Psychology Masters Theses

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Browsing Psychology Masters Theses by browse.metadata.program "Psychological Clinical Science"

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    Are You a Good Partner? Using the Situation Judgment Test Method to Identify and Measure Romantic Competence
    (North Dakota State University, 2017) Penzel, Ian B.
    We devised a measure seeking to assess competency within romantic relationships using a scenario-based paradigm that was informed by the situation judgment test (SJT) and emotional intelligence literatures. Pilot data revealed positive correlations between romantic competence (RC) and romantic relationship outcomes such as satisfaction and self-efficacy within romantic relationships. To further research of this type, we conducted a study examining daily romantic behaviors, feelings, and motivations, while also collecting partner and peer reports. Results revealed that RC was a significant predictor of romantic success as quantified by self-perceptions and peer reports, and some of these relationships remain significant when controlling for personality and attachment style. Somewhat surprisingly, RC did not predict partner perceptions. Regardless, RC was a robust predictor of the daily outcomes, suggesting that RC has daily manifestations. The bulk of the evidence supports the idea that RC is an important individual difference within romantic relationships.
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    Do Highly Mindful Individuals Experience Less Interference as a Result of Better Attention Control and Emotion Regulation?
    (North Dakota State University, 2016) Siyaguna, Tharaki Javendra
    Mindfulness has been found to be beneficial to psychological health. Furthermore, research suggests that mindfulness is associated with better attention control and fewer difficulties in emotion regulation. The purpose of the current study was twofold. First I investigated whether attention control and emotion regulation are mechanisms of mindfulness that aid performance on two cognitive tasks. Second, I investigated whether mindfulness moderates the relationship between rumination, a risk factor for mental health, and cognitive interference. In this study, participants completed two cognitive tasks that measure interference from emotional stimuli. They also completed self-report questionnaires that measure levels of mindfulness, attention control, difficulties in emotion regulation, and rumination. The results indicated that mindfulness was related to attention control, difficulties in emotion regulation and rumination. However, mindfulness did not predict attentional performance as measured by cognitive interference. It was also found that mindfulness did not moderate the impact of rumination on cognitive performance.
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    Effortful Control Moderates the Association Between Emotional Instability and Binge Eating
    (North Dakota State University, 2015) Stevenson, Brittany Leigh
    We hypothesized that (H1) emotional instability would be associated with an increased likelihood of a binge episode, and that (H2a) this relationship would be potentiated among individuals with low cognitive control and (H2b) high behavioral impulsivity. Methods: Participants were 48 community-dwelling adults and college students. Participants completed the stroop task (cognitive control) and stop signal task (behavioral impulsivity), followed by two weeks of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) examining mood, hunger, and binge eating behavior up to 9 times per day. Results: There was no main effect of emotional instability on the likelihood of a binge outcome (H1 unsupported). Consistent with H2a, participants with lower cognitive control were more likely to binge as emotional instability increased (OR = .9899, p = .006). Counter to H2b, participants with higher behavioral impulsivity (stop signal scores) were less likely to binge as emotional instability increased (OR = .9916, p = .029).