Digital Commons Network^™

Childhood Sexual Abuse Disclosure And Mental Health Outcomes: The Relationship Between Gender, Parental Style, And Masculinity Norms, Kayla E. Hall

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The current study aims to investigate social reactions to childhood sexual abuse disclosure (CSA) in adult men and women. Additionally, the study explores the relationship between conformity to masculinity norms and perception of parental style on timing of disclosure and resulting internalizing and externalizing symptoms and substance abuse.

Method: Using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, 299 adult men and women residing in the U.S. (M_age = 35.9, SD_age= 10.5; 53% female; 78% European American) completed an anonymous online series of survey items pertaining to childhood sexual abuse, internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms, substance abuse, social reactions …

The Relationship Between Cognitive Functioning And Internalizing/Externalizing Behaviors In Children And Adolescents With Down Syndrome, Jessalin R. Good

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Introduction: Down syndrome (DS) is a developmental disorder caused by a complete extra copy of chromosome 21. This genetic error results in a variety of other symptoms related to a range of medical and cognitive challenges. Although it has been reported that a significant relationship exists between cognitive functioning and both internalizing and externalizing behaviors in typically developing (TD) individuals, the literature is severely limited in investigating this relationship in those with DS.

Rationale: Internalizing and externalizing behaviors have been shown to have a negative relationship with cognitive functioning in TD children and adolescents (Shankman et al., 2010; Wood et …

Operationalizing And Measuring High-Quality Instructional Practice – A Theoretical And Empirical Perspective, Genine L. Blue

Theses and Dissertations

This multiple manuscript dissertation offers a cohesive set of research studies curated to address three topics related to how high-quality instructional practice (HQIP) is defined, measured and ultimately connected to student engagement and achievement. Grounded in Benson’s (1998) framework of construct validation, this line of inquiry outlines (i) a well-articulated theoretical domain to make clear the substantive nature of HQIP as a multidimensional latent construct (e.g., substantive stage); (ii) the initial phases of an ongoing, iterative process consisting of empirical analyses designed to continuously build understanding around the structural nature of the observed variables selected to define construct’s empirical domain …

Assessing Longitudinal Impacts Of Mentor Role On Student Outcomes, Jody Lanza-Gregory

Theses and Dissertations

Most youth form relationships with extra-familial adults, sometimes called natural mentoring relationships, and these connections appear to benefit youth in several ways. Previous research demonstrates that the presence of a mentor can positively impact student outcomes including educational expectation, educational attainment, and social success. However, little research has considered how the impact of a natural mentorship may differ based upon the role of the adult in the youth’s life. Using data from three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study investigates if the role of a mentor (i.e. teacher, coach, religious leader) influences the types of …

The Impact Of Rhetorical Framing On Determining Climate Refugee Responsibility In International Policy, Clare Steiner

Senior Theses

In 2021, the World Bank predicted that six regions, Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, North Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, would produce as many as 216 million climate migrants by 2050.[1] Both slow-processes, like rising sea level and land degradation, and sudden onset events, like cyclones and floods, will worsen existing vulnerabilities and create higher rates of forced displacement around the world. Since those escaping the consequences of global warming are not escaping direct ‘persecution,’ they fall through the cracks of current legal protections. These barriers to refugee status raise questions …

Investing In Quiet: A Self-Funding Approach To Mitigating Noise Emissions From Train Horn Use At Grade Crossings, Rand Hough

Senior Theses

This paper argues that there is an economic case for implementing “Quiet Zones”—public, at-grade, road-rail crossings where the usual federal requirement that locomotives sound their horns is suspended—in Richland County, South Carolina in particular, and in the Midlands region of that state in general. Quiet Zones cost money: in some instances, a few thousand dollars; in cases where federal rules require substantial upgrades to infrastructure, many millions. It may nonetheless cost more to not implement them: existing research has found that properties exposed to chronic noise pollution are worth less. While higher property values are not the only benefit of …

The Impact Of The Teacher-Student Relationship On Students’ Educational Expectations, Amanda Lynn Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Students benefit both academically and psychosocially from close, supportive relationships with their teachers. Students who have close relationships with their teachers tend to adjust better to school, perform better academically, and engage in fewer problem behaviors. These benefits begin as early as preschool and mitigate several barriers to educational success for students from low-resource environments. However, it is unclear how changes in these relationships over time differentially influence positive outcomes. In this study, I test how changes in relationship closeness between students and teachers influence students’ expectations about future educational achievement. I also test how the strength of this association …

Interpersonal Discrimination And Older Latinx Adults In The United States, Adrianne Dues

Theses and Dissertations

Discrimination is a chronic source of stress among Latinx adults in the United States (Lopez et al. 2017; Williams 2012). Limited research, however, considers differences within ethnicity-nativity, the influence of important psychosocial mechanisms such as sense of control, and the ways interpersonal discrimination may extend beyond the individual, known as vicarious effects (Wofford et al. 2019). For my chapters, public data comes from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative longitudinal study of Americans aged 50 and older. My three dissertation chapters proceed in the following manner: Chapter 1 provides information to better understand Latinx adults beyond the …

Facial Affect As A Component Of Emotion Regulation During Inhibitory Control In Fxs, Abigail Digby, Erin Hunt

Senior Theses

The present study investigated emotion regulation through facial affect during inhibitory control in FXS. Male participants (N=32) were asked to complete a task that induced frustration. An M&M was placed in front of the subject, and they were instructed not to eat the M&M until the trial has ended, marked by the ringing of a bell. The subject’s facial affect was observed and recorded throughout the 6 trials to investigate the differences between the emotion regulation of TD and FXS children. It was hypothesized that the TD group would be less expressive, and more negative than the TD children. It …

The Road Home Program: An Efficient Model Of Ptsd Treatment In Veterans, Alexandra J. Fischer, Brian J. Klassen, Rhea A. Merck

Senior Theses

This thesis details my experiences at Rush University’s Road Home Program during the summer of 2021. The Road Home Program is an intensive treatment program for veterans suffering from PTSD. It is unique from conventional PTSD treatments in that it provides the equivalent of six months of treatment in just two weeks. The Road Home Program approaches PTSD in a comprehensive way by implementing a variety of therapies and supplemental treatments to veterans. These therapies include Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Mindfulness Based Resiliency Training (MBRT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Art Therapy. The supplemental treatments include cognitive seminars, acupuncture, and …

Three Essays On Agency Costs In Corporate Finance, Eyad Alhudhaif

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation attempts to explain several firm corporate choices under the classical framework of contractual agency problems in corporate finance. Essay 1 examine firms’ debt maturity structure following exogenous changes in growth opportunities due to the COVID-19 shock. I Find companies experiencing an increase in growth options choose longer-term debt, a result that supports the arguments presented by Diamond and He, 2014 and Childs et al., 2005. Essay 2 examine the effect of firm’s risk exposure concentration on debt maturity choices. We find shortterm debt is preferred over covenants in mitigating debt-related agency problems of risk-shifting. These results indicate that …

Composition, Context, And Community Integration: Evaluating The Relative Strength Of Environmental Factors On Mental Health Outcomes Using A Social Ecology Model, Douglas John Archie Iii

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between environmental factors and individual health outcomes has historically been a major area of interest for multiple scientific disciplines. However, the specific environmental factors relevant for describing this relationship and effective measuring methods are unclear. One approach that may assist in addressing these issues is by analyzing this relationship using a comprehensive theoretical framework. This study used a social-ecological model first proposed by Moos and colleagues (Insel & Moos, 1974: Moos & Moos, 1976) to investigate connections between environmental factors and mental health recovery outcomes of psychiatric distress, management of mental health symptoms, and recovery-oriented behavior. A series …

“Before The World Gets Them”: The Impact Of Racialized Parenting On Black Mothers, Mia Brantley

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the distinct practices Black women implement to protect their children from both actualized and anticipatory experiences of racism, as well as its effects on their mothering experiences, health and well-being, as well as how they manage the emotional and mental toll of their children’s experiences. Race plays an integral role in shaping mothering practices. More specifically, motherwork examines how Black mothers ensure the physical, mental, and emotional survival of their children in the face of micro-and macro-level structures that perpetuate racism and inequality. However, much is left to explore regarding the interconnectedness between Black women’s motherwork, linked …

The Criminalization Of Hiv And Hiv Stigma, Deanna Cann

Theses and Dissertations

In an effort to contain the HIV epidemic, lawmakers implemented various pieces of legislation across the United States, including laws that prohibit people living with HIV (PLHIV) from engaging in various behaviors without first disclosing their HIV-status. Public health scholars claim that this criminalization of HIV serves to increase stigma toward PLHIV, rather than prevent its transmission. Limited research has supported a connection between HIV exposure laws and increased stigma toward PLHIV. Still, researchers have yet to establish a causal relationship, and we know little regarding the mechanisms through which these laws serve to reproduce stigma. This study aims to …

The Spatial Variability Of Crime: A Review Of Methodological Choice, Proposed Models, And Methods For Illustrating The Phenomenon, Matthew D. Spencer

Theses and Dissertations

The spatial analysis of crime has occurred for nearly two centuries. Within criminology, research interests that have developed from the use of spatial methodologies seek to identify the spatial variability and concentration of crime. The first focus utilizes spatial statistics and mapping to describe and illustrate spatial variability. The second focus uses statistical techniques to describe levels of concentration such as the percentage of crime attributed to a unit. Due to the larger breadth of work and multiple analytical components the former will be the focus of this research.

This multi-study dissertation explores the methods currently used to study the …

Let’S Be Friends: Examining Consumer Brand Relationships Through The Lens Of Brand Personality, Engagement, And Reciprocal Altruism, Daniel D. Haun

Theses and Dissertations

Brands have always exuded personality and status to consumers in order to promote a competent impression and induce positive perceptions and behaviors (Griskevicius, et al., 2007). In order for individuals to identify with brands, the brands must become more personable by consciously embodying a specific personality trait. Research has found that when a brand embodies a personality, there is an associated increase in consumer preference and usage (Sirgy, 1982), purchase choices for that brand (Ha & Janda, 2014; Gordon et al., 2016; Guèvremont & Grohmann, 2013; Swaminathan et al., 2009), and consumer preference and brand loyalty (Louis & Lombart, 2010; …

Satellite Observations And Spatiotemporal Assessment Of Salt Marsh /Dieback Along Coastal South Carolina (1990-2019), Huixuan Li

Theses and Dissertations

Coastal wetland mapping is often difficult because of the heterogeneous vegetation compositions and associated tidal effects. Past studies in the Gulf/Atlantic coast states have reported acute marsh dieback events in which marsh rapidly browned and thinned, leaving stubble of dead stems or mudflad with damaged ecosystem services. Reported marsh dieback in South Carolina (SC), USA, however, have been limited. Previous studies have suggested a suite of possibly abiotic and biotic attributes responsible for salt marsh dieback. However, there are no consensus answers in current literature explaining what led to marsh dieback in past decades, especially from the spatiotemporal perspective. In …

Social-Motivational Influences On Physical Activity Engagement For Adolescent Girls, Mariajosé Jhamira Paton

Theses and Dissertations

Rates of youth physical activity (PA) drastically decrease during adolescence, with a steeper decline for adolescent girls (Belcher et al., 2010; CDC, 2010). Although afterschool programs (ASPs) have been identified as an ideal context for promoting youth PA, ASPs vary in quality with girls having the highest rates of inactivity (Zarrett et al., 2018). Theory and previous studies have identified social-motivational climate-based factors within ASPs that are critical for promoting adolescents’ PA (Basch, 2011; Eccles et al., 2002; Zarrett et al., 2013, 2015). The present study first examines gender differences in the social-motivational quality of middle school ASPs for promoting …

The Effect Of Feedback On State Narcissism, Ian C. Kloss

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: Prior research suggests that grandiose and vulnerable narcissists differ from one another in their responses to various threats—among these results is a finding suggesting individuals displaying grandiose narcissism are more likely to report negative mood states following an imaginal achievement failure, while individuals displaying vulnerable narcissism report more negative mood following an imagined romantic rejection. Further, a body of literature within the field of narcissism examines whether grandiose and vulnerable narcissism are better conceived as stable traits or as states that may fluctuate within an individual. This study sought to determine whether state grandiose and vulnerable narcissism might differ …

Explicit And Implicit Attitudes Towards Prisoners: The Impact Of Level Of Contact, Samantha Peka

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: Prisoners and ex-prisoners face overt and covert forms of prejudice and discrimination (e.g., barriers to employment, housing, healthcare, voting rights). Fueling this prejudice and discrimination are implicit and explicit negative attitudes towards prisoners. Negative implicit and explicit attitudes play a major role into successful reintegration into society post-release. The purpose of this study was to examine if exposure to prisoners/ex-prisoners and political affiliation influence implicit and explicit attitudes.

Method: Participants (n = 73) completed a prisoner Implicit Association Test (IAT). Then, participants completed the explicit measures, Social Distance Scale, Attribute Questionnaire, Belief in Redeemability, Attitudes Towards Prisoners, and Prosociality …

Inoculating The Public Against Misinformation: Testing The Effectiveness Of “Pre-Bunking” Techniques In The Context Of Mental Illness And Violence, Nanlan Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

The publics might be misinformed about mental illness due to frequently mentioned violence and inaccurate notions in news coverage that underlie people who have a history of mental illness are prone to be dangerous or violent. Drawing from the theories of inoculation and the psychological reactance, the author seeks to investigate the effects of using preemptive corrective message techniques (labeling, appeal to consensus, and provision of an alternative explanation) as on the method of promoting resistance to misinformation linking mental illness and violence, which is a harmful and unsubstantiated stereotype. To accomplish this research aim, the author conducted two experiments …

School Wide Digital Devices And The Impact On The Role Of School Librarians, Laura Jeanne Haverkamp

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods study examines what happens to the role of the school librarian when schools move to a 1:1 model where every student has a digital device. Using the literature to understand expectations for librarians, the researcher surveyed experienced South Carolina school librarians to determine how 1:1 computing was implemented and supported in schools and if the role of the school librarians has changed as schools transition to a digital environment. The researcher found that there was little uniformity in deployment and support of devices in 1:1 schools, but that librarians felt their roles had changed and their overall …

Portion Of Profit Donations: Csr As Public Relations Strategy And Its Relationships With Trust And Purchase Intentions, Branden Dylan Cameron Birmingham

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to apply POP donations and messaging as a form of corporate social responsibility (CSR) research. Specifically, this study seeks to understand the relationships between communication factors of portion of the profit (POP) donations and a consumer’s intentions to purchase an item from a corporation, and the level of trust between a consumer and corporation. A key focus of this study was to determine if there is skepticism of POP donations and the impact on overall purchasing intentions, CSR communication factors, engagement, and trustworthiness. This emphasized how ethical values, decision making, relationship building, and trustworthiness are obligations between …

Predictive Validity Of The Classroom Performance Survey, Asia Simone Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

The current study evaluated the concurrent associations between an adapted version of the Classroom Performance Survey (CPS) and academic and behavioral student outcomes. Participants were one cohort of kindergarten through 5th grade children enrolled in a public elementary school. Preliminary results suggested that the CPS was a significant predictor of academic student outcomes similar to previous research. Hierarchal regression analyses indicated that the Academic and Interpersonal Subdomains improved the prediction on students’ GPA, above and beyond MAP scores alone. Finally, descriptive statistics indicate similar student performance across ‘in person’, ’virtual’, and ‘hybrid’ learning settings. Educators using a Multi-Tiered System of …

A Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention (Bmbi) To Reduce Teacher Stress And Burnout, Stephen George Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Teachers are exposed to a variety of chronic stressors in their work environments that lead to stress, burnout, and the deterioration of physiological systems that promote adaptive responses to stress. The downstream effects of chronic stress and burnout incur substantial costs associated with attrition and stress-related health concerns. Research demonstrates that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have potential to improve teachers’ capacity to manage stress and mitigate its detrimental effects. However, many MBI studies to date have failed to incorporate key elements of methodological rigor and included large dosages despite research suggesting that such dosages are iatrogenic. Furthermore, these studies have not …

Community Corrections Officer Decision-Making: An Intersectional Analysis, Amber Leigh Williams Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Although corrections populations have been gradually declining for several years, an estimated 4.1 million adults are currently supervised in the community (Maruschak & Minton, 2020). While some states have depended on the use of community corrections as a means to reduce overcrowded correctional facilities, other states’ approaches have resulted in probation and parole policies that only contribute to the incarcerated population, primarily through probation and parole revocations. In response to these trends, researchers have begun to focus on supervision outcomes, finding evidence to suggest that individual probation and parole officers may have an impact on offender outcomes. While some of …

Biobehavioral Measurement Of Heterogeneity In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Carla Anne Wall

Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by the presence of social-communication deficits and restricted and repetitive interests and behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013b; Baio et al., 2018). It is characterized by high genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity, which complicates both diagnosis and treatment efforts (Jeste & Geschwind, 2014; Kim, Macari, Koller, & Chawarska, 2016). Well-studied sources of heterogeneity in ASD include age, sex, intellectual ability, temperament, physiological arousal, social attention, and the presence of genetic syndromes that are highly penetrant with ASD (Campbell, Shic, Macari, & Chawarska, 2014; Harris et al., 2008; Klusek, Roberts, & Losh, …

Characterizing Anxiety And Physiological Correlates In Preschool Children With Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Jordan Ezell

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of two original research manuscripts broadly examining anxiety and potential correlates in young children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. The first manuscript assessed cardiac regulation during an auditory startle paradigm in young children (3-6 years old) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), fragile x syndrome (FXS), and neurotypical peers. The second manuscript utilized a new measure developed to capture anxiety in individuals with ASD in order to assess the rate of typical and atypical anxiety and potential risk factors (ASD severity, sex, cognitive ability) for anxiety in preschool children with ASD contrasted to neurotypical preschool children. Collectively, these two …

Interstate Rivalry, Domestic Politics, And Economic Coercion, Shaoshuang Wen

Theses and Dissertations

As economic sanctions have been increasingly used to advance a range of foreign policy goals, a great deal of research has explored the determinants of sanctions use and sanctions success. Despite the fact that research on economic sanctions has produced significant advancement in our understanding of the causes and efficacy of the usage of these tools, a few important questions remain overlooked or unanswered in the sanctions literature. This dissertation aims to look into some of these overlooked questions by asking three interrelated questions. First, how do third-party rivals of the possible target state affect the onset of economic coercion? …

The Development And Validation Of An Automated Screener Of Attention, Rachel Bridges

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated a strong relationship between symptoms of ADHD and academic underachievement. Interventions specific to academic deficits in children with ADHD are available, which are most effective if implemented before secondary concerns arise. Performance based screening is one method for determining the need for early intervention, yet extant measures of attention have limitations for the purposes of large-scale screening. The current study evaluated the psychometric properties and guiding conceptual model of a novel instrument of executive functioning—the GNG Screen— which measures response inhibition via a go/no-go paradigm. Results from Rasch modeling and exploratory factor analysis provide preliminary psychometric …