Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Increasing Parenting Knowledge: A Pilot Study, Kandice Olson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Research shows that parenting interventions make a significant difference in the lives of children with behavioral and emotional problems (de Graaf et al., 2008a; de Graaf et al., 2008b; Phaneuf & McIntyre, 2011; Roberts et al., 2006; Whittingham, Sofronoff, Sheffield, & Sanders, 2009). However, not all parents need intensive interventions. There is little research that has evaluated the effectiveness of a brief parenting handout intervention on parenting knowledge. The goal of this study was to determine if a brief informational handout about parenting increased parenting knowledge in college students. Students were asked to complete the pre-intervention survey that measured their …

Occupational And Biopsychosocial Risk Factors For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Case-Control Study, Jason Talley Goodson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study was designed to assess the risk factors associated with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Toward this end, a wide range of putative occupational, biological, and psychosocial correlates of CTS was investigated using a case-control methodology. Cases were 87 patients from an orthopedic clinic with clinical symptoms and electrodiagnostic testing results suggestive of CTS. Controls were 74 gender-matched patients from the same orthopedic clinic, without clinical symptoms of CTS and normal electrodiagnostic testing results. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire that included eight potential occupational correlates (i.e., repetition, force, vibration, typing, lifting heavy loads, and standing on feet), 10 potential …

A Longitudinal Study Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms In Preschool-Age Children, Jessica Nicole Greenson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common reasons for referral to children's mental health clinics, with an estimated prevalence of 3% to 5% in the general population of school-age children. Children who exhibit the requisite behaviors may obtain a diagnosis of ADHD at any age; however, symptom onset must occur before age 7 and persist for at least 6 months. Despite these temporal requirements for diagnosis, little empirical information about the manifestation and stability of ADHD symptoms in preschool children exists. This study provides information about the initial presence and stability over one academic year of ADHD behaviors …

Effects Of Perceived Sugar Or Chocolate Intake On Self-Reported Food Cravings, Mood States, And Food Intake: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study, Lara J. Schultz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many dieters and compulsive overeaters report that sugar and chocolate are the most commonly craved foods. Further, many individuals have proclaimed themselves to be "addicted" to sugar or chocolate. It remains unclear, however, what factors lead to report of specific food addictions. A number of researchers have suggested that highly repetitive consumption of sugar and chocolate may result from various physiological processes (e.g., neurochemical imbalances, glucose/insulin malfunctioning). However, there is also considerable evidence that psychosocial factors (i.e., expectancies, classical, and operant conditioning) play the major role in the development and maintenance of excessive sugar/chocolate intake. Empirical studies examining factors that …

Predicting Lumbar Fusion Surgery Outcomes From Presurgical Patient Variables: The Utah Lumbar Fusion Outcome Study, M. Scott Deberard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Lumbar fusion surgery is a commonly used procedure to treat severe spinal pathology and associated chronic disabling low back and leg pain. Despite the common incidence of spinal fusion surgery, few studies have examined patient outcomes or predictive correlates of this procedure. The objectives of this study were to characterize Utah workers who received lumbar fusion surgery in terms of relevant presurgical and outcome variables and to identify presurgical correlates of patient outcomes. An archival prospective research design was utilized consisting of a retrospective medical chart review and a postsurgical telephone outcome survey.

Subjects were 203 workers' compensation patients from …

A Descriptive Study Of The Relation Between Domestic Violence And Pet Abuse, Claudia V. Weber

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This was a descriptive study that examined the relation between domestic violence and pct abuse. Participants were questioned about their styles of conflict resolution with partners and how pets were treated in the home. Information was gathered using the Conflict Tactics Scale, and three surveys were developed for this study: the Battered Partner Shelter Survey, Families and Pets Survey, and the Child 's Observations and Experience with Pets. Four groups were recruited: (a) women in crisis shelters who chose to include one of their children in the study (n = 39), (b) women in crisis shelters who did not …

A Comprehensive Treatment Program For Abusive Parents: An Exploratory Study, Marvin Kim Marvel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Estimates of the incidence of child abuse range from 200,000 to 500,000 (Light, 1973) to over one million children each year (O'Brien, 1980). Child abuse is a leading cause of childhood death and injury (Starr, 1979). Demographic studies (e.g., Steele & Pollock, 1968) suggest that parents who abuse their children were often abused or neglected themselves. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that many of the present victims of abuse will become abusing parents in the future unless the cycle is broken. The need for effective interventions to reduce this pervasive social problem is obvious.

A Study Of The Effect Of A Child's Physical Attractiveness Upon Verbal Scoring Of The Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children (Revised) And Upon Personality Attributions, Paula Theisler Wheeler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to investigate possible examiner bias in scoring the Verbal subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) due to the level of facial attractiveness of the child. Sex of the child and sex of the research subject were also included as independent variables. No main effect for attractiveness or sex x attractiveness interactions were found. Thus, little evidence emerged to suggest attractiveness stereotyping effects in an intelligence testing context. However, female children received significantly higher Comprehension and total Verbal scores than did male children. In addition, while male subjects did not provide differential …

Remedial Reading: Evaluation Of A Reading-And-Study Course With Implications For A College Reading Center, Antoine T. Powell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The main purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the method of teaching a "How to Study" class in helping students more adequately meet their reading needs.

Research was conducted to test the reading gains made by students in the program with respect to ability and group size. The results indicate that group size had the greatest effect as to changes in reading behavior.

Instruction was based on diagnosing student needs. It was shown that a significant number of students who decreased in rate of reading, increased in comprehension. The same diagnostic principle was observed for those …

A Further Study Of Perceptual Defense, Alma L. Carlisle

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For many years, psychologists have been trying to find the relationship between perception and different factors of personality. Different experimental techniques were constructed to measure these concepts. One of the tools used to measure personality factors and their effect on perception was the tachistoscope. Through the use of this instrument, words or pictures could be flashed on a screen at varying rates of speed, or illumination. The subject upon watching these flashes, would relate the information which he perceived.