Digital Commons Network^™

Sharing My Story Through Public Speaking: Young People And Mental Health, Alexandra Isabella Bush

Honors Theses

Recent years have shown a worsening mental health crisis in America. Between the high prevalence of mental illness, lack of treatment, high rates of suicide and overdoses, and increasing rates of substance use, the United States has an abundance of problems, all of which relate to mental health. One contributing factor is the insufficient education about mental health topics, also known as mental health literacy. Therefore, American citizens lack necessary knowledge, such as the signs and risk factors of mental illness, treatment options, and ways to improve mental health, to name a few. One impact of low mental health literacy …

Grit Games: Do Incentives Play A Role?, Kaylee Markham

Honors Theses

Grit is a personality trait defined by persistence in reaching long-term goals despite difficulties (Duckworth, 2021). Angela Duckworth introduced the topic through her research and creation of the grit scale. The purpose of this research was to assess the grit levels of athletic groups at a southern university, using Duckworth’s scale. The hypothesis was that NCAA athletes would have higher grit levels because they have more incentives to gain by persevering through difficult times. The three groups surveyed were Club sports, Esports, and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports, which have a range of included benefits in their programs. These …

Sleep Duration Is Associated With Caudate Volume And Executive Function, Nicole Jones

Honors Theses

The ineligible role of the caudate nucleus in sleep has been implicated throughout multiple scientific studies. Previous literature has shown that greater caudate volume is associated with longer habitual sleep duration in older adults- ranging from 55 years of age and up. However, the association between sleep duration and caudate volume remains unknown in the younger population. In this study, we examined the caudate volume in youth to older adults (10 to 85 years old) with a greater sample size (N=464) to increase statistical power. The volumetric size of the caudate nucleus showed significantly positive association with habitual sleep duration, …

Associations Between Tiktok Use, Mental Health, And Body Image Among College Students, Alexz Carpenter

Honors Theses

Background. Social media use continues to increase globally, and there is a large field of research examining the relationships between social media use with anxiety, depression, and body image. College-aged students are particularly vulnerable to these associations because they are at a unique developmental point of their life. College-aged students also use social media more frequently than almost any other age group, which may put them at increased risk for negative mental health and body image outcomes related to their social media use. TikTok is a relatively new social media app that has exponentially risen in popularity, especially among younger …

Analyzing The Unique Role Of Repetitive Negative Thinking On Insomnia In College Students, Lara Fair

Honors Theses

Repetitive negative thinking is a transdiagnostic construct that conceptually covers worry and rumination, which are strongly associated with anxiety and depression. Worry is typically future oriented, whereas rumination is past oriented. RNT has been posited as a causal and maintaining factor for multiple disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and insomnia. The current study aimed to further understand the contribution of RNT in insomnia symptoms, after controlling for anxiety and depression. A self-report battery measuring anxiety, depression, RNT and insomnia was administered to 101 college students. In this sample, 52% of participants endorsed clinical levels of insomnia. Bivariate correlations found …

Key Barriers To University-Enrolled Student Parents Enhanced By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Khadeejah Franklin, Alexa Saval

Honors Theses

Student parents, both undergraduate and graduate, already face the difficult task of balancing their studies and raising children. The COVID-19 pandemic enhanced already present issues student parents face, such as virtual-schooling, daycare costs and closings, staying home with sick children, and potentially not having a local support system, among others. Further, students who are performing laboratory research to fulfill their STEM educational requirements had their
research progress come to a halt when the country locked down. This study aims to identify the struggles student parents faced prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, what issues the pandemic exacerbated, and what new problems …

The Relationship Between Coping Behaviors And Misophonia Symptom Severity And Impairment, Ruth Emmon Tyson

Honors Theses

Misophonia is a complex disorder that is characterized by an extreme disliking of sounds. Individuals with misophonia may engage in anxiety-driven coping behaviors that constitute avoidance and safety behaviors. Current literature shows that while coping behavior may offer temporary relief of anxiety and distress, they can lead to persisting anxiety and avoidance of experiences. Given preliminary evidence demonstrating a link between coping behaviors and maintained or worsening symptoms, additional research is warranted to further understand the role of coping behaviors in misophonia. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between coping behaviors and maintenance or worsening of misophonia symptom severity …

Prescription Drug Misuse Among Graduate Students: Prevalence And Links To Mental Health And Academic Burnout, Madison De Gruiter

Honors Theses

The aims of this study are to examine the prevalence of prescription drug misuse (PDM) among doctoral students and assess associations between PDM and anxiety and burnout in this population. Additional analyses analyzed differential associations by doctoral degree type (i.e., research versus professional programs). A sample of doctoral students (n=131) affiliated with the University of Mississippi participated in an anonymous survey to assess research aims.

Examining The Relationship Between Misophonia And Depression, Mary Bishop

Honors Theses

Because research on misophonia is in its early stages, few studies have examined correlations with other disorders. Misophonia has been shown to co-occur with a variety of anxiety-related and mood disorders. Understanding the link between depression and misophonia is important because both disorders contribute to significant impairment in daily work, social, and role functioning. This study aims to examine the relation between misophonia and depression in a community sample, which would expand knowledge demonstrated by previous studies using clinical and college samples. We hypothesized that misophonia and depression would have a positive correlation and that women would experience higher levels …

Examining The Influence Of Training On An Event-Based Prospective Memory Task In 3-Year-Olds, Emeri Rose Nosal

Honors Theses

Given the significance of prospective memory (PM) throughout an individual’s lifespan, PM has gained great momentum as a topic of research. Surprisingly, less studies have examined PM in children than adults despite the fact that cognitive abilities are developing during this time. Performance in event-based PM tasks has been shown to be poor in preschoolers and particularly weak in 3-year-olds. Previous studies of event-based PM tasks have included manipulations such as cues and incentives to aid in performance. In this study, I examined another potential manipulation to aid in PM performance not previously examined in literature: training. To assess whether …

The Association Between Sleep And Relationship Quality Among Undergraduate Students, Catherine Smith

Honors Theses

This study sought out to examine the association between sleep and relationship quality in undergraduate student populations. Attending university is a novel experience for emerging adults but is subsequently associated with increased sleep difficulties and increased exposure to various social relationships. Indeed, the literature suggests social relationships can influence sleep in all populations, but few have explored relationship quality in the context of conflict and support in undergraduates. The quality of different social relationships (romantic, family, and friend), the severity of insomnia symptoms, and length of sleep duration were investigated. The current study collected data from a sample of ten …

The Relationships Between Academic Entitlement, Grit, Prospective Memory, Retrospective Memory, And Undergraduate Gpa, Kathrin Underwood

Honors Theses

The present study was conducted in order to investigate the relationships between academic entitlement, grit, prospective memory, retrospective memory, and GPA. To investigate these relationships, participants were asked to fill out multiple questionnaires including the AEQ, PRMQ, and the Grit Scale survey. GPAs for participants were taken from the Institutional Research, Effectiveness, and Planning office. The results of this study showed that students with high grit scores were more likely to have lower academic entitlement, higher GPAs, and higher prospective and retrospective memory scores. Ultimately, these results suggest that certain traits and abilities may be predictive of academic success. Looking …

The Effects Of Motivational Intervention On College Students In Asynchronous Classes, Abigail Perkins

Honors Theses

Procrastination is one of the most common behaviors that interfere with student success (Liu et al., 2020). It affects student performance and has long-lasting effects on motivation. Several studies have shown that motivational interventions can reduce procrastination levels (Liu et al., 2020). Goal setting has been particularly successful (Grunschel et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2020; Schwinger et al., 2009). The present study is focused on the evaluation of whether proximal goal setting will affect academic procrastination in an online, asynchronous class. Seventy-eight undergraduate students enrolled in such a class were invited to participate in this study. Participants were randomly …

The Effects Of Survival, Pleasantness, And Storytelling Conditions On True And False Memory Recollection, Rachel Daniels

Honors Theses

The purpose of the present study was to analyze the extent to which various processing scenarios influenced participants' rates of true and false memory recollection. Participants were placed in one of three conditions, storytelling, survival, or pleasantness, and then studied a list of common nouns. They were then instructed to comment on the words in a specific manner depending on the condition to which they were randomly assigned. Following this, participants completed a math distractor task, and were then asked to complete a free recall test for the previously studied words. The results indicated that participants in the storytelling condition …

Impacts Of Diabetes Stigma On Acute Healthcare Engagement Among Adults With Type 2 Diabetes, Kate Camillo

Honors Theses

Introduction: Individuals frequently experience public and self-stigma stemming from type 2 diabetes. Prior studies have linked stigma with higher levels of poorer diabetes outcomes such as greater disease-related distress and worse glycemic control. However, few if any studies have examined the association between diabetes-related stigma and healthcare utilization. This gap in the literature is critically important given the importance of proactive disease management and preventive care as well the high costs of acute service use in this population. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between type 2 diabetes stigma, patient activation, and acute medical …

The Role Of Prenatal Anxiety Sensitivity On Postpartum Anxiety And Depression, Ryann Holman

Honors Theses

Pregnancy is a vulnerable period for women, with roughly 15% of women experiencing psychopathology during pregnancy and postpartum. The most common mental health concerns during this period are anxiety and depression, which have been linked to adverse outcomes on both mother and baby, such as low birth weight and preterm birth. In understanding their onset, anxiety sensitivity has been found to be a potential mechanism for the development of both anxiety and depressive disorders. The goal of the current study was to examine the association between prenatal anxiety sensitivity and postpartum anxiety and depression. Pregnant women were given a battery …

The Relationship Between The Contrast Avoidance Model And Dysfunctions Of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Whitney S. Shepherd

Honors Theses

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) features excessive worry, with additional symptoms including sleep disturbances, muscle tension, concentration issues, fatigue, and irritability (APA, 2013). The Contrast Avoidance Model (CAM) posits that those with GAD maintain worry to avoid emotional shifts by engaging in contrast avoidance (CA) tendencies (Newman & Llera, 2011). Additionally, chronic worry is associated with dysfunctional outcomes of GAD such as sleep difficulties and quality of life (QoL; Henning et al., 2007; Smith et al., 2000). Although both CA tendencies and these dysfunctional outcomes of GAD have shown to be related to worry, CA tendencies have yet to be explored …

Differences In Covid Related Anxiety Between Those With And Without Type 2 Diabetes, Jane G. Hewes

Honors Theses

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals with diabetes may be at higher risk for experiencing negative behavioral, psychosocial, and disease-related outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to compare COVID-19-related anxiety between adults with and without type 2 diabetes. Two separate samples were recruited for this study from web-based panels of adults: 372 adults with type 2 diabetes and 259 adults without type 2 diabetes. COVID-19-related anxiety was assessed using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S)This scale includes 7 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Scores are summed to generate a total score with higher scores …

Effects Of Music Exposure On Autobiographical Memory In Alzheimer's Patients: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Gregory Vance

Honors Theses

The progression of Alzheimer’s disease is primarily characterized by a loss of memory concerning past events, as well as a lack in ability to create new memories. While this spans across many subsets of memory, such as recognition, recall, and autobiographical memory, there seems to be a lesser impact on musical memory in those with Alzheimer’s. Multiple studies have suggested that exposure to music and introduction of music therapy can even improve other aspects of memory in Alzheimer’s patients. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to examine the relationship between music exposure and autobiographical memory specifically. A pool of electronic …

Investigation Into The Comorbidities Of Disordered Eating And Social Anxiety Disorder In College Students, Alice Mccraney

Honors Theses

In recent years, psychiatrists have reported a trend that individuals with social anxiety disorders are more likely to also have disordered eating and vice versa. Research into this connection has suggested that risk factors, such as stress reactivity, negative self- esteem, perfectionism and fear of negative evaluation are potential links. This is important because understanding the correlation between the two disorders could help develop better treatments plans for people who suffer from these disorders. This study investigates the relationship between the two. A total of 257 college students between ages 18-22 completed a questionnaire using the Disordered Eating Attitude Scale …

A Survey Of The Presentation Of Pharmacogenomic Testing For Psychotropic Medications In Rural Areas, Laken Hancock

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to assess the knowledge and opinions of the general public in rural areas in regard to genetic testing and pharmacogenomics. 40 people from self-identified rural areas participated in this study by completing an online Qualtrics questionnaire and an in-person or online semi-structured qualitative interview. The Qualtrics questionnaire measured demographic information, as well as depression, anxiety, stress, positive affect, and negative affect using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) measures. The semi-structured qualitative interview included questions pertaining to the decision support tool (DST) presented to participants, …

The Interaction Between Anxiety Sensitivity And Sleep Disturbance In Relation To Alcohol Use Among Adolescents, Gabrielle Meshell Armstrong

Honors Theses

Both substance use and sleep disturbance are common in adolescence. Additionally, alcohol use specifically is positively associated with a number of sleep disturbances. However, little to no research has examined factors that may influence the relation between problematic alcohol use and sleep disturbances among adolescents or adults. One factor that may be particularly important to consider in this regard is anxiety sensitivity (AS; i.e., the tendency to interpret unpleasant physiological sensations as dangerous). Among previous studies, anxiety sensitivity has been found associated with both increased alcohol consumption and sleep disturbances. The current study evaluated the main and interactive effects of …

Applying Deliberate Practice To Learning Psychotherapy Techniques, Nikyra Jenkins

Honors Theses

Deliberate practice has commonly been used in areas such as music, chess, and medicine, but there is a lack of deliberate practice found in psychotherapy. The purpose of this study was to examine whether deliberate practice can be applied to learning psychotherapy techniques in a novice learner (the author of this study). The study also aimed to research the anxiety and reactivity levels of the subject in response to performance during and after the session. The author independently learned modules from the Unified Protocol manual and then engaged in role-play sessions with an expert. Before beginning each exercise, the subject …

Analysis Of Test Anxiety In Human Anatomy And Physiology I Students At The University Of Mississippi, Anne Piazza

Honors Theses

Student anxiety, specifically test anxiety, is common hindrance to student performance in various courses including Human Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Mississippi. Through a sequence of three surveys we collected demographic information, anxiety data related to the course, and test anxiety in general We researched factors that could potentially influence student anxiety such as at what point in the semester the student is evaluated, when students feel the most stressed, outcomes on previous evaluations, and perceived outcomes of the course. We also examined what effect the anxiety has on the student such as lowered performance, lowered test scores, …

The Relationship Between Ptsd-Related Symptoms And Skin Disease Symptom Severity In A Dermatological Sample, Kristin Barnett

Honors Theses

Previous research has demonstrated associations between stress and physical health conditions, including skin disease. The stress cycle, including its associated hormonal responses and stress behaviors, contributes to more severe skin disease symptoms. Psychological stress and anxiety-disorder symptoms are known to be associated with skin disease severity; however, research has yet to examine the relationships between stress disorders and skin disease severity. Therefore, stress disorders (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) are hypothesized to have a similar relationship with skin disease severity, wherein greater severity of PTSD-related symptoms would be positively associated with skin disease severity. Participants from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (N …

Pragmatic Deficits In Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Paige Kessler

Honors Theses

Background: Most studies have found pragmatic language skills to be poorer in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) populations, but there is no conclusive evidence.

Aim: Our aim was to conduct a meta-analysis of pragmatic language abilities in ADHD populations to more definitively demonstrate the extent of pragmatic language deficits in these populations as compared to typically developing (TD) populations.

Methods and procedures: Journal articles were identified using the search terms ((attention deficit) OR (adhd)) AND (pragmatics). Identified studies were screened and reviewed for inclusion criteria, descriptive information, and outcome variables. A meta-analysis was conducted, and individual effect sizes and overall effect size …

Explanatory Models Of Autism In Nigeria: Exploring Sociocultural Beliefs To Inform Systems Of Care, Gabrielle Udoka Robertson

Honors Theses

Advancements in the diagnosis, understanding, and treatment of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have yet to benefit children and families struggling with ASD in Nigeria and other African countries. Not only is there a scarcity of research on ASD in sub- Saharan Africa, but also a lack of mental health and special education services and a lack of understanding of the sociocultural considerations that must inform culturally responsive care. As such, this study explored the sociocultural conceptualizations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Nigeria and how these conceptualizations affect the experiences and care of people with autism. The unique …

How Does Movement Impact Originality In A Divergent Thinking Task?, Molly B. Fontenot

Honors Theses

Research has suggested that original thought can be affected by movement. However, this research has primarily focused on children, with embodied creativity work lacking in adult populations. This study aimed to examine the impact of movement on the generation of original ideas within divergent thinking tasks in adults. To study this, participants first completed a baseline divergent thinking task asking participants to come up with as many novel uses for a common item. After baseline, participants were randomized into three different testing groups that were encouraged to engage in different types of movement during the divergent thinking task: 1) meaningful …

Chronic Exercise And Memory Interference, Lisa Vogelgesang

Honors Theses

This online study examined whether chronic exercise is associated with attenuated memory interference. Sixty-three healthy, young adults completed an interference task (AB/AC-paradigm) and self-reported the number of days and minutes a day they engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. We found that proactive interference (PI), but not retroactive interference (RI), occurred but none of the exercise modalities significantly impacted PI. Future studies should evaluate whether different interference tasks display diverse sensitivities to exercise-induced changes in memory interference. Moreover, other potential modulating factors, such as the duration and intensity of the exercise should be controlled for.

Perfectionism And Internalizing Disorders As Predictors Of Career Indecision Among College Students, Paige Jones

Honors Theses

Perfectionism has been found to be a significant predictor of career indecision in adults. Perfectionism has also been linked with internalizing disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder in children. The primary aim of this study is to determine if there is a relationship between those internalizing emotions experienced in childhood and career indecision as an adult. There have not been many studies for career indecision based on emotions directly from one’s childhood, so this study aims to provide some basic understanding on that relationship. This study investigated if perfectionism and internalizing disorders (measured retroactively) during childhood were correlated …