Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2024, Counseling Psychology

Health service psychology (HSP) students are at a high risk of burnout and physical and mental health problems (El-Ghoroury et al., 2011; Rummell, 2015). Research has begun to explore environmental factors within training programs that cause or prevent burnout (e.g., Kovach Clark et al., 2009; Swords & Ellis, 2017). Using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model of burnout (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017; Demerouti et al., 2001), the present study assessed the relationships between demands, resources, and burnout symptoms in a sample of HSP doctoral students. Structural equation modeling was used to test the JD-R model and compare the relative contributions of perceived workload, weekly work hours, sense of community, work environment, and relationships with academic advisors and clinical supervisors to students' symptoms of exhaustion and disengagement. Analyses of variance were used to explore demographic group differences to better understand the experiences of diverse students, especially those with minoritized identities. Participants reported high levels of burnout symptoms, especially exhaustion. The hypothesized JD-R model, which contains unique and separate pathways representing the processes by which job demands sap energy and job resources promote engagement, did not yield interpretable parameters and thus was not a good fit to the data. However, an alternative model containing additional pathways between job demands and resources and burnout symptoms fit the data well and collectively predicted about half (50.8%) the variance in exhaustion and about a third (31.8%) of the variance in disengagement. The results demonstrated HSP doctoral students' experiences of burnout are highly linked to environmental factors. High demands impair students' health and create exhaustion, while lacking resources impair motivation and create disengagement. Perceived workload, sense of community, and the work environment had the largest effects on burnout sym (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Margo Gregor (Advisor); Joelle Elicker (Committee Member); Ingrid Weigold (Committee Member); Varunee Faii Sangganjanavanich (Committee Member); John Queener (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Counseling Psychology; Education; Health Sciences; Multicultural Education; Occupational Health; Psychology; School Counseling

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2025, Counseling Psychology

Supervision is the cornerstone of professional development and training of psychologists (Bernard & Goodyear, 2018). However, the majority of health service psychology supervisees have experienced inadequate and harmful supervision, which have been associated with numerous negative outcomes(Ammirati & Kaslow, 2017; Ellis et al., 2014; Ellis, 2017; Gray et al., 2001; Ramos & Sanchez, 2002). The current study had four aims. The first was to provide updated incidence rates for current experiences of inadequate and harmful supervision for health service psychology graduate students using the Taxonomy of Inadequate and Harmful Clinical Supervision (Ellis et al., 2014). Second, this study investigated how these supervision experiences related to burnout at personal, work, and client levels. Additionally, this study examined whether counseling self-efficacy explained some of the relationship between inadequate and harmful supervision and burnout (Barnes, 2004; Whittaker, 2004). Finally, using two conditional mediation models, this study examined how coping efforts moderated the relationships between counseling self-efficacy and burnout and inadequate and harmful supervision and burnout. In the current sample of 186 graduate students from APA-accredited programs, 59% of students met criteria for receiving inadequate supervision and 72.7% met criteria for receiving harmful supervision in their current supervisory relationship. Participants reported high levels of personal and work-related burnout. Inadequate supervision did not significantly predict burnout at any level or counseling self-efficacy. Harmful supervision significantly predicted work-related burnout and counseling self-efficacy. There was no indirect effect of inadequate supervision on any level of burnout through counseling self-efficacy. There was a significant indirect effect of harmful supervision on client-related burnout through counseling self-efficacy. There was no indirect effect of counseling self- (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ingrid Weigold (Advisor); Margo Gregor (Committee Member); Charles Waehler (Committee Member); John Queener (Committee Member); Heather Katafiasz (Committee Member) Subjects: Counseling Psychology; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 0, College of Education and Human Services

It has been well established that psychology doctoral students experience an inordinate amount of stress. Extant literature has proposed that engaging in self-care and feeling socially supported by peers and faculty has resulted in decreased stress levels and an improved quality of life (e.g., E. Ayala et al., 2017; Bamonti et al., 2014; Colman et al., 2016; Rummell, 2015). This study explored the relationship between perceived stress due to COVID-19 and perceived quality of life and via two mediators: self-care practices and perceived social support. Limited research has investigated psychology doctoral students' perceived quality of life during wave one of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected using a quantitative online survey that also included two open-response items focused on quality of life and perceived social support. The sample included 350 health service psychology doctoral students aged 18 years and older. A parallel multiple mediator analysis revealed: (a) perceived stress was negatively related to quality of life; (b) a direct effect of stress due to COVID-19 on quality of life when controlling for self-care practices and perceived social support; (c) perceived stress was inversely related to self-care practices and perceived social support; (d) self-care practices and perceived social support were significantly and positively related to perceived quality of life; and (e) self-care practice and perceived social support significantly mediated the effects of perceived stress due to COVID-19. Results supported the importance of psychology doctoral students engaging in self-care practices and being provided ongoing social support from their doctoral programs and faculty to mitigate the deleterious effects of stress on quality of life. This research has advanced the field of education and training in applied psychology doctoral programs by elucidating the importance of professional and personal social support for trainees' quality-of-life.

Committee: Julia Phillips PhD (Committee Chair); Shereen Nasar PhD (Committee Member); Graham Stead PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Counseling Psychology; Education; Psychology