Two important developments are addressed by this dissertation. First, the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles-Simplified Version (PICTS-SV) was examined in relation to the original PICTS. Second, the vulnerability of the PICTS-SV to intentional risk minimization (RM) was tested. Two separate studies recruited a total of 150 offenders from a court-mandated residential substance use treatment facility. As expected, Study I established the PICTS-SV's good concurrent validity with the PICTS, especially at the broad composite scale level. For Study II, criminal thinking failed to show the anticipated convergence with HCR-20 risk classifications or forensic correlates. Potential explanations, including a restricted range of risk levels in this sample, are discussed. As a particular strength, the findings highlight that the PICTS-SV, in contrast to many risk measures, displays robust resistance to RM distortion, although revisions to its Df-r validity scale are warranted. These results overall demonstrate strong evidence of the PICTS-SV's utility for assessing a dynamic criminogenic need to inform effective interventions and accurate risk determinations.

Compromised validity of test data due to exaggeration or fabrication of cognitive deficits inhibits the capacity to establish appropriate conclusions and recommendations in neuropsychological examinations. Detection of feigned neurocognitive impairment presents a formidable challenge, particularly for evaluations involving possibilities of significant secondary gain. Among specific populations examined in this domain, litigating mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) samples are among the most researched. One subpopulation with potential to contribute significantly to this body of literature is that of retired athletes undergoing fixed-battery neuropsychological evaluations within an assessment program. Given the considerable prevalence of concussions sustained by athletes in this sport and the substantial monetary incentives within this program, a unique opportunity exists to establish rates of feigning within this population to be compared to similar forensic mTBI samples. Further, a fixed battery with multiple validity tests (VT) offers a chance to evaluate the classification accuracy of an aggregated VT failure paradigm, as uncertainty abounds regarding the optimal approach to the recommended use of multiple VTs for effort assessment. The current study seeks to examine rates of feigned neurocognitive impairment in this population, demonstrate prediction accuracy equivalence between models based on aggregated VT failures and logistic regression, and compare classification performance of …

Client outcomes in psychology training clinics have been shown to be generally worse than other outpatient settings. Although this finding has been repeatedly demonstrated, no consensus of cause has emerged in the literature. One possible explanation of such findings may relate to psychotherapist effects, a historically neglected variable that has received increased attention in more recent literature. Among psychotherapist effects researched, competency has emerged as a compelling factor worthy of more research. Given that most growth in competence occurs during graduate training, investigating the relationship between competency and client outcome offers great potential benefit for informing optimal training, nature of client symptom improvement, and a more accurate depiction of differences in psychotherapist effects across training and non-training settings. The purpose of this study was to explore the trajectory of competence development during doctoral training in health services psychology and to investigate the association of trainee competency to the psychotherapy outcomes evidenced by their clients. Practicum evaluations of 36 trainees and outcome data (using the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2) from 244 adult clients were included in analyses. Results of the study suggest there is a positive relationship between cumulative semesters of training and competency scores (rs[118]= .34, p < .001). Notably, there was …

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of low attributional complexity, intolerance, optimism, and experiential avoidance (EA) on psychological distress (stress, anxiety, and depression); specifically, the mediating role of EA in these relationships was examined. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the hypothesized model. The overall model accounted for 62% of the variance in psychological distress. The direct negative effect of intolerance on psychological distress and the mediator effect of EA on the relationship between optimism and psychological distress were found. These results and their implications, along with study limitations and future directions are discussed.

This study sought to generalize the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) factor structure using the PICTS-Layperson (PICTS:L) in a community sample. The current study also sought to replicate previous findings that criminal thinking mediates the relationship between trauma and criminal behavior. Additionally, this study sought to explore if and/or how experiential avoidance (EA) contributes to the relationships between post-traumatic symptoms (PTS) and criminal thinking, and criminal thinking and criminal behavior. Community members recruited through Mturk, completed online measures of PTS, EA, criminal thinking, criminal behavior, and a demographics questionnaire. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which was conducted to assess the PICTS:L factor structure in an online community sample, demonstrated the hierarchical second order factor structure was a good fit after problem items were removed. Mediation analyses results found that criminal thinking mediated the relationship between PTS and criminal behavior therefore replicating previous findings. Moderated mediation analyses were conducted to determine if EA moderates the relationships between PTS and criminal thinking, and criminal thinking and behavior. Findings suggest that EA plays a significant role, particularly for women who endorse relatively low EA. These and exploratory findings, limitations, implications, and future directions for work in these areas are discussed.

The ability to monitor client change in psychotherapy over time is vital to quality assurance in psychotherapy as well as the continuing improvement of psychotherapy research. Currently there is not a free and comprehensive outcome measure for psychotherapy that meets current research and treatment goals. This study took further steps to validate a suite of measures to aid in treatment and research, theoretically based in the research domain criteria (RDoC) and the phase model of change frameworks. Items previously tested in a community sample were further tested in a clinical population in psychotherapy training clinics and a community clinical sample Data was analyzed using bi-factor confirmatory factor analysis and multidimensional item response theory. Additional exploratory analyses were conducted to explore differential item functioning in these samples.