Psychology Commons^™

Does Empathic Anger Motivate People To Act On Pro-Defending Cognitions?, Adir Pinchot

Theses and Dissertations

Recent theoretical and empirical work suggests that empathic anger represents a form of anger that motivates bystanders to intervene and defend victims of aggression. Prior research on defending behavior has identified cognitive correlates of defending, but most studies failed to distinguish between different forms of defending and did not evaluate how these cognitions interact with emotions, such as empathic anger, in motivating or inhibiting defending behavior. This study attempted to address these lacunae by analyzing whether empathic anger moderates the associations between cognitions associated with defending (i.e., perspective taking, moral disengagement, and self-efficacy for defending) and different types of defending …

Sleep Self-Efficacy, Loneliness, And Physical Activity: Assessing The Pathways Between Sleep Quality And Mental Health Using Structural Equation Modeling, Amber M. Fox

Theses and Dissertations

Although there is robust empirical support that poor sleep contributes to declines in mental health, explanations of this relationship remain unclear. The purpose of the present study was to examine the pattern of associations between sleep quality, sleep self-efficacy, loneliness, physical activity, and mental health among U.S. adults across the lifespan, and whether they differed by gender or age group. A structural equation model with invariance analysis was developed and examined data from 2,300 adults (M_age = 44.1, SD = 16.78) participating in the online study Investigating Sleep Longitudinally Across Normal Development (ISLAND). Sleep quality was measured by …

Preliminary Outcomes And Feasibility Of A Brief Online Teacher Training In Culturally Responsive Practices (Crp) To Reduce Disproportionate Discipline In Prek-3rd Grade Classrooms, Samantha Noelle Hartley

Theses and Dissertations

School discipline policies that rely on exclusionary discipline practices, such as office discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions, negatively and disproportionately impact racial minority students, beginning in preschool. Disproportionate discipline persists even when schools implement schoolwide interventions that reduce overall rates of exclusionary discipline, suggesting that schools must do more to address other likely causes of the discipline gap, including implicit racial bias, insufficient teacher training in classroom management, and a cultural mismatch between schools and minority students. There has been an increased call for teacher professional development in culturally responsive behavior management practices, but such interventions are often poorly evaluated …

Online Training To Improve Job Coaches’ Support Of Minimally Verbal And Nonverbal Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Erin Brooker Lozott

Theses and Dissertations

Although a sizeable percentage of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are minimally verbal or nonverbal, there is limited research on how to best support these individuals in employment settings. Job coaches working with this population should receive specialized training in evidence-based practices (EBP) for ASD to ensure optimal outcomes. This study describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of an online training program for job coaches focused on a behavior skills training approach supporting the use of augmentative and alternative communication. Twenty-two job coaches completed the study. Pre- and posttraining measures were used to evaluate knowledge, self-efficacy, and belief systems …

An Evaluation Of The Advance Directives-Live Action Simulation Training (Ad-Last) Program, Alexandra Rosa Spinelli

Theses and Dissertations

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is a process that captures a patient’s wishes in the case of future circumstances in which they are unable to express them. Studies show that less than one third of the general population has completed some type of formal Advance Directive (AD). There are barriers to completing ADs, and these barriers operate on multiple levels, including, patient, provider and institutional. To improve providers’ capacity to help patients complete ACP, and overcome these barriers, a provider-focused intervention was conducted. The current study is an analysis of archival data collected from the Advance Directives-Live Action Simulation Training (AD-LAST) …

Relationship Between Women's Goals And Pregnancy Risk Behaviors, Sarah Elizabeth Kienzler

Theses and Dissertations

Among adult women, ages of 18 and 24 years old, a high percentage of the pregnancies that occur are unplanned (Finer & Zolna, 2016; Guttmacher Institute, 2016) and unplanned pregnancies have been linked to a greater risk of negative health outcomes for mothers and their infants (Dott, Rasmussen, Hogue, & Reefhuis, 2010; Hellerstedt, Pirie, Lando, Curry, McBride, Grothaus, & Clark Nelson, 1998; Kost, Landry, & Darroch, 1998; Mosher, Jones, & Abma, 2012; Pulley, Klerman, Tang, & Baker, 2002; Sharma, Synkewecz, Raggio, & Mattison, 1994; Weller, Eberstein, & Bailey, 1987). Work among adolescents has found a link between adolescents’ perception of …

Sports Involvement And Academic Functioning In College Students, Mikala Connery

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine positive academic behaviors between college student athletes and non-athletes. Over 460,000 students participate in college sports yearly (NCAA, 2016). Early research shows sports involvement has a negative impact on academic achievement; however, current research contradicts those findings. Sports has become a popular extracurricular activity, so it is important to determine the actual relationship between sports involvement and academic functioning. This study examined that relationship by comparing grade point averages, academic self-efficacy, and motivation between student athletes and student non-athletes in a northeast university. An online self-reporting survey was administered to gather the …

Academic Emotion And Self-Efficacy Impacting Sense Of Math Class Belonging In College Students, Kaitlyn Yavorsky

Theses and Dissertations

A student's sense of belonging has been shown to have positive effects on a student, such as increased motivation and performance (Neel & Fuligni, 2013; Mcmahon, Parnes, Keys, & Viola, 2008). Positive emotions within the academic setting as well as strong self-efficacy have also been found to have these implications (Pekrun, 2006). The impact of emotions in an academic setting and self-efficacy on student's sense of belonging in the classroom is a relatively novel research topic especially in college students. If found, the correlation between academic emotions and self-efficacy along with their impact on sense of belonging can be used …

Locus Of Control, Parents Involvement And College Disability Accommodations, Olivia Sara Aquino

Theses and Dissertations

An increasing number of students with learning disabilities are enrolled in college and seek support services under ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). According to U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2015), Digest of Education Statistics, 2013 (2015-011), approximately 11% of students report having a disability. However, although more students attending post-secondary education are receiving accommodations and supports, the retention of these students remains a central concern. A student's ability to self-advocate seems to be one key to academic success. Self-determination and self-efficacy factors are frequently cited as essential to successful transition to college. The current study explored …

Examining Health Behaviors In College Students With And Without Chronic Conditions, Duc-Thi J. Barsell

Theses and Dissertations

Many college students are in a developmental period in which they are transitioning from pediatric to adult health care. This time period can be challenging for all college students and especially for students with a chronic condition. The current study investigated the association between various health-related factors (health locus of control [HLOC], health literacy, health self-efficacy, and health-related quality of life [HRQOL]) and health behaviors in college students, as well as the moderating effect of having a chronic condition on those associations. These health behaviors were further operationalized as healthy lifestyle behaviors (preventative and wellness behaviors, dietary behaviors, physical activity) …

Do Discipline Style And Parenting Self-Efficacy Interact To Predict Observed Child Behavior? Outcomes From A Representative Sample Of Mothers With Young Chilren, Emily Noel Neger

Theses and Dissertations

Both parenting style and parents’ sense of their own parenting self-efficacy (PSE) have been found to predict child behavior outcomes in young children. Parents who engage in lax or overreactive parenting practices or who lack confidence in their parenting abilities are more likely to have children who display disruptive and noncompliant behavior. Until now, very little research has examined whether an interaction exits between these two constructs in predicting child behavior outcomes. The current study looked to fill this gap and assess whether a significant moderation relationship exists between parents’ parenting style and PSE in predicting observed child behavior. A …

Counselor Self-Efficacy: Relationship With Mindfulness And Self-Compassion, Sinead K. Unsworth

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness training has well-documented effects on psychological and physical health (Davis & Hayes, 2011). Recent findings suggest that mindfulness may be a predictor in counselor self-efficacy (Bentley, 2008; Greason & Cashwell, 2009; Kane, 2010). However, a review of literature indicates that this relationship, along with the mediating effects of self-compassion, have not been examined quantitatively with mental health providers-in-training. This study examined the predictive relationship between mindfulness and counselor self-efficacy and the potential mediating effects of self-compassion. A total of 213 mental health providers-in-training were surveyed to determine their levels of mindfulness, self-compassion, and counselor self-efficacy. Three scales were used …

Clinician Interest In Working In Substance Abuse Treatment: The Role Of Self-Efficacy, Outcome Expectancies, And Stigma, Genevieve Anne Covert

Theses and Dissertations

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) was used to examine clinician career interest for working in substance abuse treatment. The study examined the impact that self-efficacy and outcome expectancies have while exploring stigma as a moderating variable. Participants (N = 153) with experience providing mental health treatment completed the study. A series of self-report surveys were administered electronically. A series of Likert scales were used to assess career interests, self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and stigma. A service-load measure and demographics survey were also completed. Correlation analyses and regression analyses revealed that self-efficacy significantly predicted career interest in substance abuse counseling. These analyses …

Enhancing Self-Efficacy In The Utilization Of Physical Activity Counseling: An Online Constructivist Approach With Psychologists-In-Training, Cassandra D. Pasquariello

Theses and Dissertations

In our sedentary society, physical inactivity has become the biggest public health concern of the 21st century. In addition to physical health promotion, physical activity has been associated with a number of positive psychological and social outcomes. Psychologists are well positioned to provide physical activity counseling and may have ethical obligations to address physical activity with their clients. Training the next generation of psychologists about the role of physical activity and health is critical to ensure best practices in graduate education. Researchers have cited insufficient training as a barrier to integrating physical activity into clinical work, yet little is known …

Forgiveness And The Bottle: Promoting Self-Forgiveness With Alcohol Misuse, Michael Scherer

Theses and Dissertations

Forgiveness research has seldom been directed toward alcohol use, misuse, and abuse. To date, forgiveness research in the realm of alcohol use, misuse, and abuse has focused on interpersonal consequences (e.g., Lin, Mack, Enright, Krahn, & Baskin, 2005; Scherer, Worthington, Hook, Campana, West, & Gartner, 2009; Worthington, Scherer, & Cooke, 2006), but has paid minimal attention to intrapersonal consequences. Psychologists today are just beginning to explore the complex and murky waters of self-forgiveness (or lack of it) and the alcohol misuser (e.g., Webb, Robinson, Brower, & Zucker, 2006). In the current dissertation, I review the literature on self-forgiveness, drinking refusal …

An Examination Of Career Decision-Making In The Context Of Female Offenders, Allison L. Stone

Theses and Dissertations

Female offenders often have had increased financial difficulties post-release because of lower levels of educational achievement and less job experience. Career programming may prove useful to female offenders by providing guidance with career decisions and strengthening career decision-making skills. The aims of this study were to investigate career decision-making skills and self-efficacy in the context of vocational programming for a group of female offenders. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used to examine scale scores for a group who participated in programming and a control group at the same correctional facility. A series oft tests revealed no significant differences between the …

Understanding How African-American Middle School Students Cope With Peer Victimization: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Suzanne C. Linkroum

Theses and Dissertations

A mixed-methods approach was used to determine how African-American middle school students cope with peer victimization and to identify factors that inhibit and promote the use of prosocial coping strategies. In a previous study, participants had been categorized into four social clusters: well-adjusted, rejected, passively-victimized, or aggressively-victimized based on a cluster analysis of self-reported psychosocial variables. Interviews with a sub sample of 80 students focusing on identifying both how students thought they would respond and how they thought they should respond to hypothetical situations involving peer victimization were analyzed. Interviews also elicited factors that would support or impede the use …