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The Ecology Of Educational Attainment: Resilience Among Black High School Students, Jacqueline O. Davis Nov 2018

The Ecology Of Educational Attainment: Resilience Among Black High School Students, Jacqueline O. Davis

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Achievement gaps among students of color in the United States are pervasive and persistent. Identifying trajectories of resilience among Black teens is an important step toward promoting their educational attainment. This study identified risk and protective factors at the individual, family, and school levels hypothesized to influence Black high school students’ attainment. The effects of these risk (behavior problems, lack of college planning, and school problems) and protective factors (academic self-efficacy, parent involvement, and academic climate) on Black students’ educational attainment at 10-year follow-up were assessed. The sample included 2,423 Black 10th-grade students who participated in the Education Longitudinal Study …


Chronic Life Stress And Change In Stress Response Functioning In Urban Youth: The Role Of Social Support And Gender, Heather M. Marshall Nov 2018

Chronic Life Stress And Change In Stress Response Functioning In Urban Youth: The Role Of Social Support And Gender, Heather M. Marshall

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) has been established as a bio-marker of stress reactivity in acute stressor tasks. Much less research exists exploring whether sAA is bio-marker for chronic stress exposure, and therefore, allostatic load. Extant research is inconsistent with some evidence to support chronic stress exposure having an impact on sAA reactivity and diurnal levels of sAA, while other studies have failed to support this theory. Social support is regarded as a protective factor against stress, mental health, and physical health consequences. It has been suggested that gender may play a role in the utilization and benefits of social support networks. …


Overcoming Exposure To Complex Stressors: An Examination Of Protective Coping Mechanisms For Low-Income Urban African American Youth, Molly Cory Nov 2018

Overcoming Exposure To Complex Stressors: An Examination Of Protective Coping Mechanisms For Low-Income Urban African American Youth, Molly Cory

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Low-income urban African American youth experience multiple uncontrollable stressors (e.g. community violence) that may then impact the severity of controllable stressors (e.g. school stressors) and combine to produce negative life outcomes. In light of these negative outcomes, it is important to understand individual protective factors, and the coping response in particular. Past research has emphasized the advantages of primary control engagement coping, but recent evidence suggests that low-income urban African American youth facing complex and uncontrollable stressors may benefit more from disengagement strategies in response to uncontrollable stressors. Although it is expected this population would additionally benefit from applying engagement …


Latent Classes Of Exposure To Potentially Traumatic And Stressful Life Events In A Sample Of Young Predominantly Ethnic Minority Women, Alyssa Donovan Nov 2018

Latent Classes Of Exposure To Potentially Traumatic And Stressful Life Events In A Sample Of Young Predominantly Ethnic Minority Women, Alyssa Donovan

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Women are disproportionately affected by specific types of potentially traumatic and stressful life events that are strongly linked to PTSD and depressive symptoms (Tolin & Foa, 2006; U.S. Census Bureau, 2016). Yet, while many studies have investigated patterns of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and their associations with clinical outcomes, few have assessed PTE typologies with exclusively female samples (e.g., Cavanaugh et al., 2013). This study examined profiles of childhood and adulthood potentially traumatic and stressful life events in a predominantly ethnic minority, community sample of 191 young women. Using latent class analysis, we found four distinct profiles of exposure to …


An Exploration Of The Psychometric Properties Of The Self-Sufficiency Matrix Among Individuals And Families Currently Or At Risk Of Experiencing Homelessness, Camilla Cummings Nov 2018

An Exploration Of The Psychometric Properties Of The Self-Sufficiency Matrix Among Individuals And Families Currently Or At Risk Of Experiencing Homelessness, Camilla Cummings

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The homeless service sector has moved toward the implementation of assessment tools to better understand the support service needs of individuals and families. While a variety of assessment tools are available, their psychometric evidence base is limited. The Self-Sufficiency Matrix (SSM) is one assessment that holds promise with regard to its reliability, validity, and potential use as an instrument for triaging services. However, research examining the factor structure of the SSM has been inconsistent across samples. Moreover, it has never been tested among a broad population of both those currently experiencing and at-risk of experiencing homelessness, or examined unaccompanied adults …


Executive Functioning In Pediatric Youth: A Meta-Analysis, Draycen D. Decator Aug 2018

Executive Functioning In Pediatric Youth: A Meta-Analysis, Draycen D. Decator

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Executive functioning (EF) represents a set of cognitive skills that are important for daily functioning. EF can be influenced by a number of biopsychosocial factors, many of which are present in the pediatric population (i.e., youth with at least one medical condition). It is important to understand EF in this population as it affects aspects of their physical health (e.g., treatment adherence). Previous meta-analyses have been conducted to examine EF in the pediatric population, and they have generally found deficits in EF compared to healthy peers. However, these previous meta-analyses have only focused on specific medical conditions (e.g., pediatric youth …


Biological Stress Response And Cognitive Vulnerability To Depression In Adolescence, Bridget M. Brush Aug 2018

Biological Stress Response And Cognitive Vulnerability To Depression In Adolescence, Bridget M. Brush

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Depression is the leading cause of worldwide disability. Rates of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) increase exponentially over the adolescent transition, suggesting adolescence represents a key period of risk for the onset of depression. Previous research has associated both biological stress response and cognitive vulnerability with symptoms of depression; however, there is little research examining the joint effects of these two risk factors and symptoms of depression, especially during adolescence. The present study examined the association between symptoms of depression and two established risk factors for depression: cognitive vulnerability, as measured by negative cognitive style, and biological stress response, as measured …


Housing, Relationships, And Substance Use Among Female Ex-Offenders, Arturo Soto-Nevarez Aug 2018

Housing, Relationships, And Substance Use Among Female Ex-Offenders, Arturo Soto-Nevarez

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Female ex-offenders with histories of substance abuse face many difficulties upon reentry into the general population, such as acquiring adequate housing. The purpose of this proposal is to explore the relations between housing settings, relationships, and substance use. Two hundred adult females participated in the initial baseline study. Two methods of data analyses were proposed to predict substance use: one clustering participants into groups based on the endorsement of those settings and relationships, and one using multi-level modeling examining housing settings and relationships both independently as well as unique settings comprised of housing setting and relationship. Participants fell into one …


Economic Pressure And Depressive Symptoms Among Latino Youth: The Role Of Control Beliefs And Family Obligation, Ashley Castro Jun 2018

Economic Pressure And Depressive Symptoms Among Latino Youth: The Role Of Control Beliefs And Family Obligation, Ashley Castro

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Latino youth in the United States experience high rates of both poverty and of depressive symptoms and disorders (CDC, 2012; DeNavas-Walt, Proctor, & Smith, 2014). According to the Adaptation to Poverty Related Stress model (APRS; Wadsworth, Raviv, Compas, & Connor-Smith, 2005), economic pressure is positively linked to adolescent depression via coping. Using a resilience perspective, the present study extends the APRS model by exploring the role that cultural values, namely family obligation, and control beliefs play in the relation between economic pressure and depressive symptoms for Latino youth. Participants in this study were 404 Latino children and adolescents (M …


Teacher-Directed Violence: The Role Of Disempowerment In Turnover, Eric A. Peist Jun 2018

Teacher-Directed Violence: The Role Of Disempowerment In Turnover, Eric A. Peist

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Teacher turnover is a significant issue in education, creating great economic cost and affecting students in the form of academic performance and instructional continuity. While many factors impact turnover, the effects of teacher-directed violence have rarely been explored. Violence directed against teachers has been linked to negative outcomes, such as emotional distress and professional disengagement. The construct of empowerment, or disempowerment, can help researchers to better understand the relationship between teacher-directed violence and teacher turnover, allowing for an ecological approach that explores the context around teachers’ experiences of violence. The current study uses mixed methods to analyze this relationship, based …