Psychology Commons^™

A Conceptual Model Of Organizational Compassion In Healthcare, Rachel Thienprayoon, Eli Awtrey, Teresa Pestian, Beth A. Lown, Naomi Winick, Jason Kanov

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: In healthcare, while the suffering of patients is often evident, the suffering of clinicians receives less focus. Some sources of clinician distress are directly related to constant exposure to patient suffering, but others are caused by the health care system, and thus potentially preventable. Looking at clinician suffering through the lens of compassion fosters a new paradigm of individual, team, and organizational capabilities, and moves the responsibility to alleviate this suffering from the individual onto the organization and team. Yet research into the impact of organizational compassion in healthcare has been extremely limited.

Approach: Our conceptual model of organizational …

Assessment Of Deficits In Specific Cognitive Domains In Older Adults Living With Hiv., Andrea Reyes-Vega, Harideep Samanapally, Rishikesh Rijal, Stephen P. Furmanek, Christopher B. Shields, Brandon C. Dennis, Smita Ghare, Shirish Barve

Faculty Scholarship

A significant proportion of people living with HIV (PLWH) have cognitive impairment. Moreover, approximately 70% of PLWH in the United States will be ≥50 years old by 2030, raising concerns of a higher incidence of dementia as they age. Accordingly, there is a clinical need to monitor their cognitive status. The aim of this study was to delineate specific cognition areas impacted in OALWH with a clinical diagnosis of neurocognitive impairment. We used a comprehensive set of tests (paper and NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery), to assess different cognitive domains in a total of 25 OALWH ≥ 50 years. 64% were …

Examining The Relations Between Obsessive Compulsive Disorder And Quality Of Life In A Transdiagnostic Eating Disorder Sample., Madison Rose Ortman

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Background: Eating disorders (EDs) are life threatening psychological disorders characterized by obsessions related to food, weight, and exercise. The presence of an eating disorders has been linked to poorer quality of life (QOL) and clinical impairment. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors. EDs and OCD have similar symptom structure as well as similar independent relationships to QOL. The present study aimed to validate these relationships and extend the findings into a more fine-grained symptom analysis of the relationship between EDs, OCD and QOL. Method: Participants (N = 109) were those …

Connections Between Polyvictimization, Daily Stress, Emotion Regulation, And Mental Health Symptoms: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study., Zoe L. Bridges-Curry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background and Objectives: Individuals who experience polyvictimization, or victimization across multiple life contexts, evidence particularly severe outcomes across a range of mental health diagnoses. Preliminary evidence suggests that emotion regulation difficulties and stress sensitization effects may help explain observed links between trauma exposure and mental health symptoms. However, the use of between-subjects designs to address within-subjects processes – a common approach across this literature – can result in erroneous interpretation of findings. Moreover, widespread reliance on retrospective trait measures of emotion regulation, daily stressors, and mental health symptoms have limited insight into the ways that these processes unfold in daily …

Formalizing The Faustian Bargain Within The Healthcare Domain: An End-Of-Life Approach., Rachel Appel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Faustian Bargain refers to an individual making a “deal with the devil,” exchanging something moral or sacred for an unattainable earthly good. The Faustian Bargain has been used to describe a ubiquitous social dilemma inherent to human civilization: exchanging individual liberty for public goods (e.g., security) provided by societal leaders and governments (Ostrom, 1980). Research on Faustian Bargains often examines tradeoffs between outcome utility (i.e., value derived from the outcomes of a decision) and procedural utility (i.e., value derived from being involved in the decision process (e.g., Frey et al., 2004). Much of the research on Faustian Bargains has …

A Study Of Group Effectiveness In A Virtual Reality Environment., Dalton Clay Sparks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Virtual Reality (VR) technology has revolutionized the study of team effectiveness, yet many studies in this domain lack a comprehensive approach, focusing narrowly on performance metrics. This thesis investigates VR team effectiveness by integrating traditional Team Effectiveness frameworks with VR-specific dynamics. Utilizing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Group Style Inventory (GSI), this study assesses teams within a VR environment, specifically a multiplayer submarine simulation game, IronWolfVR. Fifteen groups, totaling 45 participants, were observed for their collaborative gameplay, incorporating physiological measures (Heart Rate and Electrodermal Activity), team coordination dynamics, and various survey-based assessments (demographics, System Usability Scale, Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, and …

Does Using Clicker Questions Improve Students' Conceptual Understanding?, Edward W. Goshorn Iv

The Cardinal Edge

Active learning can be incorporated into STEM classrooms in multiple ways. With exploratory learning, students explore a novel activity before learning the concepts or procedures. With personal response devices (e.g., clickers), students respond to real-time questions posed during lecture. The current studies examined whether, and how, clicker question can be used as exploratory learning, to improve students’ conceptual understanding and engagement over traditional instruction. Biology professors integrated clicker questions into a lecture, and either closed the clicker poll prior to (Restricted Clicker Experiment, N = 164) or after (Extended Clicker Experiment, N = 188) giving feedback to the class. Undergraduate …

Exploring Students’ Epistemological Understanding Of Atomic Structure Models, Claire V. Ward, Morgan Balabanoff

The Cardinal Edge

Developing a robust understanding of atomic structure and the nature of matter is foundational across chemistry and STEM courses. The development of this concept is challenging because it relies on models to illustrate something not directly observable. Scientific models are important tools used to explain phenomena, particularly phenomena that are not directly observable. In general chemistry, students are typically asked to consider four different models: (1) the particle model, (2) the nuclear model, (3) the Bohr model, and (4) the Quantum model. Each depiction has its own advantages and limitations, where instructors introduce each model to explain specific parts of …

Sensitivity To Natural Pairing Of Musical Pitch And Timbre, Isabel V. Adames Vergara, Anya Shorey, Christian Stilp

The Cardinal Edge

Two of the primary perceptual properties of music are its pitch and timbre (sound quality). While musical instruments vary widely in their pitches and timbres, there is a tendency to hear higher pitches with “brighter” timbres and lower pitches with” darker” timbres. Here, listeners labeled musical pitches as high or low when played by one of four instruments. In the canonical blocks, instruments with “brighter” timbres (trumpet, oboe) played the higher pitch, and instruments with “darker” timbres (trombone, tuba) played a lower pitch. In the reversed block, these pairings were switched. Performance was excellent in the canonical blocks, but accuracy …

Smart Technology In Autism Care: Is Rootines Usable, Useful, And Acceptable In Clinical Practice?, Isak Beck, Lonnie Sears

The Cardinal Edge

Smart technologies are rapidly appearing in the healthcare landscape. In this study, we evaluate Rootines, a smartphone app offering remote patient monitoring for kids with developmental and behavioral health concerns. We’re asking families served by the Norton Children’s Autism Center in Louisville, Kentucky to use Rootines together with their child’s clinician for two weeks. Following this, we will use surveys and interviews to probe for the usability (how well the technology can be used), usefulness (how valuable users find the technology), and acceptability (whether the technology can meet user needs) of the Rootines app. Trials in clinical settings are crucial …

Children’S Bedtime Difficulties And Parental Psychopathology Predict Children’S Sleep Problems Over Time, Dakshinkumaar Devanand, Alyssa Rodriguez, Sara Bufferd

The Cardinal Edge

Parents play a critical role in preschool-aged children’s (aged 3-5) sleep health (Bell & Belsky, 2008) via facilitation of bedtime routines and other behaviors that influence children’s sleep problems (Coto et al., 2018). In addition, parental anxiety and depression may be related to children’s sleep problems (Roberts et al., 2020). Exploring longitudinal associations, as well as including both parent and coparent report, can help identify early indicators of children’s sleep problems over time. It was hypothesized that children’s bedtime difficulties and parents’ and coparents’ anxiety/depressive symptoms when children were ages 3-5 (Time 1) would predict children’s sleep problems when children …

Emotion Regulation Tendencies Moderate Momentary Associations Between Sadness, Binge Urges, And Overeating, Jacoby D. Banet, Julia Nicholas, Taylor Penwell, Rowan Hunt, Cheri Levinson

The Cardinal Edge

Background: Eating disorders (EDs) are notably adverse, and previous research emphasizes that analysis of momentary triggers may be useful in determining the factors that maintain ED psychopathology. Negative affect (NA) is one momentary trigger of special interest in regard to binge eating tendencies. While current literature differs on the precise mechanisms by which NA maintains ED psychopathology, emotional regulation has been nevertheless implicated in encouraging binge eating behaviors. The present study explores correlations among sadness, binge urges, and overeating, and assesses emotional avoidance and emotional awareness as potential moderators of these relationships. Method: Participants (N = 34) with moderate …

White Men In White Coats: Children’S Attributions Of Scientific Knowledge Based On Race And Gender, Lillian C. Holm, Mariel R. Cox, Khushboo S. Patel, Judith H. Danovitch

The Cardinal Edge

Children use others’ characteristics (e.g., intelligence and niceness) to evaluate how much a person knows (Landrum et al., 2016). However, little is known about how gender and race influence children's perception of adults' scientific knowledge. The current study examined how children ages 5-8 (N = 25; 11 girls, 14 boys) perceive adults’ scientific knowledge. In the first task, children saw 8 different adults of varying race and gender (White man, White woman, Black man, Black woman) and rated their knowledge using a five-point scale. Children then chose one person out of two adults who they thought knew more about a …

The Resilient Families Project @ Wayside’S Hotel Louisville: Strategies For Building Resilience, Mindfulness & Happiness In At-Risk Adults, Lexi N. Frederick, Hannah Parker, Angela Ely, Lora Haynes

The Cardinal Edge

The Resilient Families Project (RFP) provides educational experiences to strengthen evidence-based habits of resilience, mindfulness, and happiness in at-risk individuals. RFP holds programs for adults facing homelessness and women in drug/alcohol recovery who are housed by Wayside Christian Mission in their Emergency Shelter or Hotel Louisville.

RFP programs work to promote healthy attachment relations, a sense of belonging/purpose, and interactive reading, and children’s storybooks serve as the foundation for designing programs. The book “The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse'' was reviewed through content analysis to emphasize diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as RFP Core Ideas. Thanks …

Pediatric Providers’ Experiences Assessing Young Children’S Emotions And Behaviors, Vaibhavi Venkataramanan, Akira Isaac B.S., Sara Bufferd Ph.D.

The Cardinal Edge

Introduction: Preschool-aged children experience anxiety and mood-related emotions (e.g., irritability, fears) and behaviors (e.g., tantrums) that are developmentally normative, but can overlap with psychopathology, making assessment challenging (Bufferd et al.,2016). Most children see pediatric medical providers annually, and providers can evaluate them. However, providers face challenges like limited training and time (Bean et al.,2000;Heneghan et al.,2008). Accurate and early identification of emotional and behavioral difficulties is critical to support young children’s mental health and prevent worsening problems.

Methods: Participants included N=22 pediatricians who see 3-5-year-old children in their practice. Pediatricians completed an online survey about their experiences assessing young …

Choosing Sides: Children’S Expectations Of Consequences Of Loyalty Towards Authority, Shelby Knieriem, Megan N. Norris, Nicholaus S. Noles

The Cardinal Edge

Previous research has found that children recognize social group membership and status early in development (Aboud, 2003; Gulgoz & Gelman, 2017). However, children increasingly value loyalty towards authority figures with age, although they prefer members of their own social groups (Norris & Noles, 2022). In this study, we are interested in whether children expect there to be positive consequences associated with loyalty towards authority figures over a subordinate, as well as negative consequences associated with loyalty towards subordinates over authority figures. We presented children ages 6-8, as well as adults, with a situation in which a worker was loyal to …

Excessive Exercise And Its Relationship To Social Appearance Anxiety And Difficulties In Emotional Regulation, Ciaran D. Brown, Hannah Fitterman-Harris Dr

The Cardinal Edge

Background: Excessive exercise is characterized as an eating pathology symptom, often described as an addiction, with typical symptoms of addiction observed such as increased tolerance (i.e., more exercise needed for the same effects), continuation despite acknowledged negative effects, social withdrawal, and withdrawal symptoms when the behavior is discontinued. Our research sought to further understand this phenomenon by exploring its relationship with other characteristics common to eating disorder patients. One such characteristic chosen for this project was Social Appearance anxiety, which is described as a fear or excessive worry about the way you appear to other people, including fears of positive …

Who Gives The Cookies And Who Gets The Grade: Children's Judgements On Intersecting Identities, Brianna Walker, Anabel Puri

The Cardinal Edge

The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) suggests that group stereotypes are reflect differences in warmth and competence. (Fisk et al. 2001). Many studies primarily use White men as a baseline for understanding these judgements of race and gender without combining these identities. We aim to examine how children assess individuals from various race and gender groups. Participants included 90 children ranging from age 5-10. Children were asked to rate individuals with different identities (e.g., White man, Black woman, etc.) on the dimensions of warmth and competence. Children were then asked to compare individuals with different identities and determine which person was …

Self Determination Theory And Health Behavior Interventions, Anna T. Simpson

The Cardinal Edge

Physical and mental health contribute to a person’s overall sense of well-being. People generally want to live happy and healthy lives, so they make decisions that will increase their well-being. Many factors contribute to our health, but health behavior is something we can modify. Health behavior interventions aim to promote healthy choices and a sense of well-being in patients. Interventions have a theoretical basis that influences the design of the intervention. Public health interventions have used self-determination theory (SDT) and its components to guide interventions that promote health behavior change in various populations. This paper will seek to understand the …

The Science Of Learning: Understanding The Learning Process And Its Implementation Into The Classroom, Robert Hawkins

The Cardinal Edge

College and higher education is often seen as the next step for many students pursuing a particular career or field. These institutions strive to facilitate learning and maintain a rewarding academic environment. However, students often face various challenges when first attending college which is reflected by high levels of dropout and withdrawal from general education courses, especially for first-time students. In fact, according to the education data initiation, “at 4-year institutions, 18.4% of first-time, full-time college freshmen dropped out between 2019 and 2020” (Hansen & Checked, 2022). One of these challenges is understanding the process of learning on a fundamental …

Interactive Computer-Based Simulations As Exploratory Learning Activities., Derek Mcclellan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Typical college lectures follow a direct instruction framework, where instructors deliver a lecture, followed by an activity. Exploratory learning flips this routine by providing students with an activity prior to instruction. Research suggests that this inversion benefits students’ conceptual understanding and ability to transfer their knowledge. The majority of exploratory learning tasks in the literature are problem-solving activities. The current work investigates the use of computer-based simulations during exploratory learning, and whether manipulating the cognitive load of the activity impacts learning. In Experiment 1, undergraduate students (N=66) were randomly assigned to explore a simulation-based circuit construction activity prior …

Why Are Measures Of Depression Imperfectly Correlated? An Empirical Investigation., Eric Joseph Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Depression remains one of the most prevalent and impactful mental health disorders worldwide. A large number of measures of depressive symptoms are currently available, all designed to assess the same underlying construct. However, the measures tend not to correlate highly with one another. Measurement error cannot fully account for this observation, suggesting that clinical heterogeneity – that is, differences in symptom coverage across measures – might contribute to the lower-than-expected correlation between measures. We conducted two concurrent studies to examine this hypothesis. In Study 1, we developed a coding scheme to categorize items into one of 10 symptom categories. We …

Understanding Associations Between Chronic Illness Identity, Psychological Flexibility, And Type 2 Diabetes Emotional, Behavioral, And Psychosocial Functioning., Valery Bodziony

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Illness identity, defined as the extent to which one integrates their illness into their sense of self, may be a key psychological factor to consider in overall adjustment to and management of Type 2 Diabetes. Emerging research suggests illness identity integration is associated with aspects of diabetes-specific functioning. Psychological flexibility has also been found to be associated with positive diabetes-specific functioning. This modifiable cognitive factor may play a role in the relationship between illness identity and diabetes-specific functioning. This study aims to examine associations between illness identity enrichment, illness identity rejection, psychological flexibility, and aspects of diabetes-functioning, including self-management …

Institutional Racism, Racial Trauma, And Mental Health In Bipoc Graduate Students And Professionals., Jody Zhong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While there is increasing mainstream focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) amongst U.S. college campuses, institutional racism and everyday racist events continue to be common experiences for Black/Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students (Bartz, 2019; Noltemeyer et al., 2012; Pieterse et al., 2010; Regis, 2016; Vaishnav, 2020). Research has shown that subtle, everyday racist slights, known as microaggressions, can have a substantial effect on the mental health and functioning of BIPOC, leading to the development of posttraumatic stress and to negative impacts on psychological well-being (Abdullah et al., 2021; Le et al., 2021; Lui & Quezada, 2019; …

False Memories Are Impacted By Semantic Pairing Of Drm Lists., Ryan Coleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the DRM paradigm, experience of semantically related words leads to false memories of related words called critical lures. These false memories serve as evidence that the relationship between items in a DRM list contribute to an overall gist or central concept for the experience. The present studies aim to investigate whether the higher-order semantic relationship that exists between different DRM lists can also influence recognition memory. Study 1 compared memory confidence ratings for list items and critical lures to two metrics: “Temporal Contiguity”, how closely in time lists appeared to each other at encoding, and “Semantic Distance”, the semantic …

Implementation Of A Progressive Muscle Relaxation Intervention To Decrease Cancer Patients' Distress: A Quality Improvement Project., Theresa Thomas

Doctor of Nursing Practice Papers

Background: People affected by cancer often experience psychological distress that ultimately decreases their health, adherence to treatment, overall well-being, and quality of life. Research has shown that MBIs can reduce psychological distress, depression, and anxiety and increase quality of life. A needs assessment conducted within a local cancer support organization, Gilda’s Club Kentuckiana, has expressed the need for providing a more comprehensive range of accessible MBIs in their programming to meet their psychosocial goals by reducing psychological distress in their members. PMR is an MBI not currently used by GCK that has been proven effective at reducing anxiety, depression, and …

Does Using Clicker Questions Before Instruction Improve Students' Conceptual Understanding., Edward "Walker" Goshorn

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Active learning can be incorporated into STEM classrooms in multiple ways. With exploratory learning, students explore a novel activity before learning the concepts or procedures. With personal response devices (e.g., clickers), students respond to real-time questions posed during lecture. The current studies examined whether, and how, clicker questions can be used as exploratory learning, to improve students’ conceptual understanding and engagement over traditional instruction. Biology professors integrated clicker questions into a lecture, and either closed the clicker poll prior to (Restricted Clicker Experiment, N = 164) or after (Extended Clicker Experiment, N = 188) giving feedback to the class. Undergraduate …

Understanding The Role Of Emotion Regulation Tendencies In The Momentary Associations Between Negative Affect And Eating Disorder Behaviors., Coby D. Banet

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Background: Eating disorders (EDs) are becoming increasingly commonplace and are associated with a broad array of dangerous medical complications. Further, EDs frequently present alongside comorbid psychiatric disorders (e.g., depressive and anxiety-related disorders), which are known to both predict ED severity and reduce treatment efficacy. While diagnostic categorization persists, Fairburn et al.’s (1993) transdiagnostic model suggests EDs may be more closely related and maintained through core, shared symptoms. To assess ED maintenance, momentary triggers such as negative affect (NA) are becoming increasingly centralized. The present study examines the roles of depressive symptoms and worry in predicting and moderating the relationships among …

Understanding The Evolution Of Enforcement Systems In Resource Dilemmas, Devin M. Flener

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

The effective management of resources on Earth is a pressing global social dilemma. An alternative solution to the traditional managing methods of these common pool resources is communal self-management facilitated through principles of restorative justice and developed through exploratory learning. We examined how communication, restorative justice techniques, and opportunity for exploratory learning impacted groups’ ability to develop a strong conceptual understanding of enforcement as well as an enforcement system in order to maintain an effective conservation strategy. Participants (N=288) were randomly assigned to 72 four-person groups in six separate conditions. Each group played nine rounds of a computer-simulated foraging task …

Social Ecological Resilience, Social Capital, Anomie And The Impact Of Covid-19., Kevin Pacifico Gonzaga

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From climate change to racial tension and income inequality, many difficulties face the United States and those who live within its borders. The extreme and increasing political polarization in the United States as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have only made these challenges more difficult to address. In this complex web of adversity, the concept of resilience is important to study. Resilience may be broadly defined as the ability to “bounce back” or return to adaptive functioning after experiencing significant adversity or challenges (Smith et al., 2008). Better understanding how resilience functions and the general state of …