Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Investigation Of The Relationship Between Mindfulness And Empathy In Pre-Nursing Students Exposed To A Four-Week Mindfulness Training, Debra L. Klich

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To investigate the effects of a four-week mindfulness program on levels of mindfulness, empathy, and anxiety in a group of pre-nursing students.

Methods: This study utilized a multiple-baseline across subjects design. Results from nine study participants were examined.

Results: Data demonstrates that a detectable decrease in anxiety levels can result from participation in self-directed mindfulness program as short as four weeks. Results regarding mindfulness and empathy levels were less conclusive. A specific relationship between empathy and mindfulness cannot be determined from this study.

Conclusions: Because previous studies have demonstrated a persistence of skills, practice, and benefits acquired through mindfulness …

Correlates Of Attitudes Toward Violence And Dating Violence Perpetration Among U.S. College Students, Jeongsuk Kim

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Dating violence is a serious and prevalent problem among college students. Research on dating violence has pinpointed early exposure to violence as a strong predictor of violence perpetration in later life. However, little is known about the particular correlates or mechanisms that facilitate college students’ attitudes supporting violence and dating violence perpetration after early exposure to violence. The goals of this three-manuscript dissertation were (1) Chapter 2: to examine the relationship between three forms of violent socialization during childhood and attitudes supporting interpersonal violence; (2) Chapter 3: to examine the moderating effect of pro-violence messages in the relationship between …

The Influence Of Adhd Symptoms And Social Functioning On Anxiety And Depression Symptoms In College Students, Danielle Willis

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has shown that Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with impaired social functioning in children and adolescents. ADHD and poor social functioning have been shown to be separately associated with increased anxiety and depression symptoms as well. However, little research has examined these associations among college students. College is a transitional period of increased stress and exposure to new social situations for all students, but may be even more challenging for those with ADHD, who are already at risk for increased internalizing problems and impairment in social functioning. The current study aimed to examine the influence of ADHD symptoms …

Media Influence On College Students' Perceptions Of The Police, Matilda Foster

Theses and Dissertations

The first of Sir Robert Peel’s nine principles of law enforcement (1829) tells us that the police exist to prevent crime. However, the next six principles address the police’s need to develop a relationship with the public and maintain the publics’ approval, favor, respect, and voluntary cooperation. Although these principles were written in 1829, they still apply to police organizations today. This paper addresses the struggles policing organizations in the United States of America had over the years in maintaining these principles of law enforcement, the strategies the police have used to increase public approval, and factors associated with how …

Ethnoracial Comparisons In Psychotherapy Outcomes Among Native Hawaiian And Pacific Islander College Students, Jared Isaac Cline

Theses and Dissertations

Variables such as stigma, weak ethnic identity, and cultural mistrust have been linked to the underutilization of therapy amongst ethnic minority populations. As such, ethnic minority populations may reach a higher threshold of distress-including areas such as anxiety and depression-before seeking professional help. While there is substantial research documenting ethnic differences among various ethnic minority populations (e.g., African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics) very little research has been conducted exploring differences among individuals from Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) backgrounds. For the current study, we explored differences in distress upon intake as well as the change in anxiety and depression …

The Association Between Attachment And Conflict Resolution During Friendship Conflict Among College Students, Alison Hamlet

Theses and Dissertations

This study is about college students' attachment to friends and how conflict resolution is related to the level of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. Studies have found low attachment anxiety and low attachment avoidance to be related to effective coping strategies and to the compromising conflict resolution style. Many studies have focused on how participants generally resolve conflict. The current study is focused on how participants have actually resolved conflict and how they believe they would resolve conflict in a hypothetical situation. Participants answered if they could think of a conflict with a friend in the past 6 months and …

The Role Of Perceived Academic Control, Preoccupation With Failure, And Academic Emotions On Major Satisfaction, Alison N. Lehman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the results of a study exploring how preoccupation with failure, perceived academic control, and academic emotions are associated with students’ major satisfaction. The responses of 391 college students to an online survey revealed that positive emotions and perceived academic control were significantly related to major satisfaction. Even after controlling for the variables of year in school, interests overlap, preoccupation with failure, and positive and negative emotions, academic control and academic emotions still explained a significant proportion of the variance in major satisfaction, which provides counselors and college professors possible intervention points to target major satisfaction. Contrary to …

Construction And Validation Of A Non-Medical Use Of Prescription Opioids Outcome Expectancies Scale Among College Students In China, Cheuk Chi Tam

Theses and Dissertations

Background:Non-medical use of prescription opioids (NMUPO) has become a clear threat to public health. Young adults (aged 18 to 25) have a high risk of NMUPO. My prior work on Chinese undergraduates indicates a high prevalence of lifetime NMUPO (49.2%). Health behavior theories propose that outcome expectancies are robust psychosocial determinants of substance use. Literature has identified the influence of outcome expectancies on alcohol and drug use. However, the role of outcome expectancies in NMUPO in China is unknown, and a scarcity of a valid measures for NMUPO outcome expectancies may be a barrier. Our previous research also found …

Social Jetlag, Depressive Symptoms, And Longitudinal Outcomes In College Students, Morgan P. Reid

Theses and Dissertations

Social jetlag refers to the chronic shift in sleep timing between work and free days and has been associated with a variety of negative physical and psychological outcomes. Existing research on social jetlag has relied heavily on cross-sectional studies, preventing researchers and practitioners from assessing the effects of social jetlag over time. The current study used longitudinal data to explore the directionality of the association between social jetlag and depressive symptoms as well as the longitudinal associations between social jetlag, academic performance, and wellbeing in college students. Gender and race were also assessed as potential moderators of these associations. Cross-lagged …

Longitudinal Patterns Of Depression Symptoms Among Emerging Adults, Sarah W. Clark

Theses and Dissertations

Research has suggested that depression symptoms generally decrease after late adolescence; however, there is increasing attention paid to depression symptoms among college students given the stressors unique to this time period and negative outcomes associated with depression. This study examined latent trajectories of depression symptom severity among college students. Participants were 9,889 college students who participated in the Spit for Science project (Dick et al., 2011). Growth Mixture Modeling was used to identify the presence of four subgroups of individuals with similar patterns of initial level and change in depression severity over four years of college, including Low/Minimal (55.9%), Decreasing …