Massey Documents by Type
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294
Browse
10 results
Search Results
Item Traumatic brain injury and substance use disorder in Aotearoa New Zealand : characteristics, correlates, and the role of social cognition in an inpatient addictions treatment sample : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the qualification of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2025-11-25) Marshall, Hannah L. M.Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) often cooccur, yet the underlying mechanisms linking these conditions remain unclear. One potential explanation is that TBI disrupts neuropsychological functioning, particularly Social Cognition, thereby increasing the risk of SUD. The overall objective of this thesis is to explore these relationships in depth. To achieve this, the first study aimed to gather a detailed history of head-injury characteristics among individuals with SUD in Aotearoa, including TBI with loss of consciousness (LOC). By ascertaining these characteristics, the second study aimed to examine their association with neuropsychological outcomes. Third, our final study aimed to explore the potential role of Social Cognition in explaining the relationship between TBI and SUD. A total of 77 adults (aged 18-64) engaged in residential treatment for SUD, participated in the current research. During their residential treatment program, participants completed self-report questionnaires to ascertain head-injury, TBI and SUD history, mental health, and TBI-related symptom severity. Of this sample, 70 went on to complete neuropsychological tasks. Study 1 revealed that one hundred percent of the sample endorsed one or more lifetime head-injury events. 81.8% of the sample had experienced a self-reported TBI featuring LOC, with the remaining 18.2% having a history of a ‘possible TBI’ where they sustained a head-injury event without LOC. Overall, 91% sustained multiple lifetime head-injuries (either with or without LOC). Compared to the general New Zealand population, this sample featured a higher rate of TBIs of moderate severity, and most events were untreated. Many individuals sustained head-injuries at a young age and sustained repeated injuries into adulthood. Study 2 found that individuals who had a high number of lifetime head-injuries showed significantly lower scores on executive functioning and self-reported experiencing more cognitive difficulties. Study 3 found that within Social Cognition, the interpretation of complex social cues, particularly those involving deception and subtle social intentions, may mediate the relationship between TBI and SUD. This research contributes to identifying unique rates, patterns, and outcomes of head-injury including TBI among treatment-seeking substance users and highlights factors which may increase individuals’ vulnerability. Social Cognition appears to be a mechanism worthy of future exploration as it may explain the relationship between TBI and SUD. Implications of these results for treatment and rehabilitation and directions for future research are discussed.Item On LIFE within the Society-of-Captives : exploring the pains of imprisonment for real : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024-12-12) Luff, Daniel JohnInstitutional and social discourse upholds the prison as an effective rehabilitative solution to crime, but more recently there has been increasing criticism of the prison as a producer of harm rather than healing. Despite such criticism, discussions of the rehabilitative potentials of prisons predominantly exclude and silence insider, incarcerate voices in criminal justice debates and literature, and often do not describe what those ‘inside’, like me, are living and experiencing. The primary aim of this project is to theorise twenty years of lived experience of incarceration in the hope of contributing to the work being done to problematise risk-averse, harmful correctional practices. Through a deeply reflexive autoethnographic performance, the reader comes with me beyond prison walls, into the largely closed off, inaccessible world within. Through navigation of my lived experience of imprisonment, I reflexively theorise memories of incarceration that are usually only speculated upon through objective, exclusionary research. The account that emerges from theorising incarceration ‘for real’ analyses the constraints of political narratives and risk averse policy and practice produced within our prison system, and within the bodies that system contains. Through an interweave of autoethnographic field noting, performance and analysis, the research unpacks the connections between the structural, socio-political issues, and the pains of incarceration. Using Arrigo’s Society of Captives (SOC) thesis, the harms being produced are theorised with regard to subjectivities constituted through prison – the prisoner, their guard, and society at large. Theoretical storying shows how socio-political issues are having considerably detrimental impacts on correctional policy and practice. Prisoners are neither seen nor heard, and their keepers too are held captive, unable to engage with their charges ethically lest they be reprimanded for doing corrections differently. Through this multi-layered harm, a society of captives is being perpetuated within which the very harm and risk it proclaims to alleviate is reproduced. Embedded in a pursuit of social justice, I argue for a relational, ethical praxis wherein people are seen, and heard, for real. The change is not only theorised but rare instances of it, and the healing power it produces, demonstrated. Through autoethnography’s theoretical praxis, and embracing of the SOC thesis’ pursuit of becoming, my research also involves considerable personal movement. It illustrates how, through the utilisation of autoethnographic methodology, in particular reflexive process, it becomes possible to ethically resist harmful representations and risk-focused correctional practices. In making these movements the research brings us out of prison, and provides in-depth consideration of my bodily attempts to reintegrate into the community after two decades of largely harmful carceral experiences. In these, the narrative contributes to a growing consciousness, global debate, and movement regarding prison, rehabilitation, and how community safety is best served. And it contributes to a process of becoming within me, a bodily movement, a transition into a place where humanness can be done differently…Item Skeletal muscle mass, strength, and physical performance gains are similar between healthy postmenopausal women and postmenopausal breast cancer survivors after 12 weeks of resistance exercise training.(Springer Nature, 2024-11-23) Artigas-Arias M; Alegría-Molina A; Vidal-Seguel N; Muñoz-Cofre R; Carranza-Leiva J; Sepúlveda-Lara A; Vitzel KF; Huard N; Sapunar J; Salazar LA; Curi R; Marzuca-Nassr GNPurpose Resistance exercise training (RET) effectively increases skeletal muscle mass and strength in healthy postmenopausal women. However, its effects on these parameters in postmenopausal breast cancer survivors are controversial or limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effects of a 12-week progressive whole-body RET program on skeletal muscle mass, strength, and physical performance in healthy postmenopausal women versus postmenopausal women who survived breast cancer. Methods Thirteen healthy postmenopausal women (HEA, 54 ± 3 years, BMI 26.6 ± 2.7 kg·m2, n = 13) and eleven postmenopausal breast cancer survivors (BCS, 52 ± 5 years, BMI 26.8 ± 2.1 kg·m2, n = 11) participated in the study. Before and after the RET program, evaluations were performed on quadriceps muscle thickness, one-repetition maximum strength (1RM) for various exercises, grip strength, and physical performance. Results Both groups showed significant improvements in quadriceps muscle thickness (time effect, P < 0.001); 1RM strength for leg extension, leg press, chest press, horizontal row, and elbow extension (time effect, all P < 0.001); as well as handgrip strength (time effect, P = 0.035) and physical performance (time effect, all P < 0.001) after the 12-week RET program. There were no significant differences between the groups in response to RET for any of the outcomes measured. Conclusion Twelve weeks of RET significantly increases skeletal muscle mass, strength, and physical performance in postmenopausal women. No differences were observed between healthy postmenopausal women and postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. These findings point out that this study’s RET promotes skeletal muscle mass, strength, and performance gains regardless of breast cancer. Pre-Print Platform Research Square: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4145715/v1; https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-4145715/v1 Clinical trial registration: NCT05690295.Item Buffering and facilitative factors for posttraumatic stress and flourishing among New Zealand Defence Force personnel : a longitudinal study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024-11-01) Bryson (Allen), DanielSubstantial heterogeneity exists in individual responses to trauma. Reactions to operational deployments by service personnel appear to be no exception. The present research has sought to explore the links that potentially traumatic deployment experiences (PTDEs) have with posttraumatic stress (PTS) and flourishing. Further, the impacts of adaptive health behaviours (physical activity, nutrition, and sleep) and social support (from close others or from military leadership) upon the relationships that PTDEs have with PTS and flourishing were explored. Surveys were conducted 3 years apart with 313 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) postdeployment personnel and reports were analysed. A positive relationship was found between PTDEs and PTS, and a nonsignificant relationship between PTDEs and flourishing. Significant associations were also found between 1) adaptive health behaviours, social support, and leadership support, and 2) PTS and flourishing, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Mixed support was found for the moderating effects of social support and adaptive health behaviours on the relationships that PTDEs had with PTS and flourishing. Finally, PTS was found to moderate the relationship between PTDEs and flourishing. Conclusions on how the present findings converge and build upon past research, and the unique contributions of leadership support, as well as the effects of PTS on the relationship between PTDEs with flourishing, are discussed.Item Exploring the narratives of people with lived experiences of eating-related distress and their stories of recovery : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Massey University, Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Amarasekara, Natasha AmriniA significant portion of the eating disorder literature prioritises a clinical perspective informed by diagnostic classification and clinical markers of recovery. Yet, research into the perspectives of people’s lived experiences provides very different accounts of eating-related distress and personal recovery. The personal recovery model privileges lived experiences, where symptom remission is not necessary to recover/y, but instead “recovery in” as opposed to “recovery from” is better aligned. Broad qualitative analyses cite factors in alignment with the recovery model; however, these studies often abstract from the daily, lived recoveries. In this study, I examined the narratives of recovery among 15 adults with lived experiences of eating-related distress. Specifically, those who self-identified challenges related to food, weight, body shape, and/or exercise, and identified as doing better currently relative to one’s own past experiences. A day in the life questioning approach allowed for a micro-contextualised view of recovery, exploring what it means to be “in” or “enacting” recovery across daily practices. A narrative analysis was conducted which attuned to complex social, cultural, and relational contexts, grounded within a social constructivist epistemological approach. Narratives included: Re-Appraising Body, Image and Identity, Neutrality and Nourishment, Routine and Structure, and Media and #Recovery. Participants formed intentional daily practices in recovery, largely described as an active process requiring continued re-appraisal. Daily practices centered around energy, function, pleasure, accomplishment, comfort, control, self-development, visibility, and routine. Participants described alignment, resistance, and opposition to master narratives and sociocultural prescriptions on recovery, offering a counter narrative to the clinician and researcher recovery perspectives that have traditionally dominated the literature and guided service provision to date. Overall, these multi-layered narratives align with critical feminist perspectives and may importantly inform evidence-based practice from the “inside out”.Item What contributes to alcohol and substance misuse recovery while parenting in integrated residential rehabilitation? : thesis submitted in partial completion of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2023) Stanley, LauraAlcohol and substance use recovery while parenting is a complicated endeavour. People in alcohol and substance misuse recovery while parenting have unique and complex needs, which mainstream treatment approaches cannot always meet. Treatment often focuses solely on substance misuse and fails to pay attention to parenting, and most often, parents and their children are separated during residential treatment. Parents often face the tough decision to either take care of themselves or take care of their children. Integrated treatment services, which include both drug and alcohol treatment and parenting support, have been developed to break the often intergenerational cycle of substance use and troubled parenting. These programmes have rendered successful outcomes in participants achieving and maintaining abstinence, improving their mental health, and supporting responsive parenting. However, little is known about what particular factors in integrated services support these positive changes made in recovery while parenting. The current research explores the unique factors that have contributed to parents’ recovery at the Family Centre, an integrated parent-child rehabilitation facility. The research additionally illustrates the needs of these individuals in recovery. Experiences of recovery and parenting were explored in semi-structured interviews and case studies with mothers undertaking a recovery programme. Through a reflexive thematic analysis, three themes were constructed: ‘The Construction of Self’ ‘The Therapeutic Milieu’, and ‘Relational Recovery’. The complex histories and recovery journeys of research participants were given context through the use of case vignettes. The findings highlight the complex and multifaceted nature of recovery while parenting, particularly the role that parenting plays in driving recovery-orientated change. The relational nature of recovery was a prevalent factor in recovery, providing a developing perspective on how recovery is viewed in research and practice.Item "It's definitely been a roller coaster" : an exploration of youth service users' understandings of personal recovery and experiences of intentional peer support : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2022) Fedchuk, DaryaWorldwide, young people aged 18-25 experience high rates of mental distress. Youth mental health services are under immense pressure, resulting in ongoing unmet need. Currently, Aotearoa policy supports recovery-oriented practice, however literature is sparse on how youth understand personal recovery. Furthermore, peer support is an established but underutilised recovery-oriented intervention, which may be viable as a complementary or alternative modality to conventional services. However, little is known about the experiences of young people accessing peer support. Additionally, collaboration with young people is paramount if we are to create responsible and responsive youth research. This thesis aimed to explore youth service user understandings of personal recovery in the context of mental distress. It also aimed to explore their experiences of accessing intentional peer support. The research used co-production with 12 youth service users across the project. A further 26 youth service users were recruited through their involvement in a mental health service (delivered in the Wellington region) and interviewed as research participants. The data were analysed separately for each study aim, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The first aim explored how youth understand personal recovery in relation to mental distress. Recovery was understood to be a complicated and multifactorial phenomenon, involving connection with the internal and external worlds. There were three superordinate themes relating to youth understandings of recovery: recovery is paradoxical; recovery is awareness about yourself; and recovery is connecting with others. The second aim explored participant experiences of accessing Intentional Peer Support (IPS). IPS was seen as a novel and personalised intervention, which supported participants if they were able to connect with their peer support workers. Regarding experiences of peer support, three superordinate themes were identified: experiences of business as (un)usual; seeing themselves reflected; and peer support as a tailored practice. Overall, findings demonstrated how young people held important and meaningful information about their recovery experiences. In turn, this research provided much-needed lived experience perspectives on the utility of IPS as an intervention for youth. Furthermore, this research demonstrated that co-production can and should be utilised by researchers (including those at doctorate level), despite academic constraints. Taken together, these findings emphasise the importance of youth-appropriate recovery-orientated interventions within clinical practice and provides a platform for further research into youth experiences of IPS.Item Precarious feminine identities : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2021) Weatherley, Guenevere E. W.This thesis explores, from a DeleuzoGuattarian perspective, the motivations that women find for, and the actions they undertake in leaving intimate partner relationships under which they have suffered emotional and physical derogation at the hands of their abusive other. It seeks to investigate and describe their "minoritarian" actions in the context of a DeleuzoGuattarian stylistic and strategic approach towards departing intimate partner violence (IPV). In this, as well as considering particular aspects of Deleuze and Guattari's conceptual apparatus, the study pursues the differences opened up by affirmative engagement with the hopefulness of virtualities, and the "lines of flight" these offer for creative possibilities, enduring connections, and novel - if precarious - identities. The extremes to which the women in this study were pushed reveal the stresses and conflicts in the bid for autonomy and equality inherent in unhappy intimate partner relationships without the frequent rhetoric that masks the difficulties of domestic life. Compounding these women's problems is the fact that there are few obvious avenues for escape for those trapped in abusive situations, limited support for independence, or programmatic advice on the broad social mandate they must negotiate. The women's stories reveal deep fissures in the structures of conventional New Zealand families by showing that the latter cannot accommodate or validate relationships that privilege outmoded gender practices over care, commitment, and opportunity for growth. Their stories articulate social and cultural uncertainties about the unstable positions of women in unequal relationships, that privilege outmoded gender practices over care, commitment, and opportunity for growth. Their stories articulate social and cultural uncertainties about the unstable positions of women in unequal relationships, the physically and emotionally draining demands to which they are subjected, and the struggle to find acceptance in their relationships, which are too often structured not by good will, affection and effort, but by traditional roles and economic hierarchies. The narratives contribute to the conversation on persecuted women's courage and determination to endure and resist, to develop lines of flight and to expand their lives despite intolerable pressures, as well as offering a DeleuzoGuattarian conceptual pragmatic underpinning of action. It shows that assertive independent action engenders empowering becoming, and it suggests that where women initiate schizonanalytic breaks, where they embrace precarity, they can discover creative and fulfilling lives.Item Treatments for mild traumatic brain injury : fish oil supplementation and information provision in New Zealand health care services : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2020) Cresswell, BryleeMild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) has the highest incidence of all brain injuries and can lead to symptoms in the physical, cognitive and mood domains. Most symptoms abate within weeks to months, however some individuals experience ongoing symptoms leading to longer-term disruption of social and occupational functioning. Current mTBI management recommendations include providing early injury related education, and addressing symptoms in a multidisciplinary fashion as they arise. As with any injury, it is important to ensure treatments are effective in order to reduce the costs to both the health system and the individual. The studies presented in this thesis aimed to assess the effectiveness of fish oil – a novel treatment for mTBI symptoms, and the current practice for providing information to mTBI patients. Study One was a randomised placebo controlled trial of fish oil as an adjunct treatment for mTBI symptoms. This study was cancelled due to recruitment difficulties, nevertheless the literature review delineates the pre-clinical evidence of its potential to treat both cognitive and mood symptoms via various pathways. In addition, the outlined procedures and the researcher’s reflections highlight the unforeseen difficulties that will need to be addressed should a similar trial be conducted in future. Study Two surveyed New Zealand health practitioners on their current practice of information provision for mTBI patients. It aimed to assess whether practices have changed in the 16 years since similar research was published, and since the introduction of information sheets by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). It also assessed the quality and accessibility of the information provided. The frequency of information provision after mTBI has improved since 2004, though the issues with variability and formatting of presented information remain similar. The majority of respondents provided information verbally and in writing, and had information available only in English and standard print formats, potentially disadvantaging those with visual impairment or whose first language is not English. Time constraints, patient concentration and distress, and a lack of appropriate resources were cited as barriers to providing information.Item The CVI practice framework : an effective approach to supporting children with cerebral visual impairment (CVI) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Manawatū, Aotearoa New Zealand(Massey University, 2020) McDowell, NicolaCerebral visual impairment (CVI) is the most common cause of visual impairment affecting children in the economically developed world, with the prediction that numbers will continue to rise with continued advancements in medical care for neonates. Despite this increase, many children are still being supported with approaches that have been developed for children with ocular visual impairments, as there are limited evidence-based approaches for supporting children with CVI. This thesis by publication therefore proposed a CVI practice framework to help meet the specific needs of children with CVI that can be used within an education or habilitation/rehabilitation context. The framework was based on the researcher’s own experience of developing a successful rehabilitation programme to improve her visual and overall functioning following a late CVI diagnosis. From this programme, the researcher identified three main components that led to the improvements in her quality of life. These included the development of an individual CVI profile, an individualised programme, and empowerment through the attainment of knowledge. To ascertain whether a similar approach could be effective for children with CVI, the researcher conducted a number of different research projects to assess the effectiveness of each individual component and the overall framework. Results from the different research projects show that, firstly, the Austin Playing Card Assessment has the potential to be an effective tool to detect visual perceptual difficulties related to clutter and can be used as part of a wider assessment process to develop a child’s CVI profile. Secondly, there are a number of generic strategies that can be implemented within a child’s programme to support their visual, emotional and behavioural needs. Thirdly, information at the time of a child’s diagnosis helps to empower parents and leads to them being more involved in the services their child receives. Finally, the CVI practice framework has the potential to be an effective approach for supporting children with CVI. Further research on the three components of the framework and the overall framework is needed to corroborate these findings.