Digital Commons Network^™

Latino Students' Prejudice And Stereotypes Toward African Americans, Amite Milner

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study examined generational status and acculturation in relation to stereotyping and prejudice towards African Americans among Anglo and Latino American, high school students. A sample of 597 Anglo and Latino high school juniors and seniors from the Fontana and Redlands School Districts participated in this study. Participants completed a questionnaire that included demographic, acculturation, prejudice, and stereotype measures. A series of analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to test hypotheses predicting ethnic differences among Anglo and Latino Americans in prejudice and stereotype endorsement. Results showed that Latinos endorsed more stereotypes stereotype than Anglos. No ethnic difference was found on …

Psychosocial Adjustment Among Refugee Children, Nola Ivana Lawrence

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Refugee children are faced with multiple stressors. These stressors include unresolved issues with country of origin, transition to a new country, and long-term adjustment. War is a traumatic situation. For children who have gone through the trauma of war, parents may contribute one of the major influences to their psychosocial adjustment. The purpose of this study was to assess the role that parental mental health, as measured by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist - 25 (HSCL-25) and parenting sense of competence as measured by the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC), plays in children’s psychosocial adjustment to war trauma using delinquency …

Religious Coping Among People Of Individuals With Hiv/Aids, Boitumelo Rakwena

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study examined how religion affects one’s psychological health as he/she deals with life crisis. Religious coping strategies explained variance above and beyond demographics variables. Although religious and spiritual beliefs and practices have been frequently associated with greater psychological well-being among the illness populations, religious coping remains rather unexplored. Further, studies on the role of religious coping on caregivers of the chronically ill are even less available. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore religious coping in parents/caregivers who care for teens/adults with HIV/AIDS. This study proposed to examine this facet of illness in a community health center …

Effects Of A Parenting Group On Family Relationships And Child Behavior Problems, Patricia E. Fernandez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The current study is aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the Parent Project, a structured parenting group used with the parents of adolescents, 12 to 15 years old, who have been identified as experiencing behavior problems. The Parent Project focuses on improving the parent child relationship and family environment. Participants included 12 caretakers who have completed the 10-week program. Intervention effects were evaluated at baseline and upon completion of the program. It was hypothesized that parents would report significantly greater improvements in the parent-child relationship, family environment, and child behavior problems at completion of the program. Statistical and clinical significant …

Temperament And Character Correlates Of The Startle Reflex, Kristen Lee Godenick

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Some literature suggests that individual temperament traits can modulate the startle reflex. There is evidence supporting Cloninger’s concept of Harm Avoidance as being predictive of individual differences in reactivity to aversive stimuli. (Corr, 1997). Since this finding, a new version Cloninger’s measure includes character subscales that like temperament, have been proposed to modify the meaning of experiences, changing emotional reactions. High scorers on the character variables are less susceptible to excessive anxiety and tend to have neurochemical profiles that are not consistent with anxiety disorders (Gillespie, 2003; Tse & Bond, 2001; Peirson et al., 1999). It was thus hypothesized that …

Mmpi-2 Predictors Of Postpartum Depression Symptom-Severity, Brandon Andrew Yakush

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The following research study measured possible psychological and psychosocial predictors of postpartum depression (PPD) with specific scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, 2^nd Edition (MMPI-2). This personality instrument was administered to women during their third trimester of pregnancy. In the postpartum period the same subjects were assessed by a specific measure of postpartum depression, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Scores on the EPDS were subsequently correlated to specific MMPI-2 scales to determine the personality and symptom predictors of the onset of postpartum depression symptoms and to validate the MMPI-2 as a predictor of PPD symptom-severity. The following …

Evaluation Of Program Outcomes: Assessment In Children, Cheryl M. Romano

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In an age of increased concern for accountability and the review of services, administrators of health programs should be able to present their clinics effectiveness, and demonstrate their excellent service to the community, along with providing evidence for the continued need of such clinics. Outcome evaluation plays an integral part in providing this information, and is intended to provide information concerning the effectiveness of a particular program, thus allowing for modification, and even better outcomes.

This project addressed pre and post functioning in children referred for academic and/or behavioral difficulties, in a university of health sciences-based clinic. The aim was …

Comparing Chemical Dependency And Mental Health Programs For The Dually Diagnosed, Kelly L. Hacker

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In order to better understand the needs of an increasing dually diagnosed population, this study compares the efficacy of integrated vs. nonintegrated treatment programs for a dually diagnosed population, residing at a Long Term Care facility in San Bernardino, California. Patients in this setting are diagnosed with chronic and acute mental illness and chemical dependency. This study tested the hypotheses that the nonintegrated treatment program would result in a higher frequency of assaults, PRNs, Q15s, and Code Reds; increase the duration of Q15s; and, increase the Addiction Severity Index’s (ASI) Family/Social and Psychiatric subscales’ scores, which would indicate lower levels …

Using The Outcome Questionnaire 45.2 In Obesity Treatment, Adam L. Arechiga

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if the Outcome Questionnaire 45.2 (OQ-45) can be used in the treatment of obesity to predict participant dropout and initial treatment success, in terms of weight loss (Lambert et. al, 2002a). The OQ-45 has been used with success to predict dropout from psychotherapy in clinical populations. It was hypothesized that higher pretreatment OQ-45 scores would be associated with less program completion and less weight loss by the end of treatment.

Method: The study employed a non-experimental time series design. Seventy-eight participants were recruited from the three local obesity treatment programs, which …

The Attribution Of Intentionality In Relation To Culture And Self, Gangaw Zaw

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The attribution of intentionality has received significant attention in the social cognition literature (Malle, 1999). Perceiving the intentions of others has several implications for how individuals judge and respond to others' behaviors in various social situations. The current study examined factors that predict attributions of intentionality. Studies by Jones and Davis (1965) have indicated the role of culture is involved in perceptions of intentionality. In addition, studies in philosophy have implicated the self as influential in the perception of intentionality. The self is also a product of culture and cultural value orientations (e.g. individualism and collectivism). Markus and Kitayama (1991) …

A Biopsychosocial Perspective Of Gulf War Illness: A Structural Model, Katherine N. Nguyen

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Veterans deployed during the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991 report significantly more nonspecific symptoms and poorer health than their nondeployed peers. This amalgamation of chronic, multisymptom health complaints is commonly referred to as Gulf War Illness. There are two major theoretical models within the medical/health field that may help explain these symptoms: 1) the traditional biomedical model, and 2) the more recently evolved (late 1970’s) biopsychosocial model. Theorists have proposed two major causal pathways in studying the etiology of health complaints of Gulf War veterans, the physical pathway and the psychosocial pathway. In the present study, the biopsychosocial model was …

Training Program To Improve Estimation Of Patients' Periodontal Pain Experience, Yoon Jeong Kim

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine if periodontal residents could enhance their ability to appraise the pain levels experienced by their patients from probing, using Visual Analog Scale (VAS) to record pain. We hypothesized that with increasing experience by repeated comparisons of the patients' VAS pain ratings with independent ratings by the residents, they would improve their ability to appraise their patients' pain experiences.

Methods: For each of three periodontal residents, 40 consecutive periodontitis patients were asked to express the degree of pain they experienced during the probing. Independently, the residents rated the pain level they perceived …

Pnes: Neuropsychological Impairments & Psychological Symptomatology, Adriana Macias

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The present study utilized a standardized neuropsychological evaluation and self report measures to compare 52 female patients, 18 years of age and older with a video-electroencephalogram (V-EEG) confirmed diagnosis of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) (n₁=29) to a group of left temporal lobe epilepsy (L-TLE) demographically matched patients (n₂=23). In an attempt to overcome methodological confounds of previously reported studies, participants were chosen based on stringent exclusion criteria, which barred mixed etiologies. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible differences in neuropsychological functioning, mood, and personality characteristics between individuals with PNES and those with L-TLE. …

Visual-Spatial & Visual-Motor Function In Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients, Stephanine Dianne Griffone

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Heart surgery is commonly used to repair congenital heart defects and to perform heart transplantation. The associated hypoxia before or during the surgery may cause damage in the parasaggital area of the cerebral cortex, with resulting difficulty during tasks requiring visual-spatial and visual-motor skills. This study compares the performance of children who received a heart transplant during infancy to that of nonclinical children with no medical complications on three visual-motor measures, three visual-spatial measures, and two computerized visual-spatial tasks - a Block Design Matching task and a Mental Rotation task. The children who received a heart transplant achieved significantly lower …