Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

To Engage Or Disengage: The Impact Of Coping Strategies, Sex, And Stress History On Cortisol Reactivity Among Urban Adolescents, Madeline Curzon

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Stress affects people daily and can prove maladaptive to mental health if chronic or acute. Effective coping responses may mitigate the negative effects of intense or prolonged stress through physiological processes such as HPA axis activity. Previous research has found one specific coping dimension, engagement/disengagement, to be predictive of cortisol reactivity in response to lab-induced stressors. Sex and stress history also contribute to the relationship between coping and cortisol reactivity. However, these processes are not as well understood in adolescent populations and have not been explored across different types of stressors. The present study explored the relationship between coping and …

A Qualitative Study Of Lifetime Residential Transitions And Housing Preferences Among Individuals With Extensive Shelter Utilization Histories, Mackenzie Hudson

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing interest in identifying policies which support a transition to permanent housing for individuals with long stays in emergency homeless shelters. The present study explored trajectories into long-term homeless shelter utilization and the relationship between housing history and housing preferences. Participants were 11 individuals identified by staff at two homeless shelters in a large Midwestern city as being long-term shelter-stayers, defined as staying in shelter a majority of days over a minimum of three years. Using narrative analysis, the present study examined specific portions of text drawn from semi-structured interviews with people who are long-term shelter-stayers; these …

Lived Experiences Of Oxford House Residents Prescribed Medication-Assisted Treatment, Arturo Soto-Nevarez

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Qualitative studies have examined the recovery experiences of individuals prescribed medication-assisted treatment (MAT), including their experiences within treatment facilities. However, the literature lacks qualitative studies exploring the recovery process of individuals prescribed MAT while living in recovery housing, such as Oxford House (OH). The purpose of this study was to explore how OH residents, who are prescribed MAT, make sense of recovery. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to document the lived experiences of individuals prescribed MAT in OH. The sample included: 5 women and 3 men, prescribed either methadone or Suboxone, that were living in an OH in the …

Parent And Child Language Profiles And Their Family And Clinical Predictors, Jesus Eduardo Solano-Martinez

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

A large number of households in the United States include linguistic minority and immigrant parents. These include parents of Latinx backgrounds and their children who have varying levels of English and Spanish proficiency. Research is needed to examine the nature of parent-child language proficiency patterns and differences and their links to family processes and mental health. To address this gap, a sample of 294 Latinx parent-child dyads of predominantly low-income and immigrant backgrounds were interviewed and reported their English and Spanish language proficiency levels. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) uncovered four parent-child language profiles including three in which there was a …

Collective Awe: The Effects Of Shared Experience, Martha Szekely

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Awe, as a complex positive emotion that mixes wonder, veneration, and/or dread, has been shown to induce a small sense of self. In the current research, we focused on the question of whether sharing an awe experience has an impact on that experience. We conducted two studies in which we explored the effects of “collective awe” as it relates to awe intensity, awe-related emotions, self-diminishment, and wellbeing. In addition, based on previous research, we hypothesized that participants with higher awe intensity ratings and awe-related emotion scores would score higher on self-diminishment and wellbeing measures than participants with lower awe intensity …

Your Mind Online: The Influence Of Contingent Self-Esteem On Confirmation Bias, Jason Snyder

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Scholars have speculated on the effects of social media on our self-esteem, but research has resulted in mixed findings (e.g., Valkenburg et al., 2006). One area that has yet to be investigated thoroughly is how social media use relates to self-esteem pursuit (Crocker & Park, 2004). Self-esteem pursuit has negative outcomes for learning, relatedness, and autonomy (Crocker & Park, 2004), but research has yet to determine whether pursuing self-esteem on social media results in similar negative outcomes. The current study investigated whether social media engage users in self-esteem pursuit by priming existing self-esteem contingencies. Additionally, we investigated whether these contingencies …

True Self In Threat Resilience: Using Essentialist Self-Views To Neutralize Personal Morality Threats, Ellen S. Dulaney

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

course of this dissertation, I introduce the idea of the true self construct as a personalized route to individual meaning and stability at a time in history when external direction regarding values and purpose is in decline. Setting aside the question of the ontological status of the true self, I emphasize that beliefs about and representations of the true self have distinctive psychological impact and cite research supporting this assertion. I then review evidence of the aptness of such true self-orientations in supporting well-being, fulfillment of basic psychological needs, and resilience against threat. Across two studies, I investigated the effectiveness …

Reciprocity: An Antecedent To Fraud Compliance And Unethical Behavior, Charles E. Drehmer

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

There is a constant stream of headlines in the news about fraud schemes swindling people out of their hard-earned money. When analyzing these schemes, it can be difficult to see why these scams work so well time after time. Often, the potential payoff to the victim is farfetched or even impossible to a third party looking at the situation after the fact. Why would someone comply with a fraudulent request with such an implausible benefit to themselves or maybe even seemingly no benefit? One of the tools utilized by unscrupulous scam artists is the social norm of reciprocity. Simply stated, …

Trauma-Informed Care Within The Homeless Service Milieu: Practical And Conceptual Considerations, Martina Mihelicova

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that most individuals in the general population experience some form of trauma (Kilpatrick et al., 2013) and that factors such as homelessness place individuals at higher risk of experiencing traumatic events (Deck & Platt, 2015; Ellsworth, 2019; Kushel, Evans, Perry, Robertson, & Moss, 2003). Considering that environments may both promote and impede the trauma recovery process, Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) is a service framework intended to create a culture of trauma awareness and responsiveness (Fallot & Harris, 2006). Preliminary research demonstrates that TIC has positive outcomes for clients and staff (Damian, Mendelson, Bowie, & Gallo, 2018; Hales et al., …

Measuring Allostatic Load In An Urban Adolescent Sample: The Profile And Role Of Biomarker Dysregulation In Depression Outcomes, Heather Marshall

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Accumulated, chronic stress exposure is well established as a precursor for allostatic load (AL). Both stress exposure and AL have been associated with depression in the existing literature. While many studies have focused on biomarkers representative of various physiological systems, a clear understanding of how physiological AL results in depression is yet unclear. Further, variability of hypo- and hypercortisolemic profiles have been associated with depression. A review of the existing literature supports hypocortisolemic profiles in relation to female depression and hypercortisolemic profiles in male depression across both adolescent and adult populations. The function of alpha-amylase (AA) dysregulation within the context …

Community Factors Contributing To Covid-19 Positivity Rate: Using Illinois As A Case Study, Helena Lucia Swanson

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Community level factors influence many aspects of residents’ lives (Flournoy & Yen, 2004), including health (Ellen et al., 200). An instance in which community level factors greatly influence individual health is in the case of a disaster (Couch & Coles, 2010; Steinglass & Gerrity, 1990). A recent and ongoing global disaster that communities are experiencing is the COVID-19 pandemic. In times of disaster, similar to the COVID-19 pandemic, disaster management and response are crucial for communities. A community-level factor that influences individual and community health in times of disaster is social vulnerability. Another community level factor that has yet to …

Investigating The Co-Evolution Of Individual And Network-Level Recovery Capital: A Dynamic Social Network Analysis Testing Network Cohesion And Exchange Theories, Mayra Guerrero

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Historically, treatment professionals, researchers, and policymakers widely regarded substance use disorders (SUDs) as acute conditions that patients could “recover” from after a single treatment. Recent efforts have redefined recovery as a lifelong, dynamic process that involves improvements in multiple domains over time. Thus, recovery capital frameworks and theory have gained momentum as a way to operationalize recovery from SUDs. Recovery capital is a multifaceted framework with theoretical underpinnings in the social capital literature that provides a way of conceptualizing and measuring the complexities of the recovery process. While the literature on recovery capital has grown significantly since its conception, the …

Using Technology To Assess Bidirectionality Between Daily Pain And Physical Activity: The Role Of Marginalization During Emerging Adulthood, Helen Bedree

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Emerging adulthood is often overlooked as a developmental time period critical to shaping future health outcomes. Recurrent pain is a commonly experienced health concern within this age group, particularly headaches and low back pain, and early experiences of recurrent pain are related to subsequent chronic pain and disability. Furthermore, adults from marginalized populations report more frequent and severe recurrent pain. Many studies have demonstrated the therapeutic effect of physical activity on pain relief; however, others have demonstrated that physical activity can also exacerbate pain symptoms. Therefore, the current study aimed to 1) assess a bidirectional relationship between reported pain and …

Exploring The Effects Of Smoking Cessation Interventions For Asians And Asian Americans: A Meta-Analytic Review, Amber T. Pham

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Cigarette smoking continues to be a leading health problem in the United States and worldwide. Despite high prevalence rates among some subpopulations of Asians and Asian Americans, little attention has been focused on identifying effective smoking cessation interventions for this group. A meta-analysis examining effect sizes was conducted to test the hypothesis that smoking cessation interventions, overall, improve quit outcomes among Asians and Asian Americans. Factors associated with intervention effectiveness were explored through moderator analyses. Results show that overall, smoking cessation interventions are efficacious for Asians and Asian Americans (OR = 2.33). Moderator analyses revealed high intensity treatments and treatments …

Secondary Health Conditions, Participation, And Psychosocial Long-Term Outcomes In Adults With Pediatric-Onset Spinal Cord Injury, Eric Peist

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a complex medical condition that refers to an acute spinal cord lesion that affects sensation, muscle control, and autonomic functioning. One fifth of injuries occur in youth, and adults with pediatric-onset SCI may have unique experiences and outcomes compared to those with adult-onset injuries due to the impacts of SCI on development. A socioecological disability framework can provide a critical perspective into how individual and environmental factors interact and impact the experiences of individuals with SCI. Individuals with SCI often have significant secondary health conditions with chronic pain and pressure injuries as two of the …

Multilevel Stakeholder Perspectives On The Implementation Of Evidence-Based Interventions In A Large, Urban School District, Ashley Sahel Castro

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Despite evidence of equal or greater need for mental health services among youth from racial and ethnic minority (REM) and low-income backgrounds, these youth are less likely to receive treatment when it is needed. When they do receive care, it is typically not evidence-based. To address these disparities, advocates and scholars have promoted the use of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) in schools serving REM and low-income youth. However, challenges with the implementation of EBIs in schools have limited their uptake and impact in this setting, especially for this student population. Implementation science offers new ways of examining the process of bringing …

Prenatal Stress & Socioemotional Outcomes In School-Aged Children: A Meta-Analytic Review, Michelle Anne Gilchrist

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Prenatal stress has been linked to a myriad of adverse obstetric, infant, and childhood outcomes. Several prospective studies have linked maternal stress and distress during pregnancy with long-term neurocognitive, behavioral, and emotional consequences for the offspring, including decreased cognitive abilities as well as symptoms of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), depression, and anxiety. However, limited conclusions on the influence of type of stressors and the magnitude of the effect of prenatal stress on specific developmental trajectories can be drawn due to variation in study design and measured outcomes. This meta-analysis synthesized the state of the current literature and quantified the effects …

Service Utilization Among Latina Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence, Alyssa Donovan

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an international health issue disproportionately affecting women, which is associated with a range of severe physical and mental health sequelae (Black et al., 2011). Research has demonstrated that individual factors, such as violence severity, and systemic factors, such as poverty, affect whether women seek formal help, including mental health, police, and legal services, in response to IPV (Lelaurain, Graziani, & Monaco, 2017). Latina women have voiced many challenges to seeking formal help (Rizo & Macy, 2011). These include limited economic resources, language gaps in service provision, and factors related to immigration (Rizo & Macy, 2011). …

Influence Of Ethnic-Racial Similarities And Ethnic-Racial Support On Student Well-Being: The Role Of Natural Mentors, Yesenia Garcia

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

According to Rhodes’ model of youth mentoring, one of the ways through which positive outcomes are achieved is through identity development. This study considered ethnic-racial identity (ERI) in the lives of college students of color and how that identity is promoted through natural mentoring relationships. The focus of this study was on ethnic-racial private regard, a component of ERI. This study examined: (a) the associations among mentor ethnic-racial similarity and support and student ERI and (b) the relationships among mentor ethnic-racial similarity and support and student psychological well-being. The sample included 266 college students of color who completed an online …

Role Shifting In Organizational Teams: Grounded Theory And Scale Development, Tatem H. Burns

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Organizations utilize teams to effectively reach desired goals and performance. An approach to understanding organizational team effectiveness has been through research on team member roles, which refer to the consistent pattern of behavior characteristic of a person in their typical team setting. Research on team member roles has focused on the ability of team members to shift their roles in response to external catalysts (e.g., adapting to a new reward structure); however, research has yet to address internal catalysts to team role shifting (e.g., shifting to reduce role dissatisfaction). The inclusion of research on internal catalysts to team role shifting …

Contextualizing Teacher-Directed Violence In Special Education, Kayleigh E. Zinter

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Violence in school settings is a global phenomenon. Research tends to focus on peer-to-peer student aggression, however teacher-directed violence in school settings by various aggressors is also being explored to better understand the scope of school violence (Bounds & Jenkins, 2016; McMahon et al., 2014; Ozdemir, 2012; Sundaram, 2016; Werthein, 2003; Zeira et al., 2004). Few studies have focused on special education teacher experiences with violence, and their differing experiences from their general education counterparts. This mixed-methods study examines the extent to which general and special education teachers experience teacher-directed violence, as well as incorporates an ecological lens to contextualize …

The Role Of Functional Disability And Social Support In Psychological Outcomes For Individuals With Pediatric Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Keely Huntley Bieniak

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: Individuals with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), a genetic condition that impacts a person’s connective tissues, report a large number of physical symptoms including chronic pain, fatigue, gastrointestinal dysfunction, and joint dislocations. Research into the psychosocial outcomes of this condition remains insufficient, especially for pediatric patients. The present study aims to fill this research gap by examining the relationship between functional disability, social support, and mental health outcomes for individuals with pediatric hEDS. We hypothesize that increased functional disability will be associated with increased mental health challenges, specifically anxiety and depression. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that this relationship will be …

The Association Between Community-Level Factors And Police Decisions To Found Sexual Assault Cases, Erin Elizabeth Hoffman

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Attrition rates in sexual assault cases remain high despite reforms over the past 30 years (Smith et al., 2018). Evidence suggests the locus of case attrition lies with police decision-making (Spohn & Tellis, 2019). Community-level factors may improve or bias police decisions in sexual assault cases; however, this has yet to be examined. Thus, the purpose of this study was to understand community-level factors that predict police decisions to found a sexual assault case. Founding is the first decision officers make and determines whether a case will be investigated. This study used official available records of sexual assaults reported to …

Identifying A Typology Of Homelessness Based On Self-Sufficiency: Implications For Rapid Re-Housing Interventions, Quinmill Lei

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Aims: There is limited research on the characteristics of individuals experiencing homelessness

who achieve positive housing outcomes in rapid re-housing (RRH) interventions. This study

aimed to identify a typology of homelessness based on Self-Sufficiency Matrix (SSM) domains

and examine its relation to sociodemographic characteristics and housing placement in RRH.

Methods: Homeless Management Information System data, including sociodemographics, SSM

domains, and housing outcomes, were obtained for 261 Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program participants in Indianapolis, IN.

Results: Latent class analysis revealed three subgroups based on SSM domains. Latent class

regression found the subgroups were significantly associated with race and significantly …

Life After The Storm: An Examination Of Bereavement And Posttraumatic Growth Among Urban Adolescents, Keturah Jedidah Platt

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The loss of a loved one due to death can be one of life’s most painful and traumatic experiences. During this challenging period, individuals are more prone to developing physical and emotional health problems. Even though these difficulties should be fully acknowledged, it is important to also acknowledge the possibility of posttraumatic growth (PTG) following bereavement. PTG refers to the positive psychological changes that may occur as a result of highly stressful events and circumstances. These changes include growth in the following five areas: (a) New Possibilities, (b) Relating to Others, (c) Appreciation of Life, (d) Personal Strength, and (e) …

A Life Course Person-Centered Approach To Adult Trauma Histories And Examination Of Intergenerational Trauma In Preschoolers, Jessica Annabel Arizaga

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This study seeks to address gaps in intergenerational trauma research by focusing on a predominantly Latine and racially minoritized sample, applying Life Course Theory concepts to the measurement of trauma exposure among parents, and using person-centered methods to uncover trauma typologies (subgroups with similarly patterned trauma histories). Participants were 143 parents (91 primary caregivers and 52 secondary caregivers, of which 42 were fathers) and their preschool age children (n = 91; 51.1% boys) recruited from three Head Start Programs in the Chicagoland Area (65.65% of families had low household incomes). Five distinct trauma typologies were found through Latent …

Identifying The Strategic Core Of Interactive Teams, Morgan Elizabeth Gleason

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines how the strategic core of interactive teams can be identified and examined using interactive process data. The IOP literature suggests that certain key members contribute more to team outcomes than others (Barker, 1993; Sparrowe et al., 2001). Key members of a team comprise a “strategic core,” encountering more job-relevant tasks and problems, thereby contributing more to team performance (Barker, 1993). This research used manually coded passing data from 1,309 games of the 2016-2017 National Basketball Association (NBA) season and player statistics reported by the NBA to examine the structure of the strategic core of basketball teams based …

“If You Didn’T Mean It, Why Did I Feel It?”: Comparing The Effects Of Deliberate Vs. Unintentional Ostracism, Andrea L. Sanders

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Ostracism is a form of social exclusion characterized primarily by the experience of being ignored in a social situation. Ostracism is psychologically significant not only because it separates us from desirable social interactions but also because it provides information about how others view us. Investigations of seemingly deliberate ostracism have consistently shown that exclusion threatens people’s sense of self; yet little research directly compares how consequences differ when people believe they were excluded deliberately versus unintentionally. Across five studies, we explored whether the ostracizer’s perceived intent to exclude affected participants sense of self and their subsequent thoughts, feelings and behaviors. …

A Comprehensive Investigation Of Social Status Insecurity In Adolescents, Yunyi Long

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Surrounded by peers who pay increasing attention to social status, adolescents may experience growing concerns about their standing among peers such as feeling that their status being threatened by others or being not as high as they want. These types of social status related concerns are referred to as social status insecurity (SSI; Li, Wang, Wang, & Shi, 2010). Although SSI is a relatively new research topic, a few pioneering studies have found the presence of this issue among adolescents in different cultures and have identified some negative impacts of SSI on adolescents’ behavioral development, such as increased use of …

Social Status Insecurity And Body Image Related Health Outcomes: Testing A Moderated Mediation Model, Mingqi Li

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Body dissatisfaction has been found to be associated with a wide range of maladjustment outcomes and negative behavioral consequences. To identify the sources leading to body dissatisfaction, the present study proposed that an aspect of social cognition specifically regarding peer status, known as social status insecurity, may function as a precursor of body dissatisfaction. This study further examined the associations between social status insecurity and body-image-related health outcomes by focusing on the mediation effects of body dissatisfaction in a sample of 308 Chinese adolescents (117 girls, 191 boys). Furthermore, this study examined whether these mediation processes were moderated by social …