Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Parental Food Neophobia On Children’S Fruit And Vegetable Acceptance: A Serial Mediation Model, Christina Sophia Marlow

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The United States is currently facing a child obesity epidemic. One possible contributor to this epidemic is children’s low intake of healthful foods such as fruits and vegetables. In order to investigate factors associated with children’s low fruit and vegetable liking and acceptance, we recruited 150 children between the ages of 5 and 10 years of age (Mage = 92.47 mo. , 44.7% female). Based on previous research, we measured parental and child neophobia using adult and child versions of the food neophobia scale, and parents’ reports of children’s fruit and vegetable offered at home. Children completed two laboratory tasks. …

The Effect Of Supervision Training For School Counselors On Supervision Knowledge And Supervisor Self-Efficacy, Adrienne Marie Backer

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This study investigated the effect of supervision training on participating school counselors’ supervision knowledge and supervisor self-efficacy. A randomized experimental research design allowed the unbiased examination of outcomes associated with participation in the Site Supervision Training for School Counselors (SST-SC) program. The researcher conducted repeated measures analyses of variance to explore the effect of a seven-week, asynchronous online site supervision training intervention on school counselors’ supervision knowledge and supervisor self-efficacy. The results indicated a statistically significant main effect for time for supervision knowledge, with both groups showing an increase in test scores from pre- to post-test, regardless of participation in …

Keep Your Distance! Modeling The Relationship Between Social Ecology And Changes In Geographic Mobility During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jason Dillon Freeman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In this paper, we examine whether relational mobility and historical pathogen prevalence on a country level relates to an individual’s willingness or ability to restrict movement in response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, both together an individually. We use data on geographic mobility compiled from geolocation data on mobile phones to examine aggregate changes in geographic mobility at the country-level at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with a pre-pandemic baseline. We find that countries high in relational mobility showed a greater decrease in geographic mobility than countries low in relational mobility following the onset of the …

Female Aggression Level Mediates The Impact Of Anthropogenic Noise Pollution In Eastern Bluebirds, Heather Violet Kenny

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

We asked whether anthropogenic noise and animal personality interact to influence the settlement patterns and parental behaviors of individual eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) in a suburban landscape. Our hypothesis was that individuals with bold-type personalities would be less sensitive to noise pollution because they are more risk-tolerant. We collected repeated measures of neophobia, aggression, and nestling feeding rate in adult bluebirds while manipulating the sound environment at nest boxes. First, we added a recording of traffic noise during the nestling stage. We found that when exposed to experimental noise, aggressive females had higher feeding rates than less-aggressive females. Individual bluebirds …

The Impact Of High School Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) Magnet Programs On The Academic Performance Of Students, Melanie Eileen Megias

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Concern about the impact of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs on society are not new. STEM employment in the United States has grown twice as fast as other fields during the last decade. School districts have been encouraged to consider STEM-focused schools to meet this demand and have responded by offering STEM magnet program options. This mixed-methods study used Lewin’s Theory of Change and Fullan’s ideas on Coherence as the theoretical frameworks to examine how students who participate in a high school STEM magnet program perform academically. Academic performance was measured using grade point average (GPA) and graduation …

Investigating Facilitation Strategies And Engagement In Correctional Mindfulness Programs: A Grounded Theory, Alexander Joseph Seth Hilert

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Mindfulness has received growing attention as an empowering approach for the treatment of addiction and mental health disorders in the criminal justice system. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, this study explored the teaching practices of volunteers who currently facilitate mindfulness programs in correctional settings. A total of fifteen volunteer meditation teachers and three former group members were interviewed. The researcher utilized interview data to construct a grounded theory which conceptualizes the barriers volunteers face, helpful facilitation strategies, and factors which promote and threaten the engagement of group members. The results of this grounded theory illustrate culturally responsive facilitation strategies …

The Impact Of High School Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) Magnet Programs On The Academic Performance Of Students, Eric Acosta

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Concern about the impact of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs on society are not new. STEM employment in the United States has grown twice as fast as other fields during the last decade. School districts have been encouraged to consider STEM-focused schools to meet this demand and have responded by offering STEM magnet program options. This mixed-methods study used Lewin’s Theory of Change and Fullan’s ideas on Coherence as the theoretical frameworks to examine how students who participate in a high school STEM magnet program perform academically. Academic performance was measured using grade point average (GPA) and graduation …

The Impact Of High School Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) Magnet Program On The Academic Performance Of Students, Gilberto D. Bonce

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Concern about the impact of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs on society are not new. STEM employment in the United States has grown twice as fast as other fields during the last decade. School districts have been encouraged to consider STEM-focused schools to meet this demand and have responded by offering STEM magnet program options. This mixed-methods study used Lewin’s Theory of Change and Fullan’s ideas on Coherence as the theoretical frameworks to examine how students who participate in a high school STEM magnet program perform academically. Academic performance was measured using grade point average (GPA) and graduation …

Emotional Resilience In Children With Incarcerated Mothers: A Person-Centered Approach, Jenna Barbara Marzougui

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

According to Bioecological theory, social and environmental contexts (e.g., parental incarceration) shape child outcomes (Brofennbrenner & Ceci, 1994). Research suggests that children with incarcerated parents are at heightened risk of experiencing adverse outcomes, yet, little research has focused on resilience in this population (Arditti et al., 2020). Conceptualized within a Bioecological framework (Brofennbrenner & Ceci, 1994), the present study used a person-centered approach to investigate emotional resilience in children with incarcerated mothers.

Participants were 148 children (Mage = 9.87 years, SD = 1.65 years, range = 7–13 years, 52.7% female, 66% Black), their 116 incarcerated mothers (M …

Mindfulness Moderates The Association Between Internalizing Symptomatology And Emotional Eating, Ti Hsu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Emotional eating is defined as the tendency to increase food consumption in order to modify negative emotional states. Although it is counter to the more typical response of decreasing food intake in the face of distress, emotional eating is observed in both eating disordered and healthy populations and is associated with overweight and obesity. Theories on emotional eating attribute its cause to inadequate emotion regulation, specifically an inability to draw awareness to and accept distress. Mindfulness, or the ability to pay attention to one's internal and external experiences, is negatively associated with both emotional eating and psychological distress. Only one …

A Program Evaluation Of The Implementation Of School Improvement Policies Of The Every Student Succeeds Act In A Rural School District In Virginia, Craig B. Reed

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This qualitative study examined the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in Virginia and how this implementation impacts student achievement. Three research questions were the focus of this study. First, how is a local rural district implementing components of ESSA related to school improvement? Second, what are principals' beliefs about the potential benefits and liabilities of the implementation of ESSA regarding school improvement? Finally, what are the recommendations to principals regarding improving the implementation of ESSA to enhance the effectiveness of school improvement? This study supported the idea that entrepreneurial or creative thinking is essential in providing sustainable …

Measuring Social Ecology: Comparing Perceptions Of Personal And Societal Relational Mobility In Japan And The United States, Caroline Mackenzie Jordan

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Relational mobility, i.e., the degree to which individuals are afforded opportunities to voluntarily form and terminate relationships in a given society, is proposed in previous research to underlie many cultural differences in psychology. However, questions remain about how to best measure the construct of relational mobility, and whether to consider relational mobility as a construct existing on the environmental or individual level. In this study, we test the measurement invariance of one proposed alternate measure, the personal mobility scale across the United States (n = 1,698) and Japan (n = 2,224). We then compare correlations between personal mobility and individual …

Factor Structure And Affective Composition Of The Chills: Replication And Extension, Yi Cui

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

“The chills” refers to a set of bodily sensations (goosebumps, tingling, coldness, and shivers) that sometimes accompany strong emotion (Maruskin, Thrash & Elliot, 2012). Past factor analyses of the chills identified a multi-factor, hierarchical structure, consisting of four lower-order factors (goosebumps, tingling, coldness, and shivers) and two higher-order factors (goosetingles and coldshivers). Research on the affective nomological nets of particular chills factors provided additional evidence of the discriminant validity of the two higher-order and the four-lower-order factors (Maruskin, Thrash & Elliot, 2012; Wadsworth, 2019). Despite evidence of discriminant validity, most researchers have continued to treat the chills as a unitary …

Internet-Based Cultural Competence Training For White Undergraduate Students At Predominantly White University, Nyx Robey

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Students from underrepresented racial groups experience higher rates of both explicit and subtler forms of racial prejudice and discrimination (Ellis, Powell, Demetriou, Huerta-Bapat, Carmen & Panter, 2019; Harwood et al., 2012; Ray, 2013; Stevens, Liu, & Chen, 2018; Vaccaro, 2010). Cultural competence training may benefit individuals in celebrating culturally-based differences as strengths, cognitively understanding their experience and cognitively empathizing with the experience of others, as well as building skills to better cross-cultural interactions (Glockshuber, 2005; Minami, 2008; Sue et al., 1982; Sue, 2001 Sue & Sue, 2013). This process can be beneficial particularly for White students (Chao, Wei, Good & …

Trait Absorption: Correlates And Role In A Mindfulness-Based Intervention For Social Anxiety, Joshua Lipson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Trait absorption, defined by Tellegen and Atkinson (1974) as “a disposition for having episodes of ‘total’ attention that fully engage one’s representational … resouces”, has been explored in connection to placebo response, mystical experience, religiosity, and synesthesia. However, absorption has not been explored as a predictor of psychotherapeutic outcomes. Over the course of two studies, we sought to gain an understanding of absorption’s trait-level associations, as well as its role as a predictor of social anxiety reduction after a brief mindfulness paradigm. Namely, we hypothesized that individuals higher in trait absorption would experience larger reductions in social anxiety after a …

The Longitudinal Impact Of Moral Injury On Combat Soldiers: A Narrative Inquiry Study, David Gosling

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This study explores the confluence of Narrative Inquiry's three commonplaces of temporality, sociality, and place on the experiences of five combat veterans with combat-designated Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) across the lifespan. In particular, the study examines the longitudinal components of Moral Injury (MI) before, during, and after combat operations. Chapter 4 explores the individual narratives of the participants, Chapter 5 examines common narrative threads between participants, and Chapter 6 is the author's subsequent extrapolations on the subject matter given his own experiences as a combat veteran of the Iraq War.

A Longitudinal Examination Of Problem Behaviors In Children With Incarcerated Fathers Using Latent Growth Curve Analyses, Daryl Hesse

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Research has found that children with an incarcerated parent are at greater risk for externalizing behaviors (e.g., Kjellstrand & Eddy, 2011), which are associated with a plethora of developmental consequences including poorer family function (Donenberg & Baker, 1992), less academic achievement (Breslau et al., 2010), and later delinquency (Fergusson & Horwood, 1995). The present study modeled externalizing behaviors for individuals with and without incarcerated fathers. Utilizing latent growth curve analysis (LGCA) models and data from a large, multisite study, we modeled mother-reported problem behaviors from ages 54 months to 15 years. As predicted, on average, externalizing behaviors decreased over time. …

The Impact Of High School Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) Magnet Programs On The Academic Performance Of Students, Guillermo Alejandro Munoz

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Concern about the impact of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs on society are not new. STEM employment in the United States has grown twice as fast as other fields during the last decade. School districts have been encouraged to consider STEM-focused schools to meet this demand and have responded by offering STEM magnet program options. This mixed-methods study used Lewin’s Theory of Change and Fullan’s ideas on Coherence as the theoretical frameworks to examine how students who participate in a high school STEM magnet program perform academically. Academic performance was measured using grade point average (GPA) and graduation …

The Impact Of High School Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (Stem) Magnet Programs On The Academic Performance Of Students, Evonne S. Alvarez

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Concern about the impact of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs on society are not new. STEM employment in the United States has grown twice as fast as other fields during the last decade. School districts have been encouraged to consider STEM-focused schools to meet this demand and have responded by offering STEM magnet program options. This mixed-methods study used Lewin’s Theory of Change and Fullan’s ideas on Coherence as the theoretical frameworks to examine how students who participate in a high school STEM magnet program perform academically. Academic performance was measured using grade point average (GPA) and graduation …

Studies On The Anatomy Of Teleosts, Katherine Elliott Bemis

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The Longnose Lancetfish, Alepisaurus ferox, is a pelagic marine fish that has a heterodont dentition, including large fangs on both the upper and lower jaws. Their diet is well documented and includes salps, hyperiid amphipods, pelagic polychaete worms, mesopelagic fishes, and cephalopods. However, the function of the heterodont dentition, the structure of the teeth, and replacement mode is largely unknown. We studied a series of A. ferox to describe their dentition and tooth replacement. All teeth are replaced extraosseously. Palatine and dentary fangs develop horizontally in the oral epithelium on the lingual surface of dentigerous bones. Developing fangs rotate into …

Parent And Peer Emotion Socialization As Predictors Of Adolescent Internalizing Symptomatology: The Role Of Emotion Via Structural Equation Modeling, Molly Elizabeth Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Parental and peer emotion socialization as well as adolescent emotion regulation are significant predictors of adolescent psychopathology (Gaertner et al., 2010; Shortt et al., 2016). When a parent is unsupportive of their youth's emotional displays, the adolescent is at greater risk for internalizing disorders (Shewark & Blandon, 2015). During adolescence, friends are also socializers of youth's emotions and those peers who respond in validating ways may buffer against the development of internalizing disorders (Bowker & Rubin, 2009). Research analyzing these constructs has relied almost exclusively on one form of measurement (e.g., McKee et al., 2018) and often emotion regulation has …

Personality Profiles And Political Regions: A Latent Profile Analysis Approach, Tianfang Yang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Big Five personality traits have been shown to be one important psychological process that underlie differences in political orientation. An abundance of work has found that political conservatism is consistently predicted by trait Conscientiousness, whereas political liberalism is consistently predicted by Openness to Experience. Other work found that political behaviors may be related to regional differences in personality. The present study extended existing work by examining the numbers and features of distinct personality profiles within Republican, Democratic, and swing regions of the United States. To do so, we conducted latent profile analysis (LPA) to determine different personality profiles within different …

Filling In The Gaps: Applications Of Deep Learning, Satellite Imagery, And High Performance Computing For The Estimation And Distribution Of Geospatial Data, Seth Goodman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Many regions around the world suffer from a lack of authoritatively-collected data on factors critical to understanding human well-being. This challenges our ability to understand the progress society is making towards reducing poverty, improving lifespans, or otherwise improving livelihoods. A growing body of research is exploring how deep learning algorithms can be used to produce novel estimates of sparse development data, and how access to such data can impact development efforts. This dissertation contributes to this literature in three parts. First, using Landsat 8 satellite imagery and data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, convolutional neural networks …

Challenges Finding Employment: An Investigation Of Implicit Vs. Explicit Attitudes Towards Autistic Adults, Bendu Mercy Jackson

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Despite the pervasiveness of autism (1 in 54), implicit and explicit attitudes towards people with ASD are mainly adverse (Cage et al., 2019). Although in recent years, more research has been conducted to investigate implicit attitudes towards other mental illnesses (Teachman, Wilson, & Komorovskaya, 2006) and physical disabilities (Nosek et al. 2007), few studies have assessed implicit and explicit attitudes toward adults with autism. The main goal of the study was to investigate Non-ASD individuals’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward autistic individuals. We hypothesized that participants would have negative implicit attitudes but report positive explicit attitudes towards autistic individuals, participants …

“It's Not About Us": The Erasure Of African American Heritage And The Rehistoricization Of The First Africans On Jamestown Island, Virginia, Lamarise C. Reid

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This thesis explores the complex relationship between making African Diaspora history and culture visible at Historic Jamestowne, a setting that has historically been seen as "white". The four hundredth anniversary of the forced arrival of Africans in Virginia has created a fraught space to examine African American collective memories of shared history, community and commemoration. This thesis operationalizes Page and Thomas's (1994) "white public space" which describes the utilization of "locations, sites, patterns, configurations or devices that routinely discursively, and sometimes coercively privilege Euro-Americans over nonwhites" (1994: 111). When this concept is applied to the construction of heritage and production …

Human Dimensions Of A Participatory, Collaborative Modeling Process - Oysterfutures, Taylor Dawn Goelz

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Participatory, collaborative modeling processes represent a unique decision-making technique within natural resources management that allows for the combination of stakeholder involvement with the analytical and predictive power of scientific models. The continued use of participatory modeling within decision-making processes depends in part upon the willingness of stakeholders to participate. Continued participation of stakeholders is key to the persistence and overall success of these processes, and yet limited information exists concerning the impacts of these processes on participants. The consideration of human dimensions advances our understanding of the design and function of participatory modeling processes, including their ability to create consensus …

Age-Related Differences In Inhibitory Function: Investigation Of Simon And Flanker Conflicts In Erps, Rachel Scrivano

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

It is unclear whether or not older adults experience more difficulty managing cognitive conflict by inhibiting distracting stimuli and/or ignoring irrelevant information than younger adults. A common procedure used to measure inhibitory function is through the use of congruent and incongruent stimuli. Specifically, past literature that used tasks like the Simon and flanker have found differing effects on reaction times and various event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes and latencies, suggesting that either inhibitory function is a unitary mechanism or multifaceted. Moreover, research exhibits uncertainty for whether or not age influences deficits to inhibitory function. Another way to measure inhibitory deficits with …

Distress Tolerance Predicts Day-To-Day Emotion Regulation Behaviors, Maria Alexandra Larrazabal Carrillo

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Distress tolerance (DT), or the ability to effectively withstand aversive internal experiences, is related to diverse physical and mental health benefits, including resilience to depression, anxiety, and substance misuse. DT might prevent health problems by promoting more adaptive and less maladaptive emotion regulation decisions in the face of stressful events. The present study—a pilot investigation that is the basis for a forthcoming study—tested this hypothesis by examining between- and within-person associations of DT with a repertoire of 12 common emotion regulation strategies. We recruited 25 high-anxiety university students to complete surveys of DT and emotion regulation efforts in response to …

The Influence Of Family Functioning On Social Competence, Social Support, And Mental Health Among College Students, Sean Newhart

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

There are a multitude of factors that influence college students’ mental health. Among such factors, there is little research on the influence of family functioning, social competence, and social support on the mental health of college students. This quantitative research study examined the relationships among the identified variables utilizing structural equation modeling. Results indicate that although there are relationships between each variable, the a priori theoretical model established by the researcher did not fit the data well. Implications for mental health practitioners and researchers are explored in light of the researcher’s findings.

An Evaluation Of An Online High School Summer Credit Recovery Program To Maintain Virginia On-Time Graduation, Melissa Luanne Bentley

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In an attempt to maintain on-time graduation rates and reduce dropout rates, school districts, such as the one in this study, implement credit recovery programs. In an effort to improve student graduation rates and address graduation disparities, the Virginia school district in this study implements a summer credit recovery program that utilizes accelerated online learning as opposed to traditional direct instruction. This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the summer program as it relates to the success of student credit recovery and verified credit achievement to determine if there is a correlation to program participation and remaining on-track for …