Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Associations Between Young Adults' Use Of Sexually Explicit Materials And Their Sexual Preferences, Behaviors, And Satisfaction, Elizabeth M. Morgan

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The present study examined how levels of sexually explicit material (SEM) use during adolescence and young adulthood were associated with sexual preferences, sexual behaviors, and sexual and relationship satisfaction. Participants included 782 heterosexual college students (326 men and 456 women; Mage = 19.9) who completed a questionnaire online. Results revealed high frequencies and multiple types and contexts of SEM use, with men’s usage rates systematically higher than women’s. Regression analyses revealed that both the frequency of SEM use and number of SEM types viewed were uniquely associated with more sexual experience (a higher number of overall and casual sexual intercourse …

Peer Influence: Use Of Alcohol, Tobacco, And Prescription Medications, Mary E. Pritchard, Alberto Varela

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: Risk-taking behavior (e.g., alcohol abuse, tobacco usage, misuse of prescription medications) among college students is a widespread problem. Our study focused not only on the frequency of risky health behaviors in college students, but also the companions with whom they engaged in such behaviors.

Methods: Three hundred and twelve college students completed a survey examining the frequency with which they engaged in alcohol, tobacco, and improper prescription medication use, as well as with whom they were most likely to engage in these behaviors.

Results: Results indicated that participants were most likely to take health risks when accompanied by someone …

What Predicts Drive For Muscularity In College Students?, Mary Pritchard, Chanel Parker, Alli Nielsen

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

While research has established that men tend to exhibit greater levels of DFM than women, little research has examined the relation between DFM and other forms of disordered eating and exercise behaviors. Study 1 examined the influence of disordered eating and obligatory exercise on DFM in male and female college students. In women, DFM was related to eating concern and obligatory exercise; whereas in men, DFM was related to obligatory exercise and shape concern. Study 2 examined the influence of exercise motivations and body dissatisfaction on DFM in male and female college students. In women, DFM was predicted by personal …

Strategies For Managing Large Online Classes, Patt Elison-Bowers, Jaime Sand, M. Rose Barlow, Thomas J. Wing

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Online classroom instruction is an exciting technology and continues to draw the attention of students, instructors and administrators working or studying in educational settings. Large numbers of faculty are currently involved in teaching online or hybrid courses within their educational institutions. At the present time, "very large" online classes are usually defined as 150 students and above. Many instructors are now experimenting with making online learning options available to even larger audiences and online class sizes are increasing rapidly. This paper presents guidelines for managing large online courses. Among key elements important in meeting the needs of the distant learner …

Concurrent Herb-Prescription Medication Use And Health Care Provider Disclosure Among University Students, Cindy E. Mccrea, Mary E. Pritchard

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objectives. To determine the extent to which college students are intermixing mood-altering herbs with prescription medications and whether they are disclosing this information to their health care providers.

Design and Setting. A nonrandom sample was drawn from the student body of a Northwestern state university (n=305).

Methods. In November 2008 participants completed an online survey detailing herb use, disclosure to health care providers and herb/medicinal intermixing.

Results. There were no demographic differences between herb users and non-users. Most herb usage was self-prescribed (60%) and undisclosed to healthcare providers (only 25% of herb users disclosed to a healthcare provider). 34% of …

Processes Of Sexual Orientation Questioning Among Heterosexual Women, Elizabeth M. Morgan, Elisabeth Morgan Thompson

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Because very little is known about heterosexual identity development, this study assesses and describes sexual orientation questioning processes of heterosexual-identified women, and offers a comparison of these processes with those employed by their sexual-minority counterparts. Participants included 333 female college students (ages 18-23; M = 19.2). Two-hundred and twenty-eight participants primarily identified as “exclusively straight/heterosexual”; 105 participants indicated a sexual-minority identity. Sixty-seven percent of exclusively heterosexual respondents (n = 154) indicated having thought about and/or questioned their sexual orientation. The processes by which heterosexual participants described questioning their sexual orientation were coded for the presence of five emergent categories …

Image And Video Disclosure Of Substance Use On Social Media Websites, Elizabeth M. Morgan, Chareen Snelson, Patt Elison-Bowers

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The present study examines young adults’ use of social media websites, such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube, to post public images and videos of themselves depicting alcohol consumption, inebriated behavior, or recreational marijuana use. A content analysis revealed that the majority of image and video representations of alcohol consumption depicted females in social gatherings while images and videos depicting marijuana use depicted solitary males. Videos typically were viewed frequently and gained positive ratings. Among a sample of college students, one-third of participants reported having posted a picture depicting substance use on a social networking site, with 97 percent aware that …

Comparing Narratives Of Personal And Preferred Partner Characteristics In Online Dating Advertisements, Elizabeth M. Morgan, Tamara C. Richards, Emily M. Vanness

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study explored online personal ads of 294 heterosexual and homosexual men and women in the United States through a qualitative analysis and comparison of participant-generated “personal” and “preferred partner” narratives. Nine characteristics were identified and combined into three overarching categories: physical, lifestyle, and personality characteristics. These three personal and preferred partner characteristics were examined for difference by gender, sexual orientation, age and desired relationship type of the advertisers. Main effects emerged for all four predictors, most notably for age and desired relationship type. Additionally, this study explored the possibility that personal and preferred partner narratives contained similar constellations of …

Resolving Instructor Challenges In The Online Classroom, Patt R. Elison-Bowers, Kimberly Henderson, Jaime Sand, Linda Osgood

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The rapid growth of online education has led to expanded opportunities for students while introducing instructors to new teaching challenges inherent to virtual learning environments. The practical responsibilities, once confined to the traditional classroom, such as handling student records, class size, teaching assistants, and instructional material now require a new mind set as well as sufficient technical knowledge. The online instructor faces additional opportunities and challenges once the class is online and students have enrolled. How to merge the best of the traditional classroom including teaching and practical responsibilities with the best of an online teaching opportunity become paramount to …

A Longitudinal Study Of Conversations With Parents About Sex And Dating During College, Elizabeth M. Morgan, Avril Thorn, Eileen L. Zurbriggen

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Emerging adulthood is a time of sexual and romantic relationship development as well as change in the parent-child relationship. This study provides a longitudinal analysis of 30 young adults’ (17 women, 13 men) sexual experiences, attitudes about sexuality and dating, and reported conversations with parents about sexuality and dating from the first and fourth years of college. Self-report questionnaires revealed increases in general closeness with parents, increases in sexual and dating experiences, and both more sexually permissive as well as more gender stereotyped attitudes. Qualitative analyses of individual interviews indicated a movement from unilateral and restrictive, sex-based topics to more …

Does Self Esteem Moderate The Relation Between Gender And Weight Preoccupation In Undergraduates?, Mary E. Pritchard

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Previous research has established gender differences in self esteem as well as weight preoccupation. In addition self esteem is known to relate to weight preoccupation. However, no studies have examined whether self esteem moderates the relation between gender and weight preoccupation. Five hundred sixty seven undergraduates completed surveys assessing self esteem and weight preoccupation. Results showed significant gender differences in self esteem and weight preoccupation. In addition, the interaction between self esteem and gender had a small but significant effect on weight preoccupation. Counselors should be aware of this when designing programs to treat weight preoccupation in conjunction with low …

Student Trauma In The Classroom, Mary E. Pritchard, Patt Elison-Bowers, Bobbie Birdsall

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Trauma-related disruptive student behavior has risen sharply. With the increase in the number of students experiencing traumatic events, and the number of U.S. veterans entering college, disruptive behavior may worsen. The purpose of the present study was to explore faculty experiences with student traumatic behavior, as well as their training to deal with such behavior.

Relationships Among Loneliness, Interpersonal Dependency, And Disordered Eating In Young Adults, Mary Pritchard, Kyra L. Yalch

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Previous studies on loneliness and interpersonal dependency suggest a shared relation with eating disorders. Previous findings of the relation of interpersonal dependency with eating disorders may have misestimated the importance of interpersonal dependency by not including loneliness. Measures of loneliness, interpersonal dependency, and disordered eating (drive for thinness, bulimic symptoms, body dissatisfaction) were given to 176 college students. Mediation models were used to test the relative influence of interpersonal dependency and loneliness on body dissatisfaction. Loneliness mediated the relation between interpersonal dependency and body dissatisfaction; no other mediation models could be tested.

Are There Instructional Differences Between Fulltime And Parttime Faculty?, R. Eric Landrum

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using data from 8 academic departments and 361 courses taught during a semester, I examined differences between fulltime and parttime faculty in the areas of general demographic variables, student evaluation of teaching outcomes, and the distribution of grades earned. I expected fulltime faculty to exhibit higher teaching evaluations and less lenient grade distributions, yet neither hypothesis was supported. However, substantial differences exist in the support mechanisms provided to parttime and fulltime faculty. These results are discussed in the context of a growing national reliance on parttime faculty, and the potential implications of this trend.

Comparing Sexual-Minority And Heterosexual Young Women’S Friends And Parents As Sources Of Support For Sexual Issues, Elizabeth M. Morgan, Carly K. Friedman

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The present study provides a comparative analysis of sexual-minority and heterosexual emerging adult women’s experiences seeking support for sexual issues from parents and friends. Participants included 229 college women (88 sexual-minority women; 141 heterosexual women), ranging in age from 18 to 25 years of age, who provided written responses to an inquiry about a time they went to friends and parents for support for a issue related to their sexuality. Responses indicated that the majority of participants had sought support from either a parent or a friend and that mothers and female friends were more likely involved that fathers or …

Disordered Eating In Undergraduates: Does Gender Role Orientation Influence Men And Women The Same Way?, Mary Pritchard

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Previous studies have examined the influence of femininity on disordered eating behavior in female undergraduates, but few studies have examined the relation between gender roles and disordered eating in male undergraduates. The present study examined whether gender roles relate to disordered eating behaviors the same way in male and female undergraduates. 512 undergraduates (58% female) at a large university in the Pacific West region of the United States responded to a survey asking about eating behaviors and gender role orientation. Women displayed higher levels of disordered eating than did men. Undifferentiated and masculine women had higher levels of disordered eating …

Gender Differences In Cam Usage In Undergraduates, Mary E. Pritchard, Patt Elison-Bowers, Phares Book, Bobbie Birdsall

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently opened a center for the study of the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). While the NlH has conducted a few random sampling studies, none have examined the knowledge and use of CAM among undergraduates and whether these differ by gender. 111 college students were asked about the usage of a variety of CAM techniques, as well as about beliefs and opinions about CAM techniques. Several gender differences emerged. Implications for college wellness centers will be discussed.

Telemedicine Facilitates Chf Home Health Care For Those With Systolic Dysfunction, Pennie S. Seibert, Tiffany A. Whitmore, Carin M. Patterson, Patrick D. Parker, Caitlin C. Otto, Jean Basom, Nichole Whitener, Christian G. Zimmerman

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

An estimated 5 million Americans have congestive heart failure (CHF) and one in five over the age of 40 will develop CHF. There are numerous examples of CHF patients living beyond the years normally expected for people with the disease, usually attributed to taking an active role in disease management. A relatively new alternative for CHF outpatient care is telemedicine and e-health. We investigated the effects of a 6-week in-home telemedicine education and monitoring program for those with systolic dysfunction on the utilization of health care resources. We also measured the effects of the unit 4.5 months after its removal …

What Do Adolescents Know About Health?, Christy Zenner, Mary Pritchard

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to investigate what adolescents know about topies commonly covered in Health classes (eating disorders, exercise, nutrition, caffeine, and sleep) and whether students know aS much as they think thtey do about these topics. We found that 9% of the students correctly answered all of the exercise questions, 2% nutrition, 2% sleep, 3% caffeine, and 5% eating disorders. Participants did believe they knew more about their health than they actually did. Results suggest that knowledge can clearly be improved.

Predicting Academic Success In Undergraduates, Mary E. Pritchard, Gregory S. Wilson

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

College academic success and retention have traditionally been predicted using demographic and academic variables. This study investigated the influence of student health on GPA and intent to drop out of college. A longitudinal survey of 242 freshmen revealed that emotional and social factors (e.g., stress, living in the dorm, being in a study group) predicted second semester GPA and intentions to drop out (e.g., perfectionism, fatigue). Implications for intervention strategies are discussed.

What Predicts Adjustment Among College Students? A Longitudinal Panel Study, Mary E. Pritchard, Gregory S. Wilson, Ben Yamnitz

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Previous studies have reported that law students and medical students experience significant distress during their first year. We suspect that freshmen undergraduates might experience similar distress in their transition to college. This study examines the impact of the undergraduate experience on freshmen. Data replicate the declines reported in law and medical students’ psychological and physical health. Negative coping tactics and perfectionism predicted poorer physical health and alcohol use at the end of the year. However, optimism and self-esteem predicted better physical and psychological outcomes.

Adult Attachment And Disordered Eating In Undergraduate Men And Women, Jenna Elgin, Mary Pritchard

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Previous research on gender differences between males and females on the risk factors leading to disordered eating is sparse, especially on males and eating disorders using attachment theory. This study examined the relationship between adult attachment style and disordered eating in men and women. Secure attachment scores were significantly negatively correlated with body dissatisfaction, and fearful attachment scores were positively correlated with bulimia in women. For men, secure attachment was significantly negatively correlated to drive for thinness, bulimia, and body dissatisfaction. Clinical implications are discussed.

Community Projects In A Senior Capstone Course, Linda J. Anooshian, Mary E. Pritchard

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Working in groups, students in a senior-level capstone class completed service learning projects addressing specific needs of community agencies. Students were generally positive about the extent to which course objectives were met and assignments were valuable for their learning. Students were also generally positive about the value of service learning, indicating that the class helped them become more interested in solving community problems and that they gained a better understanding and appreciation of civic engagement.

The Relation Between Parental Status And Alcohol Use Patterns And Attitudes About Underage Drinking, Mary Pritchard, Theodore W. Mcdonald

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

In a sample of 143 adults from a population of households in Idaho, significant differences in patterns of alcohol use and attitudes about underage drinking were found as a function of parental status. Non-parents reported drinking alcohol more frequently than parents. Parents were significantly more likely than non-parents to report that it is never acceptable for minors to drink alcohol, that minors should not be allowed to drink alcohol at parties with no parents present, and that “sting” operations by police are warranted. Surprisingly, non-parents were significantly more likely than parents to that report stores and bars are not careful …