Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

News Media Trust And Mistrust During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kaitlyn Seiter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the uncertainty and growing information surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, news media consumption has increased drastically compared to pre-pandemic consumption. At the start of the pandemic, 94% of Americans reported closely following COVID-19 news, with more than half of Americans spending more than two hours consuming COVID-19 news everyday (SSRS, 2020). With the news media serving as a critical source of information through this public health crisis, the public’s reactions, behaviors, and attitudes to the pandemic stem from the level of trust they have in the news media to share COVID-19 information. Because of this, this study examines trust in …

Pets And Problems: Exploring Community Patterns In Calls For Animal Services, Paige Dejarnett

Sociology and Criminology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Pets have historically been viewed as family members, children, property, or economic resources. However, research surrounding animal maltreatment has expressed this issue as an individually-based problem, rather than a community-based phenomenon. Correlations have been found between animal cruelty, antisocial behaviors, and future interpersonal violence, whether this correlation be a predictive relationship, or a resultant relationship. Past research has also found correlations between animal treatment practices and the rural/urban differences of this behavior. However, there are many community-based indicators that have not been explored to understand the distribution of animal maltreatment. This study aims to explore these ideas by analyzing the …

Does Whispering Improve Children’S Memory? Comparing Auditory Vigilance And Salience Hypotheses, Christina M. Barnes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Oral communication is one of the primary tools children use to learn new information and speech registers can deliver additional meaning to the words someone uses. Cirillo’s (2004) vigilance hypothesis states “Whispering can affect the psychobiological state of recipients, and in particular raise their auditory vigilance” (Cirillo, 2004, p. 76). Building on this theory, the current study investigates the role of whispering and children’s memory by examining a whispering vigilance, whispering salience which focused on the changes between normal and whisper registers, and combined vigilance and salience hypotheses to determine if whispering contributes to the recall of information. Using video …

Investigation Of Histomoniasis Prevention In Poultry, Lesleigh Beer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Histomonas meleagridis is the etiological agent of histomoniasis, also commonly known as blackhead disease. This protozoal disease of poultry is detrimental to turkeys with flock mortalities often reaching 80-100%, although other gallinaceous birds are susceptible. Since the voluntary removal of nitarsone in 2015, the poultry industry is suffering with no approved prophylactics, therapeutics, or vaccines for this disease. The objectives of this dissertation were to evaluate multiple methods for prevention or control of histomoniasis, including dietary chemoprophylaxis and vaccination. Specifically, this research evaluated quinine as a chemoprophylactic candidate (Chapter 3) or live-attenuated H. meleagridis as vaccine candidates (Chapter 4) in …

The Impact Of Corporal Punishment For Timorese High School Graduates, Veronica Godinho Pereira

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the impacts of corporal punishment for Timorese high school graduates. Physical punishment is a pervasive method of disciplining students and children used in Timor-Leste because it has been such a tradition (UNICEF 2017). Few researchers have attempted to analyze the negative impacts of corporal punishment and possible gender differences; there is no known research on the impacts of corporal punishment in Timor-Leste. This study uses an in-depth interview method, where data were collected from 26 Timorese high school graduates composed of both men and women from both private and public schools in Timor-Leste. The ages of the …

Effects Of Abstinence-Based Sexual Education Compared To Evidence-Based Sexual Education In K-12 Schools, Lily Probst

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background: Historically, sexual education in the United States has been abstinence-based (ABSE), meaning that sexual education is centered around encouraging adolescents to abstain from sexual activity outside of wedlock. On the other hand, evidence-based sexual education (EBSE) includes abstinence in its curriculum but does not emphasize it, instead highlighting contraception and prevention strategies. Additionally, EBSE teaches adolescents about healthy relationships, attitudes towards sexuality, gender roles, and provides resources for sexual and reproductive health services. Supplying adolescents in K-12 schools with access to evidence-based sexual education may not only decrease teen pregnancy rates and incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) but …

Implementing 2nd Milk’S Use Of The World Health Organization Standardized Growth Charts To Better Track The Growth And Development Of The Malnourished And Orphaned Infants In Their Supplemental Nutrition Program In Malawi, Allie Wycoff

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

This article considers the history and implications of the World Health Organization (WHO) standardized growth charts as well as the significant impact that growth chart utilization may have on 2^ndMilk’s ability to understand and track the nutritional status of the malnourished orphaned infants in their formula program. Specifically, this literature review examines whether or not the WHO growth charts are a meaningful tool for 2^ndMilk to adopt into their monthly baby assessments. The WHO growth charts are calibrated to express an accepted international “norm” for what an adequately nourished child looks like. In a recent service-learning …

An Exploration Of Effective Patient Education With An Emphasis On Concussion, Kayla M. Ruopp

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Concussion is a prevalent healthcare issue in the US, with approximately 1.6-3.8 million sports and recreation-related concussions each year in all ages. A concussion can be defined as a traumatic brain injury caused by biomechanical forces. When an athlete sustains a concussion, a physiologic cascade of events occurs. The most common signs and symptoms of a concussion include: loss of balance, disorientation, headache and confusion. Concussion assessments are important in order to determine the presence of an impairment and there are a multitude of tests that clinicians can use in order to isolate each type of damage. Studies have shown …

Stress Among Ncaa Division Ii Head Coaches, Dee Gerlach

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify factors that create stress among head coaches at the National Association Athletic Association Division II level. Data was collected through a demographic questionnaire and the Coaching Issues Survey (CIS), a tool used to measure specific factors that may create stress among coaches. The factors of the CIS include four subscales: Athlete-Concerns, Time-Role, Program-Success, and Win-Loss. Participants (N=416) consisted of head coaches representing the following sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s and women’s golf, softball, women’s tennis, and men’s and women’s tennis. The independent variables for this …

Covid-19 Masks In Terms Of Functional, Expressive, And Aesthetic Consumer Needs, Lily Highley

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess consumers' perspectives of COVID-19 masks under the functional, expressive, and aesthetic areas. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, masks have become an “accessory” to everyday life, and it was essential to research masks under these unique areas and explore consumer perceptions.

This study took place after background research on the topic and the FEA model. The study included a survey sent to Bumpers College students upon approval from the IRB. The data was analyzed and interpreted specifically in the FEA areas and can be useful to better understand the students at the University …

Understanding Modern History Of International Food Law Is Key To Building A More Resilient And Improved Global Food System, Michael T. Roberts

Journal of Food Law & Policy

This article advocates the need for a history of the development of modern international food law and suggests an analytical approach to complement the chronicling of events. Comprehension of this history will help elucidate the evolution of a complicated modern global food system, including its resiliency and vulnerability as demonstrated by Covid-19, thereby providing valuable context for change in the system where needed. This essay makes the case for such a history in three parts. First, it briefly demonstrates the need for a historical perspective through a critical examination of a journal article that speaks to Covid-19 food security in …

Pilot Testing A Survey Instrument To Evaluate Eaat Professionals' Views On The Effects Of Equine-Assisted Activities And Therapies On Hope And Depression In Court-Involved Youth, Emily Stewart

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Equine Assisted Activity and Therapy (EAAT) programs have proven beneficial for individuals with mental, physical and psychological ailments. Only in the last few years have court systems begun to utilize the complex nature of the human-horse relationship to benefit the lives of court-involved youth. Despite its novelty, the few existing studies in this field yield positive results (Frederick et al., 2015). To address the need for further research in this area, a pilot study was conducted. An exploratory survey was given to EAAT professionals to determine their views on the effects of EAAT programs on hope and depression in court-involved …

Obstacles To Dieting Behavior, Shahram Heshmat

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Despite documented short term success, dieting has a very low success rates, most dieters regain their weight back within 3-5 years. The question is why do people fail to stick to their goal for eating a healthy diet in order to lose weight? One possible answer is that people have self-control problems in the form of a present-biased preference. From a prior perspective, they want to behave relatively patiently, but as the moment of action approaches, they want to behave relatively impatiently. The essay presents some insights from behavioral economics to explain why people fail to maintain healthy behavior.

Negative Urgency's Influence On State-Level, Emotion-Based Changes In Alcohol-Related Cognitions, Noah Wolkowicz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project expanded on the Acquired Preparedness Model of Risk (APMR) by examining how Negative Urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly in negative emotional states, affects emotion-based changes in alcohol cognitions to produce risk for alcohol use. The APMR prioritizes the role of outcome expectancies as the means through which traits such as NU, convey alcohol use risk. However, this model treats these cognitions as static and often fails to assess their valence; further, alcohol-cognitions fluctuate in response to negative emotions and may become more salient during these states. Therefore, this study examined: 1) how NU impacts negative emotion-based, …

Child-Centered Play Therapy’S Impact On Externalized Behaviors Of Children Who Have Experienced Trauma: A Single-Case Research Design, Timothy "T.J." Schoonover

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are defined as exposure to emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, loss of a parent, domestic violence, family member with addiction, family member with depression or mental illness, and family member incarcerated (Felitti et al., 1998). ACEs have been studied for many years and have shown to have long term negative health and social-emotional outcomes and costs the world over $1 trillion a year (Bellis et al., 2019; Felitti et al., 1998; Hughes et al., 2017). Due to the emotional, physical, and dollar amount cost to not addressing the impact of ACEs …

Impact Of Covid-19 On The Severe Acute Malnutrition Admissions Among Children Under 5 Years Of Age Seeking Nutrition Services In Afghanistan, Sahar Sayedy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the number of admissions of severe acute malnutrition among children under 5 years of age seeking nutrition services in Afghanistan especially in the provinces where the prevalence of COVID-19 was high, for the period of February – September 2020. The study used comparison and analysis of secondary datasets of the Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition – a national program for detection and management of moderate and severe acute malnutrition in the country.

This study analyzed the association between COVID-19 cases and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) admissions of …

Campus Mental Health Service Use Among Female Survivors Of Sexual Violence: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Hannah Coffman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Description: Despite the increase in resources to address the alarming rates of collegiate sexual violence (SV), survivors consistently do not disclose or seek mental health treatment from campus supports (Halstead et al., 2017). The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of women who survived SV during college.

Method: Seven women who experienced SV during college completed a series of two semi-structured interviews using a HIPAA-compliant, web-conferencing software (Seidman, 2013). The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) framework (IPA; Smith, 2004; Smith et al., 2009). A six-step data analysis procedure identified …

Vulnerability To And Protection Against Covid-19 Fear, Threat, And Worry, Marsha Kim Huh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drawing from a sample of 10,368 adults living in the U.S., the current study examines the role of social and psychological resources in lowering COVID-related fear, threat, and worry, controlling for a number of social vulnerabilities (e.g. gender, race/ethnicity, and presence of children). The impact of social location, particularly in regards to race, and how one accesses and/or utilizes social and psychological resources is also examined through disaggregated regression models. Results demonstrate that some social and psychological resources impact COVID-specific distress (fear/threat/worry), but depending on the resource, relationships vary in direction and significance. The strength of social ties and mastery …

Through The Lens Of Eaat Facility Manager: Benefits Of Equine-Assisted Activities And Therapies To College-Aged Students, Annalee Parker

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study aimed to explore and gather information on the benefits of equine assisted activities and therapies (EAAT) to college-aged students so that the information may be given to college students as an educational source and a mental health relief resource. This study strived to explore, through the lens of managers of EAAT organizations and their coworkers, how EAAT has positively affected college-aged students, including those with PTSD, behavioral problems, communication obstacles, Down syndrome, family differences, abusive relationships, depression, anxiety, and/or physical ailments. As a whole, EAAT is viewed as more of a recreational activity rather than a method of …

The Co-Regulatory Effects Of Emotionally Focused Therapy, Julia Conroy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mental health literature emphasizes the necessity of expanding emotional regulation to improve symptomology of a variety of mental health disorders. Coregulatory experiences have been shown to expand individual emotional regulation and are more likely in relationships with secure attachment. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is focused on developing secure attachment between partners. This study examined the coregulatory effects of EFT with a single couple over the course of couples’ counseling. The participating couple received eight couples’ counseling sessions from a clinician who is a certified EFT trainer, supervisor, and therapist while having their heart rate, electrodermal activity, and skin temperature taken …

Directed Genome Evolution To Identify Genes For Macrophage Survival By Staphylococcus Agnetis, Sonali Lakshika Anne Lenaduwe Lokuge

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial Chondronecrosis with Osteomyelitis (BCO) is a debilitating infection that negatively impacts animal welfare and costs the broiler industry billions of dollars annually. We have previously isolated Staphylococcus agnetis 908 from BCO samples obtained from broilers at the University of Arkansas research farm. This isolate can induce BCO lameness at greater than 50% in broilers exposed to the pathogen in drinking water. We found that S. agnetis 908 is capable of surviving and escaping macrophages compared to a closely related cattle isolate,1379. Through Directed Genome Evolution (DGE) we identified that this difference is at least partially associated with an alanine …

Noise Exposure And Hearing Protection In Marching Band Students, Emily Myers

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research project was to investigate collegiate marching band members’ use of hearing protection during rehearsals and performances. A second purpose was to identify the concerns of marching band members about the use of hearing protection. Finally, the third purpose was to determine if the type of protection used, standard or custom, impacted wearing time. Hearing threshold sensitivity, tympanometry, and use of hearing protection were measured prior to the fitting of the custom earmolds and again at the end of the marching season.

Pre-season results indicated that the majority of band members reported they did not wear …

Distress Tolerance As A Potential Target For Change: The Relationship Between Distress Tolerance, Craving, And Alcohol Consumption In A Lab-Based Experiment, Isabel F. Augur

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Distress tolerance (DT) has recently been studied as a potential catalyst for the development ofalcohol use disorder (AUD). Research exploring the relationship between DT and craving is limited and has primarily focused on nicotine craving. Furthermore, there are no current studies examining the relationship between DT and alcohol consumption. This study was designed to fill this gap in the literature, which may shed light on a potentially important target for alcohol use treatment. Additionally, the role of mindfulness was explored in the context of the relationship between DT and alcohol craving and consumption, with the intention of expanding on the …

A Descriptive Case Study Of The Challenges Of Drug And Alcohol Counselors, Ruben Herron

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Substance abuse is the number one public health problem in Oklahoma and nationally. Annual related expenses of substance abuse in Oklahoma are nearly $2 billion. This qualitative descriptive case study asks the question what are the challenges of substance-abuse counseling? The researcher will be describing in detail the history of drug and alcohol treatment and counseling in America. Using interviews, observations and document collection which will allow the interviews voices to be heard.

U.S. Military Veterans’ Attitudes And Perceptions Of Mental Healthcare, Bridget Milam Wells

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research project is to measure whether U.S. military veterans experience any stigma related to mental healthcare and if this is associated with age, length of service, and military branch. U.S. military veterans are a high-risk group for developing mental illnesses. It is believed social stigma and personal attitudes, perceptions and beliefs of mental healthcare may influence whether a veteran will pursue mental healthcare. This cross-sectional study was conducted as an online survey via Qualtrics resulting in 75 total responses. 21 responses were excluded from the analysis due to incompletion or failure to pass the consciousness-awareness test …

Exploring How Maternal Phosphorus Status Affects Calf Growth And Performance, Elizabeth Lafferty

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study will focus on how maternal phosphorus status of beef heifers affects the growth and performance of their calves. Heifers have been offered free-choice mineral with either 0 or 4% supplemental phosphorus from 30 days after weaning until calving. A study by H. Hilfiker, a University of Arkansas honors student, investigated the effects of these treatments from 30 days after weaning until 60 days after the breeding season when heifers were confirmed to be bred or open. For this developing heifer project 64 crossbred Angus heifers were assigned randomly into 8 groups (8 heifers/ group) before assigning each group …

Understanding The Role Of Hospice Care: Reflections From A Service-Learning Project, Avery Mccutcheon

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

There is little known about the part end-of-life care plays in patient care. This paper examines the role of end-of-life care in the care of a dying patient and consists of findings from a service-learning project with Circle of Life hospice. To be able to effectively care for those in the end stages of life, healthcare professionals must turn away from the curative aspects of medicine, to treating symptoms and improving quality of whatever life remains for the patient. In order to normalize EOL Care and consequently make it more accessible, we must educate our healthcare practitioners regarding the benefits …

The Essential Characteristics Of An Effective Hospice And Palliative Care Nurse, Alexis Doyle

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

The first portion of this paper includes a self-reflection of the writer's service-learning experience while volunteering at a hospice center. The following portion is a literature review.

This study is a literature review that examines the characteristics of an effective hospice and palliative care nurse. The purpose of this study is to discover what qualities make a satisfactory hospice and palliative care nurse; therefore, characterizing it as a qualitative study. It is concluded that the following attributes are beneficial for a hospice and palliative care nurse: compassion, knowledge, confidence, and support. When delivering end-of-life care, a nurse should use therapeutic …

Design And Control Of A Peristaltic Pump To Simulate Left Atrial Pressure In A Conductive Silicone Model, Jeremy Collins

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

According to the CDC, atrial fibrillation is responsible for more than 454,000 hospitalizations and approximately 158,000 deaths per year. A common treatment for atrial fibrillation is catheter ablation, a process in which a long flexible tube is guided through the femoral artery and to the source of arrhythmia in the heart, where it measures the electrical potential at various locations and converts problematic heart tissue to scar tissue via ablation. This paper details the design and control of a low-cost ($400) peristaltic pump system using repetitive control to replicate blood pressure in the left atrium in a conductive silicone model …

Laughter As A Priming Agent For Change, Linnea M. Heintz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze the importance of laughter as a factor in influencing employee job satisfaction ratings. The Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1985, 1997) and pulses of laughter were used in this study. To explore the relationship between laughter and job satisfaction, results of the Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1994) were collected quarterly (four times a year) for three consecutive years, beginning six months prior to the start of the two-year study and six months post. The study sample was composed of 545 employees (34% male, 66% female) operating out of 10 employee-owned retail chain locations …