Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2013, Psychology

The purpose of the current study was to investigate how various types of victimization and parental warmth and bonding experiences cluster together in young women's life histories in order to determine whether specific profiles of victimization relate to the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD) features. Seven hundred sixty-nine college women completed anonymous questionnaires related to their experiences with childhood maltreatment, adult sexual victimization, parental bonding and attachment, and features of BPD as well as related symptoms of general dysphoria and posttraumatic stress. A cluster analysis yielded a six-cluster solution which included a non-victimized control group, a group characterized by low paternal warmth/ bonding with moderate levels of childhood emotional abuse and little adult symptom distress, a group with no reported child maltreatment but adult sexual victimization, and three multi-type child maltreatment groups which generally evidenced the highest levels of BPD features and associated symptom distress (including a group characterized by physical and emotional abuse in addition to low parental warmth/ bonding, a group characterized by sexual re-victimization, and a group characterized by severe experiences with family violence). The current findings suggest that the co-occurrence of different types of maltreatment and poor parental bonding in childhood and adulthood may predict impairment in certain BPD feature domains and associated symptom domains of psychological distress.

Committee: Terri Messman-Moore Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Margaret O'Dougherty Wright Ph.D. (Committee Member); Aaron Luebbe Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sally Lloyd Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology; Psychotherapy

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2009, Psychology

The current study examined whether altered self-capacities mediate the link between child abuse and adult sexual revictimization. Data were collected from 849 female college students with anonymous surveys to assess child abuse (sexual [CSA], physical [CPA], and emotional [CEA]), adult sexual victimization (rape/attempted rape and verbal sexual coercion), and altered self-capacities (relatedness difficulties, identity impairment, and affect dysregulation). Maternal care also was examined as a contributor to adult sexual victimization given its impact on altered self-capacities. Reported experiences of adult rape and verbal coercion overlapped so substantially that three outcomes were examined: adult rape/attempted rape only, adult verbal sexual coercion only, and combined adult rape/attempt/coercion. The relationship between CSA and combined adult rape/attempt/coercion was mediated by all three altered self-capacities. However, altered self-capacities did not mediate the relationship between CPA and adult victimization. CEA was associated with altered self-capacities, but was not a significant predictor of verbal coercion only when maternal care was considered. Maternal care was the only significant predictor of adult verbal sexual coercion only when examined with all forms of child abuse and altered self-capacities. Adult rape only was not associated with child abuse or altered self-capacities. Findings indicate that altered self-capacities mediate revictimization only in the case of CSA and adult combined rape/attempt/coercion, and that maternal care is the strongest predictor of adult verbal sexual coercion. In addition, maternal care mediates the link between child abuse (all forms) and adult verbal sexual coercion. Findings support examining multiple forms of child abuse when assessing risk for sexual revictimization. Implications for intervention, including considerations for revictimization prevention on college campuses, are discussed.

Committee: Terri Messman-Moore PhD (Committee Chair); Margaret Wright PhD (Committee Member); Patricia Kerig PhD (Committee Member); Sally Lloyd PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2019, Social Work

Between 2005 and 2017, the number of opioid-related overdose deaths increased by 751% in the state of Ohio (Ohio Department of Health, 2018). The implications of opioid abuse reach beyond the person struggling with addiction, affecting their families and the systems that provide them with services as well. In the state of Ohio, the number of children entering foster care increased by 3,500 children between 2013 and 2018 (Public Children Services Association of Ohio [PCSAO], 2018b), many of whom have experienced the complex and traumatic after-effects of parental opioid abuse. Because of limited state child welfare funding in Ohio, children services agencies in different counties have had varying resources available to combat the effects of the opioid epidemic. To explore these differences, this qualitative study analyzes the results of 16 interviews with children services employees in eight Appalachian and Non-Appalachian counties. The purposes of this study are to explore 1) how parental opioid abuse affects child maltreatment, exposure to trauma, and families' involvement with children services; 2) the trends present in cases affected by parental opioid abuse and; 3) the differences in the implications of the opioid epidemic on public children services agencies in Appalachian and Non-Appalachian Ohio counties.

Committee: Terry Cluse-Tolar PhD (Advisor); Solveig Spjeldnes PhD (Other) Subjects: Social Work

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2019, Dentistry

Purpose: This retrospective chart review compared dental health as measured by decayed, missing or filled teeth (dmft) in children with a history of physical abuse and children without a history of physical abuse to determine if there is a difference in dental health between the two groups. Methods: The Nationwide Children's Hospital (NCH) electronic medical database (EPIC) was used to query patients, aged 2 to 6 years, who had both a physical abuse determination and a dental visit at NCH within two years of the physical abuse date between the years of 2013 to 2017 (n =146). The control population was queried in EPIC as patients aged 2 to 6 years with a dental visit at NCH from 2013 to 2017 (n=305). Patients with complete odontograms had the dmft score counted and calculated by one single researcher who viewed all charts. Difference in caries experience and physical abuse history was determined using Pearson's Chi Square test and difference in means between case and control groups was analyzed using a 2-tail t- test. Results: No significant difference (p = 0.16) was found between case and control groups when looking at presence of caries (dmft > 0). No significant difference (p = 0.54) in mean number of dmft between the two groups (case mean = 4.52; control mean = 4.81). Conclusion: There is no association between history of child physical abuse and caries status

Committee: Paul Casamassmio (Advisor); Daniel Claman (Committee Member); Farah Brink (Committee Member); Kimberly Hammersmith (Committee Member); Erin Gross (Committee Member) Subjects: Dentistry

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1981, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Social Work

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2015, Psychology

Numerous studies suggest the possibility that early maladaptive schemas (Young, Klosko, & Weishaar, 2003) mediate the relation between childhood maltreatment and adult depression, although few studies test this explicitly. Moreover, there are no studies available that examine four early maladaptive schemas associated with both abuse and negative outcomes as mediators of of multiple types of childhood maltreatment (tested individually) and depression. This study of 830 college women examined whether the defectiveness, mistrust, emotional deprivation, and abandonment early maladaptive schemas mediate the relation between childhood maltreatment and adult depressive symptoms. Four forms of childhood maltreatment were individually assessed: emotional, sexual, and physical abuse, and witnessing interparental violence. In addition, the presence of any form of childhood maltreatment (regardless of type) as well as number of types of maltreatment experienced (i.e., polyvictimization) were examined in mediation analyses. Through use of the PROCESS macro, which tests conditional process models, these analyses showed that defectiveness, mistrust, and abandonment, but not emotional deprivation, mediated the relation between childhood maltreatment (i.e., each of the four forms of childhood maltreatment, the presence of any form of maltreatment, and the number of types of maltreatment experienced) and adult depressive symptoms. Clinical implications of the study findings are discussed.

Committee: Terri Messman-Moore Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Aaron Luebbe Ph.D. (Committee Member); Elizabeth Kiel Ph.D. (Committee Member); Rose Marie Ward Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Cognitive Therapy; Mental Health; Psychotherapy

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Psychology/Clinical

Overweight and obesity are major concerns in the United States. The obesity proneness model developed by Costanzo and Woody (1985) outlines how parental food restriction and other weight-related behaviors (e.g., expressing concern about child's weight) can lead to obesity and disordered eating. Parental food restriction is defined as the restriction of types of foods or the restriction of total caloric intake (Birch et al., 2001; Musher-Eizenman & Holub, 2007). Other parental weight-related behaviors that have been studied include encouragement to diet and weight-related talk (Armstrong et al., 2014; Bauer et al., 2013), as well as weight-related abuse (Salwen & Hymowitz, 2015), which represents the most severe weight-related caregiver perbehaviors in the parent-child eating/weight literature currently. The current investigation assessed more extreme forms of caregiver food restriction and other weight-related behaviors (referred to as a harsh childhood weight-related environment) by conducting interviews with adult women with overweight/obesity who experienced such an environment. Themes representing the extreme ways caregivers restricted participants' food consumption include: restriction of food quantity, restriction of food type, enrollment in formalized diets or treatment programs, prevention of food consumption when not present, restriction of entire meals, restriction in response to food consumption or weight, encouragement or coercion of decreased food consumption, encouragement or coercion of healthy food consumption, and inspection or examination of food consumption. Themes representing the extreme other caregiver behaviors participants experienced, like the food restriction themes, outline the specific behaviors (e.g., enforcement of exercise) caregivers used to influence participants' weight, in addition to restricting their food. Results also describe the coping behaviors participants reported using to increase their food consumption, disobey or comply (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Abby Braden PhD. (Committee Chair); Meagan Docherty PhD. (Committee Member); Catherine Stein PhD. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2021, Mass Communication (Communication)

Despite high adoption rates of new communication technologies in Kenya, the role of emerging technologies in the Kenyan child trafficking market and the influence of online anti-child trafficking activists in combating child trafficking remain under-researched. In this study, I have used digital ethnographic approaches that included virtual interviews, online participant observation, and social media analytics to realize five main findings. First, emerging media technology has been used by criminals to traffic children, whereas it also provides opportunities to online activists to combat child trafficking. Second, there are different types of online claims-makers actively advocating against child trafficking. Third, the claims-makers framed the exploitation and risky situations that victims of child trafficking go through as sexual exploitation, organ harvesting, infant trafficking, child marriage, organized begging, terrorism, organized crime, and child labor. Fourth, the claims-makers used the 5P framework to diagnose and offer a prognosis of the child trafficking situation. Finally, the claims-makers were able to influence diverse sentiments among their target audience. This study has practical and theoretical recommendations for researching and designing social and behavior change interventions against child trafficking and other social challenges.

Committee: Stephen Howard Prof. (Committee Chair); Thomas Smucker Dr. (Committee Member); Jatin Srivastava Dr. (Committee Member); Laeeq Khan Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: African Studies; Behavioral Sciences; Communication; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Social Research; Sociology; Sub Saharan Africa Studies

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2019, Antioch Seattle: Clinical Psychology

This qualitative study explores the experience of mothers parenting significantly aggressive children, ages five to 10. Little has been known previously about how women experience this aggression or the social and psychological impacts it has on them. This dissertation highlights the women's understandings to provide a solid basis for theoretical explication using a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach. Significant findings include the invisibility and stigma the women feel and the ways in which the experience is similar and dissimilar to other forms of family violence, particularly adolescent-on-parent violence (APV). Differences were found in social stigma between women whose child has a neurodevelopmental disorder and those parenting a child with trauma. Women were found to endorse a narrative that “good mothers” sacrifice even their own safety for their children and use their strong empathy for their children as a source of empowerment. Finally, the relationship of these findings to the literature as well as discussion of their clinical implications of the study findings are presented. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

Committee: Jude Bergkamp (Committee Chair); Elin Bjorling (Committee Member); Rochelle Coffey (Committee Member) Subjects: Developmental Psychology; Psychology; Womens Studies

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2018, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

Financial stressors such as unemployment and unexpected expenses are difficult for the general population, but for adults who experienced an adverse childhood, financial stressors may have a serious negative impact on their motivation, well-being, and interpersonal relationships. In addition, life stress may lead people with adverse childhood experiences to exhibit dysfunctional money behaviors. The primary hypothesis of this study is that adults who had adverse childhood experiences, as measured by the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE-Q), will show a positive association between the severity of their childhood adverse experiences and the extent of dysfunctional money behaviors they report, as measured by the Klontz-Money Behavior Inventory (K-MBI). Out of 187 random participants in this research project, the average number of adverse childhood experiences was 2.11 out of a possible 10. Using the Pearson Correlations, the K-MBI's scales as related to the total number of ACE-Q items statistically varied in significance from the weak to the moderate range. Future researchers in this area are encouraged to stratify those people who had four or more adverse childhood experiences to allow these potentially causal dysfunctional money behaviors to show their dominance. This Dissertation is available in Open Access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu and Proquest database and adds some of the dissertations listed there to PsycINFO.

Committee: Ron Pilato Psy.D. (Committee Chair); Daniel Schwartz Ph.D. (Committee Co-Chair); Granoff Tom Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Cognitive Therapy; Counseling Psychology; Finance; Mental Health; Psychological Tests; Psychology; Psychotherapy

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2018, History

The Civil Rights Act and the expansion of Title IV of the Social Security Act in 1962 vastly increased the number of children and families eligible for child welfare services in the 1960s. States and counties were able to offer a significant and sustained increase in government support for expanding existing institutional child welfare programs and creating new community based programs. The combination of increased demand and increased funding resulted in the transformation of children's institutions from mostly custodial and residential charitable organizations to mostly therapeutic and community-based government-subsidized nonprofit organizations. This dissertation examines the history of three children's homes affiliated with the National Benevolent Association of the Disciples of Christ from their founding around the turn of the twentieth century to the passage of the Child Abuse Protection and Treatment Act in 1974. These case studies demonstrate how federal legislation, state regulation, and the work of a national accreditation organization, The Child Welfare League of America, influenced the creation of modern child welfare agencies.

Committee: David Hammack (Advisor) Subjects: American History; Modern History; Religion; Welfare

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1992, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1984, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Social Work

DNP, Kent State University, 2014, College of Nursing

Effective parenting refers to carrying out the responsibilities of raising and relating to children in such a manner that the child is well prepared to realize his or her full potential as a human being (Alvy, 2007). Ineffective parenting, or poor parenting skills, may impede the parenting process and/or the parent-child relationship resulting in child abuse and neglect and causing harmful, long-lasting effects on the child. Millions of cases of child abuse and neglect are reported yearly in the United States, which has the worst record among industrialized nations. Poor parenting skills result from lack of knowledge, socio-economic problems, and numerous other difficulties. The purpose of this project was to establish an evidence-based parenting program in an underserved area as an intervention for court-referred troubled parents. The Positive Parenting Program (Triple P), an evidenced based program that supports parents and teaches effective parenting skills to reduce disruptive child behaviors, was selected for implementation and evaluation. Eight parents were enrolled for eight consecutive weekly group sessions and completed the Triple P's Satisfaction Survey. The survey had 13 Likert scale questions and three open-ended questions. Overall, the ranges were from 4-7 on the Likert Scale and the median was 6.5, which indicated the program was found to have been a positive intervention for the participants. This project substantiated the body of evidence that Triple P is an educational intervention that increases parents' knowledge, skills, and confidence in their parenting abilities.

Committee: Connie Tezie DNP (Committee Co-Chair); Barbara Drew PhD (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Nursing

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), Xavier University, 2009, Psychology

Family rituals and child behaviors in families with a substance abusing mother {n = 26) were compared to families with a non-substance abusing mother {n = 26). Each mother completed a demographic form, a Child Behavior Checklist, and a Family Rituals Questionnaire. There were no significant differences found in mother-reported family rituals between families with a substance abusing mother and those with a non-substance abusing mother, but there were differences in mother-reported children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors of anxiety, depression, withdrawn, social, thought, rulebreaking, and aggressive behaviors. Implications for future research were outlined.

Committee: W. Michael Nelson III Ph.D., ABPP (Committee Chair); Kathleen Hart Ph.D., ABPP (Committee Member); Renee Zucherro Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Developmental Psychology; Individual and Family Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Nursing

Abusive head trauma (AHT) or shaken baby syndrome (SBS) is the most frequent cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Lazarus's Theory of Stress and Coping was used to develop a theoretical model for AHT used in this study to evaluate variable relationships. The aims were to describe relationships among parent's infant development knowledge, infant crying, parent stress, parent coping, and infant abuse risk and to determine what content should be included in AHT prevention programs according to the theoretical model. A cross-sectional descriptive research design was used to obtain data from mothers of two month old infants who presented for a well-child visit at pediatric primary offices. A convenience sample of 99 mothers completed the Knowledge of Inventory Development Inventory (KIDI), the Crying Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ), the Parenting Stress Index Short Form (PSI-SF), the Jalowiec Coping scale (JCS), and the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP), and a demographic questionnaire developed by the researcher. Various statistical tests and descriptive statistics were used in the data analysis. Infant crying and parent's infant development knowledge were not related to infant abuse risk. Maternal stress differentiated between high and low abuse risk groups. Six percent of the mothers at high risk for abuse in this study is comparable to the national average of 9.6% of children in general who are abused. There was a difference between coping style and effectiveness related to crying between high and low risk mothers. Supportant coping and its effectiveness with crying was used more by low risk mothers. High risk mothers used more often evasive, fatalistic, and emotive coping strategies. Several infant soothing techniques for crying infants were utilized at significantly different rates by the mothers who were in the high and low risk groups. The findings suggest that AHT prevention programs should provide parents with content related to soothing techniques (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Edna Menke PhD (Advisor); Nancy Ryan-Wenger PhD (Committee Member); Mary Margaret Gottesman PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Families and Family Life; Health Education; Individual and Family Studies; Mental Health; Nursing; Sociology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2011, Sociology

The likelihood of being removed from the home following a substantiated case of maltreatment is much higher for black youth than for their white counterparts. There are two competing explanations in the literature. The first is that black children experience more serious forms of maltreatment and have fewer resources to remedy the maltreatment situation through informal means than do white children. The second is that there is an underlying bias within the child welfare system, where discriminatory beliefs about the perceived threat and dangerousness of certain groups and their abilities to care for their children may contribute to black children being disproportionately removed from their homes. The present study examines whether race has an effect on child placement within the child welfare system after taking into account various risk factors associated with race and placement. It also examines whether the factors influencing placement are the same for white and black youth. Findings illustrate a racial disparity in out-of-home placements supporting both of the competing explanations in the current literature. Parental mental illness and emotional abuse as the maltreatment type are identified as factors operating differently for black and white children within the child welfare system. Overall, the present study finds that two separate processes seem to be at play in the placement decisions of maltreated youth, and concludes with possible explanations for this differential treatment.

Committee: Stephen Demuth PhD (Advisor); Jorge Chavez PhD (Committee Member); Alfred DeMaris PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 1996, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Social Work, The Ohio State University, 1967, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2007, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: