Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
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Item Changing Attachments: The Client-Therapist Relationship and Outcome(2020) Hillman, Justin William; Kivlighan, Jr., Dennis M; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)From the perspective of attachment theory (Bowlby, 1988), this study examined if client attachment to therapist developed over the course of psychotherapy and if changes in attachment to therapist were associated with treatment outcomes. Clients (N = 112), receiving psychodynamic therapy from trainee therapists (N = 29), completed the Client Attachment to Therapist Scale (Mallinckrodt, Gantt, & Coble, 1995) and the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (Lambert et al., 1996) at baseline and every eighth session. Multilevel linear growth curve analyses showed that secure attachment to therapist increased and avoidant-fearful attachment to therapist decreased. Multilevel linear regression showed that when within-client secure attachment to therapist was higher, subsequent symptoms improved more. Client-level and therapist-level effects were explored. Results suggest that the development of a secure attachment to therapist is important for positive treatment outcomes. Implications for practice and research are discussed.Item WELL-BEING AND NEGATIVE MOOD OF SOUTH ASIAN AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS: CONTRIBUTIONS OF ADULT ATTACHMENT, ACCULTURATION, AND RACIAL IDENTITY(2008-07-08) Patel, Sheetal; O'Brien, Karen M; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Traditional psychological theories of development (e.g., attachment theory) have been criticized for their inability to fully explain well-being and negative mental health outcomes in ethnic and racial minority populations (Rothbaum, Weisz, Pott, Miyake, & Morelli, 2000; Wang & Mallinckrodt, 2006). Specifically, the intersection of developmental theories and salient sociocultural variables in predicting the well-being of Asian Americans has not been well elucidated, as little research has been conducted in this area. Yet, the need for understanding the mechanisms underlying the well-being of Asian Americans has been rising as the Asian American population is the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States (Zhou, 2004). The goal of this study was to extend knowledge regarding the applicability of attachment theory using a cross-cultural lens. Specifically, this study examined the joint contributions of a traditional developmental theory and sociocultural variables to better understand optimal development and well-being among South Asian Americans. This study advanced knowledge by finding that for South Asian American college students, adult attachment, acculturation and racial identity account for robust variance in the prediction of self-esteem, anxious mood, and depressed mood. Adult attachment, acculturation and racial identity accounted for variance in self-esteem, and more specifically, avoidant attachment, anxious attachment, and racial identity's internalization accounted for unique variance in self-esteem. The variance in anxious mood was accounted for by adult attachment, acculturation, and racial identity, with racial identity's conformity status accounting for unique variance in anxious mood. Finally, adult attachment, acculturation and racial identity accounted for variance in depressed mood. Implications for research and practice are discussed.