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A Randomized Controlled Trial Of An Online, Modular, Active Learning Training Program For Behavioral Activation Treatment For Depression, Ajeng Juwita Puspitasari Aug 2015

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of An Online, Modular, Active Learning Training Program For Behavioral Activation Treatment For Depression, Ajeng Juwita Puspitasari

Theses and Dissertations

This randomized-controlled trial was conducted in 2013-2014 and aimed to evaluate the efficacy of an online, trainer-led Behavioral Activation (BA) training when compared to an online, self-paced BA training. Graduate students (N = 80) in Clinical Psychology, Counseling Psychology, Social Work, and Psychiatry Residency programs were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to either the trainer-led BA training (N = 40) or the self-paced BA training (N = 40). The trainer-led BA training consisted of four 90-minute trainer-led online sessions guided by a BA trainer and training activities included didactic, modeling, practice, and feedback. The self-paced BA training consisted of four …


Relationship Between Learning-Related Synaptic And Intrinsic Plasticity Within Lateral Amygdala, Megha Sehgal Aug 2015

Relationship Between Learning-Related Synaptic And Intrinsic Plasticity Within Lateral Amygdala, Megha Sehgal

Theses and Dissertations

A central question in neuroscience is to determine the mechanisms that govern formation, storage and modulation of memories. Determining these mechanisms would allow us to facilitate new memory formation as in the case of aging-related cognitive decline or weaken preexisting pathological memories such as traumatic memories and cue-induced drug craving. Pharmacological and genetic manipulation of intrinsic neuronal excitability has been demonstrated to impact the strength of memory formation, allocation of memories, and modulation of memories through retrieval and reconsolidation-dependent processes. In addition to experimental manipulations of intrinsic excitability, intrinsic plasticity, a change in neuronal intrinsic excitability, can be brought about …


Comparison Of Conversation And Narrative Language Abilities In Children With Autism: Diagnostic And Therapeutic Considerations, Corissa Kroenke Aug 2015

Comparison Of Conversation And Narrative Language Abilities In Children With Autism: Diagnostic And Therapeutic Considerations, Corissa Kroenke

Theses and Dissertations

Many children with autism experience significant difficulty with comprehension and expression of spoken language. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) require sensitive assessments to describe the unique profiles of individual clients with autism so that appropriate treatments can be prescribed. Language sample analysis is a current best-practice for describing language profiles in children with language difficulties, though there is a limited literature describing clinical best-practices for children with autism. The purpose of this study was to analyze the difference in conversation and narrative language abilities in children with autism. Language ability was also analyzed in comparison to age-matched typically developing peers. This goal …


Counselor Self-Efficacy: Relationship With Mindfulness And Self-Compassion, Sinead K. Unsworth Aug 2015

Counselor Self-Efficacy: Relationship With Mindfulness And Self-Compassion, Sinead K. Unsworth

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness training has well-documented effects on psychological and physical health (Davis & Hayes, 2011). Recent findings suggest that mindfulness may be a predictor in counselor self-efficacy (Bentley, 2008; Greason & Cashwell, 2009; Kane, 2010). However, a review of literature indicates that this relationship, along with the mediating effects of self-compassion, have not been examined quantitatively with mental health providers-in-training. This study examined the predictive relationship between mindfulness and counselor self-efficacy and the potential mediating effects of self-compassion. A total of 213 mental health providers-in-training were surveyed to determine their levels of mindfulness, self-compassion, and counselor self-efficacy. Three scales were used …


An Exploratory Investigation Of Daycare Teacher Stress And Locus Of Control, Veronica Schumann Jul 2015

An Exploratory Investigation Of Daycare Teacher Stress And Locus Of Control, Veronica Schumann

Theses and Dissertations

This study's purpose was to examine stress and locus of control in daycare teachers. A literature review was conducted to explore the various aspects of daycare services in America. The factors of locus of control and stress were signified and investigated as separate entities. The interaction between the two factors was also explored. In order to explore these two factors, a survey was administered to 19 daycare teachers from two different facilities. The presentation of both internal and external locus of control was expressed in approximately 70 percent of the teachers who were surveyed. A mild level of stress was …


The Emphasis Of Physical Activity Across The Curriculum; A Positive Approach To Increased Academic Achievement, Alexandra Maldonado Jul 2015

The Emphasis Of Physical Activity Across The Curriculum; A Positive Approach To Increased Academic Achievement, Alexandra Maldonado

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess whether physical activity has an effect on academic achievement in students. The presence of a physically active lifestylehas received much support due to its physiological and mental benefits. The establishment of such a lifestyle should begin at an early age; however, there has been a recent shift away from physically active programming within the school system that could perpetuate a healthier future. Pressure to increase academic achievement has led to the reduction and elimination of opportunities for physical activity, but these actions could have an adverse impact on students (Mahar, Murphy, Rowe, …


Difference In Stress In Parents Of Children With Communication Disorders With Or Without An Autism Spectrum Disorder, Paige Appelt Jul 2015

Difference In Stress In Parents Of Children With Communication Disorders With Or Without An Autism Spectrum Disorder, Paige Appelt

Theses and Dissertations

Children diagnosed with a communication disorder that is comorbid with an autism spectrum disorder frequently present additional symptoms to the communication deficit; the additional symptoms of an ASD could be linked to an increase of stress experienced by parents of such children (Gardiner & Iarocci, 2012). The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a difference of stress levels in parents of children with communication disorders versus parents of children with communication disorders comorbid with autism spectrum disorder. Participants included 15 parents of children with communication disorders with or without an ASD who completed The Parental Stress …


Children's Responses To Cooperative And Competitive Games: A Person X Situation Analysis, Thomas David Mulderink Jul 2015

Children's Responses To Cooperative And Competitive Games: A Person X Situation Analysis, Thomas David Mulderink

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined the relations between goal structure, task-completion order, time, and individual differences in agreeableness for school-aged children completing a tower building task. The tower building task (Graziano et al., 1997) allows for the study of in-game behavior during competitive and cooperative tasks with a similar structure. Children completed a total of 13-trials (six per goal structure) under two different goal structures in order to observe changes both prosocial and destructive behaviors over time. Results revealed that children engage in more destructive behaviors over time under contrient goal structure conditions after working together relative to groups that completed contrient …


Adverse Home Environments And Its Influence On Academic Achievement, John Chillem Jul 2015

Adverse Home Environments And Its Influence On Academic Achievement, John Chillem

Theses and Dissertations

Higher incidences of academic deficiency resulting from previous adverse circumstances in the home environment were investigated. A review of Bronfrenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory illustrated the impact of the home environment on a child's development which can greatly influence academic achievement in later years. A vast collection of literature was compiled and presented to shed insight on implications surrounding adverse home environments. The current study examined associations between college students' retrospective ratings using the validated Risky Family Questionnaire and their concurrent academic achievement. The specific measures of distress in home environments under consideration included family conflict, parental divorce, inadequate parenting styles, …


Vocational Curriculums And Best Practices For Emotionally Disturbed Students, Daniel Tarantula Jul 2015

Vocational Curriculums And Best Practices For Emotionally Disturbed Students, Daniel Tarantula

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional education routes are not always an appropriate fit for students, particularly those with Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities (EBD). With limited academic, social, and self-determination skills, often times upon leaving high school these individuals do not attend or are not successful in a college setting, and seek vocational studies instead. As such, in the interest of fostering success in this population, the current study looks at curriculum requirements, across states, for vocational studies to see if coursework is present which addresses the aforementioned short comings in individuals with EBD. Collection of data revealed a high count of states requiring coursework in Academic …


The Effects Of Social Media Sites On Self-Esteem, Kristine Raymer Jul 2015

The Effects Of Social Media Sites On Self-Esteem, Kristine Raymer

Theses and Dissertations

With the advent of the Internet over a decade ago came the introduction of a new form of communication referred to as social networking. On-line social networking sites, such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, have become increasingly popular and almost an integral part of everyday life, especially for college students. Approximately ninety percent of college students have a Facebook account, and it is estimated that the average amount of time spent on this social networking site ranges from thirty minutes to over two hours on a daily basis. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between on-line …


Examining Possible Perceptual Proxies Of Flow State, Devin Michael Gill Jul 2015

Examining Possible Perceptual Proxies Of Flow State, Devin Michael Gill

Theses and Dissertations

Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi (2002) define flow as an individual's deep engagement in an intrinsically rewarding activity. McGonigal (2011) suggests that video games are flow elicitors. If video games are flow elicitors, then spatial, agentic, and temporal perception required for game play may relate to flow in predictable manners. Over two experiments, a simple video game with contextual (i.e., implied friction) and conceptual (i.e., ambiguous stimulus labeled either bullet-train or house) manipulations was used to elicit flow. Effects of the manipulations were assessed trial-by-trial on two dimensions of flow (i.e., agency and temporal perception) and spatial planning, as well as an …


Falsification Of The Look, Rodrigo Andres Veas Jul 2015

Falsification Of The Look, Rodrigo Andres Veas

Theses and Dissertations

The LOOK is a viewing time measure that seeks to assess sexual interest patterns and is currently in development at Brigham Young University. This instrument is intended to aid current efforts to prevent child sexual abuse by identifying deviant sexual interests. A recently presented study on a similar viewing time measure has raised concerns regarding individuals' ability to falsify sexual interest patterns on average. This study seeks to extend this falsification research to the LOOK in order to assess if falsification of this measure is possible by means of speed or pretense. Participants were exclusively heterosexual non-pedophilic males and females. …


Training Middle School Paraeducators Positive Behavior Support Strategies Through Job Embedded Feedback, Carrie Ann Eichelberger Jul 2015

Training Middle School Paraeducators Positive Behavior Support Strategies Through Job Embedded Feedback, Carrie Ann Eichelberger

Theses and Dissertations

The current training model for paraeducators traditionally consists of single-day workshops, emails, newsletters, in-service meetings or other similarly isolated and infrequent tips or no training at all. Such practices have caused many paraeducators and teachers to cite a lack of efficient and effective training as one of the major difficulties in their job. The purpose of the study was to establish a causal relationship between the independent variable: the direct instruction of precorrection through modeling and guided practice with bug-in-the-ear feedback and the dependent variable, the performance or nonperformance of positive behavior support strategies in the classroom. The study took …


Participation In Sports And The Development Of Resilience In Adolescents, Jason Johnson Jul 2015

Participation In Sports And The Development Of Resilience In Adolescents, Jason Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents today are faced with an array of risk factors including sexual activity and drug and alcohol use, as well as environmental factors that are beyond their control, such as parental divorce and poverty. The attribute of resilience is an extremely desirable quality that, if developed, has the capacity to reduce the effect of many of these risk factors that many adolescents are exposed to. Sport participation is a potential intervention that a large portion of adolescents can have access to through school and community programs that could potentially foster resilience. The current causal-comparative, non-experimental study sought to add to …


Respite Care And Marital Quality In Parents Of Children With Down Syndrome, Michelle Norton Jul 2015

Respite Care And Marital Quality In Parents Of Children With Down Syndrome, Michelle Norton

Theses and Dissertations

Parents of a child with a disability are at greater risk than other couples for having higher stress, adjustment difficulties, and lower marital quality. Respite care has been shown to reduce stress in parents of children with disabilities. This study focused on parents who have a child with Down syndrome and their reported marital quality and respite care received. One hundred and twelve couples, each consisting of a mother and a father who lived with their child with Down syndrome, completed questionnaires including the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Experience in Close Relationships Questionnaire, Daily Hassles and Uplifts Scale, and a …


A Mexican Woman's Journey In Becoming A Successful American Educator, Lucy Ordaz Sanchez Jul 2015

A Mexican Woman's Journey In Becoming A Successful American Educator, Lucy Ordaz Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations

This self-study explores the question of "What factors in my life shaped my journey in earning an American college degree and becoming a successful educator in the U.S.?" This question is explored in the context of my own lived experiences. Results contribute to the field of immigrant studies and may encourage others who wish to transition from first generation immigrant to successful professional educator in the U.S. This study employed hermeneutic phenomenology to answer the research question. It used in-depth narrative interviews to elicit my responses to lived experiences from growing up in Mexico to my current teaching position. Thematic …


School Resource Officers' Perceptions Of In-School Graffiti: Disciplinary Measures And Prevention Efforts, Bobbi Sue Van Leuven Jul 2015

School Resource Officers' Perceptions Of In-School Graffiti: Disciplinary Measures And Prevention Efforts, Bobbi Sue Van Leuven

Theses and Dissertations

The term graffiti has been adapted to mean any type of writings on a surface area that have been scratched, painted or marked. These writings, which are typically perceived from a negative point of view, may be something as small as doodles on a paper or something as large as paintings on a wall or the side of a building. Because graffiti is often part of gang culture and identified as criminal activity, when graffiti enters into a school the school's atmosphere and graffiti deters from a positive educational environment. In this study, five School Resource Officers from urban secondary …


Effects Of Feedback Assisted Treatment On Post-Treatment Outcome For Eating Disordered Inpatients: A Follow-Up Study, Megan Michelle Bowen Jul 2015

Effects Of Feedback Assisted Treatment On Post-Treatment Outcome For Eating Disordered Inpatients: A Follow-Up Study, Megan Michelle Bowen

Theses and Dissertations

Research on the effects of progress feedback and clinician problem-solving tools on patient outcome has been limited to a few clinical problems and settings (Shimowaka, Lambert & Smart, 2010). Only one randomized clinical trial has examined feedback-assisted treatment in an inpatient eating-disordered population. Results from this study suggested that those who received feedback-assisted (Fb) treatment were more likely to meet Jacobson and Truax's (1991) criteria for recovery than participants in the treatment-as-usual (TAU) condition; however, while these interventions appear to have worked well in the inpatient setting, the long-term effects of this treatment have not been investigated. This is especially …


Teaching Self-Determination Skills To Middle School Students With Specific Learning Disabilities, Audryn Damron Jul 2015

Teaching Self-Determination Skills To Middle School Students With Specific Learning Disabilities, Audryn Damron

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of explicitly teaching self-advocacy skills to three middle school students with mild/moderate disabilities by having them memorize a script and request accommodations in a training and generalization setting. The intervention components included 16 lessons comprising discussion and reflection about their disabilities and educational rights under IDEA, a four-part script, and a prompting procedure. The script included (a) greeting teacher and asking if it's a good time to talk, (b) expressing concern with assignment, (c) asking for accommodation, and (d) thanking teacher. The dependent variables were (a) frequency, measured by the …


Longitudinal Effects Of School Climate On Middle-School Students' Academic, Social-Emotional And Behavioral Outcomes, Jennifer Lynn Engelland-Schultz Jun 2015

Longitudinal Effects Of School Climate On Middle-School Students' Academic, Social-Emotional And Behavioral Outcomes, Jennifer Lynn Engelland-Schultz

Theses and Dissertations

Millions of youth are at risk for low academic achievement, school dropout, risky behavior, bullying, and mental health concerns, especially those living in rural areas. Protective factors can reduce the likelihood of children and adolescents experiencing these negative outcomes. Research shows that positive school climate is a powerful protective factor for youth. The present study investigated the longitudinal relations between middle school students' school climate perceptions and their academic, social-emotional, and behavioral development over two years. Specifically, 510 students in grades 5-9 from six rural schools rated their support and influence at school as well as their internalizing problems, personal …


Middle-School Girls' Behavioral Responses To Ostracism: How Much Does Inclusion Cost?, Ashley Leja Jun 2015

Middle-School Girls' Behavioral Responses To Ostracism: How Much Does Inclusion Cost?, Ashley Leja

Theses and Dissertations

Bullying among school-aged children is problematic in the U.S., with 22% of students aged 12-18 years reporting experiences with bullying at school (Zhang, Musu-Gillette, & Oudekerk, 2016). Whereas early bullying research focused heavily on the physical bullying common among boys, more recent studies have included examinations of bullying using relational aggression. Defined as removing or threatening to remove relationships to cause harm to another, relational aggression includes behaviors such as spreading lies, gossiping, or ignoring a peer and has been found to be more common among girls (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995; Cullerton-Sen & Crick, 2005; Murray-Close et al., 2007). A …


School Psychologists' Knowledge Of And Attitudes Towards Transgender Students, Arielle Walzer Jun 2015

School Psychologists' Knowledge Of And Attitudes Towards Transgender Students, Arielle Walzer

Theses and Dissertations

Transgender students face harassment and discrimination in schools, and those who experience such maltreatment are at a higher risk of attempting suicide and other negative outcomes. The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has called upon school psychologists to be advocates for transgender students, yet school psychologists receive little or no training in this area. The Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Transgender Students Survey was created and distributed to members of the New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland state associations for school psychologists. Although previous studies suggest that a person's attitude toward transgender people is affected by age and gender, …


Black History Month: An Investigation Of The Impact Of A Curriculum For Increasing The Knowledge Of Elementary Students' Knowledge Of African-American History, Monique Goodwin Jun 2015

Black History Month: An Investigation Of The Impact Of A Curriculum For Increasing The Knowledge Of Elementary Students' Knowledge Of African-American History, Monique Goodwin

Theses and Dissertations

The significance of this current study was to show the importance of Black History being added to the curriculum for elementary students of all ethnicities, but especially with the African-American children. During this study the students were given a pre- and post-test on the Civil Rights Movement for the month of February. The study consisted of 40 students from an upper elementary school located in southern New Jersey. Of the participants 26 were female and 14 were male; there are 4 special needs students and 2 in a reading program called Read 180. All were in the 6th grade with …


The Role Of School Psychologists In Bullying Interventions In Year Four Of New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill Of Rights Act, Amanda Brady Jun 2015

The Role Of School Psychologists In Bullying Interventions In Year Four Of New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill Of Rights Act, Amanda Brady

Theses and Dissertations

Within education, bullying has been a prominent topic of discussion with regard to its effects on students and schools. In order to investigate the specific role of school psychologists in Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) initiatives, this study (a) analyzes the HIB roles of school psychologists and (b) the factors that influence their involvement in advocating HIB initiatives after the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act was passed in 2010. A survey was distributed to about 1,000 school psychologists in New Jersey and asked about demographics, specific roles regarding HIB initiatives, factors that affect their involvement, and satisfaction with …


Developing & Describing The Use & Learning Of Conceptual Models For Integer Addition And Subtraction Of Grade 5 Students, Nicole Marie Wessman-Enzinger Jun 2015

Developing & Describing The Use & Learning Of Conceptual Models For Integer Addition And Subtraction Of Grade 5 Students, Nicole Marie Wessman-Enzinger

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports the results of a teaching experiment, which explored student thinking about integer addition and subtraction. Through the lens of commognitive theory (Sfard, 2008), interpreting negative integers as secondary intuitions (Fischbein, 1987), and employing teaching experiment methodology (Steffe & Thompson, 2000), this study was a first step in developing more robust descriptions of students' conceptual models for integer addition and subtraction. I investigated: (a) the conceptual models that students exhibited, (b) the various ways that students utilized conceptual models while learning about the addition and subtraction of integers, and (c), the ways that students' conceptions evolved over the …


Perceived And Actual Similarity As Predictors Of Self-Disclosure And Perceived Understanding At Zero Acquaintance, Rebecca A. Martin Jun 2015

Perceived And Actual Similarity As Predictors Of Self-Disclosure And Perceived Understanding At Zero Acquaintance, Rebecca A. Martin

Theses and Dissertations

When people interact, there are general guidelines that direct the conversation. When two humans interact for the first time, however, there seem to be different factors at play that either allow for the relationship to continue and grow or that end any further interactions. One of the main factors in beginning relationships is the amount self-disclosure that is occurring between the people. Because social relationships are so important for humans, it is important to examine variables that may affect the amount people disclose when they first meet. This study looks at how perceived and actual similarity predict perceived understanding and …


Aerobic Fitness, Executive Control, And Emotion Regulation In Preadolescent Children, Mark A. Lott Jun 2015

Aerobic Fitness, Executive Control, And Emotion Regulation In Preadolescent Children, Mark A. Lott

Theses and Dissertations

The present study evaluated direct and indirect associations between aerobic fitness, executive control, and emotion regulation among a sample of children aged 8-12 years. To evaluate these associations, the study employed a cross-sectional design and full-information maximum likelihood (FIML) structural equation modeling. Although the hypothesized factor analytic model failed to converge, an alternative exploratory model allowed for the evaluation of associations between primary study variables. Results supported a moderate direct association between childhood aerobic fitness and executive control, a strong direct negative association between executive control and emotion regulation, and a moderate indirect association between aerobic fitness and emotion regulation …


Predictive Validity Of The Look, Joy Wiechmann Cox Jun 2015

Predictive Validity Of The Look, Joy Wiechmann Cox

Theses and Dissertations

The LOOK, an iOS app, is a viewing time measure used to assess sexual interest. The measure is based on the assumption that sexual interest can be assessed by the amount of time a participant spends looking at an image. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of the LOOK, a newly developed viewing time instrument, to accurately screen and diagnose individuals with deviant sexual interest. The profiles of known sexual offenders were compared to norm-referenced profiles of an exclusively heterosexual, non-pedophilic, male, college student population. Researchers were not able to find a fair constant multiplier that …


Effectiveness Of A Parent Health Report In Increasing Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Among Preschoolers And Kindergarteners, Sanita Lisa Hunsaker Jun 2015

Effectiveness Of A Parent Health Report In Increasing Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Among Preschoolers And Kindergarteners, Sanita Lisa Hunsaker

Theses and Dissertations

Patterns of fruit and vegetable consumption begin in childhood and persist into adulthood. Educating parents regarding appropriate dietary requirements for preschoolers is critical to supporting their appropriate growth and development. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a parent health report (including information about the child's fruit and vegetable consumption and recommendations regarding how to increase fruit and vegetable consumption) resulted in a greater fruit and vegetable intake in preschoolers and kindergarteners. Results from both the open trial and the randomized-controlled trial suggest that the parent health report may be a beneficial tool to increase vegetable consumption in …