Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Role Of Hardiness, Family Hardiness, And Parenting Self-Efficacy On Parenting Stress In Adoptive Parents, Erica Danielle Raisanen

Master's Theses

Adoptive parents are at risk for experiencing a high level of parenting stress (McGlone, Santos, Kazama, Fong, & Mueller, 2002) throughout the duration of the adoption experience. Adoptee background factors have been found to contribute to increased levels of parenting stress and distress in adoptive parents (Brooks, Simmel, Wind, & Barth, 2005; McDonald, Lieberman, Partridge, & Homby, 1991; McGlone et al., 2002). Increased parenting stress has been associated with negative outcomes for both parent and child (Ang, 2008; Deater-Deckard, Smith, & Ivy 2005; Morgan, Robinsion, & Aldridge, 2002). Hardiness, family hardiness and parental self-efficacy are protective factors that have all …

Financing Public Solar Projects: California Public Jurisdictions' Experiences In Acquiring And Financing Solar Photovoltaic Installations, Dana M.C. Hoffman

Master's Theses

More efficient technologies, state laws as well as environmental, social, and political pressures have all contributed to placing solar acquisition on the agenda for California’s public entities over the last half decade. But a key question for these frequently cash-strapped jurisdictions is how to utilize public dollars and lands, and how to leverage incentives to obtain solar PVs. As an alternative to outright purchase, a promising financing option made available to jurisdictions in recent years is ownership by a third party, usually the solar company, including various forms of Power Purchase Agreements (PPA’s) and leasing. Due in part to state …

Determinants Of Food Insecurity Among Vulnerable White And Latino Households: Contextualizing The Impact Of Sociodemographic And Household-Level Factors, Alexandra Lund

Master's Theses

Household-level characteristics have been shown to be associated with food insecurity but studies among vulnerable populations are sparse. A food security assessment was developed to determine food security and collect sociodemographic and household level data across San Luis Obispo County. The assessments were administered to vulnerable groups through interviews at multiple sites across the County. Three household characteristics (marital status, number of children in the household and number of workers in the household) were examined in this analysis. A total of 808 surveys were collected, 69% in English and 31% in Spanish. Through ethnicity-stratified sequentially adjusted logistic regression models, the …

Why Risk It? The Effect Of Risk And Time Preferences On Microfinance Loan Default, Nike Start

Master's Theses

Microfinance is widely recognized as a powerful method for poverty

alleviation. However, little is known about the characteristics of those who

default on their loans. Understanding the behavior of borrowers is an important

component of mitigating adverse selection and the moral hazard of lending. Both

of these concepts embody some of the greatest challenges faced by microfinance

institutions, and they provide the major motivation for this study. Accordingly,

the main objective of this research is to investigate whether non-delinquent

borrowers and delinquent borrowers of a microfinance institution reveal any

difference in their level of risk preference and time preference. This …

Stress, Anxiety, And Somatic Symptoms: A Comparison Of Biomarkers In A Clinical Sample, David J. Finitsis

Master's Theses

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent class of mental disorders, often characterized by a chronic course and comorbid psychopathology. The anxiety-stress literature utilizing cortisol as a biomarker of the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis has been inconsistent. The establishment of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) as a biomarker of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation allows researchers an opportunity to examine the stress response more fully. This study sought to explore relationships between trait anxiety and salivary stress biomarkers in an outpatient sample attending a specialized anxiety treatment center. Multiple regression and moderator analyses were conducted to examine associations between psychosocial and physiological …

Migration And Children's School And Labor: Evidence From El Salvador, Zachary Intemann

Master's Theses

This paper examines the impact of parental migration on schooling outcomes for children left behind in El Salvador. Using cross sectional data collected in 2012, outcomes for children are observed for children with migrant parents. The outcomes are also analyzed by gender of the migrant parent who left his or her child behind. Results are observed using instrumental variable estimations, as well as a seemingly unrelated regression to estimate the impact of migration on a child’s time allocation. Outcomes are also analyzed measuring the impact of remittances. Results show that children with at least one migrant parent will complete more …

Consumer Evaluation Of Low Sodium Mozzarella Cheese And Development Of A Novel Method For Evaluating Emotions, Lauren Alyse Collinsworth

Master's Theses

Mozzarella cheese is currently the highest consumed cheese in the United States. The popularity of mozzarella cheese is typically attributed to the high consumption rates of pizza cheese and string cheese; both of which are low moisture part skim (LMPS) mozzarella cheese. A single serving of LMPS mozzarella cheese contains approximately 8% of the daily value (DV) for sodium, a mineral which is currently consumed in excess among most Americans. On average, one in three Americans has hypertension. This condition is strongly associated with excessive sodium intake, and it is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke in …

Measurement Invariance Of Assessment Center Ratings: Consistency Of Dimensional Constructs Across Exercises, Jin Lee

Master's Theses

The criterion-related validity of assessment centers (ACs) has been consistently supported. However, there has been an ongoing debate about AC construct validity in regard to low dimension variance and overriding exercise variance. Many studies that showed weak dimension effects in ACs have been based on the multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) framework which posits cross-situational variance as error and all capability dimensions can be equally represented from different exercises. The goal of this study is to introduce a measurement invariance (MI) framework for evaluating the construct validity of AC dimensions. Specifically, MI analysis was used to test whether the construct meaning of AC …

The Role Of Self-Esteem, Perceived Social Support, And Coping Strategy In The Escalation Of Depressive Symptomatology During The First Year Of College, Catherine Lee

Master's Theses

The first year of college is a significant life transition that can be a particularly stressful experience, which may lead to the development or exacerbation of depressive symptoms. Due to the considerable negative outcomes that are associated with depressive symptoms across the lifespan, it is important to understand the mechanisms and pathways through which such symptoms arise. This prospective study examines how self-esteem, perceived social support, and coping strategies are associated with the development of depressive symptoms during the transition to college. The findings of this longitudinal study indicate that self-esteem may affect both perceived social support and disengagement coping …

The Relation Of Executive Functions To Active Coping Strategies And Internalizing Symptoms In A Community Sample Of African-American Youth, Arie Zakaryan

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the relations between stressor appraisals, active coping, executive functions, and internalizing symptoms in a community sample of low-income African-American youth. There is a dearth of studies assessing how executive functions influence the connection between coping and internalizing symptoms, notably in community and minority populations. When faced with distressing, uncontrollable settings straining the capacity to self-regulate, youth with executive functioning deficits may encounter greater challenges in coping with stressors. Yet, since typically adaptive active coping strategies do not benefit some youth and can result in negative outcomes, it is important to identify what …

Login To Learn: A Content Analysis Of Southeast Asian Policies On Technology And Education, Laura D. Pasley

Master's Theses

In the following thesis, using Aucoin's (2011) theoretical framework, I juxtapose the discourses neoliberalism and humanitarian "access" as they relate to describing the potential outcomes of ICT adoption in education. Through a content analysis, I sought to answer the research question: To what extent have the discourses of neoliberalism and "access" used in regional ASEAN policies influenced ICT policymaking at the national level of its member states? The findings demonstrated a slight difference between ICT policies published prior to the 2011 ASEAN policy, but those published "after" were all also published in 2011 which may point to forces outside of …

Social-Environmental Predictors Of Health-Related Quality Of Life In Youth With Spina Bifida, Caitlin Beth Murray

Master's Theses

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a multidimensional construct including an individual's physical and mental health and psychosocial well-being (De Civita et al., 2005), and the measurement of HRQOL has been recognized as a key marker of health outcomes in pediatric populations (Eiser & Jenney, 2007). Due to medical and technological advances, an increasing number of individuals with chronic illnesses are living longer. As such, research that investigates improvements in HRQOL in youth with chronic illnesses has become essential. Indeed, the number of studies examining HRQOL in pediatric populations has increased markedly; spina bifida (SB) is one among several chronic …

Sustainable Diverse Communities: A Comparison Of Hammond, Indiana And Chicago's Uptown Neighborhood, Teresa Neumann

Master's Theses

According to US Census data Hammond, IN - a midsized American City - and Chicago's Uptown neighborhood both have census tracts that have been racially, ethnically and economically diverse over the past 20-30 years. Utilizing the engaged methodology of community-based research this project uses the voice of community leaders from both Hammond and Uptown to inform and illustrate what is happening behind the Census data. This includes the role of civic institutions, local government and local business. Through long form structured interviews individuals offered their perspectives, concerns and ideas about how this diversity came about and what challenges and opportunities …

Examination Of Presenter Characteristics On Satisfaction And Learning In A Treatment Readiness Program, Haley M. Siler

Master's Theses

Determining factors that encourage thinking and attending to information is an important aspect of working to help people learn more effectively. Characteristics of presenters have been found to be cues for information processing, related to the results of those being presented to. It was found that both client's liking and perceived expertise of the presenter were related to both program satisfaction and learning of educational materials. Determining factors that encourage thinking and attending to information is an important aspect of working to help people learn more effectively. Characteristics of presenters have been found to be cues for information processing, related …

The Role Of At Epistemic Community In Haitian Education Reform Post Earthquake 2010, Joy Okeefe

Master's Theses

This is a study of the role of an epistemic community involved in the policymaking of education reform in Haiti after the devastating earthquake of 2010. It uses Peter M. Haas' (1992) framework as a theoretical lens. According to Haas, epistemic communities are conceptualized as "a network of professionals with recognized expertise and competence in a particular domain and an authoritative claim to policy relevant knowledge within a domain or issue area" (3). The epistemic communities involved in the policymaking of the current education reforms specifically related to privatization in Haiti are identified and analyzed through the content analysis of …

Seeking Modernity, Brain Gain, And Brain Drain: The Historical Evolution Of Chinese Students' Overseas Education In The United States Since Modern China, Di Luo

Master's Theses

This thesis is an historical research project that examines major waves of Chinese students studying in the United States since the mid-nineteenth century, as well as the impact of returned, American-educated Chinese students to the modernization of Chinese society. It also discusses the trend and pattern of the current wave after 1978 and compare it with previous waves. The analysis and examination of this thesis is based on a wide variety of written documents in both Chinese and English, including historical literatures, academic articles, dissertations, surveys, government publications, statistical data from both primary and secondary sources, as well as educational …

Treading Identities: Second-Generation Christian Indian Americans Negotiating Race, Ethnicity And Religion In America, Soulit Chacko

Master's Theses

In this master's thesis, I examine the lives of young second generation Malayalee Christian Indian Americans. I focus on their religion, racial as well as their ethnic identities. My main findings centers on the thesis that my participants as brown Indians are dually marginalized not only because of their race as brown Indian Americans but also because of their presumed religious identity of being a Hindu. Drawing from detail interviews and participant observation with thirty young second generation Malayalee Christian Indian Americans, I find that my participants are struggling to frame their Christian identity in America. Participants described being racially …

The Influences Of Parental Expectations On Children's Academic Achievements: A Comparative Analysis Of The United States And China, Xiaoyu Wang

Master's Theses

Parenting is very important to children, and it directly or indirectly influences children's outcomes in schools. Parents express passions and strong desires to help their children to succeed regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, and they are highly interested in their children's education in school.

This paper is concerned with parental expectations for school-aged children in the United States and China under the influences of historical, cultural and social context. I will comprehensively compare relevant literature parts in both America and China, determining the distinctions in terms of various parenting patterns. Research about parental expectations in the two countries …

Conspiratorial Thinking: How Worldview And Mortality Salience Affect Belief, Eric James Anderson

Master's Theses

Conspiratorial thinking is widespread throughout the world, though the major social sciences have thus far chosen not to study them for a variety of reasons. This study attempts to understand what, in fact, makes individuals believe in conspiracy theories. Using aspects of terror management theory, Kruglanski's theory of lay epistemology, participants' political worldviews, and conspiracy type, this paper will explore what triggers conspiracy-prone individuals to see the world the way they do. It is anticipated that individuals who have thoughts of their death primed in their consciousness will structure the world more rigidly, cling to their worldviews and respond to …

Legislating The Risk Of Light Teachers In 1950s And 1970s America, Kevin Vincent Heffernan

Master's Theses

The existence of gay and lesbian teachers remains for many a dangerous notion. Indeed, education and schooling are terrains in which homosexuality has historically been highly charged. Underlying this are problematic assumptions about the suitability of gays and lesbians as school workers, assumptions that feed into larger questions about gays and lesbians in general. This thesis will explore these assumptions - and their consequences for gay and lesbian teachers - against the backdrop of both the 1950s, when the burgeoning Cold War created an "age of anxiety," and the 1970s, when the rise of the religious right began to transform …

The Independent Influences Of Relational And Physical Victimization On Subsequent Physical Aggression In Middle School Children, Michelle D. Mioduszewski

Master's Theses

Using Agnew's strain (1992) and integrative (2005) theory, this study hypothesized that relational and physical victimization would be independently associated with self-reported physical aggression at six months and one year after victimization. Secondary data analysis was conducted using three waves of a longitudinal multisite dataset used for the "Outcome Evaluation of the Teens, Crime, and the Community/Community Works (TCC/CW) Training Program, 2004-2005." Independent variables at wave one were relational victimization occurring none or one time (56.2%), or two or more times (43.8%), and physical victimization occurring none or one time (77.8%), or two or more times (22.2%). The dependent variables …

The Hook Up Hangover: The Decline In Traditional Dating Beyond The College Campus - Before Formal Commitment, Reginald Nievera

Master's Theses

The early 21st century is seeing unprecedented changes to the dating lives of American adults. Fewer than ever before are getting married and those that do want to marry, are waiting longer than ever before. This is breeding a new stage of development in our personal lives. It is a stage characterized by a prolonged gap between finishing school, becoming an "adult" and getting married or starting a family. It may be distinguished by years of being single and independent; simultaneously coming to terms with the responsibilities of adulthood, meeting romantic partners, casual dating, or courting potential lifelong companions. This …

Secure And Insecure High Self-Esteem And Social Identity Affirmation In Response To Belongingness Threats, Reyna Jacqueline Pena

Master's Theses

The objective of this study was to examine the relation between implicit and explicit self-esteem on social identity affirmation among Latinos in response to belonging threats from other ingroup members. We predicted a three-way interaction between implicit self-esteem, explicit self-esteem, and belonging threat condition predicting social identity affirmation (collective self-esteem), compensatory conviction and ingroup bias. We predicted that individuals with insecure self-esteem (high explicit, low implicit) would affirm their social identity more, offer greater conviction and express more ingroup bias in response to recalled threats as compared to a control condition of non-threatened participants. A total of n=174 Latinos participated …

Women's Access To Secondary Education In Colonial And Postcolonial Tanzania And Rwanda, Emlyn Ashley Ricketts

Master's Theses

This paper will examine how the politics of colonialism and independence during the twentieth century, as well as the culture of each country, have created and limited secondary educational opportunities for women in Tanzania and in Rwanda. I will argue that the English and Belgian colonizers' goals of the education systems in colonial Tanganyika and Ruanda-Urundi-how much education they thought was appropriate for women to have and their overarching goals in creating the education systems in the colonies-shaped the place of women within Tanzania and Rwanda today. I will argue that English and Belgian colonizers imposed a western, Christian, patriarchal …

The Interactive Effects Of Coping Strategies, Gender, And Stress In The Prediction Of Internalizing Symptoms In African American Youth: An Application Of The Specificity Model, Cynthia Pierre

Master's Theses

The current study utilized a specificity framework in the examination of interactions among coping strategies, stressor domains, and participant gender in the prediction of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Participants were 273 African American adolescents (6th - 8th; mean age = 12.9; 58% female). Participants completed measures of universal and culturally-relevant coping strategies in response to a stressor. Stressors were coded by raters across dichotomous domains: interpersonality (interpersonal vs. non-interpersonal), duration (acute vs. chronic), controllability (controllable vs. non-controllable), and sexuality (sexual vs. non-sexual). T-tests were conducted to examine differences in reported coping across stress domains. Inconsistent with predictions, mean differences of …

Giving And Taking Orders: Race, Rank, And The United States Military, Natalie Levy Seefeldt

Master's Theses

This thesis explores racial representation in the United States military throughout each rank level, within all active and reserve branches, to determine whether racial representation is related to rank. Using a census of the U.S. military from the Department of Defense, I establish a summary of what representation looks like overall, and more specifically, what it looks like within enlisted, warrant officer, and officer ranks. The citizen-soldier theory contends that failure on the part of the U.S. military to maintain representative forces threatens the legitimacy and credibility of democracy and could even become a threat to it (Armor and Gilroy, …

The Effects Of Candidate Religiosity And Candidate Secularism On Voters' Support For The Political Candidate, Nathanael Gratias Sumaktoyo

Master's Theses

This study examines the effects of candidate religiosity, candidate secularism, and voter fundamentalism on voters' support for a political candidate. Seven effects were tested: 1) the religiosity effect, which suggests that a religious candidate will be supported more than a nonreligious candidate; 2) the secularism effect, which suggests that a secular candidate will be supported more than a nonsecular candidate; 3) the JFK effect, which suggests that a secular religious candidate will be supported more than a nonsecular religious candidate; 4) the deviant effect--an opposite of the JFK effect--, which suggests that a secular religious candidate constitutes a group deviant, …