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                               PCOM Psychology Dissertations                                                                              Student Dissertations, Theses and Papers
                               2010
                               The Relationship between Cognitive Distortions
                               and Psychological and Behavioral Factors in a
                               Sample of Individuals who are Average Weight,
                               Overweight, and Obese
                               Christina Berchock Shook
                               Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, christinabe@pcom.edu
                               Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pcom.edu/psychology_dissertations
                                     Part of the Health Psychology Commons
                               Recommended Citation
                               Shook, Christina Berchock, "The Relationship between Cognitive Distortions and Psychological and Behavioral Factors in a Sample of
                               Individuals who are Average Weight, Overweight, and Obese" (2010).PCOM Psychology Dissertations.Paper 166.
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                    Philadelphia College of  Osteopathic Medicine  
                        Department of Psychology  
                              
             THE RELATIONSHIP  BETWEEN COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS AND   
            PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL FACTORS  IN A SAMPLE OF     
           INDIVIDUALS  WHO ARE AVERAGE WEIGHT, OVERWEIGHT, AND OBESE     
                              
                       By Christina Berchock Shook     
               Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of     
                         Doctor of Psychology     
                          August  2010     
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
              PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE 
                    DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY 
                        Dissertation Approval 
          This is to certify that the thesis presented to us by Christina Berchock Shook 
          on the 8th day of June, 2010, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of 
          Doctor of Psychology, has been examined and is acceptable in both scholarship and 
          literary quality. 
          Committee Members' Signatures:   
          Robert A. DiTomasso, Ph.D., ABPP, Chairperson   
          Donald Masey, Psy.D.   
          Harry Morris, D.O., M.P.H.   
          Robert A. DiTomasso, Ph.D., ABPP, Chair, Department of Psychology   
                                     The Relationship     iii  
                                              
                        Acknowledgements  
            I owe  my deepest  gratitude  to my mentor  and chairperson, D  r. Robert DiTomasso, 
         who provided encouragement, guidance, and support from the initial  level  to the final 
         level of this project. He generously provided his time, knowledge, experience, and 
         leadership throughout the dissertation process, and  he inspired me to gain a  deeper  
         understanding of  cognitive behavioral therapy  and primary care medicine.  He is a 
         remarkable  clinician, researcher, mentor, and teacher.  
            Equal gratitude is also extended t  o Dr. Donald Masey, who taught me countless  
         things about clinical health psychology that  I use in clinical practice and research 
         endeavors. He is  a knowledgeable  clinician, dedicated  teacher, and empathic mentor.  
            I  would also like to thank Dr. Harry Morris, who made his support available to me  
         in a number of ways. His guidance throughout this project and clinically in the health 
         care centers  of PCOM has deepened my desire to help individuals manage  not only their 
         psychological well­being, but also their physical well­being.   
            A special thanks is  given  to the Central Penn Health and Fitness Center  and the  
         primary care clinics of PCOM for opening their doors to me and allowing  me to collect 
         data.  
            I  would like to extend a final thank you to my husband, Bryan Shook, and my  
         parents, Michael and Sara Berchock, who have provided endless support and 
         encouragement throughout my academic endeavors. Without them I would not be where  I  
         am today. Everyone should know what it feels like to have a family  that fully  supports  
         your dreams.