body acceptance programs on college campuses have found that women often report feeling pressure to dress in a sexualized

Today's society increasingly sexualizes women (Kilbourne, 2003). Women are constantly confronted with an image of beauty through various forms of media. Body acceptance programs on college campuses have found that women often report feeling pressure to dress in a sexualized manner, cover up their so-called flaws with make-up, and continually strive to be thin. Currently, no measure exists to assess the daily behaviors of women to wear make-up or dress in certain ways due to body image concerns. Thus, the goal of the current studies was to develop a brief self-report questionnaire on make-up and sexualized clothing for college women. In Study 1, items were developed from qualitative data collected by the Body Project Prevention Program to assess pressure to wear make-up, discomfort when not wearing make-up, pressure to wear sexualized clothing, and body image concerns with regards to sexualized clothing. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a Confidence and a Comfort subscale for the Make-up Questionnaire (MUQ) and a Body Dissatisfaction and Pressure subscale for the Sexualized Clothing Questionnaire (SCQ). Confirmatory factor analyses in Study 2 confirmed the factor structure for the MUQ and SCQ. Study 3 compared scores on the MUQ and SCQ among intervention and control groups across time points. A gain score analysis revealed that women in the intervention did not become significantly healthier over time in comparison to the control group on the MUQ and SCQ subscales. However, the treatment condition did become significantly healthier over time in regard to other measures of eating pathology. These studies provide insight into the pressures women feel to wear make-up and sexualized clothing.
Date Created
2016-12
Agent