Recent Dissertations

Below, you will find information about some of the recent doctoral dissertations, including the author's name, the title of the dissertation, and the faculty advisor.

2023

Morgan Bullard. Protections For All? Attitudes Toward Civil Rights Protections for Trans and Gender Non-Binary Individuals.
     Dr. Sara Bridges, Dissertation Chair

Raven Cohen. Disordered eating behaviors in nonbinary populations: Exploring the unique roles of body dissatisfaction, gender dysphoria, and misgendering.
     Dr. Rosie Davis, Dissertation Chair.

Salman Ibrahim: Suicide Prevention: Suicide Literacy and Its Impact on Helping Intentions.
     Dr. Sara Bridges, Dissertation Chair

Sarah Pringer: Combatting the Impact of Trauma and Occupational Burnout Among Correctional Officers: The Role of Coping Mechanisms and Psychopathic Traits.
     Dr. Ashley Batastini, Dissertation Chair

Meera Patel: Who’s at the Bottom of the Hiring List? Exploring the Compounding Effects of Applicant Race and Offense History on Employability.
     Dr. Ashley Batastini, Dissertation Chair

Kelli Wierzbicki: "You called me what?: Threatened masculinity, social dominance, and attitudes toward LGB laws.
     Dr. Suzanne Lease, Dissertation Chair 

2022

Laura Condon: Counseling at the Intersections: Comparing Trainee Multicultural Competency
     Dr. Suzanne Lease, Dissertation Chair 

Lauren Hayes: Disordered Eating among Sex Trafficking Survivors: An Application of Objectification Theory to Experiences of Extreme Objectification
     Dr. Suzanne Lease, Dissertation Chair 

Re’Sean (Johnson) Jetson: Mask On, F*ck It, Mask Off: Assessing the Role that Hip-Hop Plays in the Identity Development of Young Black Professionals
     Dr. Suzanne Lease, Dissertation Chair 

Daniel Lattimore: Exploring Moderation Effects of Humor Styles on the Relationship Between Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions and Work Volition in Black Working Men
     Dr. Suzanne Lease, Dissertation Chair 

Asia Amos: Through the Back Door: Unsettling and Witnessing the Transgenerational Trauma Paradigm with African American Women
     Dr. Sara Bridges, Dissertation Chair   

Dorothy’e Gott: In Search of Our Mothers' Garden: A Womanist Witnessing of Black Motherhood and Mental Health
     Dr. Sara Bridges, Dissertation Chair 

Joseph Dunn: Operatic Becomings: A Narrative Exploration of Singers' Personal and Professional Development
     Dr. Sara Bridges, Dissertation Chair 

Danielle Sample: Coaches' Attitudes Toward Transgender Athletes
     Dr. Suzanne Lease, Dissertation Chair 

Allison Schimmel-Bristow: The Development and Validation of the Transgender Resilience Measure (TRM)
     Dr. Suzanne Lease, Dissertation Chair 

Clarie Koehn: An Assemblage of Becomings: Affective Connections Between Spiritual Experience and Objects
     Dr. Sara Bridges, Dissertation Chair 

Greg Edgins: Can Meaning in Life Mitigate the Effects of Interpersonal Dimensions of Suicidality on Suicidal Ideation?
     Dr. Richard Lightsey, Dissertation Chair 

2021

Adams, Kimberly: "The Experiences of Psychologists Working in Federal Policy Positions"  
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

El-Oqlah, Emily:  "Allah Made Me This Way: Negotiating Identities for Muslim Americans with Same-Sex Attraction"  
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Germany, Mae-Lynn : "Disenfranchised Losses: Grief and Growth in Non-Death Loss Events"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Magsam, Erica: "Trainers with Problems of Professional Competence: Relationships with Trainee Professional Commitment and Self-Efficacy for Addressing Competency Issues"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Moore, Kanesha: "The Association of Gendered Racism and Resilience on Sense of Belonging and Academic Self-Efficacy in Black Women at Predominantly White Institutions"
     Advisor: Dr.  Rosie Davis

Rhomberg, Parker: "Improving the Exchange Rate for Student-Athletes: Transferable Skills, Athletic Identity, and Career Development"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

2020

Horn, Mark Gregory : "The Effectiveness of Neurofeedback on Dissociation and Emotion Regulation, Possible Mediators of Externalizing Behavior in Adolescents in Residential Treatment"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

New, Christina M.: "Transgender Health Care: Symptom Disclosure, Gender Minority Stress and Health Status"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Shuman, Whitney: "How Social Norms Moderate the Association Between Gender Role Conflict and Grief Cognitions"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease 

Stenersen, Madeline: "The Development and Validation of the Attitudes Towards Individuals who Sell Sex Inventory (ATISS)"  
     Advisor: Dr. Elin Ovrebo

2019

Bates, Rickey Lee: "Assessment of psychometric and empirical differences between the population of male general inmates and the population of male inmate HSO's (History of Sexual Offense)"
     Advisor: Dr. Douglas Strohmer

Sanders, Shondolyn D.: "The influence of mentoring and sense of belonging on self-efficacy development in psychology doctoral students of color"
     Advisor: Dr. Laura Marks

Steinruck, Ramah E.: "Subjective career success in the face of heterosexism at work: Bisexual vs. Gay/Lesbian experiences"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

2018

Fishel Frose, Adam: "Gratitude interventions with physical therapy patients"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Hatcher, Sarah: "Cultural competence and self-awareness in doctoral psychology students: Does international experience matter?"
     Advisor: Dr. Elin Ovrebo

Brown, Emily L.: "Predictors of body dissatisfaction in trans men and women"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Suedmeyer, Eric: "Development of a career resilience scale for adults with disabilities"
     Advisor: Dr. Doug Strohmer

Loew, Megan M.: "Antiretroviral therapy adherence in youth living with HIV: Exploring the role of risk behaviors, health promotion behaviors and depressive symptoms"
     Advisor: Dr. Douglas Strohmer

Stubbs, Whitney: "The Frontal Assessment Batter: Relationship with functional status indicators and caregiver burden in a Veterans Affairs Memory Clinic"
     Advisors: Dr. Elin Ovrebo & Dr. Suzanne Lease

Brett, Ben: "Neurocognitive impairment in Parkinson's Disease patients: Assessing the unique contributions of eepression and fatigue while controlling for disease severity"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

2017

Emory, Hannah: "The influence of gender role conflict on perpetration and victimization of intimate partner violence in same sex male relationships"
     Advisor: Dr. Elin Ovrebo

Lee, Brittany: "Exploring the relationship between stereotype threat, racial centrality, grit, and academic achievement and retention in African American male first generation college students"
     Advisor: Dr. Douglas Strohmer 

Miro, Danielle: "Social ecological predictors of leisure time physical activity"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Smith, Ben: "Resilience, generalized self-efficacy and mindfulness ad moderators of the relationship between stress and both life satisfaction and depress among college students: An investigation of the residence process"
     Advisor: Dr. Richard Lightsey

Zuckerman, Stephanie: "What predicts suicide among psychologists? An examination of vulnerability and protective factors"
     Advisor: Dr. Richard Lightsey

2016

Cole, Floyd (Wally): "Male norm conformity and minority stress as predictors of PTSD symptomology among non-heterosexual men"
     Advisor: Dr. Elin Ovrebo

Nicholson, Jessica D.: "Mental health trainees' perceptions of intimate partner violence within diverse same-sex couples"
     Advisor: Dr. Elin Ovrebo

2015

Allen, Brienne: "Predictors of types and frequencies of sexual fantasies: Body image self-consciousness and gender"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Buttacavoli-Smith, Jessica: "The psychological distress experienced in women seeking educational upward mobility: The role of backlash, self-esteem, and race"
     Advisor: Dr. Elin Ovrebo

Cox, Ryan: "Hegemonic masculinity and health outcomes in men: A mediational study on the influence of masculinity on diet"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Harris, Joel: "The effectiveness of an anti-bullying intervention for elementary school students"
     Advisor: Dr. Chrisann Schiro-Geist

Ingram, Christina: "Work meaning and its buffering effect on the relationship between perceived stress and health risk factors"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Izmirian, Angela: Sexual satisfaction in Armenian women living in the United States: Exploring acculturation and gender role ideology and the mediational role of sex guilt"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Jehu, Christine: "The effect of an LGB affirmative sports video on student athlete knowledge and attitudes toward LGB individuals"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Nicholson, Diane: "Mental Health Trainees' Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence within Diverse Same-Sex Couples"
     Advisor: Dr. Elin Ovrebo

Swanson, Lindsey: "Understanding the influence of the coach and team relationships on sport motivation in collegiate student-athletes"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Voss, Jami: "Alternative sexual lifestyles: An exploration of client needs, therapist competencies, and training"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

2014

Adams, Robert William: "Counselor recovery status and substance abuse certification: A relationship to perceived credibility and counselor preference with hazardous drinkers"
     Advisor: Dr. Douglas Strohmer

Allen, Brienne: "Predictors of types and frequencies of sexual fantasies: Body image self-consciousness and gender"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Brooksby, Robin: "Social media: A case of publicness"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Constantin, Donnalin: "The moderating impact of giftedness on the relationship between existential anxiety, authenticity and depression in college students"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Dannison, Heather: "Dichotomous identity negotiation: Straight-ally conservative Christians in the mid-south"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Gharibian Gharghani, George: "Counselor confirmation bias: Can the Internet serve as a debiasing tool?"
     Advisor: Dr. Douglas Strohmer

Halawani Montes, Sarah: "The relationship between parenting and depressive symptomology in young Jordanian adults: Is attachment a mediator variable?"
     Advisor: Suzanne Lease

Katz, Aron: "Testing the role of body vigilance as a precipitating factor in the cognitive behavioral model of medically unexplained illness"
     Advisor: Dr. Douglas Strohmer

Long, Richelle: "The state of aftercare: A critical look at the response to victims of human sex trafficking in the United States"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Murray, Adrian: "Taking a cue from the heart: A meta-analysis of mindfulness-based interventions for healthcare providers"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Owens, Archandria: "Life role salience in African American men: The impact of race related stress, hypermasculinity, and sexual self-concept"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Powell, Kevin: "Stigma against mental illness: The influence of empathy, perspective-taking, exposure to and familiarity with mental illness"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

2013

Donahue, Stephanie: "Predicting social-emotional and cognitive development at 24 months: The impact of postnatal maternal anxiety and depressive symptoms, and mother-child relationships"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Dunnavant, Bridget: "The intersection of aging and spirituality in the psychology of lesbian, bisexual, and queer women"
     Advisors: Dr. Douglas Strohmer and Dr. Lisbeth Berbary

Geiss, Meghan: "Internalized homonegativity as a moderator of the relationship between partner attributions and psychological abuse among men in same-sex relationships"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Green, Michael: "The effect of college-family conflict on academic variables for college student-parents"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Hatchett, Eugenia Suzanne: "Protective factors in the relationship between urgency and bulimic behavior"
     Advisor: Dr. Owen Lightsey

Nash, Trisha Marie: "The moderating impact of neuroticism on the relationship between moral personality characteristics and prosocial behaviors"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Sterba, Aaron Michael: "The relationship of sleep and exercise to salient indicators of college student emotional well-being"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

2012

Aycock, Rebecca Adele: "The relationship of peer norms, connectedness with GLB community, minority stress, and condom use self-efficacy with safer sex behaviors in a sample of men who have sex with men"
     Advisor: Dr. Sharon Horne

Baggett, Linda Rae: "Body image, self-esteem, and sexual self-consciousness in men and women as predicted by experiences of sexual objectification by others"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Fowler, Roneferiti MaIshia: "Exploring the impact of first-generation status and family cohesion on the career thoughts of college students"
     Advisor: Dr. Douglas Strohmer

Gage, Alida Novarese: "An exploration of the link between masculinity and intimate partner violence"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease

Mobley, Christiann: "Parenting style and ACT: Connections and relations"
     Advisor: Dr. Sara Bridges

Ueng, Huan-Hsiang: "Internalized homophobia, psychological distress, and job satisfaction among sexual minority males in the workplace"
     Advisor: Dr. Suzanne Lease