Digital Commons Network^™

The Mediation Of Mental Health Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Risky Sexual Behavior, Kayla Marie Mandrigues, Julia Claire Dodd, Stacey Lynne Williams

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Risky sexual behaviors (RSB) have the potential to negatively impact individuals by increasing the risk of mental health issues, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and unwanted pregnancies. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and mental health disorders, such as anxiety, PTSD, and depression, have been known to increase RSB. The purpose of this study was to see if these mental health disorders mediate the relationship between ACEs and RSB. Participants (n = 342, mean age = 32) were recruited through social media to complete an online questionnaire. While history of ACEs significantly predicted engagement in RSB as well as all three of the …

Main And Interactive Effects Of Mental Health, Parent Ethnic Socialization, Discrimination On Bipoc Teens' Ethnic Identity, Emily Takamasa, Ashley M. Fraser, Adam Rogers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Research would suggest that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) adolescents have the best developmental outcomes when strong, positive ethnic identity is acknowledged and embraced. This study investigated whether discrimination, internalizing symptomology, parent socialization, and/or interactions of these variables influenced adolescent ethnic identity, specifically in exploration, resolution, and affirmation to illuminate nuanced ways BIPOC youth can achieve positive ethnic identity. Recruited from third-party research panels, surveyed participants were adolescents (Mage = 15.28; 51.6% male) of diverse racial/ethnic groups and socioeconomic backgrounds from all regions of the U.S. Overall, the results showed that there were four significant main effects on ethnic …

Mindful Musicians: Trait Mindfulness, Deliberate Practice, Anxiety And Depression In College Musicians, Sally S. Wynn

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background. Mindfulness is understood as a capacity to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness with a sense of nonjudgement, curiosity, and kindness. Anxiety and depression are prevalent in the undergraduate musician population, despite positive effects on mental health that are often associated with listening to music. This study explored factors of music practice including instrument category, practice time, and the use of deliberate practice techniques. Our objective was to test the relationships between dispositional mindfulness, musicianship, and mental health among college instrumental musicians. I hypothesized first, that dispositional mindfulness would be positively associated with musicianship; second, that mindfulness would be negatively associated with …

The Effects Of The Transition From Pre-Nursing To Nursing On Mental Health, Andrew J. Davis, Paige R. Mullins, Kimberly A. Sell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mental health is an ever-growing crisis among adolescents and young adults, with suicide as second leading cause of death and the number of those negatively affected continually on the rise. Transitions are one of the major stressors prevalent among these age groups, placing individuals at risk for mental health deficits. This quantitative voluntary response comparative study assesses the transitional mental health of pre-nursing students and students in the nursing program at East Tennessee State University. Emailed to all with a declared major of pre-nursing or nursing, this study measured mental health using evidenced based assessment tools. The PHQ-9 for depression …

Psychological Distress And Susceptibility To Disease In The Infant And Early Childhood Mental Health (Iecmh) Workforce In The Time Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ashley Sexton

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Chronic stress, anxiety, and depression can have many adverse effects on physical health, including immunosuppression and increased susceptibility to disease. For the last year, the world has endured sustained stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which has had its own impact on mental health. Stress from COVID-19 will likely have an even greater impact on the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) workforce due to the stressful nature of their work. Self-care has been shown to improve overall wellbeing and act as a buffer for stress. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate if IECMH workers with clinically significant …

Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing Therapy In Virtual Reality: Proof Of Concept, Kinslee Hammonds

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research focuses on the integration of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) and Virtual Reality (VR). EMDR is a therapeutic approach using bilateral stimulation to process distressing memories, emotions, and experiences. It is widely employed for conditions like PTSD, anxiety, and depression. The study involves the development of a proof-of-concept virtual reality tool tailored for EMDR therapy sessions. The tool comprises a bilaterally moving sphere within the user's VR environment, controllable by the therapist through a graphical interface on a computer. The therapist can dynamically adjust the sphere's color, speed, and sound to enhance the therapeutic process. The …

Validating The Collegiate Optimism Orientation Test And Exploring Its Correlation To Gpa And Mental Health Among College Students, Emilia Bingham

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Collegiate Optimism Orientation Test (COOT) was designed to provide a more specific and accurate understanding of an individual’s optimism in a collegiate setting. The current study investigates the reliability and validity of the COOT in order to demonstrate its usefulness as a measure of optimism in college students and examines the relationship between optimism and both mental health and GPA. Participants were gathered using online survey websites, one of which was specific for students at Brigham Young University specifically and the other of which was open to any college student in the United States. Participants took a survey consisting …

Investigating The Eeg Error-Related Negativity In College Students With Adhd, Anxiety, And Depression, Mariacristina Canini

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Error-related negativity (ERN) is an event-related potential elicited by the commission of errors. It appears as a negative deflection peaking between 50ms and 100ms after an erroneous response. Previous literature demonstrated that individuals who suffer from either anxiety or depression display a higher ERN amplitude compared to a control group. It has also been shown that people with ADHD display a lower ERN amplitude. Based on these findings, we investigated the relationships between these three disorders and their effects on the amplitude of the ERN. We recruited thirty-one students at East Tennessee State University and gathered data on their level …

Internalizing Symptoms Associated With Emotional Abuse: An Examination Of Religious Social Support As A Moderating Variable, Jessica Chambers, Diana Morelen, Jason Steadman, Michelle Hurley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Emotional abuse in childhood is linked to an increased risk for internalizing symptoms such as depression and anxiety in adulthood. Religious social support offers a promising defense in maintaining mental well-being in the face of trauma. This study aims to investigate if religious social support in childhood will moderate the impact of negative outcomes associated with emotional abuse. Further, this study will examine whether and how gender and ethnicity impact this relationship. The sample includes undergraduate students attending East Tennessee State University, located in the southeastern United States (n = 471, 73% female, 11% African American, M age = 20.37, …

Meditative Art: A Diversion From Stress And Anxiety, Hannah T. Justis 4239670221

Undergraduate Honors Theses

I wished to present a body of work that visually represented my own meditative process of managing stress and anxiety. Towards the end of studying for my undergraduate, I began preparing for my Final Exhibition Show, and with these preparations, my life, as well as my work, changed drastically. Within the past two years, my drawings began to take on a meditative therapeutic process. It was this development that then helped manage my growing stress levels and well as the symptoms that stemmed from high levels of anxiety and bloomed from losing control in my day to day life. It …

Use Of Music To Reduce Anxiety In Short Wait Periods For Patients Receiving Care In An Urgent Care Clinic, Rebecca Anne Parker

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

The concept of waiting has received limited attention in the world of research. In modern society, waiting has become a commonplace event, especially in healthcare. Although the waiting experience can produce anxiety, healthcare environments can be easily manipulated in order to increase human comfort and reduce situational anxiety. One such way of accomplishing this is to introduce music to an environment. This paper will discuss the findings related to short wait periods, anxiety, and music within the literature, and the findings within this research study. This study found listener-selected music to be statistically effective in reducing anxiety for patients …

Early-Emerging Behavioral Inhibition: Contextual And Sex Differences In Linkages With Anxiety Vulnerability, Meagan E. Scott

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The current study was designed to examine behavioral inhibition (BI) as a risk factor for anxiety disorders and to investigate whether contextual and sex differences moderate the association between BI and anxiety risk. Childhood BI was assessed in a sample of 409 3-year-old children (200 boys, Mage = 3.43, SD = .30) using standardized laboratory observations. Parental history of anxiety was assessed using semi-structured clinical interviews. In multivariate models, childhood BI was associated with a maternal history of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Gender was found to moderate the association between BI and maternal history of SAD, as boys’, but …

Behavioral Inhibition And Parent Reported Anxiety Symptoms In Early Childhood: Moderation By Child Sex, Michelle Dzialakiewicz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Behavioral Inhibition (BI) is a temperamental trait that refers to the avoidance and withdrawal from novel situations, objects, and people. It is considered a risk marker for later anxiety disorders. However, for BI to be a true risk marker it must predate the disorder onset and it should be associated with other well-known risk markers, such as early emerging symptoms. The majority of research exploring BI as a risk marker has largely utilized parent- or self- report measures of BI and has focused on middle to late childhood and adolescence. Further, BI has been linked with social anxiety specifically as …

Test Anxiety And Nursing Students., Brad Moore

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Test anxiety has been a problem for many individuals not only in the workforce, but also in many schools and colleges (Driscoll, Evans, Ramsey & Wheeler 2009). According to Driscoll et al., when compared to high school students and the general public (17%), nursing students are shown to have over double (55-60%) the rate of moderately high to high test anxiety. Cognitive test anxiety can account for a 7 to 8% drop in test grades, which can drop test score’s an entire letter grade (Cassady & Johnson, 2001). The purpose of this research is to explore the level of test …