Digital Commons Network^™

Attitudes And Beliefs Of Christian Denominations Toward Mental Health, Javier Velez

Dissertations

This empirical study assessed common attitudes and beliefs toward mental health services in the varying denominations of Christian churches. Specifically, the objective of this study was to identify the effects of Christian denomination on attitudes toward seeking mental health treatment and to identify whether there are racial and age differences that also impact those attitudes within the church. The study sought to answer the following questions: (a) What is the difference in attitudes and beliefs between different races toward mental health services in the church among Christians? (b) Is there an age difference in attitudes and beliefs toward mental health …

A Functional Analysis Of Losses In A Risky Choice Procedure, David W. Sottile

Dissertations

Loss chasing is a maladaptive pattern of risky behavior in which the frequency of risky behavior temporarily increases after a loss. The conditions under which loss chasing occurs are not well understood. Conditioned reinforcement appears to play a role in loss chasing, but the consideration of antecedent variables is necessary for a complete account. The purpose of this study was to test the role of (1) a stimulus that indicated the number of trials left in the session (i.e., a trial counter), and (2) the effect of the ordinal value of a trial in a risky choice task on loss …

A Parametric Analysis Of The Sunk Cost Effect, Amanda F. Devoto

Dissertations

Sunk costs are previous investments of time, effort, or money toward a goal that cannot be recovered. People often honor sunk costs by continuing to pursue a goal, despite the availability of an alternative path that would pay off faster, a phenomenon called the sunk cost effect. Prior research has identified variables that influence the sunk cost effect. One variable found in hypothetical scenario-based research and in behavior-based research (Pattison et al., 2011) has been percent of goal completed. The current study was designed to (1) replicate and extend research by Pattison and colleagues and (2) compare results from the …

Characteristics Of Notes Taken During The Employment Interview And Their Impact On Organizational Outcomes, James T. Mundell

Dissertations

Note-taking during the interview process has been recommended by both academics and practitioners. However, little research on note-taking in employment interviews exists. Although the limited amount of research points to the benefits of note-taking, characteristics of the notes taken have not been studied in detail and in relation to many organizational outcomes. As such, this study examined characteristics of note-taking (including job relatedness, detail, and valence) and their impact on interview question scores, hiring recommendations, hiring decisions, employee performance, and turnover. Archival data from an organization was utilized and the notes taken during employment interviews were coded to better understand …

Against The Wind: A Study On Aviation As A Female Career Choice, Bonnie Gagliardo

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study is to identify and describe the educational and social experiences that sparked the interest of female pilots as young women to pursue a career in aviation.

Methodology: This qualitative phenomenological study utilized semi- structured interviews to explore the lived experiences of female pilots, to understand if there were common social and educational factors which influenced them to become interested in aviation. Using convenience sampling, eleven pilots who hold a Federal Aviation Administration Commercial or Airline Transport Pilot’s License were selected to participate in this study.

Findings: The findings from this …

More Than Just Words On A Screen: A Biopsychosocial Approach To Understanding Effects Of Race-Related Media, Melinda Kittleman

Dissertations

Racial disparities in physical and mental health are ongoing and well-documented problems in the United States. Black Americans, compared to White Americans, have higher risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer, depression, and substance abuse. Research suggests prejudice and discrimination play a role in racial health disparities. Everyday discrimination is considered a chronic, psychosocial stressor that impacts the health of Black Americans. A biopsychosocial approach states there are various factors that contribute to the pathway from discrimination to disease and proposes complex relationships that explain effects of racial discrimination on health. The current study examined social factors (race-related media), biological factors …

An Examination Of Social Support And The Academic Performance Of Saudi Arabian Students In The United States, Yaser Abdulrahman Alghamdi

Dissertations

Saudi Arabia is among the top 10 countries from which students have enrolled in U.S. universities. The scarcity of research about Saudi students in the USA was the inspiration for this study. Previous researchers have examined Saudi students’ challenges and adjustment issues in the USA, but the topic of social support and academic performance remained lacking. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived social support (PSS) and academic performance among Saudi international students in USA. This study was a cross-sectional quantitative survey design with a sample of 384 Saudi students enrolled in USA universities and …

Community Violence Exposure Among Ethnic Minority Youth: Understanding The Predictive Roles Of Depressive Symptoms And Risky Behavior In A Community Sample, Amanda Nicole Burnside

Dissertations

Ethnic-minority youth residing in urban communities are disproportionately impacted by community violence exposure (ECV), and despite decades of research, rates of ECV in youth continue to increase. Further, person-based analyses have demonstrated variability in rates of ECV, even among youth who share similar risky demographic factors and it is important to examine the utility of psychological factors as predictors of ECV. Drawing from public health frameworks and the reciprocal-stress model, the current study seeks to better understand the longitudinal relationship between various components of depressive symptoms (depressed affect, somatic symptoms, depressive cognitions, suicidal thoughts and behaviors) in the prediction of …

The Effect Of Individual Differences On The Experience Of Meaningful Work: The Influence Of Social Status And Work Motivation, Plamena Daskalova

Dissertations

As the employment landscape continues to change through rapid advancements in technology, globalization, and the growing presence of contingent work opportunities, what remains the same is workers' quest towards decent and meaningful work (MW). Such work depends on employees' perception that their work is important and that it contributes to their own growth, as well as to that of society. Emergent research on the construct points to a host of benefits associated with obtaining MW. Among these include greater vocational satisfaction, increased organizational commitment, and improved job engagement. However, not all individuals have access to such work. Differences in social …

Dietary Intake And Executive Function In Youth And Emerging Adulthood: Environmental Correlates And Developmental Considerations, Amy Michelle Egbert

Dissertations

Obesity is a major public health concern impacting one in five young people in the U.S., and research suggests that consumption of high calorie, low nutrient foods may play a role in weight gain. Executive function (EF) has emerged as a factor that may play a role in dietary intake across youth development. Although biopsychosocial models of obesity emphasize the importance of identifying individual and environmental influences that may be associated with poor dietary intake, empirical research in this area is lacking. Therefore, the current set of studies seeks to 1) systematically review the literature on the association between EF …

The Influence Of Dialecticism On Savoring Across Cultures, Soyeon Kim

Dissertations

The present study investigated the influence of dialectical thinking on the ways in which people savor positive experiences across culture. Although both the concept of savoring (i.e., the capacity to attend to, appreciate, and regulate positive experience) and the concept of dialecticism (i.e., a prevalent Eastern philosophy that values the interconnectedness of all things, constant changes in life, and coexistence of contradictory phenomena) are essential topics in contemporary psychology, there is a lack of theory and research that links together these two concepts within a cross-cultural framework. Literature has shown that emotion is a product of culture and norms; East …

Testing An Ecological Model Of Obesity Among School-Age Children: Identifying Targets For Tailored Intervention, Dorothy Mcleod Loren

Dissertations

Childhood obesity rates remain historically high in the US. One way to conceptualize the many factors that contribute to obesity is through the use of an ecological model. There is a particular need to adapt and test this type of comprehensive model among vulnerable racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Using a large sample of US youth drawn from the ECLS-K:2011 (N=8,225), this project first investigated an ecological model of childhood obesity from kindergarten to second grade, including factors such as child physical activity, child screen time, child bedtime, family physical activity, family food insecurity, family meals, and neighborhood safety. Then, it …

Mortality Salience, Group Membership, & Reciprocity, Fatima A. Martin

Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of mortality salience, group membership, partner's behavior, and adherence to the norms of positive and negative reciprocity. Three-hundredeighty- four participants completed the either a mortality salience or control (where mortality was not salient) induction, a group membership induction, a personal norms of reciprocity scale, one round of a single-shot trust game (a measure of positive reciprocity), and one round of a singleshot ultimatum game (a measure of negative reciprocity). During the trust game, an ostensible interaction partner received a small monetary endowment, and contributed either that entire endowment or less than half of it (keeping …

Black Women College Students, Impostor Phenomenon, Stereotypes, And Mental Health: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Lincoln Hill

Dissertations

The present research project expands on impostor phenomenon (IP) literature by incorporating an intentional intersectional framework using two studies to determine if IP mediates (explains) the relationship between group stereotype threat susceptibility and mental health outcomes for Black women college students attending predominantly White institutions. by including a diary study to ascertain the frequency, intensity, and triggers for impostor beliefs, this project provides support for context dependent impostorism. It provides clarification around what types of situations precede the endorsement of heightened impostor beliefs for Black women college students. This project answers the following research questions amongst a sample of Black …

An Ecological Model Of Transmission Of Depression: Risk And Protective Factors For Mexican Immigrant Mothers And Children Living In Poverty, Anna Maria Ros

Dissertations

Family poverty has been found to predict a number of negative outcomes across a multitude of domains of child development, including health, education, language and cognitive development (Reiss, 2013; Yoshikawa, Aber & Beardslee, 2012). Furthermore, studies examining differing prevalence rates of mental illness depending on socioeconomic status have found that children liv-ing in poverty in the United States are between two and three times as likely to meet criteria for a psychiatric disorder when compared to their higher SES counterparts (McLaughlin et al, 2011; Reiss, 2013). Family poverty has been found to predict internalizing psychopathology risk across childhood and adolescence, …

The Flexible Impact Of Affective States On Group Decision-Making And Ideational Creativity, Young-Jae Yoon

Dissertations

Positive and negative affect are often thought to influence the cognitive performance of individuals and groups via their effects on two different dimensions of cognitive processing style: heuristic vs. systematic processing, and global vs. local attentional focus. Recently, research has suggested that the effects of affective states on the analytic and creative performance of individuals depend on the relative dominance of heuristic vs. systematic processing (for analytic performance) and of a global vs. local attentional focus (for creative performance) just prior to the affect's arousal (Huntsinger, Isbell, & Clore, 2014; Huntsinger & Ray, 2016). Extending this individual-level evidence to small …

Self-Management In Youth With Spina Bifida: Associations With Parent Factors In The Context Of A Summer Camp Intervention, Colleen F. Bechtel Driscoll

Dissertations

Achieving condition-related independence is an important developmental milestone for youth with spina bifida (SB) that can be impacted by a variety of parent factors. This study aimed to investigate (1) the cross-sectional associations between parent factors (adjustment, perceptions, attitudes, behaviors) and youth self-management (e.g., youth's condition-related responsibility and mastery), (2) relations between these same parent factors and changes in youth self-management following participation in a summer camp intervention for one summer, and (3) associations between parent factors and growth in self-management variables over two summers. Participants were 89 camper-parent dyads recruited at a summer camp for youth with SB (Myouth …

Neuropsychological Correlates Of Chronic Pain: The Influence Of Anxious Arousal On Cognitive Control, Kelly L. Polnaszek

Dissertations

The present set of studies assessed the relation between neural, psychological, and cognitive mechanisms that have been shown to influence the experience of chronic pain. Specifically, Studies One and Two advanced our understanding of chronic pain by illustrating its unique relationship with anxious arousal and frontal neural activity on inhibitory control difficulties. Study Three focuses on targeting how anxious arousal is distinctly associated with neural correlates of inhibitory control in order to provide a framework that can be applied to individuals experiencing chronic pain. Together, these studies aim to inform the development of evidenced-based interventions that target anxious arousal in …

Cyber Security In Mental Health: An Assessment Of Current Practice And Behavioral Intent, Richard Hamilton Stotts

Dissertations

Mental health practitioners rely on digital systems to interact with and in some instances treat patients (Hydari, Telang, & Marella, 2015; Recupero, & Rainey, 2005). Yet, while widespread use of digital devices provides significant practical advantages, that same use exacerbates the possibility of a cyber breach (Guterman, 1999). This research describes mental health practitioners’ current cyber security practices and the factors influencing their behavioral intentions to implement cyber security within clinical mental health settings. Factors assessed included knowledge, self-efficacy, norms, threat awareness and penalties. Mental health practitioners (n = 210) from across the United States formed the sample population, received …

Job Satisfaction As A Function Of The Five Factor Model Of Personality In The Community Mental Health Center Environment Of Northern Indiana, Robert Ryan

Dissertations

Problem

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the Big Five personality type indicators and job satisfaction in the community mental health setting. The focus of this study was to gain a better understanding of whether a not-for-profit can benefit from the use of a brief personality instrument to recruit and retain individuals with the highest probability of job satisfaction. This research complements previous research which has revealed a positive correlation between certain Big Five personality traits and job satisfaction in several sectors. The research population for this study consisted of community mental health employees working …

A Quantitative Comparative Study Of Employee Engagement Among Full-Time Seventh-Day Adventist Pastors In The North American Division Of Seventh-Day Adventists And Its Relationship To Level Of Participation In Annual Pastoral Continuing Education (Ce), Sharon Aka

Dissertations

Problem

Research was needed to determine the relationship between pastoral CE and employee engagement to guide policy implementation as well as future efforts for pastoral professional development within the Adventist organization.

Method

This study presents a new theoretical Adventist pastor development model integrating several theories and concepts including: the call, the Seven Core Qualities of an NAD pastor framework, andragogy, CE, SDT, and employee engagement. Employee engagement was measured using Herzberg's hygiene-motivation factor employee engagement theory. Comparisons were conducted on six groups of pastors related to selfreported participation in annual CE.

Results

Major research findings indicate that pastors, perhaps inevitably …

Spiritual Coping As A Mediator Of Distress And Posttraumatic Growth Among Adult Female Survivors Of Sexual Abuse By Religious Leaders, Angela R. St. Hillaire

Dissertations

Problem

Posttraumatic growth has been defined as the positive psychological and behavioral changes that come about in the aftermath of a struggle with traumatic life events. The literature notes the existence of posttraumatic growth among survivors of intimate partner violence, childhood and/or adult sexual abuse, bereavement, terrorism, and other events. This study explored posttraumatic growth in a sample of female survivors of sexual abuse by religious leaders by examining how distress, spiritual coping, and posttraumatic growth were related in this population. This study examined the mediatory role of spiritual coping between distress and posttraumatic growth.

Method

Surveys that measured spiritual …