Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Role Of Teacher Warmth In Teacher Accuracy Evaluating Child Cognitive And Executive Functioning, Heather Hennrick

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study sought to expand current knowledge about aspects of the teacher-child relationship that may facilitate accuracy in teacher reporting on children’s higher-order cognitive skills, including attention, working memory, and executive functioning (EF). The study proposed a model of children’s cognitive functioning, wherein performance-based neuropsychological measures of children’s attention, working memory, and EF and teacher-student relational warmth predicted teacher reports of children’s abilities. The final sample for this study included 37 teachers and their 8- to 12-year old students. Results found that teachers’ behavioral reports captured children’s true neurocognitive abilities, as measured by performance-based neuropsychological measures. Teacher warmth was related …

The Effects That War Has On Children And Child Soldiers, Breanna V. Kingsley

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The focus of this research is to help explain the effects that war has on children and child soldiers. The effects being researched include those of psychological, physical, emotional, economical, and educational effects. The type of war being analyzed in this research is civil war with case studies of countries such as the Syrian Arab Republic, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Somalia, South Sudan, and the lraqi war. These cases are among the most violent, oppressive, cases involving children and/or child soldiers. The ultimate goal of this research is to discover and better understand what these children experience and how that will …

The Relationship Between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder And Depression In The General Population, Krystal Moroney

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Though much is known about obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression individually, not much research has been done to look at the comorbidity of the two mental illnesses. This study seeks to review the comorbidity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression in a college sample. Comorbidity between mental illnesses like OCD and depression is important to study because results will implicate what symptoms should be of concern, and these symptoms should be used to consider treatment. Understanding symptoms of both illnesses, and how they relate, can drive future research on what the best treatment options are for individuals diagnosed with these illnesses. …

An Examination Of The Black Honors Student Experience At A Predominantly White Institution, Brandie Bentley

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Nationwide, there are a small percentage of Black students participating in Honors Programs at the undergraduate college level. Due to the limited representation of students of color within advanced academic programs such as honors programs, the unique stories and experiences of this particular population oftentimes goes overlooked. The goal of this qualitative study is to give Black Honors students a voice and highlight their narratives. Analyzing the benefits and challenges that students of color face within their overall experience in The Honors College at Eastern Michigan University, a Predominantly White Institution can assist in knowledge regarding this population. One focus …

Parent-Child Differences In Psychological Distress Following Childhood Cancer Treatment, Shelby A. Wilson

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

While the prognosis for pediatric cancer is improving, survivorship is accompanied by a number of potential long-term consequences. While not all childhood cancer survivors (CCS) and their parents experience psychological distress during survivorship, research does indicate that at least some do experience significant problems that warrant intervention. The current study was a retrospective analysis of an existing cross-sectional dataset that examined associations between psychological distress and other late effects in CCS and their parents. Neurocognitive late effects (NCLE) and parent/child distress were found to predict both parent and child psychological distress. Time since diagnosis was found to be related to …

Development And Validation Of A Measure Of Cybersexual Addiction, Monica M. Lackups-Fuentes

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Sexual addiction has long been a controversial topic, and it has become no less tendentious with its latest incarnation as Internet cybersexual addiction, i.e., the addiction to sexual materials on the Internet. As cybersexual addiction is a relatively recent phenomenon, it is important to have adequate measures to assess the behavior and provide empirical support for diagnostic criteria. While a number of measures are used in the research, none of the measures are based on the currently proposed diagnostic criteria. This study aimed to develop a new measure of cybersexual addiction based on the proposed hypersexual disorder diagnostic criteria and …

Comparing The Physical And Psychological Effects Of Food Security And Food Insecurity, Sarah K. Weissman

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Although much research exists on how food insecurity impacts one's quality of life, there are no studies to date that have compared the quality of life between food insecure and food secure individuals. This mixed-methods study explores these comparisons. The online survey assessed quality of life in the areas of performance at school/work, psychological and physical health, and quality of relationships. The survey included closed and open-ended questions and was analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. This study reveals that food insecure individuals had a poorer quality of life in most of the areas that were assessed. The results are …

Examining Parent Information Needs In Pediatric Cancer, Katherine Inman

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Parents of children with cancer receive information about how to care for their child's health during diagnosis, treatment, and post treatment inflation is critical to this care; however, parents are often left with information needs when their child is done with treatment. Many parents lack enough information about neurocognitive late effects (NCLE) and how to handle the psychological functioning of their child post treatment. The purpose of this study was to analyze parents' information needs post treatment using qualitative data collected from a survey. Qualitative content analysis was utilized to examine 45 parent responses. Four themes were constructed: (a} the …

Michigan’S Quantitative School Culture Inventories And Student Achievement, Alexander A. Mcneece

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Schools must help all students achieve. Leaders who understand the elements of culture and their impact on an organization can be very effective. In 2015, as part of a strategy to cultivate healthy school cultures, the State of Michigan deployed a new self-reporting school culture inventory as part of each school's annual reporting. In this quantitative study, correlational and comparative analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between schools’ self-reported school culture inventories (School Systems Review) and student achievement measured by the state’s reading assessment data (MStep). This study analyzed achievement data from students in Grades 3 through 5 during …

Assessment Of Family Impact In Pediatric Chronic Pain, Lauren E. Harrison

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Pediatric chronic pain causes significant interference in daily functioning for children and their families. While parents and families have been examined in previous research, gaps exist in the current literature base, particularly related to accurate conceptualization and assessment of family functioning. The current study sought to develop a measure of family impact of pediatric pain and examine the effects that pain severity, functional disability, and parent and child psychosocial functioning have on family functioning. Results indicated parents of children with chronic pain appear to be impacted across several domains, with psychological distress in the child and parent being a significant …

Parental Health, Parenting Behavior And Externalizing Behavior Problems Among Low-Income African American Preschool Children, Cassandra Lynn Esposito

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Externalizing behavior problems are highly prevalent in the preschool years. These behaviors are particularly common and problematic among children who are from low-income, minority backgrounds. There is evidence in the literature that describes parental health and parenting problems as risk factors for child externalizing behavior problems. The primary objective of this study was to better understand the relationship between parental health factors, parenting, and child behavior problems. Utilizing data from a low-income African American population, this study examined whether observed measures of parenting behaviors mediated the relationship between measures of parental health (e.g., depression, stress, and BMI) and child externalizing …

How One Public School District Implemented Interest-Based Bargaining, Arthur Conrad Ebert

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

School districts implement a variety of initiatives that too often fall short. This case study investigated how one public school district in southeastern Michigan implemented interest based-bargaining (IBB). The study also sought to understand the factors that influenced the decision-making process and what was considered when making implementation decisions. By carrying out this study, the researcher expanded the current literature base that districts can draw upon should they decide to implement IBB. District’s implementing IBB can use this study to better inform their decision-making process. The primary data sources were the primary decision makers involved with implementing IBB in the …

Sex Offender Registry Acts: Deterrence Or Moral Panic?, Daniel J. Wood

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Sex offender registries were created as a means for law enforcement to track rapists and pedophiles to help quickly resolve sex cases. It evolved into a much larger system with many consequences. This evolution has been hastened by a moral panic based on bad facts and fueled by strong public opinion in favor of long prison sentences and even longer registration periods. Modern laws have little to do with monitoring and more to do with retribution. Proponents claim these penalties are a means to deter sex offenses, but very little research supports this contention. Instead, the registries and the media …

An Examination Of The Psychometrics Of The Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire And Its Relationship To Other Constructs, Barry Eye

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

More than one billion humans currently suffer from one or more mental health difficulties, the leading cause of disability in the world. Psychotherapy is well-established as efficacious and cost effective in the treatment of mental health difficulties, particularly the widely-used family of cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT). The most prominent, new CBT–acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)–has shown efficacy equal to or better than traditional CBT across a range of such difficulties. ACT’s novel approach to language, defusion (the opposite of fusion), can help improve mental health by changing one’s relationship with their thoughts. Efforts to better understand this mechanism of ACT …

How Home And School Factors Influenced College Freshmen And Sophomores To Become First-Generation College Students, Karen L. Sherwood

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A formal college education allows graduates to greatly increase their earning potential. Research has shown that first generation students make up 50% of the college population. This research investigated home and school factors that led to the decision of the selected first-generation college students in one rural northern-lower Michigan intermediate school district (ISD) to attend a two-year community college or a four-year bachelor’s degree-granting institution. A qualitative case study research design was employed to understand the social phenomena of school and family influence upon first-generation college students and to explore students’ financial concerns about college attendance and their recognition of …

Using Schools To Watch Program's Self-Study And Rating Rubric To Examine Middle-Grades Education In An Urban District, Arnetta P. Thompson

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between multiple characteristics of high-performing middle schools as identified in the schools to watch rubric and how those characteristics as well as grade configurations may affect students’ progression through their first year of high school. A student’s middle level experience strongly impacts the odds of graduating from high school. This is especially true of urban districts with a high-poverty student population. This study was conducted in such a district. Middle level education is supposed to serve as a catalyst of sorts to prepare students for high school, yet the current …

A Study Of The Factors Involved And The Strategies Employed By Michigan School Districts In Developing Deficit Elimination Plans, Sue C. Carnell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to study the factors that contribute to financial deficits, examine the strategies used to reduce deficits, and explore the barriers that may prohibit the reduction of financial deficits. As part of legislative mandates, school superintendents are faced with creating a deficit elimination plan to reduce the financial deficits facing their districts. In 2013, the State of Michigan began to shut down financially challenged districts for the first time. School districts labeled as “deficit districts” struggled to remove the designation assigned to them. Fifty-eight traditional Michigan public school districts with financial deficits between school years …

Motor Functioning In Childhood Survivors Of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Kaitlin Oswald

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) can cause a multitude of neuropsychological sequelae, or late effects, in children following intensive medical treatment. Late effect research has focused primarily on non-motor related sequelae; however, recent studies have begun to highlight evident impairments in motor functioning during and following medical treatment. The following study aimed to further characterize multiple domains of motor functioning in children treated for ALL compared to healthy controls, as well as investigate the relationship between motor impairments and other areas of functioning, including academic and psychosocial. The study included a cross-sectional design with a sample of 13 children treated for …

Contradictions And Control: Michigan Elementary Teachers' Lived Experiences Of Legislated Teacher Evaluation, Kathryn N. Coffey

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The Michigan Teacher Quality and Tenure Reform bill was signed into law in July 2011. The law mandated specific requirements for annual performance evaluation of all teachers and prohibited teacher evaluation as a subject of collective bargaining. The purpose of this phenomenological, collective case study was to describe the lived experiences of Michigan elementary teachers in traditional public schools as they experienced the phenomenon of having their performance evaluated under this state-legislated teacher evaluation policy, to understand the meanings they ascribed to the phenomenon, and to synthesize those meanings to describe the essences of that experience.

Using semi-structured in-depth phenomenological …

Assessing Patient And Caregiver Intent To Use Mobile Device Videoconferencing For Remote Mechanically-Ventilated Patient Management, Brian R. Smith

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The Michigan Medicine adult Assisted Ventilation Clinic (AVC) supports patients with neuromuscular disorders and spinal cord injuries and their caregivers at home, helping them avoid expensive emergency department visits, hospitalization, and unnecessary or excessive treatments. Mobile device videoconferencing provides an effective capability for remote mechanically-ventilated patient management but must rely upon an unknown infrastructure comprising patient and caregiver mobile device ownership, connectivity, and experience—and intent to use the service if provided. The purpose of this study was to measure the extent of this infrastructure and the perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and intent to use this mobile device …

Decision-Making, Tacit Knowledge, And Motivation In Semi-Professional Practice: Humanizing The Environment Through Anthropomorphism In Clinical Laboratory Science, Teresa Mortier

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The clinical laboratory science field requires an abundance of technical knowledge; however, the importance of implicit or tacit knowledge gained through observation and practice is often discounted in this field, even though it is a critical part of reflective thinking, critical thinking, and reflective practice. The “de-skilling” of laboratory practitioners may be a result of limited training opportunities in an overtaxed system. A deeper analysis of the decision-making skills by interviewing practicing medical laboratory scientists in this study may illuminate, for practitioners and the public sector, the complexity of the profession. This study adds to the body of knowledge in …

Moving Beyond The Apple Orchard: The Institutional Analysis Of The Construction Of Washtenaw Community College, Julie M. Kissel

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to understand the institutional forces that constructed and shaped the function, nature of funding, and governance of Washtenaw Community College (WCC). To do this, I studied the founding and development of WCC using organizational theory. This qualitative, historical case study used archival research to identify themes and the institutional building blocks for the junior college movement at large and the transition of the junior college to the comprehensive community college in the 1950s and 1960s as it served to buffer and bridge the post-secondary world. This study discovered that WCC was not a grassroots …

An Exploration Of The Aspects Of Physical Activity And Exercise Motives That Confer Risk Versus Protection From Disordered Eating Outcomes, Megan Pejsa-Reitz

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A long-standing health initiative has been the recommendation for individuals to engage in regular physical activity because of its numerous physical and mental health benefits. However, engaging in “excessive exercise” is a compensatory behavior found in eating disorders. The present study sought to better understand exercise as both a health- and risk-behavior. Undergraduates (N = 1010) completed an online survey assessing disordered eating and exercise behavior. Results revealed that among individuals who engaged in a low level of physical activity, exercising for socializing reasons conferred risk for disordered eating, whereas higher socializing exercise motives were associated with lower disordered …

An Examination Of Attribute Trade And Weight Stigma In Online Dating, Rachel Sienko

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Weight stigma refers to biased treatment or attitudes based on weight. This has been documented to occur in a variety of settings (including relationships) and can result in many negative consequences, but its impact in the contemporary online dating arena is largely unexplored. Therefore, Study 1 of this project examined who experiences weight stigma in online dating and what factors predicted weight stigma. It was hypothesized that a) women would be more likely than men to experience weight stigma; b) compassion, beliefs about obese persons, attitudes toward obese persons, social dominance orientation, narcissism, objectification, self-classification of overweight status, and internalized …

Exploring Racial Ideology And Coping As Moderators Of The Association Between Experiencing Racial Microaggressions And Psychological Outcomes In Black College Student, Terrence Harper Ii

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Recently, researchers have investigated how racial identity status attitudes may influence the relationship between experiencing racism and affective responses (i.e., it has been suggested that racial identity may act as a buffer against experiencing negative affect as a consequence of exposure to racial discrimination). While this question has received increased attention in recent years, this literature has not extensively examined this association with more current and refined conceptualizations of subtle discrimination (i.e., microaggressions) and racial ideology. Additionally, the impact of racial coping styles on this association has not yet been examined. As such, the purpose of this study was to …

The Effects Of A Yoga Intervention On Motor Skills In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Morgan K. Wright

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display a range of motor delays and deficits that may contribute to ASD symptoms, including social and communicative skills and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors. Limited motor abilities may result in a less physically active lifestyle and engagement in more sedentary behavior. Few studies have examined the effects of physical activity based motor interventions on motor skills. Yoga interventions can be used to teach gross motor skills by providing explicit instruction using behavioral principles. Several studies suggest that yoga may also improve social and communicative skills and behavior problems; however, these studies have not systematically …

Perceived Credibility Of Child Witness Statements Based On Age And Gender, Beverly M. Griffor

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Although a great deal of empirical research and theoretical analysis has been done on in relation to jury perception of the credibility of child witnesses, virtually none of it has focused on the impact of age and gender of child witnesses alone on juror perceptions. This study expands on the existing body of knowledge on juror bias by exploring the connection between the perceived credibility of a child witness and the age or gender of that witness. Participants were given a choice between two children of different ages and/or genders. The participants were asked about the believability of the identified …

Juvenile Delinquency And Cause Of Death For Adolescents Between 13 And 17 Years In Detroit In 2015, Tao Lei

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The records for the cause of death of 3 8 adolescents who died near Detroit, MI in 2015 were examined from case files at the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office. Adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 years were more prone to being victims of violence than natural death, with a peak in violent deaths during the month of April. The majority of adolescents in this sample were Black males (58%). The manner of death among the majority of adolescents was accidental (47%), however the cause of death was all in a violent manner. The cause of death reported …

The Effect Of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (Pcos) On The Human Skeleton, Sarah Bruckler

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

The purpose of this pilot study is to determine the systemic effects of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) on bone mineral density (BMD). Excessive male sex honnones, excessive insulin levels, and weight gain characterize PCOS, and are correlated to increased BMD. PCOS is also associated with symptoms and comorbid conditions, like chronic vitamin D deficiency, menstrual dysfunction, and hypothyroidism, which are all correlated with decreased BMD. Existing research on this topic reports conflicting results; some studies show a significant correlation between PCOS and increased BMD, while others suggest that no significant correlation exists. These previous studies focused on load-bearing areas of …

Gender Differences In Populations With Substance Use Disorders: A Review Of The Literature, Allante Moon

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

'·A convergence of evidence suggests that women with substance use disorders are more likely than men to face multiple barriers affecting access and entry to substance abuse treatment" (Tuchman, 2010). There should never be an issue of receiving substance abuse treatment for any gender and exploring these differences can bring awareness to these issues. Several studies report gender differences in men and women who are experiencing substance use disorders. This thesis is based on a literature review of gender differences in experiencing and treating substance additions among populations of minorities, elderly individuals, and HIV positive individuals. Emphasis is placed on …