Digital Commons Network^™

A Pandemic’S Potential To Haunt: A Longitudinal Look At The Professional Wellbeing Of Tn’S Infant And Early Childhood Mental Health (Iecmh) Workforce, Robyn A. Dolson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) providers engage in uniquely relational work with high-risk families that expose them to the full advantages (i.e., compassion satisfaction [CS]) and disadvantages (e.g., burn-out [BO]) of a helper role. Though the pandemic seemed poised to escalate disadvantage, most early pandemic studies found high CS alongside elevated BO. Unfortunately, as COVID-19 has continued, CS has declined while BO has increased. Given the delayed COVID-19 impact on children, these changes may be particularly acute for IECMH providers. Using a longitudinal cohort of 27 IECMH providers, this study aimed to describe and quantify changes in professional …

Social Ecological Resilience, Social Capital, Anomie And The Impact Of Covid-19., Kevin Pacifico Gonzaga

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From climate change to racial tension and income inequality, many difficulties face the United States and those who live within its borders. The extreme and increasing political polarization in the United States as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have only made these challenges more difficult to address. In this complex web of adversity, the concept of resilience is important to study. Resilience may be broadly defined as the ability to “bounce back” or return to adaptive functioning after experiencing significant adversity or challenges (Smith et al., 2008). Better understanding how resilience functions and the general state of …

Comparing The Effectiveness Of Traditional Taped-Problems Intervention With A Remote Delivery Version For Increasing Math Fact Fluency, Cortney Chelecki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The knowledge of math fact fluency skills is crucial for children to develop both related and subsequent necessary math skills. Students require fluency in basic math facts in order to successfully understand and perform more complicated math problems. Research has shown that students demonstrating math skill deficits are likely to have limited cognitive capacity to devote to higher math tasks, and also suffer from math-related anxiety, a lack of engagement, and limited vocational and career opportunities (Delli Sante et al., 2001; Gersten & Chard, 1999; Parkhurst et al., 2010; Poncy et al., 2007; Riconscente, 2013). During the COVID-19 pandemic, all …

Coping Strategies And Self-Compassion As Protective Factors In The Infant And Early Childhood Mental Health Workforce, Megan Wolff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The mental health field experiences high levels of stress, resulting in a greater risk of poor professional quality of life, likely exacerbated by the additional stress associated with COVID-19. The present study examined the effect COVID-19 stress had on the professional quality of life of the infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) workforce and whether coping strategies and self-compassion acted as protective factors. Results indicated that higher COVID-19 stress was associated with higher burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS) and lower compassion satisfaction (CS). The results also showed that the pathway from COVID-19 stress to burnout was moderated by …

“I Hear You”: Exploring The Lived Experience Of Counselors’ Empathic Response To Clients When Conducting Telephonic Counseling During Covid-19, Michael Sickels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dissertation supervised by Dr. Debra Hyatt-Burkhart

This study sought to unearth the lived experience of counselors empathically responding to clients via telephonic counseling during COVID-19. The term empathic response refers to as attending to the emotional and mental state of another person in a way that is attuned with the feelings and meanings of the individual’s experience. There are few studies that have assessed the merits of telephonic counseling, and even fewer that have examined counselors’ empathic response to clients through this medium.

To uncover the lived experience of the target population, the participants of the study were purposefully selected …

Cyberchondria And Covid-19 Health Threats Related To Attentional Bias And Safety Behaviors, Jacqueline J. Charles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cyberchondria is described as excessively searching online for health information that ultimately increases worry and anxiety about one’s health (Starcevic et al., 2019). Research has demonstrated an increased attentional bias in anxious individuals for threat-related stimuli. Attentional bias for health information exacerbated by the frequent exposure to health threats during the COVID-19 pandemic may contribute to additional health-seeking behavior. The current study aimed to explore the potential relationship between COVID-19 health threats and cyberchondria level on attentional bias toward illness-related stimuli (symptom words) and the intent to perform safety behaviors while controlling for Trait Anxiety and Health Anxiety. Participants ( …

Look, But Don’T Touch: Impact Of Covid-19 On The Nicu Caregiver, Rebecca C. Otwell-Dove

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Admission of an infant into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is an experience that has been associated with a variety of both positive and negative health outcomes for parent and child. While both the setting name and the admitted population alludes to a sole focus on the affected infant, what often remains underrecognized is the impact on the ones who care for the newborn long before and longer after their NICU stay. Given the recency and unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, very little research has examined the impact of COVID-19-specific stress on the experience of parents of infants …

Coping During Covid: Child Technology Use And Coping During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Anissa Barnes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many children spend a significant amount of time using technology throughout the day. This was particularly true during the COVID-19 pandemic, as many activities that had initially been conducted in-person had to transition to an online modality. Some technology use could be seen as beneficial, whereas others could be seen as harmful. The present study used baseline data from a longitudinal study examining the effects of COVID-19 on child mental health to explore how technology had been used during the pandemic, as well as the perceived benefits and problems associated with its use. In total, 190 families (190 caregivers and …

Parenting Practices, Technology Use, And Preschoolers' Self-Regulation During Covid-19: A Thematic Analysis, Rachel Katzman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges and as a result, the health behaviours and stress levels of Ontarian families have been negatively impacted. The purpose of this study was to explore preschoolers’ self-regulation, parenting stress, and technology use in Ontario within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included 11 parents of preschool-aged children who participated in interviews for the Children’s Technology and Media Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic study. Five themes were generated regarding parenting stress: stress related to their added role as teachers, stress related to their parenting role, cancelled and missed events, isolation, and lack of …

Contributions Of Social Support To Mitigate The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Pediatric Depressive And Irritability Symptoms, Alexandra Mactavish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior research, including my initial research on the mental health of children inSouthwestern Ontario, highlighted the broad, widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of adults, children, and youth, globally, including the potential for social support to attenuate the harmful impact of the pandemic. Social support, one’s belief that others will help in times of need, may protect against the impact of myriad life stressors on the development of psychopathology. The present study examines the potential for social support to mitigate the longitudinal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s irritability and depressive symptoms. Families (N = …

Social Media Use And Loneliness During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Katelyn Hughes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social media has played a prominent role in society as a safe way of communicating and connecting with friends, family, and others during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. This study examined the general use of social media over the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and correlations with levels of loneliness, depression, anxiety, and stress in comparison to how people felt about their social media use before the pandemic. This study collected self-reported introspection on social media use during the pandemic and before the pandemic from Georgia Southern University students to compare if there are less feelings of …

Multivariate Cluster Analysis Of The Teacher Stress Inventory (Tsi) Prior To And During Covid-19, Berenice Saez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a negative situation with no precedents in the education system of the United States (U.S.). To mitigate the spread of the virus, many school closures occurred nationwide, and schools transitioned from face-to-face instruction to a mixture of self-directed guide home education or online teaching. These drastic changes could be causing teachers, as many other professionals exposed to sudden adjustments (e.g., medical doctors/firefighters), to express high levels of stress, emotional burden, and anxiety. The purpose of this study is to compare the profiles of the teacher stress inventory (TSI) before and during COVID-19. …

The Relationship Between Resilience And Social Support Among College Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Amy Baskin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to the unprecedented and unexpected nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is little data to date that have investigated the impact on college students. The current study evaluated the relationships between resilience, social support, and distress levels among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. One-hundred and ninety-one college students in a psychology course completed three measures assessing resilience, social support, and distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first hypothesis was that as social support increases, then resilience will also increase in a college population during a worldwide pandemic. A second hypothesis was that as resilience increases, then distress will …

Influence Of Political Affiliation On Perceived Media Bias And Trustworthiness In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Tabitha Lamberth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Partisanship and news source attribution may influence perceived media bias and trust in COVID-19 information. This study aimed to explore how the similarity liking effect relates to political identity and perceived credibility. Our main hypothesis was that individuals would find news sources that shared their political affiliation as more trustworthy than other news sources. To test our hypothesis, 216 undergraduate students participated in a study that measured participants’ trustworthiness of a news article with randomized source attribution from a liberal, conservative, and neutral source. A 2X3 ANOVA tested the relationship between our participants’ political affiliation, measured by the 12-item Social …