Research Symposium

BIO

I’m an undergraduate Sociology major with a minor in Psychology. I’m currently in my last undergraduate semester and will be graduating this spring 2022. I love everything there is about the social sciences and enjoy applying it to psychological concepts. Research has also been a passion of mine for a long time and I hope to keep pursuing research in the future.

Development of a Brief-Web Based Intervention: TI Psychoeducation

Abstract

Tonic immobility (TI) is a natural response to threat adaptive under certain circumstances,
however, TI in a traumatic event can lead to increased guilt, shame, and posttraumatic stress
symptoms (Andrews et al., 2000; Dutra et al., 2008; Held et al., 2011; Street et al., 2005; Wilson
et al., 2006). Therefore, the research team developed a new TI focused psychoeducation (TIP) intervention and assessed the acceptability and feasibility of it. TIP is a 45-minute web-based
intervention that addresses emotions and maladaptive conditions associated with TI,
which involved practice exercise, vignettes, and self-ratings scales. Participants (N = 6) were
recruited from the SONA subject pool based on prior TI exposure and elevated PTSD symptoms.
Participants read and signed the informed consent, followed by a pre-survey, TIP intervention,
and post survey. The results from the study showed great promise with 100% of the participants
reporting the presentation was easy to understand and follow, and 100% of participants reporting
they were either “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to recommend the presentation to a friend.
On average, participants rated guilt 23% lower at post compared to pre-intervention (t(5) = 3.40,
d = 1.39, p = .019 ) and shame 21% lower at post compared to pre-intervention (t(5) = 1.95, d =
0.80, p = .109). However, the study is limited by its small student sample and lack of a control
condition. Research is currently in progress to examine effects of the refined TIP intervention
compared to an active control condition in a larger community sample

Keywords: Psychology, anxiety, PTSD, trauma intervention