Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Heart-Rate Variability Biofeedback On Major Depression Disorder In Resting-State Fmri, Hiu Wai Caldwell

Theses and Dissertations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common psychiatric illnesses and causes significant disturbances in daily functioning. Research on heart-rate variability (HRV) biofeedback training suggests that HRV is an efficacious adjunct to psychotherapy in reducing depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine neurological changes in depressed individuals who were randomized to either a psychotherapy plus HRV biofeedback training or to a treatment as usual group. A control group with no history of depression was also studied. We collected psychological, physiological, and imaging data from 30 participants (10 in an experimental group, 10 in a treatment …

A Page Of Her Own: How Women Navigate The Public And Private Facets Of Blogging, Emily Marie Flinders

Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the complexity of the texts women create through blogging and their inherent value. I seek to explore how the mothers who blog are constructing online identities for their family units and family members in this space and how those constructions affect and inform the mothers' construction of their personal identities online. I analyze how perceptions of gender norms and practices of gender performance may affect and inform the identities thus constructed, and further complicate the liminal nature of blogging spaces. I begin with the sociological framework of Erving Goffman, which is commonly used to deconstruct identity performance …

Loss Aversion And Perspective Taking In The Sunk-Cost Fallacy, Veronika Rudd Tait

Theses and Dissertations

The sunk-cost fallacy (SCF) occurs when an individual makes an investment with a low probability of a payoff because an earlier investment has already been made. It is considered an error because a rational decision should not factor in now-irretrievable investments, as they do not affect current outcome likelihoods. Previous research has measured the tendency to commit the SCF by using hypothetical scenarios in which participants must choose to make a future investment or not after making an initial investment. There are many theories as to why people commit the SCF. Loss aversion, which is the preference for uncertain over …

A Longitudinal Examination Of The Effects Of Acculturation And Mental Health Problems On Immigrant Father Involvement: A Cross-Cultural Study, Keitaro Yoshida

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined how acculturation, mental health problems, and parenting stress are associated with two dimensions of father involvement longitudinally for Latino and Chinese immigrant fathers using a nationally representative sample of young children and their resident fathers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). After controlling for a variety of individual and demographic characteristics and previous levels of father involvement, results from multiple group structural equation modeling revealed that immigrant fathers' English proficiency is negatively associated with care-taking involvement at 2 years, but positively associated with care-taking involvement at 4 years. Interestingly, mothers' English proficiency is also …

A Corpus-Based Analysis Of Russian Word Order Patterns, Stephanie Kay Billings

Theses and Dissertations

Some scholars say that Russian syntax has free word order. However, other researchers claim that the basic word order of Russian is Subject, Verb, Object (SVO). Some researchers also assert that the use of different word orders may be influenced by various factors, including positions of discourse topic and focus, and register (spoken, fiction, academic, non-academic). In addition, corpora have been shown to be useful tools in gathering empirical linguistic data, and modern advances in computing have made corpora freely available and their use widespread. The Russian National Corpus is a large corpus of Russian that is widely used and …

The Development Of An Esp Vocabulary Study Guidefor The Utah State Driver Handbook, Kirsten M. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project details research conducted and the method employed to create a tool for acquiring the technical vocabulary from the Utah Driver Handbook. Technical terms were compiled into a vocabulary tool for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. ESL programs within the state have noted the need for materials to help learners acquire this vocabulary. The tool will assist ESL learners preparing for the written driving exam by reinforcing the vocabulary through various iterations, including flash cards, simplified definitions, and an L1 gloss. Learners preparing for the exam will be able to study difficult vocabulary terms using the …

Syriac Rhetorical Particles: Variable Second-Position Clitic Placement, Patrick Brendon Pearson

Theses and Dissertations

Investigation on second-position clitic phenomena has steadily increased since Wackernagel’s (1892) observations. Researchers have applied contemporary clitic typology to various Semitic languages though Syriac has received little attention. This thesis identifies a group of Syriac rhetorical particles and describes their categorization as clitics, versus words or affixes. It establishes each of the Syriac particles as second-position clitics and provides evidence of this conclusion from a state-of-the-art digitized corpus of Syriac literature. Extending previous Syriac analyses, this thesis describes the nature of attachment of these second-position clitics as enclisis to either the first word or the first constituent/phrase of their domain. …

The Role Of Documentary Film In The Emerging Social Entrepreneurial Culture, Karyn Elizabeth Daley

Theses and Dissertations

Considering the current skepticism surrounding the impact and efficacy of nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, some believe that a unique category of innovator known as the social entrepreneur may be society’s best hope for bringing innovative, scalable, and systemic solutions to bear on the world’s most intractable problems. Social entrepreneurs, as defined by Ashoka, have a unique set of characteristics that determine not only how they move within the world of social change-making but also how they communicate their ideas and mission to the public.

This exploratory study reviewed how social entrepreneurs currently use documentary film and visual media in their …

Protecting Professional Football: A Case Study Of Crisis Communication Tactics Demonstrated During The Concussion Crisis By The National Football League And The Introduction Of Cultural Ingrainment As A Component In Crisis Communications Models, Jordan Todd Mower

Theses and Dissertations

This research analyzes the crisis communications tactics employed by the National Football League at key points during the concussion crisis in relation to strategies recommended by models based on image restoration theory and situational crisis communications theory. The discrepancies between the NFL's tactics and recommended situational tactics, viewed in light of the financial and market increases for the league over the duration of the crisis, show the need for an additional component in accepted crisis communications models. Cultural ingrainment is posited as a component to be added to present models as a mitigating factor of organizational harm in cases of …

Reject Or Redemptive Fathers? A Content Analysis Of Father Portrayals In Top Box Office Family Films, Cassidy Jo Wadsworth

Theses and Dissertations

More research is needed to fully understand the way in which parents, particularly fathers, are portrayed in family films and the effects those portrayals might have. Viewers, particularly parents, need to understand how the material their children view presents reality and how it may shape their children's perspectives of the real world, particularly where the family unit and parenting role are concerned. By exploring these portrayals through the lens of Cultivation Theory, this study sought to answer this overarching question: How are fathers portrayed in family films as opposed to television? This quantitative study explores the top twenty films from …

Culturally Relevant Parental Involvement: Perceptions Of Mexican Immigrant Mothers In Rural Wyoming, Sandra P. Sanderson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand Mexican immigrant mother's perceptions concerning parental involvement with their children's schools. It provides a perspective on cultural considerations relevant to the implementation of Epstein's model of parental involvement. Eight mothers, two documented and six undocumented, who had emigrated from Mexico and were living in rural Wyoming, were interviewed. The information provided by the participants included descriptions of practices the mothers considered meaningful when involved with their children's education. They shared their own experiences of their school attendance in Mexico and their own parents' involvement with their education. They also shared their understanding …

The Role Of Stress In Hypersexual Behavior, Randy Gilliland

Theses and Dissertations

The proposed diagnostic criteria for Hypersexual Disorder included "[r]epetitively engaging in sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors in response to stressful life events" (Kafka, 2010, p.279) as a symptom, although no data demonstrates a causal relationship between stress and hypersexual behavior. We sought to confirm previous findings while furthering the field's understanding of this relationship by being the first study to assess stress and hypersexual behavior across multiple time points. Specifically, we sought to test three hypotheses within a sample of men seeking treatment for hypersexual behavior: 1) hypersexual individuals report higher stress levels than published norm samples; 2) stress predicts …

Relational Aggression/Victimization And Depression In Married Couples, Christine Marie Cramer

Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigates the correlates of partner-directed relational aggression in married couples. In particular, this study looks at the connection between romantic relational aggression and the personal outcome of depression. Both the experience of victimization and perpetration of romantic relational aggression are considered. Victimization may be linked to depression through the concept of the “looking glass self” and reflected appraisals. Aggression, in contrast, may be linked to depression through dissatisfaction with one’s own aggressive tendencies in the relationship and a lack of “relational self-esteem”. Couples who completed the RELATE assessment were asked to report on their partner’s engagement in …

Mothers' Views Of Their Children's Anxiety In Autism: A Qualitative Approach, Jessica Mae Palilla

Theses and Dissertations

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which is marked by severe social disabilities, also present with higher rates of anxiety. Understanding the qualitative symptoms that underlie anxiety in ASD may help to better characterize the overlap of ASD and anxiety symptomology and suggest targeted treatment strategies. Twenty mothers with male children diagnosed with high-functioning ASD were interviewed using a follow-up interview to the SCAS parent rating scale, in order to better understand how mothers perceive their child's anxious thoughts, behaviors and cognitions. All interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis was used to analyze the results. Eight themes emerged from …

A Qualitative Analysis Of The English Language Teaching Practices Of Latter-Day Saint Missionaries, Rachel Tui Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the teaching practices of recently returned Latter-day Saint (LDS) missionaries who voluntarily taught the English language on their full-time missions' serving for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout various parts of the world. The analyses performed in this research offer an insider's perspective by looking at a large selection of qualitative data gathered directly from these missionaries to provide evidential insight into what those practices are, including the most effective and the most ineffective teaching practices as principally perceived by the missionaries themselves. Thus far, there has been no research reported or data gathered …

Idioms As A Measure Of Proficiency, Kyle Hugh Vanderniet

Theses and Dissertations

This purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between idiomatic knowledge and second language proficiency. As the amount of research directly related to this topic is sparse, an in-depth discussion of relevant research and definitions comprises the first part of this paper. Two studies are then presented here that test the relationship between idiomatic knowledge and second language proficiency. A new definition for idioms proposes that all non-compositional phrases, popularized by usage, that is stored, retrieved, and employed as a single lexical unit. The results from more than 400 participants across two studies indicate that the two constructs …

A Path To Empathy: Child And Family Communication, Sarah Ann Stone

Theses and Dissertations

This longitudinal study examined the association between communication in the family on the development of empathy in young children. Co-regulation and family expressiveness measured communication in parent-child dyads at age 12 months (N = 186), 24 months (N = 100), and 36 months (N = 78). A follow-up was conducted at 60 months (N = 47) to measure empathy-related responding in children. Co-regulation styles change over time, generally increasing in the most engaged, two-way style of communication (symmetrical) and decreasing in one-sided and less engaged types. Greater family expressiveness predicted higher levels of empathy as observed in an empathy-eliciting experiment, …

The Vocabulary Research Database: A Compilation Of State-Of-The-Art Academic Vocabulary Research, Melissa Ann Young

Theses and Dissertations

The Vocabulary Research Database (VRD) is a research tool comprised of a compilation of state-of-the art academic research in the field of vocabulary acquisition and pedagogy. The VRD has flexible search features that allow users to obtain higher granularity than is possible with other free databases and online search options currently available, making the results more relevant and manageable. These features include the ability to constrain results by date, author, publication, sub-topics, keywords, citation numbers, journal impact factors, and participant ages. It is anticipated that the ability to manipulate results, combined with relevant and current content, will provide language professionals …

Bibliotherapy As An Intervention For Aggressive Elementary Children, Kari Newman

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effect of bibliotherapy as an intervention for aggressive elementary children at a residential treatment center in the western United States. Bibliotherapy was provided for six children, three boys and three girls, ages 9 to 11, Caucasian and Hispanic, who took part in one of two groups. The study involved a multi-baseline design, beginning with a baseline phase, followed by two separate intervention phases comprised of eight sessions of bibliotherapy. Data gathered from almost daily observations along with pre- and post-intervention ratings of aggressive behaviors indicated that four of the six students demonstrated notable decreases in observed …

How Do Boys And Girls Help? Validation Of A Multidimensional Measure Of Prosocial Behavior, Matthew Glade Nielson

Theses and Dissertations

The study of prosocial behavior is growing increasingly multidimensional in the way that it considers whom is helped and how. One area of concern is the effect of gender on prosocial behavior. Is masculine behavior more physically oriented, and if so, are measures neglecting these behaviors and biasing results toward more feminine prosocial behaviors? The current study sought to answer these questions by creating and validating a new multidimensional measure of prosocial behavior that includes behaviors more common to males. An EFA was performed on a sample of 463 adolescents and emerging adults from Amazon Turk (US citizens, 16-25, 60% …

Effects Of Positive And Negative Events On Daily Relationship Effect For Clinical Couples: A Daily Diary Study, Kayla Dawn Mennenga

Theses and Dissertations

Relationship satisfaction is a popular variable to consider when looking at long-term success for couples. Research indicates positive and negative events have an impact on relationship satisfaction. Considering the influence of the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation framework, the present study focuses on the daily impact of positive and negative events that happen outside of therapy on couple relationship satisfaction for couples seeking therapy. Daily diary methods were used to collect data, a first for using this method with clinical couples. Random effects and multilevel models of analysis controlled for days and couples. Results suggest that on any given day, positive events impact both …

A Case Study Of Irada: Its Impact On The Development And Enhancing The Legitimacy Of Home-Based Businesses In Key Poverty Areas In Jordan, Zaid Hussein Al Attar

Theses and Dissertations

Many researchers have investigated the phenomenon of the informal economy and rec-ommended impractical interventions such as controlling the informal economy or formalizing it. However, most research has missed another strategy for helping the informal economy, which involves achieving legitimacy. This study uses unique data from a Jordanian government organi-zation named IRADA designed to help small, home-based businesses. Data on 345 home-based businesses representing a range of poor areas across Jordan provide a case study of IRADA's strategies to help home-based businesses succeed and to contribute to legitimate informal econo-mies in these areas. Logistic regression analysis reveals how marketing and specialized …

Falsification Of The Look, Rodrigo Andres Veas

Theses and Dissertations

The LOOK is a viewing time measure that seeks to assess sexual interest patterns and is currently in development at Brigham Young University. This instrument is intended to aid current efforts to prevent child sexual abuse by identifying deviant sexual interests. A recently presented study on a similar viewing time measure has raised concerns regarding individuals' ability to falsify sexual interest patterns on average. This study seeks to extend this falsification research to the LOOK in order to assess if falsification of this measure is possible by means of speed or pretense. Participants were exclusively heterosexual non-pedophilic males and females. …

Teaching Self-Determination Skills To Middle School Students With Specific Learning Disabilities, Audryn Damron

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of explicitly teaching self-advocacy skills to three middle school students with mild/moderate disabilities by having them memorize a script and request accommodations in a training and generalization setting. The intervention components included 16 lessons comprising discussion and reflection about their disabilities and educational rights under IDEA, a four-part script, and a prompting procedure. The script included (a) greeting teacher and asking if it's a good time to talk, (b) expressing concern with assignment, (c) asking for accommodation, and (d) thanking teacher. The dependent variables were (a) frequency, measured by the …

School Resource Officers' Perceptions Of In-School Graffiti: Disciplinary Measures And Prevention Efforts, Bobbi Sue Van Leuven

Theses and Dissertations

The term graffiti has been adapted to mean any type of writings on a surface area that have been scratched, painted or marked. These writings, which are typically perceived from a negative point of view, may be something as small as doodles on a paper or something as large as paintings on a wall or the side of a building. Because graffiti is often part of gang culture and identified as criminal activity, when graffiti enters into a school the school's atmosphere and graffiti deters from a positive educational environment. In this study, five School Resource Officers from urban secondary …

Effects Of Feedback Assisted Treatment On Post-Treatment Outcome For Eating Disordered Inpatients: A Follow-Up Study, Megan Michelle Bowen

Theses and Dissertations

Research on the effects of progress feedback and clinician problem-solving tools on patient outcome has been limited to a few clinical problems and settings (Shimowaka, Lambert & Smart, 2010). Only one randomized clinical trial has examined feedback-assisted treatment in an inpatient eating-disordered population. Results from this study suggested that those who received feedback-assisted (Fb) treatment were more likely to meet Jacobson and Truax's (1991) criteria for recovery than participants in the treatment-as-usual (TAU) condition; however, while these interventions appear to have worked well in the inpatient setting, the long-term effects of this treatment have not been investigated. This is especially …

Training Middle School Paraeducators Positive Behavior Support Strategies Through Job Embedded Feedback, Carrie Ann Eichelberger

Theses and Dissertations

The current training model for paraeducators traditionally consists of single-day workshops, emails, newsletters, in-service meetings or other similarly isolated and infrequent tips or no training at all. Such practices have caused many paraeducators and teachers to cite a lack of efficient and effective training as one of the major difficulties in their job. The purpose of the study was to establish a causal relationship between the independent variable: the direct instruction of precorrection through modeling and guided practice with bug-in-the-ear feedback and the dependent variable, the performance or nonperformance of positive behavior support strategies in the classroom. The study took …

Participation In Sports And The Development Of Resilience In Adolescents, Jason Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents today are faced with an array of risk factors including sexual activity and drug and alcohol use, as well as environmental factors that are beyond their control, such as parental divorce and poverty. The attribute of resilience is an extremely desirable quality that, if developed, has the capacity to reduce the effect of many of these risk factors that many adolescents are exposed to. Sport participation is a potential intervention that a large portion of adolescents can have access to through school and community programs that could potentially foster resilience. The current causal-comparative, non-experimental study sought to add to …

Respite Care And Marital Quality In Parents Of Children With Down Syndrome, Michelle Norton

Theses and Dissertations

Parents of a child with a disability are at greater risk than other couples for having higher stress, adjustment difficulties, and lower marital quality. Respite care has been shown to reduce stress in parents of children with disabilities. This study focused on parents who have a child with Down syndrome and their reported marital quality and respite care received. One hundred and twelve couples, each consisting of a mother and a father who lived with their child with Down syndrome, completed questionnaires including the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Experience in Close Relationships Questionnaire, Daily Hassles and Uplifts Scale, and a …

The Home Field Advantage: Exploring Elements Of Immigrant Entrepreneurship, Loren H. Rich

Theses and Dissertations

Immigrants participate in entrepreneurial activity more frequently than other groups, largely resulting from restricted access to traditional occupational advancement. Recent studies have reported that immigrant entrepreneurs focus on their abundance of human and social capital to obtain the financial resources necessary to fund their ventures. Lack of financial resources has been identified as a major barrier for immigrant entrepreneurs; however, as this study indicates, both native and immigrant entrepreneurs face similar financial hurdles in locating initial startup funding. Where major differences arise between native and immigrant entrepreneurs is that native entrepreneurs more frequently transition to business forms of debt, a …