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Characterizing The Development Of Episodic Memory And Assessing The Reliability Of Fmri Measures, Lingfei Tang

Wayne State University Dissertations

The ability to remember past events is critical for everyday life and showed robust improvement over development from childhood to adulthood. With advances in noninvasive neuroimaging methods such as functional MRI in recent years, research efforts have been focused on identifying neural correlates underpinning developmental gains in memory performance. In my dissertation work, using a widely-validated subsequent memory paradigm, I aim to characterize functional MRI correlates of memory development. Specifically, I focused my investigation on identifying age differences in the functional patterns of two brain regions critical for memory, the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus. Focusing on the prefrontal cortex …

The Influence Of Household Chaos And The Home Language Environment On Preschool-Age Children’S School Readiness, Laura Mary Northerner

Wayne State University Dissertations

School readiness, including both cognitive and social-emotional development, is an important indicator of a child’s preparedness for school entry, and a meaningful predictor of future academic success (Duncan et al., 2007). The home environment plays a critical role in the development of children’s school readiness, especially for children facing social inequalities. Within the home environment, household chaos and home language have been found to impact school readiness. The current study expanded on previous research on household chaos by collecting multiple measures of household chaos, including a naturalistic observation across several days. The current study also naturalistically investigated the home language …

Gay And Lesbian Discrimination In The Workplace: The Role Of Agentic And Communal Trait Expectations, Daniel Krenn

Wayne State University Dissertations

Workplace discrimination is a recurring problem in organizations, particularly in organizational processes such as employee selection. Such discrimination is caused by a variety of factors including stereotyping of people by demographic identities and prejudice against various demographic groups. While federal and local legislation protects many stigmatized groups such as race and gender minorities, sexual minorities are largely unprotected. Previous research on sexual orientation reveals a diverse set of negative experiences. However, evidence for formal discrimination against sexual minorities in personnel selection has been inconclusive. Drawing on Role Congruity Theory, perceived characteristic misfit, cognitive stereotyping, and emotionally influenced prejudicial feelings are …

The Protective Role Of Parenting Behaviors In The Development Of African American Adolescents, Kelsey Johanna Sala-Hamrick

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation aimed to understand how African American parents protect their teens from developing psychopathology in the face of extreme adversity. To do this, I examined three dimensions of parenting behavior, stress exposure, and behavior problems in order to understand the direct and moderating relations between parenting behaviors, cumulative stress and youth internalizing, externalizing, and total psychological problems. 150 African American primary caregivers reported on their adolescent children’s internalizing, externalizing and total behavior problems, exposure to stressful events, and their own parenting behavior. 150 inner-city African American adolescents reported on their exposure to traumatic stressors and a subsample of 43 …

Arab American Women's Health Study: Correlational And Experimental Examination Of A Sexual Health Interview, Hannah Holmes

Wayne State University Dissertations

Arab Americans are a diverse group of Americans of Arab heritage or identity. Given the underrepresentation of Arab Americans in research and a taboo surrounding sexuality in Arab culture, it is not surprising that Arab American sexual health is understudied, even though sexuality is an important aspect of health. Arab American women face the challenging task of negotiating both their heritage and American culture, which may have implications for sexual health due to the two cultures’ disparate views on sexuality. Given the conflict and taboo likely to surround the topic of sexuality among Arab American women, confidential discussion of these …

Sexual Assault Stigmatization, Secrecy, And Avoidance: Implications For Health-Injurious Processes And Outcomes, Sheri E. Pegram

Wayne State University Dissertations

Previous research shows that women often experience stigmatization following sexual assau#60; however, few studies have investigated mechanisms through which stigmatization adversely affects health. In Study 1, women (N = 974) completed an online survey which assessed their history of sexual assault, stigmatization, recovery processes, and health outcomes. Results partially supported theoretical models whereby sexual assault survivors’ stigmatizing social reactions and internalized stigmatization indirectly contributed to physical health symptoms, hazardous drinking, and disordered eating through effects on secrecy, avoidance coping, thought suppression, and depressive symptoms. In Study 2, sexual assault survivors (N = 400) completed an online experimental study and were …

Sexual Orientation Development, Acceptance, And Risk Behavior In Young Adult Gay Men, Erin Paige Smith

Wayne State University Dissertations

Research on sexual orientation development points to individual differences in developmental milestones (i.e., realization, identification, disclosure to friend, disclosure to parent, same-sex sexual behavior) that could be differentially related to adjustment. Additionally, differences in perceptions of acceptance from the self and important others, such as parents and friends, during adolescence and early adulthood may be related to both sexual orientation development and health risk behaviors (i.e., substance use, sexual risk). The goal of the current study was to advance our understanding of developmental processes among gay men by examining perceived acceptance of sexual orientation and its associations with individual differences …

To What Extent Does Clinical Supervision And Experience Relate To The Self-Efficacy Of Counselors-In-Training, Thomas Michalos

Wayne State University Dissertations

TO WHAT EXTENT DOES CLINICAL SUPERVISION AND EXPERIENCE RELATE TO THE SELF-EFFICACY OF COUNSELORS-IN-TRAINING

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THOMAS MICHALOS

December 2018

Advisor: Dr. John Pietrofesa

Major: Counselor Education

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Clinical supervision is an integral part of the education and formation of a counselor. The following study focuses on measuring to what degree clinical supervision and experiences relates to the self-efficacy of counselors-in-training. A sample of 106 graduate level counselor education students were surveyed. Those students who have received clinical supervision had significantly higher levels of self-efficacy than who have never experienced clinical supervision. Additionally for those students in the …

A Pre-Registered Multi-Replication Examination Of The Independent And Interdependent Effects Of Big Five Traits And Facets In Predicting Physical Activity Via A Cybernetic Framework, Phuong Vo

Wayne State University Dissertations

Personality traits are important and reliable predictors of health outcomes and health-related behaviors, yet examining only main effects does not allow an examination of possible synergistic effects of traits (and their related lower-order facets) on health behaviors (Hampson & Friedman, 2008). Guided by Cybernetic Big Five Theory (CB5T; DeYoung, 2015), the present study examined three samples of U.S. adults recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (total N = 2879) to test main and moderated effects of broad Big Five traits and trait facets on physical activity while accounting relevant background factors such as age, sex, education, income, body mass index, health …

Longitudinal Outcomes Of Youth Who Age Out Of Foster Care, Tegan Lesperance

Wayne State University Dissertations

LONGITUDINAL OUTCOMES OF YOUTH WHO AGE OUT OF FOSTER CARE

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TEGAN LESPERANCE

May 2018

Advisor: Dr. Paul Toro

Major: Psychology (Clinical)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Each year in America, between 20,000 and 30,000 youths reach an age, typically 18 years, when they must exit the foster care system due to age restrictions, in a process referred to as aging out (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). These youths disproportionately experience a host of negative outcomes, including high rates of homelessness and precarious housing, high levels of psychological distress and victimization, increased risk of substance abuse, lower …

Evaluating A Typology Of Homelessness Across A Midwest State, Devin Michael Hanson

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EVALUATING A TYPOLOGY OF HOMELESSNESS ACROSS A MIDWEST STATE

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DEVIN M. HANSON

August 2018

Advisor: Dr. Paul Toro

Major: Psychology (Clinical)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Identifying a typology remains an effective method to summarize and distinguish the different ways that people experience homelessness in communities. More than twenty years ago researchers in the northeast United States developed an approach to create a typology of homelessness by using electronic records of shelter stays and two dimensions of homelessness; number of episodes, and length of time spent homeless. The three-part typology Randall Kuhn and Dennis Culhane identified has shaped the …

Effects Of Work Physical Activity Culture And Basic Needs On Physical Activity Outcomes, Erica Marie Thomas

Wayne State University Dissertations

Background: Physical activity (PA) levels of adults are low, and workplaces have been identified as an ideal place to promote PA. Participation in workplace programs continues to be low. Self Determination Theory (SDT) has been used to guide both PA and workplace research, but not both together. Culture has been linked to workplace behaviors, but not PA behavior. The purpose of this study was to test SDT and examine if employee perceptions of the workplace PA culture have statistically significant effects on PA behavior and PA attitudes, as mediated by the three basic psychological needs. Methods: Both salaried (N= 237) …

The Impact Of Stress On Social-Emotional Competence In Clinically Referred Children, Nicholas Seivert

Wayne State University Dissertations

Stress negatively impacts children’s mental health. Specifically, most research has demonstrated an association between greater stress and greater psychological symptoms (e.g., depression, anxiety, aggression). Less is known about whether stress impacts children’s social-emotional competence, important aspects of healthy development. Children with mental health problems are more likely to have deficits in emotion understanding and emotion regulation than typically developing children. In particular, children with ADHD are likely to have more significant social-emotional problems than their peers with other clinical problems (e.g. depressed children). Parenting confidence could reduce the potential negative effects of stress on social-emotional competence. The current study examined …

The Impact Of Neonatal Pain And Reduced Maternal Care On Brain And Behavioral Development, Sean Michael Mooney-Leber

Wayne State University Dissertations

In the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) preterm infants are exposed to a multitude of stressors, which include both neonatal pain and reduced maternal care. Clinical and preclinical research has demonstrated that exposure to neonatal pain and reduced maternal care has a profound negative impact on brain and behavioral development. Currently, the biological mechanism by which both of these stressors impacts brain and behavioral outcomes remains widely unknown. To uncover a potential biological mechanism, the current dissertation project utilized a preclinical model of repetitive needle pokes and developed a novel model of reduced maternal care through tea-ball encapsulation. Briefly, rat …

Parental Ptsd, Emotion Regulation, And Behavior Problems In Toddlerhood: Unique Associations Among Families In Urban Poverty, Hasti Ashtiani Raveau

Wayne State University Dissertations

Parental posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been shown to negatively impact children’s socioemotional development (Schwerdtfeger et al., 2014) and increase children’s risk for later psychopathology (Scheeringa & Zeanah, 2008; Yehuda, Halligan, & Bierer, 2001). Less is known about this topic among minority and poor mothers and fathers of toddlers, and the critical role parents’ emotion regulation may play in mediating the associations between PTSD and toddlers’ socioemotional problems (Beck et al., 2009). Parental emotion dysregulation has been linked with children’s socioemotional problems (Coyne & Thompson, 2011), especially during toddlerhood when children are beginning to learn how to regulate their own …

Fathering And Toddler Emotion Regulation: Intergenerational Caregiving And Parasympathetic Processes, Patricia Richardson

Wayne State University Dissertations

Emotion regulation is an essential component of adaptive childhood development that is rooted in complex and interacting environmental and biological systems (Hastings et al., 2008). Caregivers play an integral role in promoting their children’s emotion regulation (Morris et al., 2007), while children’s individual physiology affects how they react and respond to the caregiving environment (Beauchaine, 2015). Few studies have examined paternal influence on child emotion regulation, especially among low-income and African American families with toddlers. To address this limitation, the current study investigated relations among three contexts of fathering, parasympathetic regulation, and toddler emotion regulation. This study (N = 92) …

Applying An Ecological Model To Predict Adolescent Academic Achievement, Claudia Anagurthi Anagurthi

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between multiple intrapersonal, microsystem, and macrosystem factors. The predictor variable was academic achievement. The theoretical model used was Bronfenbrenners’ Ecological Systems Theory and Bandura’s Social Learning Theory.

Participants in this study were ninth to twelfth grade high school students from a charter school that catered to students from urban and suburban backgrounds (N = 312). Students were from various socioeconomic backgrounds but primarily of African American and Latino descent. The students were asked to complete several surveys assessing their demographics and the variables grouped by their ecological contexts as follows: …

Assessing Parent Invovlment In Applied Behavior Analysis Treatment For Children With Autism, Krista Marie Clancy

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare two groups of parents whose children participated in ABA on their levels of stress, self-efficacy, treatment acceptability, and parents’ level of involvement in their children’s treatment, and to assess variables that may explain variance in parent involvement. Parents in the treatment group participated in a voluntary parent training (n=18) and the comparison group were parents who elected not to participate in the voluntary training (n=22). This was a quasi-experimental design study where parents and their therapists completed a survey regarding parents’ involvement in their children’s treatment programs. Additional parent measures collected as …

Are Transformational Leaders Sustainable? The Role Of Organizational Culture, Shan Ran

Wayne State University Dissertations

As the workplace becomes increasingly stressful, leaders’ well-being, a critical determinant for follower well-being and organizational effectiveness, rises as an important research direction. Under the theoretical framework of self-regulation and conservation of resources, the current study hypothesized that transformational leadership deters leaders’ affective and cognitive resources from long-term self-growth, resulting in a detrimental effect on leaders’ eudemonic well-being. In addition, organizational culture was hypothesized to moderate the overall negative relationship between transformational behaviors and well-being of the leaders. On the one hand, mastery-approach norms would facilitate restoration of resources, so the association between transformational leadership and well-being becomes positive under …

Colorism Bias In Hiring Decisions: Disentangling The Effects Of Hair Type And Skin Tone, Niambi Maia Childress Powell

Wayne State University Dissertations

Studies on colorism bias are prevalent, but there exists a gap in the literature regarding how this construct operates within organizational contexts (Marira & Mitra, 2013). The current research explores colorism bias in organizational hiring decisions, considering both hair type and skin tone as physical markers which influence the enactment of colorism biases; as well as investigating the mediating effect of racial identity strength and attractiveness of the applicant, and moderating effects of job type. In a quasi-experimental design, participants viewed a Black female job applicant being considered for either a blue or white collar job, with varying degrees of …

Preteens' Engagement With Interactive Technology: Implications For Face-To-Face Interactions And Social Distancing, Mahya Rahimian Mashhadi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Interactive technologies are widely accepted as important communication tools. This said, they may not function the same way for all age groups. Preteens, for instance, spend a considerable amount of time with media devices, however their interactions involve little social content. Therefore, for preteens, engagement with technology may create a social disconnect. This can happen in at least two ways. 1) Interactive technologies may displace face-to-face interactions with individuated screen time. 2) Interactive technologies may create social distance by making individuals independent of other people and devices. To address the social correlates and the situational consequences of interactive technology use …

The Prevalence And Needs Of Homeless Undergraduates At A Large, Urban University, Corissa Carlson

Wayne State University Dissertations

Empirical research has been limited with respect to homelessness among college undergraduates. Research on educational outcomes has been limited to K-12th grade, but what is known points to worse outcomes for people who are homeless. The National Coalition for the Homeless (2014) reported that 75% of homeless or runaway teenagers drop out of school. Furthermore, while federal funding though the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act has been able to help younger students, funding for homeless youth considering or attending college is minimal. Recently, some more attention has been given to this issue through the College Cost Reduction Access Act (CCRAA) which …

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Benefit-Provisioning And Cost-Inflicting Mate Retention Tactics Through Relationship Outcomes, Tara Delecce

Wayne State University Dissertations

Mate retention has received much less research attention compared to mate choice and attraction. Even the research that has been done on mate retention often only aims to identify what constitutes as mate retention tactics. In the current studies, the effectiveness of mate retention strategies is explored by measuring relationship outcomes of tactics unlike previous research that measures effectiveness through perceptions of relationship satisfaction. In Study 1, individuals who have experienced a nonmarital breakup reported on their own and their ex-partners’ mate retention tactics before the breakup to see which ones predicted the outcome of relationship dissolution. Tests for moderation …

Personality Change Following Work-Related Adversity, Mengqiao Liu

Wayne State University Dissertations

Personality is one of the most important topics in psychological research and has been studied extensively to understand human behavior in and out of the work context. Research in the industrial/organizational psychology literature has treated personality traits as static dispositions. Although some research has revealed evidence of personality change across the life course, there is limited understanding to what causes personality to change and what the outcomes are following personality changes.

The purpose of this dissertation is to study personality changes associated with adversity in the workplace (unemployment and workplace discrimination) and their outcomes (job- and well-being-related outcomes). Methodologically, the …

Influence Of Levels Of Leadership On Job Satisfaction, Work-Life Balance And Empowerment, Asiyat Magomaeva

Wayne State University Dissertations

Leadership is considered to be a dynamic process that occurs at multiple levels and is influenced by a number of mediating and moderating concepts. The present research evaluated well-established links between immediate supervisor job satisfaction, work-life balance and empowerment together with senior leadership support, and the way it influences work outcomes above and beyond immediate supervisors. It was also hypothesized that senior leadership support moderates the relationship between immediate supervisor support and work outcomes. Results were evaluated for employees at different levels, namely, individual contributors, managers, and upper management.

Findings suggest that although important, immediate supervisors are not the most …

Longitudinal Effects Of Adolescent Dating Violence Victimization: Social, Psychological, And Physical Health Consequences In Adulthood, Jennifer Marie Pierce

Wayne State University Dissertations

Romantic relationships are important developmental milestones for adolescents; yet negative experiences within them, including adolescent dating violence victimization (ADV), can contribute to poor health. The present study explores the impact of ADV on psychological and physical health as mediated through physical intimate partner violence victimization, perceived relationship quality, and submissive behavior in romantic relationships in adulthood using a subsample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Participants were assessed across three timepoints (n = 591; 61.1% female). Participants were required to have reported at least one romantic relationship during adolescence, and to have been in …

Teen Dating Violence: Attitudes And The Mediating Role Of Self-Control From A Social-Ecological Perspective, Frederick Warren Upton

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Teen Dating Violence (TDV) attitudes and environmental and self-control constructs using structural equation models. First, adolescents (N=1236) attitudes about TDV were analyzed to determine if consistent distinct subtypes emerged. Distinct subtypes of TDV attitudes were identified: Very Unacceptable, Moderately Unacceptable, Verbal Aggression and Checking Behavior. Next the direct relationship between subtypes of TDV attitudes and self-control and environmental constructs, neighborhood disorganization, extracurricular activities and parental supervision, were investigated. TDV subtypes did indeed show unique relationships with environmental and self-control factors, further supporting the distinct types of teen dating violence …

Hearing Loss And Verbal Memory Assessment In Older Adults, Christina G. Wong

Wayne State University Dissertations

Prior research has found that adults with hearing loss perform worse on cognitive testing than adults without hearing loss, and some studies have suggested that hearing loss is associated with dementia. Heavy emphasis on tests involving auditory stimuli for memory assessment may result in overdiagnosis of cognitive impairment in individuals with hearing loss. The present study compared visual and auditory versions of a verbal memory test among older adults with and without hearing loss. Forty-one adults with moderate-to-severe, sensorineural hearing loss (HL) and 41 age-matched adults with normal hearing (NH) participated. Age ranged from 55 – 80 years. They completed …

Preparing To Parent: Mindfulness In Expectant Parents Exposed To Adversity, Laurel Marie Hicks

Wayne State University Dissertations

Expectant parents who have been exposed to psychosocial risk encounter deleterious psychological (Ashley et al., 2016), and physiological (V. H. Pereira, Campos, & Sousa, 2017) effects. This not only affects the parent-to-be, but also may affect the developing fetus (E. P. Davis et al., 2011) and is linked to poorer infant development (Lefmann & Combs-Orme, 2014). However, not all risk-exposed individuals experience this, many are resilient and still thrive in the face of adversity. Understanding potential risk and resiliency factors in expectant parents is advantageous, so tailored interventions can be devised to improve outcomes. One potential resiliency factor, mindfulness, is …

Family Consultation To Reduce Early Hospital Readmissions Among Patients With End-Stage Renal Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Matthew James Jasinski

Wayne State University Dissertations

Background: The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have mandated reducing early hospital readmissions (i.e., within 30 days of discharge) to both improve patient care and reduce expenses. Patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have relatively high early readmission rates, due in part to their complex medical regimens but also cognitive impairment, health literacy problems, and lack of social support. We developed a brief family consultation intervention to address these problems and tested its ability to reduce early readmissions among patients with ESRD.

Method: 120 hospitalized adults with ESRD (M age = 57.5 years; 50% male; 86% Black, 12% …