Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Guaranteed Income On Political Participation, Daniel Horn

Doctoral Dissertations

This three-paper dissertation examines the impact of guaranteed income (GI) and cash transfer (CT) programs on political participation, aiming to contribute to understanding how social policies can shape civic engagement. The first paper provides a comprehensive literature review on GI and CT programs, focusing on their potential effects on political participation. By analyzing existing studies, this paper identifies key findings and gaps in the literature, setting the stage for further empirical investigation. The second paper develops and tests a new instrument called the Brief Political Participation Scale (BPPS), designed to measure political participation concisely and reliably. The third paper presents …

Saudi Women's Abuse And Help-Seeking Experiences: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis, Shahad Ahmed Subiani

Doctoral Dissertations

In 2013 the Saudi government established the Protection from Abuse Act, which made domestic violence (DV) a crime, as well as outlined the responsibilities of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in providing reporting mechanisms. These and more societal shifts, along with the creation of the governmental family protection units (FPUs), set the stage for greater recognition of DV and more women seeking help. Though public opinion is slowly changing, DV in Saudi Arabia is still largely perceived as a private family matter (Alhabib et al., 2010). Guided by the help-seeking and change model (Liang et al., 2005), …

“It's Like You're Trying To Get A Meeting With The Pope”: A Narrative Inquiry On Experiences Of Social Work Field Staff Establishing Field Placements In Sport, Lauren Beasley

Doctoral Dissertations

Social work in sport is a growing subspecialty of social work practice. However, there is limited research on the training of social work students to work in a sport setting. As field education is considered the signature pedagogy of social work education, more insights are needed on social work field internships in sport organizations. To fill this gap in the literature, the purpose of this narrative inquiry was to understand social work field staff's narratives of their experiences establishing sport-specific field placements through their lived stories. The study was guided by three research questions: (1) What narratives do social work …

Universal Basic Income Favorability: An Examination Of Discursive Frames Of And Support For Ubi Proposals, John Stacy Elliott

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation work examines the relationship between Universal Basic Income (UBI) favorability and discursive framing. Chapter 1, the systematic review of literature, reviews the role that discursive framing has played in presenting UBI proposals related to the effects that notions of deservedness may have on levels of support for UBI proposals. Chapter 2, an article on a regression analysis, explores the possible associations between attitudes toward women and support for UBI proposals. Chapter 3, an article on a regression analysis, explores the relationship between attitudes toward privilege and systemic racism as they relate to support for UBI proposals.

360º Videos Of Natural Scenery Delivered Via Virtual Reality Devices And Its Effect On Mood, Joseph Strong

Doctoral Dissertations

Nature has long been touted as a method to alleviate the symptoms of stressful modern life and introduce some aesthetic novelty. For those individuals for whom access to nature is in some way limited, especially older adults facing poor physical or mental health, novel approaches to bring the outside world in are necessary to help enhance quality of life. This pilot study endeavors to help improve the mood of a sample of 43 older adults by testing a new intervention – using smart phones to deliver 360-degree videos of nature. Results of the study provide evidence that the intervention may …

The Role Of Premorbid Adjustment In Predicting Post-Illness Psychosocial Functioning In The Early Stages Of Psychosis, Stephanie Kristan Armstrong

Doctoral Dissertations

Schizophrenia is a chronic, debilitating illness with significant heterogeneity of onset, illness course, and outcome. Although affecting 1% of the population, disability costs ranked 11^th of all health disorders internationally. Efforts to best understand how this disease process causes poor outcomes are imperative. Premorbid functioning, social and academic adjustment throughout development before illness onset, may inform long-term outcomes in psychosis. Chapter I details a systematic review of this relationship in early psychosis patients. Findings were supportive of a robust relationship between premorbid functioning and post-illness psychosocial functioning, particularly when social or academic premorbid domain approaches were used. No identified …

Born To Help, Alison Lloyd

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to ascertain (1) the level of readiness for hospital social work roles as perceived by Master of Social Work (MSW) graduates from Council on Social Work Education accredited programs, (2) the extent to which MSW level social workers felt prepared for their hospital roles by their MSW education, and (3) the quality of life perceived by social workers, with self-efficacy as a possible mediator variable. A critical literature review was completed. Surveys were sent using social media. One empirical study examined the level of self-efficacy felt by social workers as they worked in …

Reducing Youths Unemployment In Nigeria: The Development Of A Technical And Vocational Education And Training Survey Instrument, Omotola Olabisi Akinsola

Doctoral Dissertations

Youth unemployment has been on the rise for many years in Nigeria. Despite the high number of youths enrolled in formal education in Nigeria and the number of graduates each year, job opportunities to absorb these graduates are few. TVET has been proposed as an educational intervention in reducing youth unemployment.

A systematic review revealed that the interventions aimed at reducing youth unemployment were pooled into four categories: the use of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in schools, the introduction of entrepreneurship education in schools, the engagement of public-private partnership (PPP), and career guidance counseling for students.

In …

Mediation And Moderation Of Intergenerational Epigenetic Effects Of Trauma, Stefanie Renee Pilkay

Doctoral Dissertations

Trauma and early-life stress have been linked to poor mental and physical health outcomes. In fact, research has identified trauma and stress can influence epigenetic marks on genes that can alter gene activity. It is suspected that epigenetically altered gene activity is involved in behavior and mental health. This may help explain why some individuals don’t experience great benefit from treatment for the effects of stress, and severe mental health symptoms can be chronic for decades or a lifetime. Moreover, some trauma-related mental health symptoms have shown generational patterns that appear linked to epigenetic marks. Therefore, this study sought to …

Preparing The Workforce For Integrated Healthcare, Denise Ratliff Black

Doctoral Dissertations

Integrated healthcare is recommended to deliver care to individuals with co-occurring medical and mental health conditions. Identifying the knowledge necessary for behavioral health providers to practice in integrated settings, and determining whether a computer application is an effective strategy to disseminate this knowledge, are essential steps to transitioning these individuals to integrated healthcare delivery systems. A literature review of U.S. based publications from 1999 to 2015 identified 68 articles that met inclusion criteria and identified specific knowledge for integrated healthcare settings. A survey completed by 154 behavioral health providers working in integrated healthcare settings examined the extent to which respondents …

Distress During Cancer Treatment And Its Relation To Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Matthew Robert Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the psychological response to stress in cancer patients. Specifically, it examines the factors which increase the likelihood of experiencing distress and posttraumatic stress (PTSS), as well as the relationship between distress and PTSS. The dissertation is composed of three manuscripts, the first of which presents a review of the current literature on distress and PTSS in adult cancer patient populations. It indicates that distress is prevalent in cancer patient populations, and that increased levels of distress may be related to PTSS. Furthermore, risk and protective factors are identified, including older age and social support, which may …

How Do People In Animal Welfare Fields Respond To Family Violence Situations?, Bethanie Allison Poe

Doctoral Dissertations

Cross-reporting refers to the idea that people working in human welfare and people in animal welfare fields who observe or have suspicions of abuse or neglect of children, domestic violence, elderly or disabled people, or animals, respectively, are obligated to report their observations to the appropriate agencies. This exploratory study investigates the types of maltreatment witnessed or observed while at work by people in animal related fields; what responses these workers are making to what they are seeing; and the factors influencing their responses. Using an open online survey, this study found that 21% to 29% of the participants indicated …

Physical Home Environment, Personal Competencies, And Psychological Well-Being Of Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Development Of A Structural Model, Shannon Marie Trecartin

Doctoral Dissertations

This multi-manuscript dissertation focuses on the relationships between the physical home environment, personal competencies, and psychological well-being among older adults living in community settings. The ecological model of aging serves as the guiding theoretical framework for the exploration and design of the subsequent studies. The first paper is a critical review of the literature. Results suggest that there is little consistency in the measurement of the physical home environment across studies. Also, more research is needed to clarify the relationships between the three major constructs and to expand the area of study to U.S. populations. Finally, some support exists to …

Investigating The Effects Of Commonly Implemented School Safety Strategies On School Social Work Practitioners, Matthew James Cuellar

Doctoral Dissertations

A primary objective of the school social work profession is to maintain equality and empower students while promoting educational achievement for troubled and disadvantaged youth in schools. They are among the leading mental health care providers for youth in United States schools today. As school social workers are increasingly being used in United States schools, many find themselves working within practice contexts with complex security environments. These environments can introduce a number of complexities to their practice as well as the students they serve; however, the relationship between school safety strategies and school social work practice, and the role school …

Economic Wealth And Social Welfare: A Longitudinal Analysis Of Transnational Well-Being, Kelly Brooke Martin

Doctoral Dissertations

Macro changes in the financial arena have prompted ongoing research focused on global economic trends. As America emerges from an era of stagnant wages, rising unemployment, and growing class stratification it is necessary to explore differences in cross-national socioeconomic behavior to address the changing needs of our country. Many studies attempt to describe statistical correlations between economic wealth and social well-being domestically and abroad by utilizing methodological perspectives that do not account for longitudinal change. To address the gap in existing research, this study seeks to measure variations in econometric indicators between the U.S. and Nordic countries to further explicate …

Mechanisms Of Change In An Organizational Culture And Climate Intervention For Increasing Clinicians’ Evidence-Based Practice Adoption In Mental Health, Nathaniel J. Williams

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: Increasing the adoption of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is a focus of national and international efforts to improve the quality and outcomes of mental health services for youth; however, few studies have examined the multilevel change mechanisms that explain how successful implementation strategies increase EBP adoption. Identifying these mechanisms is necessary to develop more effective and efficient strategies. This study tested the multilevel mechanisms that link an empirically supported organizational implementation strategy called ARC (for Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity) to increased EBP adoption.

Method: In a randomized controlled trial, 14 outpatient children’s mental health clinics in a large Midwestern city …

Women At War: A Qualitative Study Of U.S. Female Military Personnel, Their Journeys Home, Multiple Deployments, And The Effect Of War, Autumn Nicole Lowry

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is a multi-manuscript collection consisting of three papers written about female service members. The first manuscript is a literature review that explores research regarding this population and distinguishes gaps in the literature is well. This manuscript identifies theoretical frameworks as well as commonly used research methods when working with female service members. The second and third manuscripts were constructed using secondary data from a documentary film project that produced valuable data regarding the lived experiences of women experiencing deployment. These data were transcribed from filmed interviews and those transcripts were subsequently used for the purpose of this dissertation. …

Effectiveness Of Proloquo2goTm In Enhancing Communication In Children With Autism During Aba Therapy, Taylor Eastin Krcek

Doctoral Dissertations

Autism is a bio-neurological developmental disorder presenting in early childhood that has a profound effect on an individual's ability to communicate. The iPad® with the Proloquo2Go^TM app is a multilingual Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) solution designed to assist people who have difficulty speaking or cannot speak at all. This study examines the effectiveness of the Proloquo2Go^TM app delivered via iPad® to enhance the tacting, manding, and verbal completion repertoires of children with autism. Participants included five children between the ages of three and four years old diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and with low to …

A Phenomenological Study: African American Clergy Response To Violence Against Women, Milicia Antoinette Tedder

Doctoral Dissertations

Violence against women and religious participation are two phenomena that are pervasive across many African American communities. African American women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at a rate higher than the majority of racial groups in the U.S. Although many African American women highly depend on their faith and church to navigate their experiences with IPV, scant attention has been given to the role that Black clergy have in responding to IPV against women. As a result, clergy leaders’ responses to IPV were examined in this study. This study utilized a phenomenological method to understand African American clergy leaders’ responses …

The Relationship Between Demands And Resources And Teacher Burnout: A Fifteen-Year Meta-Analysis, Tammy Marie Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

This meta-analysis explored the phenomenon of teacher burnout— the biggest contributor to teacher attrition (Owens, 2013; Unterbrink, 2014; Yu, 2015). The focus of this study was to use meta-analytical procedures to explore the relationship between burnout dimensions (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of personal accomplishment) and specific demand and resource correlates. Demand correlates included work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, and student misbehavior. Resource correlates included peer support, supervisory support, and decision-making. This meta-analytical research method encompassed fifteen years of published and unpublished studies from January 2000 through January 2015. A total of 116 studies met the following inclusion …

Effects Of Prenatal Stress And Poverty On Fetal Growth, Teresa Anne Lefmann

Doctoral Dissertations

Background. Prenatal stress has negative effects on the developing fetus through the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Programming of the stress response system during gestation has lifelong effects that put the infant at risk for multiple stress-related pathologies. Populations most vulnerable to prenatal stress are African-Americans and individuals of low socioeconomic status.

Methods. The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) research project, a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and individual state health departments, was utilized for this study. Tennessee data from 2009 were compiled from individual birth certificates and PRAMS questionnaire responses to examine three …

Acculturative Stress And Social Support Among Immigrant Arab American Adolescents In East Tennessee, Ayat Jebril Nashwan

Doctoral Dissertations

The study investigated sources and levels of acculturative stress among immigrant Arab American adolescents, and sources of social and emotional support that may mitigate acculturation-related stressors. The purposive sample (N=230) consisted of Arab American youth, 11-17 years of age, most of whom attended public schools in a moderate-sized city in East Tennessee, USA. Respondents were balanced in terms of gender, most were 13-17 years old, and were middle and high school-aged students. Over half were born in one of 16 different Arab countries, mainly Iraq, Egypt, and Syria. They had lived in the United States for 1-17 years, with a …

Assessing The Effect Of Sense Of Community On Military Veteran Community Reintegration Difficulties, Veliska Joy Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations

Sense of Community (SOC) has been the theoretical underpinnings of practice models with veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Amdur et al. 2011; Bowen, Martin, Mancini & Nelson, 2000; Hollingsworth, 2011; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs). The current study addresses the need for empirical evidence to support this practice intervention by testing the mediation role of SOC on the relationship between Veteran Community Reintegration (VCR) risk factors and VCR difficulties. Secondary data from a cross-sectional survey consisting of N=131 military veterans in the southern region of the United States was used to test this model. Confirmatory …

The Lived Experience Of Transitioning From The Foster Care System To Adulthood, Carla Renee Parker

Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately 408,000 children were in foster care in the United States at the end of fiscal year 2010 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Some children return to their families of origin; however, some children remain in the foster care system until they reach age 18 or 21 and must leave, which is called “emancipation” or “aging out” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Transitioning foster youth are at risk for many negative consequences including poverty and homelessness. These negative consequences are associated with significant health implications, such as mental health problems and risky sexual behaviors. …

Is There A Relationship Between Teams-Games-Tournaments And Changes In Communication And Attitude About Substance Abuse?, Michael Lee Burford

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate relationships between gender and race as it pertains to communication with parents about substance abuse and attitudes about substance abuse, using Teams-Games-Tournaments as an intervention. The scope of the substance abuse problem, adolescent communication and attitudes regarding substance abuse literature, attachment theory, and Teams-Games-Tournaments intervention literature are reviewed. Secondary data was used with a repeated measures design, with 159 subjects at baseline, 112 at exit, and 99 at follow-up. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences and Hierarchical Linear Modeling were used for analysis. Findings suggest that gender and race are not significant …

Overseeing Supervisees Treating Clients Exhibiting Suicidal Behaviors: Its Impact On Clinical Supervisors, Michael Girard Catalana

Doctoral Dissertations

Individuals at risk of suicide often seek mental health treatment (Brook, Klap, Liao, & Wells, 2006; Moscicki, 2001; Souminen, Isometsa, Martunnen, Ostamo, & Lonnqvist, 2004). The clinicians who treat these individuals experience significant levels of stress (Knox, Burkard, Bentzler, Schaack, & Hess, 2006; Ruskin, Sakinofsky, Bagby, Dickens, & Sousa, 2004). Clinical supervisors are an important resource for clinicians (Chemtob, Hamada, Bauer, Kinney, & Torigoe, 1988a; Kleespies, Smith, & Becker, 1990; Knox et al., 2006; Maltsberger, 1992; Ruskin et al., 2004). Researchers recently acknowledged that overseeing clinicians whose client exhibited suicidal behavior is also stressful (Catalana, 2012; Hoffman, 2009; Sanger, 2010). …

Characteristics Of Foster Parents Willing To Care For Sexual Minority Youth, Justin Douglas Bucchio

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Sexual minority foster youth living in out-of-home care are in need of enhanced services to promote successful development. Scholars have focused on providing insight into the lives of these youth as well as effective treatment approaches. None have focused on the willingness of the providers of their care. This nationwide non-probability cross-sectional study assessed foster mothers’ (N = 304) willingness to care for sexual minority youth, using secondary data analysis.

Willingness was assessed using the Willingness to Foster Scale (WFS), which identifies four levels of willingness ranging from not willing at all to willing without any extra help …

Assessing The Effect Of Relocation Control On Psychological Well-Being Of Assisted Living Residents, Young Sook Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Recent evidence and prior research document that increasing numbers of older adults are experiencing relocation to an assisted living facility (ALF), and that involuntary ALF relocatees face a great risk of psychological distress because of the numerous stressors associated with this relocation. However, little empirical research has clearly investigated the interrelationship among major factors and their effects on the psychological well-being of AL residents: relocation control, mediators of stress (e.g., social support, self-reported health, and functional impairment) and psychological well-being.

This study had two aims: (a) to investigate the relationship between relocation control and psychological well-being (e.g., depression, …

Evidence Based Practice Implementation: Perceptions And Expectations Of Master Of Social Work Students, Mholi Kent Vimba

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Efforts to develop sustainable Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) implementation strategies in work settings have been generally unsuccessful. Scholars have focused on perceptions of workers already in work settings to identify implementation barriers and facilitators. None have focused on perceptions of social workers in training. This nationwide non-probability correlational study assessed Master of Social Work (MSW) students’ perceptions of EBP using a self-administered online survey. A total of 212 (57%) completed this survey with 164 (43%) timed out.

Perceptions were assessed using three sets of questions corresponding to the independent variables: EBP knowledge, attitude toward EBP and EBP self-efficacy. A …

Prescription Stimulant Use By Graduate Students, Matthew Donald Varga

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to measure graduate student prescription stimulant use by assessing the extent of use, reasons for use, and poly-substance use. Graduate students (n = 1,015) enrolled at a large Southeastern university completed the Student Life Survey. The data were analyzed using a variety of analytical techniques including descriptive statistics, frequencies, and a stepwise logistic regression in order to answer the research questions guiding this study:

1. What is the extent of prescription stimulant abuse among graduate students on college campuses?
2. What are the reasons for graduate students’ illicit use of prescription stimulants?
3. Are graduate students …