Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

An Exploratory Investigation Of Tele-Counseling: Looking At The Power Of Therapeutic Alliance In Improving Wellness, Jorge Rostro

Theses and Dissertations

The present study explored the power of one tele-counseling session to elicit change within post wellness ratings scores and the relationship between clients’ perceptions of relationship, goals and topics, approach and method, and overall session with clients’ wellness ratings. Results indicated that the mean for post-session wellness was significantly greater than pre-test wellness ratings. The standardized effect size, d, was .43, indicative of a moderate effect size. No difference was found between client’s perceptions of predictor variables with post-wellness rating scores. This study adds support for the use of tele-counseling services as one session might have the power to elicit …

Community-Based Rehabilitation Supports For Social Inclusion And Work Participation Of Young Adults With Visual Impairment In Kenya: A Case Study, Philomena Jepkemboi Tanui

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Young adults with a visual impairment (VI) experience less interaction with the community that impacts the way they relate to the world as they transition to the larger society where they face significant barriers of adjustment, exclusion, and work participation. Young adults with VI contend with cultural stigma, inequality, poor self-esteem caused by marginalization, a low quality of life (QOL), and lack of Social support systems that exist beyond the home. The aim of this study was to understand the perceptions of young adults with VI in Elgeyo-Marakwet and Kisumu Counties of Kenya concerning the barriers to community inclusion and …

A Descriptive Case Study Of Individuals With Presumed Ocular Histoplasmosis Syndrome Utilizing A Facebook Support Group, Lisa Aimee Thompson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes the experiences of people diagnosed with presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome as they participate in an online peer-support group on Facebook. This is a descriptive case study of factors related to adjustment, treatment, emotional distress, access to services, and online peer support. Participants were interviewed and observed, and documents were collected to describe this phenomenon.

The Effect Of Mindfulness Meditation On Emotional Distress In Adult Cancer Patients, Marie A. Benoit

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Significant advances in cancer treatments have been made over recent decades resulting in state of the art screening and treatment options that have contributed to higher rates of cancer survivorship. However, despite the increase in cancer survivors, a cancer diagnosis continues to be associated with a significant amount of emotional distress and psychological issues that further add to the burden of the disease. The Institute of Medicine (2008), recognizes that a failure to adequately address this problem results in needless suffering and may obstruct quality of care; thereby, leading to a potentially negative impact on the disease course. Among the …

Don't Bring Me Down: A Study Of The Perceived Emotional Impact Of Positive, Negative, And Neutral Content On Facebook, Isis Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The present study seeks to examine the influence of viewing pages that are categorized as positive, negative, or neutral on the social network (SN) Facebook in relation to college students’ levels of happiness and self-esteem. Viewers were predicted to spend more time viewing the Facebook pages that have been coded as negative compared to positive or neutral pages because of cognitive saliency, and they were predicted to show lower levels of self-esteem and happiness. In addition, participants who view the positive pages were predicted show higher levels of selfesteem and happiness. The results suggested no significant difference in emotion on …

Development And Preliminary Validation Of A Nonmedical Prescription Drug Motives Questionnaire, Lauren Ashleigh Milner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of nonmedical prescription drug (NMPD) use continues to increase among emerging adult populations; however, little is known about the motivations behind this use. The current study aimed to extend previous research by developing and validating the first known comprehensive NMPD motives measure. As such, the primary focus of the current study was to examine evidence for the reliability and validity of the NMPD Motives Questionnaire by assessing the factor structure, internal consistency, and construct validity of the motives scale. Participants were drawn from a larger study of college student substance use behaviors and attitudes (N = 1,427; Mage= …

The Effects Of Alcohol On The Interpretation Of Social And Emotional Cues: A Field Study Of College Student Drinking, Emotion Recognition, And Perceptions Of A Hypothetical Sexual Assault, Alexander James Melkonian

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use and abuse among emerging adults is highly correlated with increased risk for sexual victimization. Alcohol myopia theory has been used to explain impairments in Social information processing resulting in decreased attention to environmental Social cues including risk factors for sexual assault as well as facial emotional recognition. Those with deficits in Social information processing may be at particular risk for the misperception of salient risk factors for sexual assault by victims, perpetrators, and bystanders when intoxicated. In this naturalistic field study, participants who had been consuming alcohol were recruited to engage in tasks of facial emotion recognition and …

Explaining The Contact Caveat: The Role Of Social Identity And Intergroup Threat, Jesse Acosta

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This project has attempted to offer an explanation for the differential roles of positive and negative contact, wherein negative contact more strongly predicts changes in prejudice than positive contact (Barlow et al., 2007). In an attempt to replicate and extend on this relationship, intergroup threat theory and social identity theory are incorporated in a model intended to explain this differential relationship. This study measured the attitudes of 227 Mexican Americans toward Caucasians and Mexican Immigrants. This analysis offers a partial replication of Barlow et al., with unfavorable attitudes toward Whites leading to stronger changes when contact was negative. When evaluating …

Gratitude And Kindness: Just What The Doctor Ordered, Kathleen E. Glynn

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In recent years, the positive psychology movement has grown and researchers have become interested in studying overall well-being and the predictors of happiness. Previous studies have indicated that biology plays a role in determining an individual’s happiness, but this is not the only contributing factor. Thought patterns and behaviors play a key role in one’s overall wellbeing. The current study evaluated the relationship that a practice of gratitude and performing acts of kindness had on participants’ scores on happiness, gratitude and social support scales. It was predicted that individuals who performed acts of kindness and practice gratitude for one week …

The Dance Impermanence: An Artistic Inquiry Through Improvisation, Julie Frances Brannen

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

This research study investigated the use of movement improvisation to create dance/movement therapy based interventions around the Buddhist concept of impermanence, or natural endings in life. As the sole-researcher and participant were identical, the purpose of this research was to investigate how change can be facilitated, focusing on the researcher’s personal experience to then apply as an emerging dance/movement therapist. The research was conducted through an artistic inquiry, which used arts-based methods as means of data collection, data analysis, and presentation of findings. Through improvisation, the researcher embodied impermanence as it related to concepts of holding on and letting go, …

Investigating The Theory Of Ambiguous Loss: The Role Of Ambiguity Tolerance In Pre-Death Grief For Caregivers Of Individuals With Dementia, Megan Kale-Cheever

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis sought to investigate the relationship between ambiguity tolerance and caregiver grief within the framework of ambiguous loss theory. Thirty-one family caregivers completed a quantitative survey comprising two pre-existing scales and several demographic questions designed to assess level of ambiguity tolerance, level of grief, caregiver age and gender, type of relationship to the care recipient, living situation, length of caregiving career, level of Social support and frequency of difficult behaviors. Quantitative data analysis revealed that while no relationship existed between total ambiguity tolerance and total caregiver grief, a modest, inverse relationship exists between tolerance toward general-type ambiguity and burden, …

Effects Of Mild Hypohydration And Hyperthermia On Cognition And Mood In Obese And Non-Obese Females, Jenna Marie Burchfield

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: Information regarding effects of hypohydration (HY) and hyperthermia (HT) on cognition, mood and development of symptoms is conflicting since the two conditions often confound each other. Further, although obese individuals may have physiological impairments during heat stress, whether psychological impairments occur with HY and HT is unknown. PURPOSE: To assess the independent and combined effects of mild HY and HT on cognition, mood, and the development of symptoms in obese and non-obese females. METHODS: Twenty-two healthy females (11 non-obese, 22±2y, 61±6kg, 25±4% body fat; 11 obese, 22±2y, 80±18kg, 44±5% body fat) volunteered in two randomized, repeated-measures trials, involving passive …

Physical Activity As A Behavioral Treatment In Shr Rats: An Animal Model Of Adhd, Jessica A. Martinez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorder defined by inattentive, hyperactive, and/or impulsive behaviors, typically treated with medications. Physical activity has been investigated as a treatment for children with ADHD and provides the ability for the individual to use it as a lifetime treatment option. Animal models can control for many of the issues posed by using human subjects. This study investigates whether physical activity in the form of wheel running reduces hyperactivity in an animal model of ADHD, the Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR), compared to its control, Wistar Kyoto rat (WKY). Using an ABAB design, …

The Role Of Attention In Ego-Depletion, Garrett Pollert

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The resource model of ego-depletion is unable to account for the results of several ego-depletion studies, whereas a recent mechanistic revision by Inzlicht and Schmeichel (2012) has focused on the role of attention and motivation in an effort to explain the phenomenon. Assessment of attention's role in restrained and unrestrained eaters may provide evidence that motivation and attention work in tandem to affect one's ability to exert self-control. In this experiment, college-aged females participated in two studies to examine the role of attention in ego-depletion effects. Study 1 evaluated the effect of ego depletion on attention via a dot probe …

Theory Of Mind And Inhibitory Processing Among Bilingual Mexican American Young Children, Sarah E. Stegall

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Bilingual children have been found to demonstrate advantages on tasks dependent in part or in whole on inhibitory processing compared to their language dominant and/or monolingual peers. This study examines relations among performance on theory of mind (ToM), inhibitory processing (FF), and performance on an ambiguous-figures (AF) tasks among monolingual and bilingual children. Participants included 135 Hispanic children ages 4.5 to 8 from predominately low-income families. Results revealed a relationship between FF and AF performance with ToM performance and found no differences in performance between monolingual, language-dominant, and balanced-bilingual children.

Personality Of Personal Trainers: A Study Of Perception And Preference, Andy L. Chasse

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study used a personality questionnaire to address the lack of literature concerning how the general population perceives personal trainers and what qualities they desire in them. The Big Five Inventory (BFI) with two demographic items (gender and previous experience) was administered to 130 undergraduate students at The University of Texas-Pan American to determine perceived and desired characteristics. High extraversion was most commonly associated with personal trainers. High extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as low neuroticism, were most desired in personal trainers. Significant differences were seen between perceived and desired means across all dimensions. Additionally, gender produced main effects …

Failure To Launch? Understanding Variations In Emerging Adult Flight Patterns, Christina Ashley Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

What does the transition to adulthood look like for emerging adults? This study proposes that popular cultural ideas like "failure to launch" imply an oversimplified dichotomy that does not account for the multiple "flight patterns" into adulthood. Focusing on the narratives of six interview cases selected from the larger sample of interviewees from Wave 4 of the National Study of Youth and Religion and drawing on the quantitative data from the broader survey sample, this mixed-methods approach examines in-depth, narrative experiences and the ways structural barriers vary between upper-middle, lower-middle, and working class emerging adults. We find that emerging adulthood …

Participatory Action Research To Improve Caregiver Education Based On Cognitive Performance Test Results For Persons With Alzheimer's Disease Or Mild Cognitive Impairments, Terrianne Jones

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The aim of this study was to make changes to how occupational therapists in a transitional care unit setting provide education about Cognitive Performance Test (CPT) scores to caregivers of those patients with dementia or suspected dementia. Caregiver education for this population is important, as the incidence of persons living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias is expected to grow dramatically in the coming two decades. This study used a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach to gather input from occupational therapists and caregivers of patients evaluated with the CPT. Interviews of caregivers indicated that they were unhappy with the education …

Hope-Focused Solutions: A Relational Hope Focus Of The Solution-Building Stages In Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Jenna A. Wilson

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The positive psychotherapy focused on for this study is Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). Insoo Kim Berg and Yvonne Dolan (2001) once described the essence of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) as the “pragmatics of hope and respect” (p. 1) and despite Berg and Dolan’s declaration of hope’s importance in SFBT, little process research has been published looking at the “pragmatics” of hope in SFBT practice. Hope is seen as a common factor in psychotherapy since the human relationship, also known as the therapeutic alliance, is a foundation of psychotherapy. Hope plays a significant role in every human interaction and it is …

Telepsychiatry And Mental Health Care For Syrian Refugees In Turkey, Moustafa Moustafa

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

The Syrian conflict is now in its fourth year and has produced one of the largest humanitarian disasters since the Cold War. Violent fighting and aerial bombings in many of the country’s major cities have resulted in massive numbers of internally and externally displaced Syrians, many psychologically traumatized and in need of expert mental health attention. The influx of refugees into Syria’s neighboring countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey has stressed already strained health systems. The ability to deliver mental health care is inextricably linked to the existing health care infrastructure—a dynamic and often unstable institution as refugees migrate from …

The Caregiver–Child Relationship, Youth Mental Health, And Placement Stability In A Child Welfare Sample, Laura A. Rindlaub

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Healthy relationships between adolescents and their caregivers have been robustly associated with better youth outcomes in a variety of domains. Youth in contact with the child welfare system are at higher risk for worse outcomes including mental health problems and home placement instability. A growing body of literature points to youth mental health problems as both a predictor and a consequence of home placement instability in this population; the present study aimed to expand our understanding of these phenomena by examining the interplay among the caregiver-child relationship, youth mental health symptoms, and placement change over time. Method: The sample …

Exploring The Mitigating Effects Of Early Somatosensory (Tactile) Stimulation And Acoustic Discrimination Experience In Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Male Rats, Patricia Taubin

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

The focus of this study was to determine the effects of early somatosensory (tactile) stimulation and acoustic discrimination experiences in hypoxic-ischemic (HI) male rats on long-term behaviors, learning sensory, and brain weight outcomes. 58 Wistar rats were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions: no stimulation, somatosensory stimulation and auditory stimulation. To observe the effects of the early life stimulation on adult behavioral measures, the following testing was performed: analysis of exploratory behavior, acoustic discrimination, spatial/memory learning, and brain weight. Overall we hypothesized that somatosensory and auditory interventions earlier in life would have beneficial effect on subjects’ performance in …

Living After Confronting Death; Story Telling During The Recovery Trajectory Of Intensive Care Unit Survivors: An Interpretive Biographical Approach, Beverley Anne Ewens

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Aim: To create new meaning of the experiences of intensive care survivors during early recovery and the meaning of “self” during this time. To add to the understanding of how support should be focussed for survivors during recovery.

Background: Survival from a critical event/illness and intensive care unit experience is increasing, as is associated physical and psychological complications. Complications are due to the severity of illness, the intensive care experience itself and the nature of the treatments which promote survival. If complications remain untreated increased health care service uptake and reduced quality of life can ensue. Despite the …