Adler University Library: Theses & Dissertations: Watts Adlerian Research Award

The Richard E. Watts Adlerian Research Award

Awarded by the Center for Adlerian Practice and Scholarship (CAPS), the Dr. Richard E. Watts Student Adlerian Research Award encourages excellence in Adlerian research among Adler University students, recognizes outstanding achievement in scholarship, and furthers the theory and practice of Adler’s Individual Psychology. Applications are open to students at all Adler University campuses whose dissertation or another research topic explores and furthers the theory and practice of Individual Psychology.

Dr. Watts, a cherished friend of CAPS and a member of the CAPS Advisory Council until his passing in September 2022, was a passionate advocate for Individual Psychology. His contributions to the field and to Adler University are enduring, and it is with great pride that we continue his legacy through this award, made possible by the generosity of his family, colleagues, and friends.

2025
2023

Dr. Richard E. Watts Student Adlerian Research Award recipients Dr. Sarah Triolo (right), and Dr. Kelsey Mullen (left) at the 2025 Adlerian Summit.
Not pictured: award winner Dr. Tingting Zhang.

Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving: Perceptions of How Early Recollections Inform Single Women’s Romantic Decision-Making
Dr. Kelsey Mullen
PsyD

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Rates of singlehood are continuing to increase, with the rates of single adults in America sitting around 44% as of 2010 (Brenner, 2018). Understanding the multitude of factors that impact romantic decision-making is significant in both how single individuals are perceived, as well as the clinical implications of how their relationship dynamics inform the therapeutic alliance in treatment. The purpose of this study is to explore whether the themes in participants’ Early Recollections are in-line with their current beliefs regarding decisions to remain single, and if so, how this applies in a therapeutic setting. This was accomplished by seeking to answer the following question: How do themes from Early Recollections reflect the decision to remain single by adult women? This qualitative study used narrative interviews and the collection of Early Recollections to understand the belief systems attained in early childhood and their effects on adult romantic decision-making. Through Early Recollection themes and qualitative analysis, it was found that participants’ experience a myriad of emotions around their singlehood, including contentment, loneliness, freedom, stress, and exhaustion. It was found that these single women depend on non-romantic supports, such as family and friendships to supersede romantic relationships. Their Lifestyle Convictions, derived from Early Recollections, support how they make decisions regarding relationships, as well as how they react to conflict in these unions.
Republican Social Interest
Dr. Sarah Triolo
PsyD

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The United States’ sociopolitical landscape has shifted drastically over the last decade, particularly in the wake of the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, leading many to feel dissatisfied with our democracy. We have come to see one another categorically by political party, leaving us divided and, at times, hostile. This study aimed to explore the role of social interest within the Republican party and identify avenues for fostering dialogue and understanding between members with differing perspectives on social justice issues. This study’s sample was comprised of six self-identified republicans. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using a phenomenological framework for themes. Themes emerged exploring how self-identified Republicans are guided by a sense of ideology rather than partisan labels, barriers and factors that were helpful to the maintenance and cultivation of social interest in their own lives, and sense of community. Based on these results, the relationship between social interest and private logic, how to have meaningful discussion, clinical and social implications, limitations of this research, and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Using the Corporate Social Responsibility Model in Establishing the Adlerian Child Guidance Centers in Modern China
Dr. Tingting Zhang
PhD

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The mental health problems of children have been increasing in recent years in modern China. One of the key reasons is that the traditional family education philosophy can no longer meet the needs of nurturing the new generation who grows up in the social context with the booming economy, urbanization, the changing birth-planning policy, and globalization in China. While the Chinese government is working its best to improve the situation by promoting new laws and supporting family education development, the progress is far from satisfactory. This study mainly addressed two gaps accordingly. First, there is a considerable gap between the need for family education to support children’s mental health and the underdeveloped family education and child guidance work in modern China. Second, there is a gap between the urgent need to establish a model grounded in tested theory (Individual Psychology), utilizing existing Western models (Adlerian parenting approach, corporate social responsibility [CSR] model), and having the realities of modern China embedded in it. This was a theoretical study. It used a mix of traditional literature reviews and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) and generates a new theoretical formulation, which is a CSR business model for the Adlerian Child Guidance Center in modern China. This study created a testable business model suitable for Chinese family education guidance (FEG) work and encourages scholarly study and future research to explore Adlerian psychology application in family education in China. In the future, further research can work on investigating how this theoretical model, the CSR Adlerian Child Guidance Center, suits the Chinese parents and children’s needs for family education and mental health development, and how effective the organization is running with the CSR strategy in the modern Chinese context.

Using the Basis-A Profile as a Predictor of Sex Offender Treatment Outcomes Including Assessed Risk in an Outpatient Setting
Dr. Justin Maduas
PsyD

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This study aimed to understand the usefulness of the Basic Adlerian Scales for Interpersonal Success – Adult Form (BASIS-A) profile scores in the risk assessment of individuals convicted of a sexual criminal offense. Specifically, this study attempted to determine if a correlation existed between an individual’s level of social interest and the difference in that individual’s level of risk over time as measured by the STABLE-2007 and the Sex Offender Treatment Intervention and Progress Scale (SOTIPS) dynamic risk assessments. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the study was adapted to a hybrid of both in-person and virtual participation involving six total participants recruited from a private practice in suburban Illinois. Results of the partial correlation were not significant and deemed inconclusive due to low study participation. The impact of the pandemic on the study’s outcome and the study’s contribution to practice-oriented research as well as recommendations for future research regarding the BASIS-A, risk assessment, and practice-oriented research are discussed.
The Link between Parenting Style and Lifestyle Using Parents of Children with Externalizing Behavioral Challenges
Dr. Kathryn Panzica
PsyD

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This study aimed to fill the existing gaps in research by examining the relationship between lifestyle personality attributes and parenting style for caregivers of children from a therapeutic day school. Given the low number of participants, descriptive statistics were used rather than inferential statistics to explore results. Nine participants completed a demographics questionnaire, the Basic Adlerian Scale for Interpersonal Success Adult Form (BASIS-A), and the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire, Short Version (PSDQ-Short Version). Participants were given a higher or lower score on each lifestyle attribute, with most participants scoring higher on Belonging Social-Interest (77.8%) and Going Along (77.8%), and lower on Taking Charge (66.7%), Wanting Recognition (66.7%), and Being Cautious (66.7%). Participants were given a higher or lower score on their dimensions of each parenting style, with all participants scoring higher on authoritative (100%), some scoring higher on permissive (44.4%), and the least scoring higher on authoritarian parenting style (11.1%). Interpretively, these lifestyle scale scores show that most participants had a childhood that influenced them to be solution-focused, forgiving, supportive of a family as a group, communicative, and preferring to have set standards as an adult, which conceptually matches the characteristics of authoritative parenting. Given that participants were mostly authoritative in parenting style, and that their lifestyle attributes connect conceptually to authoritative parenting style, it was interpreted that caregiver’s childhood experiences may impact the values that they find important in choosing their methods of parenting. Based on these findings, this study shows that the BASIS-A may be a strong tool to utilize in understanding parenting. It is recommended that this trend be explored in future studies using inferential statistics and a larger sample size to find additional evidence for this finding.