Deirdre O'Sullivan

Pennsylvania State University | Penn State · Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling and Special Education

This study investigated the impact of recovery capital (RC) on community integration (CI) among a sample of adults formerly incarcerated. A sample of 78 participants who identified as being in recovery from substance use disorder and having been previously incarcerated completed a survey asking about their RC and CI. Results of a hierarchical regre...

This study validated a scale to explore family dynamics on a continuum of problematic to positive parenting practices that are believed to relate to college student distress and well-being. A two-factor scale was revealed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis with each factor demonstrating good internal reliability and convergent validity with ano...

Objective: Opioids and stimulants are increasingly implicated in overdose deaths, particularly among minoritized groups. We examined daily opioid and cocaine co-use, nonfatal overdoses, and naloxone carrying among minoritized people who inject drugs (PWID). Methods: The study derived data from 499 PWID in Baltimore City, MD, recruited using stre...

This paper summarizes the development and validation of the Revised Affirmative to Problem Parenting Scale (R-APPS) using a sample of 643 adults with disabilities. Results of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlations, and reliability estimates reveal sound psychometric structure for a 4-factor scale distinguishing prob...

This study outlines the relationships among childhood psychological maltreatment (CPM), an understudied form of maltreatment, sense of self (SOS), a developmental construct negatively impacted by trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in emerging adults. Results from regression analysis on a sample of emerging adults (N = 358) i...

The purpose of this study was to develop, test, and use an instrument to measure the effectiveness of a community-based, mandated drug education intervention program, Youthful Offenders Program (YOP), targeting college students at risk. A total of N = 350 students voluntarily agreed to participate in an evaluation of program effectiveness using the...

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly influenced all aspects of daily life. Especially hard hit during the pandemic are typically marginalized individuals, including individuals with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Vocational rehabilitation counselors are uniquely positioned to support these individuals both during and after the pandemic. The Illin...

Emerging adults rarely seek services for problematic alcohol or other drug use, yet their presenting concerns are often linked with substance use and related consequences. This session will review the relationships between specific mental health concerns and substance use, describe the biopsychosocial changes and warning signs of the transition fro...

People aged 18-25 engage in binge and heavy alcohol use and illicit substance use more than any other age group, and substance use disorders (SUD) are most likely to develop during this developmental period. High rates of substance misuse among the college population lead to numerous consequences, including academic problems, neural disruption, inj...

Psychiatric disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are significantly more likely among those exposed to child maltreatment. Not all who are exposed to maltreatment develop PTSD; while many contributing factors are understood, more research is needed to understand why some develop this disorder. The purpose of this study was to ex...

Little is understood about distinct traumatic exposures and their relationship to later coping strategies. Adults receiving treatment for substance use were assessed for experiential avoidance and a range of traumatic exposures. Only childhood emotional abuse significantly predicted experiential avoidance.

The WHO's (2001) International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) model conceptualizes health from an ecological perspective. It has been implemented by many professionals as the standard health classification framework that guides providers' decisions regarding assessment tools and targeted interventions. Despite this mode...

Despite the high prevalence of substance use disorders (SUD, 22-50%) in the State/Federal Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) system, VR clients are underserved. There are also considerable discrepancies in existing VR policies and procedures related to SUDs across stage and regional offices, which is a highlighted factor associated with this service. T...

Purpose: Biological theories explain how exposure to child maltreatment and chronic substance abuse result in significant health reductions, often years or decades after the maltreatment and substance abuse end. Relationships among these variables are known to exist; however, the relative impact of each risk factor on disability status is not clea...

Individuals seeking treatment for substance use disorders frequently have child maltreatment histories. These clients often present with a unique set of characteristics, which may interfere with treatment retention and treatment engagement. A strong working alliance protects against premature discontinuation of counseling services and is a strong p...

Quality of life is becoming an increasingly important outcome measure in both relapse prevention research and rehabilitation counseling research. Recovery capital is a collection of the people and resources believed to contribute to long-term recovery from addiction. Recovery capital indicators were assessed along with quality of life in a national...

This paper outlines a model which infuses trauma-informed principles into the existing Risk-Needs-Responsivity model of risk assessment commonly used in correctional settings. The connection between certain types of trauma and criminality is established. Despite this, many risk assessment procedures do not include screening for trauma, or trauma-sp...

Using the Brief Situational Confidence Questionnaire, the authors examined the refusal self-efficacy of 105 Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery) members according to their affiliation length and meeting frequency. Results demonstrated that longer affiliation with SMART Recovery and higher meeting frequency significantly enhanced s...

Purpose: This article outlines findings from a sample of 137 vocational rehabilitation counselors regarding their stigmatizing attitudes, burnout levels, work experience, caseload composition, and working alliance with clients who have a range of disabilities and a criminal history. Method: Electronic surveys were sent to vocational rehabilitation...

Peer support groups are the most utilized form of treatment for individuals recovering from substance abuse and substance dependence. This study examined an understudied peer support program (Self-Management and Recovery Training [SMART] Recovery), which is distinct from traditional 12-step models. Although treatment planning for substance use diso...

The relationships among counselor personal states and work experiences (working alliance self-efficacy, burnout, flourishing, and caseload size) were investigated in a sample of rehabilitation counselors (N = 137). Results from regression analyses revealed 4 burnout factors are significantly and uniquely contributing to counselor flourishing levels...

The primary aim of this brief exploratory study is to examine differences in developmental work personality in a sample of young adult CNS cancer survivors and a group of young adult college students without disabilities. Participants were 43 young adults with central nervous systems cancer (females = 58.1%, Mean age = 21.64, SD = 3.64) and a compa...

The Working Alliance, consisting of building bonds, establishing goals, and developing tasks, has been deemed the cornerstone of helping professions, and has been found to significantly and reliably predict client outcomes. The importance of client characteristics and perceptions of working alliance has been established in the literature. Less is k...

This study investigated psychometric properties of the Revised Developmental Work Personality Scale (RDWPS). Results yielded a 14-item three-factor model that aligns with the original DWPS and fits the data very well. RDWPS scores were useful in predicting the resolution of Erikson's fourth stage of development, indicating construct validity.

Purpose: The primary purpose of this paper is to undertake foundational research in the area of career readiness, work personality and age of onset with young adult central nervous system (CNS) survivors. Method: Participants for this study consisted of 43 individuals whose age range from 18 to 30 (M = 21.64, SD = 3.46), an average age of brain...

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the differences in levels of work personality for persons with psychiatric disabilities compared to persons with other types of disabilities. Seventy one adults eligible to receive Vocational Rehabilitation services participated; 30 reported a physical disability, 26 reported a psychiatric disabi...

The authors investigated the relationship between the variables of work engagement, developmental work personality, and academic effort in a sample of college students. This study provides evidence for the hypothesized positive relationship between academic effort, engagement, and work personality. When gender was controlled, the Work Tasks subscal...

Objective: This paper provides an outline of the complex relationship among stress, unemployment, mental health, and participation in recreation activities as a possible adaptive coping strategy for people with disabilities. Methods: This paper is a result of a two-phase review of the literature. Phase one included review of articles that examin...

With the continued lower employment rate for persons with disabilities, researchers are focusing more on barriers to employment that reach beyond functional impairment. Personality and self-efficacy have consistently been important factors when considering employment outcomes for persons without disability; less is known about these factors as they...

The Working Alliance, consisting of building bonds, establishing goals, and developing tasks, has been deemed the cornerstone of helping professions, and has been found to significantly and reliably predict client outcomes. The importance of client characteristics and perceptions of working alliance has been established in the literature. Less is k...

The construct of work personality has been linked to the development of effective work behaviors and overall vocational adjustment for individuals with disabilities. One conceptualization of work personality that has received consideration in the rehabilitation research literature is the construct of developmental work personality (DWP). The primar...

Work personality and contextual work behaviours have been identified as constructs that play critical roles in developing the foundation for effective vocational and career behaviour for persons with disabilities. For this study, we used a sample of 84 individuals with disabilities who were eligible to receive vocational rehabilitation services. De...

This study examines the sex differences in the perception of working alliance and the perceptions of optimism regarding future employment and job satisfaction with adult cancer survivors receiving vocational rehabilitation services. No significant differences were found between males and females in terms of the three components of the working allia...

This study explored the relationship between racial groups, racial identity, and attitudes toward dating a person with a physical disability. It was hypothesized that African Americans would have higher levels of racial identity than Caucasian Americans. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that because of shared minority group status, African American...

Self-efficacy, a core construct of Bandura's social cognitive theory, has wide appeal and usefulness in the health and social sciences. Self-efficacy is frequently used across disciplines to assess an individual's beliefs about her likelihood to engage in a certain behavior. Because of the behavioral-change approaches common in rehabilitation couns...

This study builds on existing research investigating the stigma-reducing strategies specific to rehabilitation service providers by comparing differences in education levels and degree of contact among rehabilitation service providers. Rehabilitation service providers with master's level and bachelor level education showed significant differences i...

Due to the current demands of today's competitive and team-oriented workplaces, organizations are becoming increasingly dependent on assessing potential and current employee traits that go beyond skills and education. Contextual work behaviors, such as getting along with others, accepting supervision, and ability to adapt to changes, are proving to...