Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Evaluation Of Coastal Community Response To Sea Level Rise On The Delmarva Peninsula, Timothy Villanueva

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the response of coastal community comprehensive plans to the threats posed by sea level rise. The communities evaluated are Chincoteague, VA, Ocean City, MD, and Rehoboth Beach, DE. The results of the evaluations illustrate to what extent these communities are prepared to deal with sea level rise and provide a basis for recommendations to improve plan quality. The level of community risk and the components of the individual comprehensive plans are evaluated using new models created for this project. Risk level is measured using computer disaster simulations, topographic and demographic data. The …

Do The Rich Get Richer? A Meta-Analysis Of Methodological And Substantive Moderators Of Couple Enrichment, Terry L. Hight

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of couple enrichment using currently-accepted standards of meta-analytic research, including analysis based upon both fixed-effects and random effects models. Ninety published and unpublished studies comparing enrichment groups to control groups were included in the analyses. The overall mean effect size (0.23) for couple enrichment was heterogeneous, positive, and significantly different than 0. Mean effect sizes for both post-treatment and follow-up did not differ significantly. Methodological and substantive moderator variables associated with publication date, publication source, program type, program length, latency of measurement, mode of measurement, measure type, measure/program congruence, design quality, and researcher allegiance were …

Unsupportive Social Interactions As Moderators Of Adjustment In Acute Cardiac Patients, Scott L. Green

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of unsupportive social interactions, within Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) cognitive appraisal model, on individual's mood states following an acute cardiac event (i.e., myocardial infarction, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, coronary artery bypass grafting). It was hypothesized that unsupportive social interactions would exacerbate the effects of a patient's appraisals of threat secondary to an acute cardiac event. Participants in the present investigation were 67 patients from the cardiology unit of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia. Each participant had incurred an acute cardiac event, as classified by the International …

Family-Centered Practice In Early Intervention Services For Infants And Toddlers: The Experience Of Families And Professionals In One Local Interagency Coordinating Council, Patrick Shannon

Theses and Dissertations

Part H [recently reauthorized as Part C] of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates the application of family-centered practice principles to early intervention services. There has been a considerable amount of literature published in early intervention journals related to family and professional relationships in early intervention and its connection to family-centered care in early intervention services. There is very little literature, however, that examined the implementation of family-centered principles from a perspective that transcended the relationship between families and early intervention providers.

This inquiry was a constructivist policy analysis of the implementation of the family-centered intent of Part …

The Impact Of A Peer-Led Program On The Peer Leaders' Leadership-Related Skills, Christopher J. Hogan

Theses and Dissertations

Leadership and goal setting skills were examined for 49 high school students who implemented a peer-led health and life skills program for sixth grade students. Participants completed surveys that included a leadership scale and a goal setting scale constructed for this study. and an adapted version of the Goals Inventory. Surveys were administered to the participants prior to a 3-day training (Time Point I), immediately following the training (Time Point 2). and at the completion of leading 12. 1-hour workshops (Time Point 3). The results indicate that high school peer leaders perceived an increase in both their leadership and goal …

Acute Gaba-A Receptor Modulation By Diazepam Following Traumatic Brain Injury In The Rat: An Immunohistochemical Study, Cynthia J. Gibson

Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) disrupts ionic balance and produces acute widespread depolarization. Restoration of ionic balance and neuronal function after TBI may be achieved by increasing inhibitory neurotransmission (e.g., stimulating GABA-A receptors). This study used antibodies specific for β2/3 subunits to examine changes in GABA-A receptors in the rat hippocampus 24 hours following moderate fluid percussion TBI. The β2/ 3 antibody primarily stained dendritic processes. No injury related changes were found in the CA1 but extensive morphological dendritic alterations were found in the CA3 region of the hippocampus. Analysis revealed decreased length of immunoreactive processes in CA3 apical dendrites of …