Digital Commons Network^™

Positive Psychological And Religious Characteristics As Moderators Of Negative Life Events And Depressive Symptoms: A Multiethnic Comparison., Preston Lee Visser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hope, optimism, and several markers of religiosity and spirituality were examined as potential moderators of the association between negative life events and depressive symptoms in a secondary data analysis of an ethnically diverse sample. Participants (267 female, 119 male) were college students enrolled at an urban Northeastern university. It was hypothesized that negative life events would be associated with increased depressive symptoms and that higher levels of hope, optimism, and religious and spiritual variables would attenuate this relationship. Ethnically-stratified moderation analyses were conducted to assess for differences in moderation between Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, and Asians. Hypotheses were generally supported, with …

Psychosocial Concerns And Childhood Overweight In Pediatric Primary Care Clinics Serving Rural Appalachia., Suzanne Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To examine the prevalence of psychosocial concerns presenting in 3 pediatric primary care clinics serving rural Appalachia. The association between pediatric weight status and psychosocial concerns was examined. Methods: Caregivers of children presenting in one of 3 pediatric primary care facilities completed a demographic questionnaire and the Pediatric Symptom Checklist. Results: Approximately 21.4% of children were identified as having a clinically significant behavioral health concern. Among children with available weight status data, ~53% of the children were identified as overweight. Children identified having significant behavioral concerns were more likely to have a lower weight status than those with nonsignificant …

Evaluating The School Performance Of Elementary And Middle School Children Of Incarcerated Parents., Melissa F. Neal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children of incarcerated parents are at significantly increased risk of negative long-term outcomes. With about 1% of the adult population incarcerated, the United States has millions of children at risk for these negative outcomes. Research on this population is increasing; however, it is still unclear whether children of incarcerated parents are at an increased risk for poor school performance as a specific result of parental incarceration above that associated with their social and economic status. Because parental incarceration may result in a variety of outcomes that can negatively impact school performance including school mobility, prolonged exposure to stress, and insufficient …

Effects Of Anxiety Reducing Interventions On Performance Anxiety In Graduate Nurses, Georgita Tolbert Washington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Every new nursing graduate is challenged to successfully transition from student to professional nurse. The stress involved in that transition can manifest itself as performance anxiety, a type of anxiety occurring when someone is the focus of attention and is fearful of interactions or of being humiliated or embarrassed. It occurs only in specific situations. The new graduate's performance is the focus of attention and evaluation. Further, the need to interact with other professionals, patients, and families can create anxiety about performance. No studies have examined performance anxiety in graduate nurses.

Use of cognitive behavioral therapy, progressive muscle relaxation, and …

The Formation Of "Outsider" Through Labeling And Sentence Lengths For Immigrants Of Hispanic Descent., Jeremy Jason Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if individuals who supported denying citizenship to children of foreign parentage and making English the sole language spoken in the United States held the opinion that a sentence length over 15 years was appropriate for non-U.S. individuals. Other purposes were to determine if individuals with high religiosity or who carried a lethal weapon also held the opinion that a sentence length over 15 years was appropriate for non-U.S. individuals.

Pearson's Chi-Square was used to determine if a significant relationship existed between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The data indicated that …

Why Was I Rejected? How The Attributed Reason For Social Rejection Impacts Subsequent Behavior., Brian Curtis Nelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is proposed that differences in rejection attribution could yield variations in subsequent prosocial behavior. To test the attribution hypothesis, 109 participants were randomly assigned to a performance based rejection, a personally based rejection, or a control condition and then worked with an ostensible partner via the Internet to develop uses for a common household item. Prosocial behavior was measured by the number of uses a participant generated (working harder for the team). When generating creative uses, participants in the rejection conditions performed significantly worse than nonrejected participants (F(2,74) = 4.576, p<.05, r²=.11). However, in contradiction …

Measuring Patient Satisfaction After Providing A Choice Of Nourishment Options Between Meals In A Long-Term Care Setting., Samantha Hutson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether providing residents of the James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center Community Living Center with a choice of nourishment options between meals would improve their satisfaction with the nourishment administration process. As opposed to being given the same nourishment item each day, residents were offered choices from a nourishment cart based upon their diet order. Sixteen residents completed the pre-survey, participated in the revised nourishment cart system for a 3-week period, and completed the postsurvey. Level of satisfaction was determined by analyzing the responses given by the residents on the pre- …

Sexual Assault, Perceived Stigma, And Christian Fundamentalism: Understanding Support Seeking Among Victims., Sean Chandler Rife

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For women, sexual assault is a widespread problem with numerous psychological consequences, yet many victims do not seek support. The present study investigates this lack of support seeking in the context of stigma. It is hypothesized that sexual assault victims who perceive themselves as stigmatized (due to their status as a sexual assault victim) will be less likely to seek support than those who do not perceive themselves as stigmatized. It is also hypothesized that Christian fundamentalism will play a role in the stigmatization of sexual assault victims, with higher degrees of fundamentalism being associated with greater likelihood of self-perceptions …

Eyewitness Recall Of Noncriminal Events: An Examination Of Demographic Characteristics With A Selected Population., Jessica R. Vaneaton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine differences of recalled events from a selected university student population. Eyewitness testimony is frequently used to convict defendants each year. Many of these convictions are based solely on eyewitness accounts. While much has been written on the reliability of eyewitness testimony, little is known about demographic characteristic differences that may exist. A videotaped event was shown to a sample of college students who were then asked to complete a questionnaire based on what they watched. There were significant differences found in the respondents‟ accuracy in recalling events of the video according to …

Secondary Analysis Of Diabetes And Psychological Distress In American Indian Women From The California Health Interview Survey (Chis)., Audry Marie Greenwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since European settlers arrived to the United States (U.S.), American Indians (AI) have been separate and unequal members of society. After a long history of discrimination, ethnocide, genocide, and distrust, the AI have become a population with severe disparities, having the highest rates of diabetes, depression, suicide, tuberculosis, and alcoholism than any other minority or majority population in the U.S. The author's purpose for conducting this study was to explore a possible relationship between depression or psychological distress and diabetes in AI women.

AI women are the most under studied group in the country; therefore, a secondary analysis of the …

Religiousness, Coping, And Locus Of Control As Predictors Of Anxiety., Rebecca Brooks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In order to evaluate the cognitive appraisal and meaning-making components of the Transactional Model (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) and Meaning-making Model (Park & Folkman, 1997) of coping, several specific forms of appraisal and coping strategies were analyzed in the present study. It has been proposed that religiousness and time influence the meaning-making process (Park, 2005); therefore, an interaction of intrinsic religiousness and time were key variables in the study as well. A survey designed to address relationships among locus of control, type of situation, intrinsic religious orientation, specific coping styles, and maladaptive psychological symptoms was administered to 240 students of …