Digital Commons Network^™

A Longitudinal Analysis Of The Effect Of The Starting Right, Now Program On Unaccompanied Homeless Adolescents' Well-Being, Emily E. Esposito

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To date, few multicomponent interventions focused on meeting the complex needs of unaccompanied homeless youth (UHY) have been developed. One intervention, called Starting Right, Now (SRN), provides unaccompanied homeless adolescents with a broad range of home-, school-, and community-based services and supports to meet the unique needs of each individual. Previous qualitative research has supported the effectiveness of SRN on student outcomes; there has not yet been an examination of the program using quantitative methods. Thus, the current study investigated the impact of Starting Right, Now on students’ well-being through the examination of longitudinal data collected over a 12-month period. …

Development And Validation Of The Exercise Appearance Motivations Scale, Leah S. Boepple

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Exercise rooted in changing one’s appearance is associated with increased disordered eating and body image pathology. There are a limited number of scales assessing appearance-based exercise, and those that do are methodologically flawed. The aim of the current work was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of appearance-based exercise (Exercise Appearance Motivations Scale (EAMS)). Female undergraduate students (N = 650) completed an online survey designed to assess the EAMS’ psychometric properties. Factor analysis and hierarchical regressions were used for measure development and validation. Five factors of the EAMS were identified through factor analysis: muscularity, appearance, societal pressures, shape/weight, and avoidance/shame. …

An Experimental Examination Of Automatic Interpretation Biases In Major Depression, Alexandra H. Cowden Hindash

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive theories of depression have long posited automatic interpretation biases (AIB) as a central contributor to depressed mood. The current study was first to examine AIB in a clinically defined depressed sample. While assessing AIB using a semantic association paradigm, pupillary reactivity was simultaneously recorded to build insight into the AIB process. A total of 53 individuals (25 depressed and 28 healthy control) completed the Word Sentence Association Paradigm for Depression (WSAP-D) while pupillary reactivity was recorded. Results revealed the depressed group was significantly more likely to endorse negative AIB and less likely to endorse benign AIB compared to healthy …

Democidal Thinking: Patterns In The Mindset Behind Organized Mass Killing, Gerard Saucier, Laura Akers

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

We derived a model identifying observable attitudes among perpetrators of democides - mass-killing programs associated with governments that cost over 160 million lives in the last century. These attitudes, evident in rhetoric mobilizing support for killing, have previously received too little systematic study. Content-analysis of text from 20 prominent, diversely sampled cases of democide from around the world yielded 20 typical features of democidal mindset, present in most cases. These prominently included essentialist beliefs in out-group inferiority, dehumanization and moral exclusion, a paranoid-thinking style, and certain forms of nationalism, among numerous other features. These can function to facilitate the inculpation …

‘I Am Rwandan’: Unity And Reconciliation In Post-Genocide Rwanda, Laura E. R. Blackie, Nicki Hitchcott

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Drawing on a corpus of ten oral interviews with survivors and perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, we examine how the government’s policy of unity and reconciliation has shaped post-genocide identities and intergroup relations in local Rwandan communities. By focusing on the relationships between individuals and the national post-genocide narrative, we show how the socio-political context in Rwanda influences how people locate themselves and how they ascribe rights and duties to and in relation to others. Specifically, we use positioning theory as an interpretive lens to argue that individuals view adherence to the government’s post-genocide narrative …

Contributors To And Correlates Of Loneliness In Lung Cancer Patients, Kelly A. Hyland

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background

Loneliness, or the perceived discrepancy between the quantity and quality of ones’ actual social relationships and desired level of connectedness, is a potentially important psychosocial factor in lung cancer patients. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship of loneliness to depressive symptoms, quality of life, and social-cognitive variables and to explore the role of loneliness in mediating relationships between social-cognitive variables and depressive symptoms and quality of life. Finally, the study examined whether loneliness predicted change over time in depressive symptoms and quality of life.

Methods

Lung cancer patients were recruited from the Moffitt Cancer …

Perceptions Of Quality Of Life, Peer Relationships, And Health Literacy In Adolescents With Phenylketonuria (Pku), Katherine L. Wesley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a rare inborn error of metabolism that can be managed through lifelong treatment adherence to a restricted diet and supplemental medical formula (Vockley et al., 2014). Untreated PKU can result in severe intellectual disability, anxiety, depression, executive functioning deficits, and seizures (Cappelletti et al., 2013; Moyle et al., 2007). Even individuals who are continuously treated for PKU can experience high rates of anxiety and depression, executive functioning deficits, social difficulties, and lower full-scale IQ scores than their siblings and parents (Bosch et al., 2015; Manti et al., 2016; Waisbren et al., 2007). Additionally, adolescents are at risk …

A Latent Profile Analysis Of Benefactor And Beneficiary Organizational Citizenship Behaviors Toward Individuals, Seulki Jang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although organizational citizenship behaviors toward individuals (OCB-I) have been studied over decades, the beneficiary side of OCB-I has been understudied. The co-existing and interactive possibility of benefactor OCB-I and beneficiary OCB-I within individuals has been ignored. Therefore, this research adopted a person-centered approach and examined different profiles of benefactor OCB-I and beneficiary OCB-I on the basis of Grant’s (2013) theory. Results from Study 1 data (cross-sectional data) and Study 2 data (multiple waves of data) revealed the three profile groups: vigorous (high benefactor OCB-I and high beneficiary OCB-I), moderate (moderate benefactor OCB-I and moderate beneficiary OCB-I), and passive OCB-I groups …

Rumination And Worry: Factor Structure And Predictive Utility, Andrew Mark Kiselica

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Criticism of discrete classification systems for mental disorders has led to a focus on identification of mechanisms that cut across symptom clusters, known as transdiagnostic factors. One such proposed factor is negative repetitive thought (NRT), or a perseverative, often uncontrollable, focus on negative information, experiences, or expectations. Worry and rumination are two major constructs thought to compose NRT. No confirmatory factor analyses have investigated whether worry and rumination might compose a general NRT factor, discrete factors, or some combination of the two. The first purpose of the current study was to use confirmatory factor analyses to uncover whether worry and …

Societal Individualism–Collectivism And Uncertainty Avoidance As Cultural Moderators Of Relationships Between Job Resources And Strain, Seulki Jang, Winny Shen, Tammy D. Allen, Haiyan Zhang

Psychology Faculty Publications

The job demands–resources model is a dominant theoretical framework that describes the influence of job demands and job resources on employee strain. Recent research has highlighted that the effects of job demands on strain vary across cultures, but similar work has not explored whether this is true for job resources. Given that societal characteristics can influence individuals' cognitive structures and, to a lesser extent, values in a culture, we address this gap in the literature and argue that individuals' strain in reaction to job resources may differ across cultures. Specifically, we theorize that the societal cultural dimensions of individualism–collectivism and …

An Examination Of Underlying Causes For Differences In Affect-Rich And Affect-Poor Choice, Elizabeth M. Fuller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Real life decision-making frequently involves some level of affect, and research has demonstrated that individuals decide differently when outcomes are more or less rich with feeling. This difference in choice has previously been attributed to probability insensitivity in the presence of affect. In a series of three studies, we explored this possibility, while also testing alternative explanations, namely, that differences exist because of outcome characteristics such as comparability or precision. Individuals made choices between affect-rich side effects and affect-poor monetary lotteries in either a strictly numeric format, or with the addition of an icon array. Across the three studies we …

Examination Of Approach And Avoidance Inclinations On The Reinforcing Value Of Alcohol, Emily T. Noyes, Robert C. Schlauch

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although behavioral economics tends to focus on environmental factors (i.e., price, availability) that act to influence valuation of alcohol, recent research has begun to address how motivational and cognitive factors influence an individual's demand for alcohol. Motivational states, including craving, are one possible mechanism underlying the value based decision making that demand represents. Using a multidimensional model of craving (Ambivalence Model of Craving), the current study examined the relationships between indices of alcohol demand (i.e., reinforcing value of alcohol) and craving (i.e., approach inclinations), and the ways in which competing desires moderate that relationship (i.e., avoidance inclinations). Individuals who reported …

The Role Of Craving In Emotional And Uncontrolled Eating, Christina L. Verzijl, Erica Ahlich, Robert C. Schlauch, Diana Rancourt

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study presents a novel application of the cognitive processing model of alcohol craving (CPMA) from the addictions field to the role of food craving in the well-established restrained eating–overeating relationship associated with binge eating disorder (BED). A community sample (N = 1058, ages 18-66) completed an online survey assessing four core domains: restrained eating, trait food craving, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating. In accordance with the CPMA, food craving emerged as a significant indirect effect of the association between restrained eating and both uncontrolled and emotional eating. Gender did not significantly moderate any direct or indirect associations, suggesting that …

On The Measurement Of Thin‐Ideal Internalization: Implications For Interpretation Of Risk Factors And Treatment Outcome In Eating Disorders Research, Joel K. Thompson, Lauren M. Schaefer, Robert F. Dedrick

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Although the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ) and Ideal Body Stereotype Scale (IBSS) are used interchangeably to assess thin ideal internalization, limited work has examined the assumption that the two measures index the same construct.

Method: The current study utilized confirmatory factor analysis to examine whether these measures capture a single construct (one‐factor), two constructs (two‐factor), or both shared and unique constructs (bifactor). The SATAQ‐4R‐Internalization: Thin/Low Body Fat subscale and IBSS‐Revised were administered to 1,114 college females.

Results: A bifactor model provided the best fit to the data. Further, the SATAQ‐4R was more strongly related to disordered eating …

Assessing Readiness To Seek Formal Mental Health Services: Development And Initial Validation Of The Mental Health Belief Model Assessment (Mhbma), Jennifer A. Greene

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Only a small percentage of people with mental health issues utilize mental health services. This would seem contradictory given the increasing understanding of mental disorders, their high prevalence, and associated disability and distress. Research shows that individual level factors, such as perceptions of need, mental health knowledge, mental health attitudes, and mental health literacy, are related to individuals’ decisions to seek mental health services. The Health Belief Model (HBM) posits four types of health beliefs that affect an individual’s health behavior, in this case, the decision to seek mental health services. To date, researchers and clinicians have no assessment tool …

Manipulating Relative Lmx: Effects On Performance, Conflict, And Strain, Keaton A. Fletcher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fundamental to the conceptualization of leader-membership exchange (LMX), particularly within the context of teams, is that leaders do not necessarily treat each follower equally. Studies that have examined LMX within the context of the team often fail to capture these complexities, or rely exclusively upon self-report, or survey-based data to make inferences. Therefore, it is the purpose of this study to examine the effects of experimentally manipulated relative LMX within teams on individual conflict processes, attitudes, and psychological distress, as well as team-level performance. This study examined conflict processes and outcomes within 113 virtual, project teams engaged in a decision-making …

School Counselors' Role In Reducing Aggression In Children In Alternative Education Programs, Deirdra Sanders-Burnett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite efforts to reduce the occurrence of physical aggression in traditional school environments, some students persist in engaging in physical aggression and are assigned to alternative education programs as an alternative to expulsion. However, relatively little is known about the types of services that school counselors provide to help these students. This case study investigated the services that school counselors provide to the young children attending disciplinary alternative education programs in a public-school district in central Florida. The participants consist of two school counselors who provided services to the students assigned to the alternative disciplinary programs and two district-level administrators …

Anticipatory Motivation For Drinking Alcohol: An In-Vivo Study, Bryan Benitez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies from various research groups have already shown the usefulness of alcohol expectancies as predictors of long-term future alcohol consumption. The present study extends this line of research by directly testing whether alcohol expectancies measured in the moment using free association are useful as predictors of alcohol consumption in the next few hours. An ecological momentary assessment (EMA) procedure was used to examine how alcohol expectancies might fluctuate during days in which many people expect to drink (e.g. Fridays, Saturdays) and how these fluctuations in alcohol expectancies might predict future drinking and/or co-vary with important contextual variables during that …

Better Safe Than Sorry: The Relationship Between Locus Of Control, Perception Of Risk, And Cyber Misbehaviors, Kim Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Information security is of vital importance to organizations. Breaches in security very often stem from behaviors of the system operator. Cyber misbehaviors on the part of employees can have devastating repercussions on the well-being of an organization. Up to now, research has mainly focused on how to protect information systems from outside attack, and only recently have researchers turned to the part the operator plays in keeping the systems safe. The present study investigated some individual differences that may play a role in people’s cyber behavior. The purpose of the study was to determine if locus of control was related …

The Effects Of Music Choice On Perceptual And Physiological Responses To Treadmill Exercise, Taylor A. Shimshock

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of music choice on the ratings of attentional focus, affective valence, perceived exertion, and enjoyment during and after self-paced treadmill exercise of varied intensities. Thirty-four college-aged, healthy, active males and females volunteered to participate in the study. Participants completed 6 visits to the laboratory: the first visit was a medical screening to ensure safety of the participants. For the second visit, participants completed a maximal treadmill exercise test. On the third visit, participants completed the Brunel Music Rating Inventory-2 to determine their preferred and non-preferred music genres, and to self-select the low, moderate and high …

Transitions To Preschool Special Education: The Relationship Of Child, Family, And Early Intervention Characteristics, Tara B. Delach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities and certain medical conditions are at risk for a variety of adverse outcomes in childhood as well as into adulthood. Early identification and early intervention are essential for improving the trajectories and outcomes of these children. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that affords protections to children with disabilities and those at risk for developmental delays. IDEA provides guidance and regulations to early intervention programs, schools, and states for identifying and delivering intervention services to children ages birth through 21 years. Although the provision of early intervention services are …

Thinness Pressures In Ethnically Diverse College Women In The United States, Daniel L. Ordaz, Lauren M. Schaefer, Emily M. Choquette, Jordan Schueler, Lisa Wallace, Joel K. Thompson

Psychology Faculty Publications

While research consistently supports the negative impact of thinness pressures on body image, this work has primarily utilized White samples in the United States, limiting generalizability to other ethnicities. Further, limited research has examined ethnic differences in thinness pressures from distinct sociocultural influences. This study examined distinct sources of thinness pressures in 598 White, 135 Black, and 131 Hispanic college women in the United States. Mean levels of thinness pressures significantly differed across ethnicity, with Black women generally reporting the lowest levels of each pressure. Additionally, distinct sources of thinness pressures were more highly related to negative outcomes within ethnic …

Self-Objectification, Body Shame, And Disordered Eating: Testing A Core Mediational Model Of Objectification Theory Among White, Black, And Hispanic Women, Lauren M. Schaefer, Natasha L. Burke, Rachel M. Calogero, Jessie E. Menzel, Ross Krawczyk, Joel Kevin Thompson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objectification theory asserts that self-objectification, which manifests as self-surveillance, leads to increased body shame and subsequent eating pathology. Although evidence supports the core mediational model, the majority of this work utilizes primarily White samples, limiting generalizability to other ethnic groups. The current study examined whether the core tenets of objectification theory generalize to Black and Hispanic women. Participants were 880 college women from the United States (71.7% White, 15.1% Hispanic, 13.2% Black) who completed self-report measures of self-surveillance, body shame, and disordered eating. Multivariate analysis of variance tests indicated lower levels of self-surveillance and disordered eating among Black women. Moreover, …

Book Review: La Muerte Del Verdugo: Reflexiones Interdisciplinarias Sobre El Cadáver De Los Criminales De Masa, Vincent Druliolle

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Review of La Muerte del Verdugo. Reflexiones Interdisciplinarias Sobre el Cadáver de los Criminales de Masa, ed. Séviane Garibian (Buenos Aires: Miño y Dávila editores, 2016)

A Systems-Based Approach To Fostering Robust Science In Industrial-Organizational Psychology, James A. Grand, Steven G. Rogelberg, Tammy D. Allen, Roland S. Landis, Douglas H. Reynolds, John C. Scott, Scott Tonidandel, Donald M. Truxillo

Psychology Faculty Publications

Credibility and trustworthiness are the bedrock upon which any science is built. The strength of these foundations has been increasingly questioned across the sciences as instances of research misconduct and mounting concerns over the prevalence of detrimental research practices have been identified. Consequently, the purpose of this article is to encourage our scientific community to positively and proactively engage in efforts that foster a healthy and robust industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology. We begin by advancing six defining principles that we believe reflect the values of robust science and offer criteria for evaluating proposed efforts to change scientific practices. Recognizing …

Improving Intervention Decisions To Prevent Genocide: Less Muddle, More Structure, Robin Gregory, Michael Harstone, Paul Slovic

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Decisions to intervene in a foreign country to prevent genocide and mass atrocities are among the most challenging and controversial choices facing national leaders. Drawing on techniques from decision analysis, psychology, and negotiation analysis, we propose a structured approach to these difficult choices that can provide policy makers with additional insight, consistency, efficiency, and defensibility. We propose the use of a values-based framework to clarify the key elements of these complex choices and to provide a consistent structure for comparison of the likely benefits, risks, and tradeoffs associated with alternative intervention strategies. Results from a workshop involving Ambassadors and experienced …

Genetic And Environmental Influences On The Codevelopment Among Borderline Personality Disorder Traits, Major Depression Symptoms, And Substance Use Disorder Symptoms From Adolescence To Young Adulthood, Marina A. Bornovalova, Brad Verhulst, Troy Alan Webber, Matt Mcgue, William G. Iacono, Brian M. Hicks

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits decline from adolescence to adulthood, comorbid psychopathology such as symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD), alcohol use disorder (AUD), and drug use disorders (DUDs) likely disrupt this normative decline. Using a longitudinal sample of female twins (N = 1,763), we examined if levels of BPD traits were correlated with changes in MDD, AUD, and DUD symptoms from ages 14 to 24. A parallel process biometric latent growth model examined the contributions of genetic and environmental factors to the relationships between developmental components of these phenotypes. Higher BPD trait levels predicted a greater rate of …

The Time Has Come For Dimensional Personality Disorder Diagnosis, Christopher J. Hopwood, Roman Kotov, Robert F. Krueger, Thomas A. Widiger, Robert R. Althoff, Emily B. Ansell, Bo Bach, R. M. Bagby, Mark A. Blais, Marina Alexa Bornovalova

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Preliminary Evidence That Digit Length Ratio (2d:4d) Predicts Neural Response To Delivery Of Motivational Stimuli, Troy A. Webber, Heather E. Soder, Geoffrey Potts, Marina A Bornovalova

Psychology Faculty Publications

Reduced relative length of the 2nd to 4th digits (2D:4D) is thought to partially reflect fetal testosterone (FT) exposure, a process suspected to promote relatively permanent effects on the brain and behavior via structural and functional neuroadaptations. We examined the effect of 2D:4D on neural response − assessed by P2a and feedback-related negativity (FRN) event-related potentials (ERPs) − to motivational stimuli (reward or punishment) using two counterbalanced conditions of a passive S1/S2 outcome prediction design. P2a to expected and unexpected delivered rewards or punishments ($1 or white noise burst, respectively) and FRN to withheld rewards or punishments ($0 or silence, …

An Exploration Of The Perceived Usefulness Of The Introductory Statistics Course And Students’ Intentions To Further Engage In Statistics, Rossi A. Hassad

Numeracy

Students’ attitude, including perceived usefulness, is generally associated with academic success. The related research in statistics education has focused almost exclusively on the role of attitude in explaining and predicting academic learning outcomes, hence there is a paucity of research evidence on how attitude (particularly perceived usefulness) impacts students’ intentions to use and stay engaged in statistics beyond the introductory course. This study explored the relationship between college students’ perception of the usefulness of an introductory statistics course, their beliefs about where statistics will be most useful, and their intentions to take another statistics course. A cross-sectional study of 106 …