Psychology Commons^™

Natural Mentoring Relationships As A Buffer Against The Negative Effects Of Stressors On Academic Outcomes Of Latino Adolescents, Claudio Rivera

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional study examined 192 Latino adolescents in their ninth grade of high school. A resiliency theory framework was used for this study. The purpose of the study was to determine if natural mentoring relationships served a compensatory and protective role against stressors on the academic outcomes of Latino adolescents in their first year of high school. Using multiple hierarchical regression analyses, it was determined that stressors and mentoring relationship quality had main effects and interaction effects on the academic outcomes of Latino adolescents. Thus, support for the compensatory and protective model of resilience was provided in some aspects of …

Examining Attitudes And Exposure To Poverty Among Undergraduate Students: Contextual Factors, Kathleen Elizabeth Mcauliff

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

In light of the recent economic downturn, poverty is an issue of increasing concerns. Attitudes towards individuals living in poverty, as well as explanations for poverty, vary and may be influenced by contextual factors, such as media portrayals, culture, and exposure. Attitudes and explanations for poverty among undergraduate students were compared among undergraduates (n = 268) who had varying amount of exposure (volunteering and socioeconomic status) to poverty. Three 2x3x3 ANOVAs demonstrated no significant three-way interactions between campus ministry engagement, volunteer hours, and self-identified socioeconomic status on three subscales of the Undergraduate Perceptions of Poverty Tracking Attitudes Survey ( …

Moderators Of The Efficacy Of Child Obesity Prevention: Exploration Of A, Sabrina Karczewski

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

School-based child obesity intervention literature demonstrates variable body mass index (BMI) related outcomes, but studies do not typically explore the effect of interventions on psychological outcomes nor do they examine the interactions between participation in the intervention and individual participant characteristics. In this study, the effects of a universal school-based obesity prevention were examined on the outcomes of BMI, internalizing, and externalizing outcomes. Potential moderators of the relationship between participation in the intervention and outcomes included ethnicity, baseline weight class, baseline internalizing symptoms, and baseline externalizing symptoms. Results confirm differential benefits of the intervention based on a variety of baseline …

An Examination Through An Ecological Lenses Of The Relationships Among Stressors, Protective Factors, And Psychological Outcomes In The Lives Of Urban Adolescents, Megha Tailor

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Many urban youth are exposed to substantial rates of stressors within different levels of their environment which increases their likelihood for experiencing negative mental health outcomes. Some emerging research suggests that traditional individually-based and family-based protective factors have a limited role in protecting urban youth facing community-based stressors. This study examined whether community-based protective factors moderated the relationship between community-based stressors and psychological symptoms in a sample of 384 urban youth recruited from three schools in the Midwest region. Some support for hypothesis I was found. In particular, community-based protective factor (i.e. religion) was found to lessen the impact of …

Identification And Integration Within Campus Life Among First-Generation U.S. Citizens: An Exploration Of Campus Climate Perception, Shannon Marie Williams

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The current study explored the relationships within a higher education institution between innovative and inclusive mission-identity perceptions and school sense of community among first-generation U.S. citizens and first-generation college students, with varying racial backgrounds. During Fall 2012, a total of 4,492 participants at a large, urban, and Catholic university completed the Innovative and Inclusive (I/I) subscale from the DePaul Mission and Values Inventory as well as the School Sense of Community (SSOC) scale. Two 2 x 2 x 5 ANCOVAS were run to determine whether there were any differences across generation statuses and racial background for both measures. Additionally, regression …

Adolescents' Peer Status, Social Behaviors, And Social Information Processing For Social Behaviors, Michelle Wright

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have conceptualized of two types of high peer statuses (i.e., perceived popularity, social preference), each associated with distinctive behavioral characteristics (Coie et al., 1982; Mayeux & Cillessen, 2004; Parkhurst & Hopmeyer, 1998). Perceived popularity is positively associated with both relational aggression and prosocial behaviors (Cillessen & Mayeux, 2004; Rodkin et al., 2000; Rose et al., 2004; Rubin et al., 1998). On the other hand, social preference is negatively related to relational aggression but positively linked to prosocial behavior (Rose et al., 2004). The social information processing model may provide a better understanding of adolescents’ unique behavioral characteristics as their …

Gender, Country And Community: Exploring Safety, Trust And Empowerment Among Immigrant Survivors Of Torture., Nancy Bothne

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the community lives of immigrant survivors of torture living in theUnited States. The experiences of survivors in their countries of origin and theUnited Statesare examined by gender. This qualitative study relied on interviews with 16 survivors from multiple countries. The participation of a dissertation advisory group contributed to the study’s integrity, as did collaboration with community partners including a torture survivor advocacy group. The study found that the psychological elements of safety, trust and empowerment are important to both women and men. The lack of empowerment of people to counter claims of their government motivated these participants …

Applicant Behavior On Internet Job Boards: The Effects Of Content And Style, Samuel Young

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Although job boards are the largest single source of recruitment in the modern workplace, little research on what influences job seeker behavior has been conducted in this context. In order to address this gap in the literature, the present research draws on the theories of planned behavior and signaling theory to hypothesize a series of factors that may impact job seeker behavior. Despite theoretical support for many job posting characteristics, only formatting influenced job seeker behavior. Discussion of the implications and areas for future research are presented.

The Effects Of Motivations To Resist Social Change And Accept Inequality On Perceptions Of System Legitimacy, Mark Brandt

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Two theories. system justification theory (SJT) and social dominance theory (SDT). both attempt to explain the prevalence and stability of unequal social systems and are o-ften consider analogous by their proponents. With the newly proposed Two Dimensional i'vlodel of System Legitimacy (2D-iv10SL). 1 argue that each theory captures a dimension of system relevant motivations: the resistance to social change (RSC). has primarily been studied by SJT and ranges on a continuum from the resistance to the acceptance of social change and the acceptance of inequality (AOI). has primarily been studied by SDT and ranges on a continuum !rom the acceptance …

Advancing Social Change Goals Through Partnership: Community Partner Perspectives, Liezl Alcantara

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Within recent years, researchers have turned their attention to assessing community impact of community-university partnerships. The sustainability of successful partnerships hinges upon evaluating partnership outcomes and integrating community feedback into practice. Successful partnerships between universities and community-based organizations (CBOs) have the potential to critically address social issues and attain social change goals, but to what extent do existing partnerships actualize this potential? The present Dissertation research yields important insights that address this question.

Marullo et al. (2003) described four types of goals associated with social change initiatives: Enhancing capacity, increasing efficiency, empowering constituents, and altering policies or …

Continuity Of Conduct And Substance Use Disorders Among Adolescents In The One Year And Two Years Following Exposure To Substance Abuse Treatment, Brian Mcmanus

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The current study utilized a sample of 138 adolescents from a short-term inpatient chemical dependency recovery hospital. Analyses utilized scales from the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN), a semi-structured interview that was administered multiple times over the two years after treatment intake. Analyses examined the persistence of substance abuse, conduct disorder symptomatology, delinquent behavior, and mental distress following treatment. A primary goal of the study was to examine whether adolescents with severe conduct disorder (i.e., those engaging in behaviors causing considerable harm to others) followed different trajectories than their mild/moderate counterparts. This inquiry was predicated largely on research that …

Internalizing Symptoms In Youth: A Longitudinal Moderated Mediation Model Of Maternal Symptoms And Parent-Child Interactions, Sarah Bostick

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

None supplied.

Interaction Effects Of Multiple Levels Of Disadvantage And Kinship Foster Care In African American Youth, Anne Rufa

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Child welfare services' current practice is to attempt to identify kinship foster settings first when removing a child from their home, a practice used disproportionately for African American youth. In this study, potential contextual factors of foster homes (i.e., community environment, caregiver's age, caregiver's physical health) were identified as possible moderators of the relationship between the type of out-of-home placement (i.e., kinship, other out-of-home placement) used and changes in internalizing and externalizing scores in African American youth. Results confirm a significant increase in internalizing and externalizing scores when youth are placed in kinship foster homes with caregivers who are older …

The First Year College Experience: Predictors Of Natural Mentoring Relationships & Students' Academic Outcomes, Luciano Berardi

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Literature on college mentoring suggests that mentoring relationships has a positive effect on college students’ outcomes (Crisp & Cruz, 2009; Jacobi, 1991). The purpose of this study was to examine the roles of parental attachment and help-seeking strategies in the number of mentoring relationships reported by college students and the role of mentoring in students’ adjustment to the first year transition to college. Moos’ (2002) theoretical framework is used to root the study on an ecological viewpoint of college transition, because it proposes that individual characteristics and the environment thought which a person transitions affect one another and influence individual …

The Role Of Attributions In Stereotype Threat Effects: Female Achievements In Stem Domains, Caitlyn Yantis

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Despite some advances, the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields persists. Stereotype threat has been cited as a debilitating phenomenon that may contribute to the underrepresentation of women in STEM domains (e.g., Ambady, Shih, Kim, & Pittinsky,2001). Using the attributional model of stereotypes (Reyna, 2000), the current work explores the role of attributions in a stereotype threat context. Seventy-two female undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of four attribution conditions to explain female detriments in logical reasoning: effort, ability, society, or no stereotype. All participants then completed a test of logical reasoning. Although previous research has …

Meaning, Morality, And Fluid Compensation In Response To Attitude Threat, Geoffrey Wetherell

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Research demonstrates that people desire a sense of existential meaning in life, and imbue attitudes with a sense of moral conviction. People want to protect their beliefs, because they help them to create a sense of meaning in life. No research however, has examined whether or not moral conviction, a facet of attitude strength associated with a sense of ultimate right or wrong, contributes to one's sense of meaning in life. Furthermore, no research has tested whether or not threatening attitudes leads people to imbue them with increased moral conviction, possible as a means of protecting attitudes, and the sense …

Effects Of Timeframe On The Recall Reliability Of Me/Cfs Symptoms, Meredyth Evans

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This study served as an investigation of the effects of symptom stability, timeframe length, and momentary symptom severity on the recall reliability of symptoms experienced by individuals with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). ME/CFS symptoms were assessed at four recall timeframes (right now, the past week, the past month, and the past six months) and at two assessment points. Analyses revealed that test-retest reliability was significantly stronger for recall of post-exertlonal malaise (PEM), headaches, and memory problems, when these symptoms were perceived to be stable over time rather than variable. It was also revealed that the optimal timeframe for variable …

A Comparison Of Lmx, Communication, And Demographic Differences In Remote And Co-Located Supervisor-Subordinate Dyads, Larisa Niedle

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this research were to examine the growing organizational trends of distributed work, reliance on various media for communication, and increased diversity in the workforce. Napier and Ferris' (1993) theory of distance, which includes structural, functional, and psychological distance, served as a framework for much of this research. Leader-Member Exchange theory (LMX), which Napier and Ferris (1993) translated into the functional distance component of their theory, was used to inform hypotheses on supervisor-subordinate relationships and performance ratings. Communication theories of media richness and social presence were used as a basis for the hypotheses involving communication. Finally, the similarity-attraction …

Attracting Talent Across Cultures: The Impact Of Cultural Values On Generating And Maintaining Applicants, Emily Twichell

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated whether different strategies for attracting and maintaining applicants should be used in order to effectively recruit talent from different cultures, which had not been previously researched. It was predicted that culture would have a direct impact on what attracts individuals to apply to an organization, what causes them not to submit an application, and the length of time between submitting an application and being invited to interview. Additionally, it was predicted that culture would interact with perceptions of job posting content, application length, recruiter perceptions, and time delays in predicting job pursuit intentions and changes in …

The Role Of The Black Church In Addressing Ipv At The Community Level, Monika Black

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a signific.ant concern within the Black community and, in particular, for Black women. However, IPV is not always identified as a critical issue for the Black community to collectively respond to and/ or adequately address. Without an appropriate support system, many survivors dealing with IPV are left without sufficient resources. The purpose of this study was to conduct an organizational level analysis of the role the urban Black church can play in providing a continuum of supportive services for primarily heterosexual female survivors of IPV in the Black: community. For this study.twenty-five church leaders completed …

A Case Study Of A Therapeutic Day School's Implementation Of Response To Intervention: The Implementation Process And Impact On Student Behavioral And Academic Functioning, Sophia Duffy

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Response to Intervention (Rtl) has been shown to be effective in improving student academic outcomes, and evaluations of the implementation process have been done in traditional. school settings. Research on Rtl implementation and effectiveness has excluded nontraditional school settings. Using a case study, mixed methods approach, this study fills this gap in the literature by evaluating the implementation process and effectiveness ofRtl at a therapeutic day school. Similar themes regarding the implementation process were found in this study as was found in traditional schools, such as implementation fidelity, importance of teacher training, challenges v.ith well­ defmed frameworks and practices, significance …

Effects Of Goal Orientation Profile Types On Organizational Outcoms In Veterinarians, Kathleen Arnold

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Goal orientation and work avoidance dimensions and profiles were studied in relationship to performance, satisfaction, self-efficacy, commitment and tenure. It was found that dimensions were the only significant predictors of satisfaction and self-efficacy. Still, there was evidence that the profiles were related to outcomes and, specifically, profiles were a stronger predictor of tenure. In addition, the dimension of work avoidance appears to provide additional information to the emerging profile types. These results provide important evidence of the emerging common goal orientation profile types. These groups were found to have different outcomes, most notably in performance and tenure. This research provides …

Effectiveness Of Housing First For Non-Chronically Homeless Individuals Who Are High Utilizers Of Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment, Molly Brown

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Chronic homelessness refers to a subset of the homeless population that experiences significant, long-term patterns of housing instability and disabling conditions, such as mental illness. Individuals who are chronically homeless are particularly vulnerable to poor physical and psychological health and often over-utilize costly emergency services. Programs providing housing and support services, referred to as Housing First, have been developed to improve housing stability among people who are chronically homeless by offering permanent housing without preconditions of sobriety or psychiatric treatment compliance.

Housing First is traditionally provided to individuals with a history of chronic homelessness. However, it may also be an …

Pupil Size As A Physiological Correlate For Facilitatory And Inhibitory Effects In Masked Priming, Jason Geller

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Two studies examined the effects of word (study 1) and nonword (study 2) primes in word recognition, utilizing a masked priming procedure (Forster & Davis, 1984). The primary objective of both studies was to replicate the results obtained by Davis and Lupker (2006)—that is, inhibition from related word primes and facilitation for nonword primes—using a common dependent measure, reaction time, and a measure not yet utilized in the word recognition literature—pupil dilation. Study 1 found nominal evidence corroborating the inhibitory nature of word primes. In the RTs analysis, only word frequency effects arose. Further, pupil dilation analysis did not show …

Social Status Differences In Hostile Attribution Biases And Reactive Aggression, James Davis

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

A person's standing within a social hierarchy can have a pervasive influence on patterns of attribution,especially when presented with an ambiguous social provocation. Those with low social status are devalued by society and this sense of threatened social worth motivates social vigilance and influences patterns of social cognition and behavior. Integrating Attribution Theory (e.g., Heider 1958; Weiner, 1986} with predictions of Social Information Processing Theory (SIP;Crick & Dodge, 1994; Dodge & Pettit, 2003) and Stigma Compensation Theory (STC; Henry, 2009; 2011), this research suggests the possibility that status-based differences in hostile attributions and reactive aggression are mediated by threatened social …

The Effects Of Diagrams And Relational Complexity On User Performance In Conditional Probability Problems In A Non-Learning Context, Vincent J. Kellen

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

Many disciplines in everyday life depend on improved performance in conditional probability problems. Most adults struggle with conditional probability problems and several prior studies have shown participant accuracy is less than 50%. This study examined user performance when aided with computer-generated Venn and Euler type diagrams in a non-learning context. Despite the prevalence of research into diagrams and extensive research into conditional probability problem solving, this study is one of the only studies to apply theories of working memory to predict user performance in conditional probability problems with diagrams. Following relational complexity theory, this study manipulated problem complexity in computer …

An Exploration Of Engagement: A Customer Perspective, Laura M. Flynn

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This study examines a proposed framework for measuring customer engagement with support from employee engagement literature. Archival data was utilized to evaluate these relationships which included 4.530 participants that were customers of a business-to-business (B2B) organization and utilized the business' website. A similar factor structure resulted for the measurement of customer engagement. Structural equation modeling showed partial support for the hypothesized predictors of engagement (i.e. commitment, brand image, preference and decision making) because the relationship between satisfaction and engagement was not significant. The hypothesized outcome variables of engagement were also partially supported with loyalty, sales, average order value, and website …

A Qualitative Examination Of Workplace Bullying Experiences Among Temporary-Laborers, April A. Gonzalez

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative field study that utilized face-to-face interviews to examine workplace bullying experiences of temporary-laborers.

Parenting Patterns In Urban African American Families: Raising Healthy Adolescents In The Context Of Economic Hardship And Community Violence, Donald Hamilton Tyler

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The aims of the current study were to identify natural patterns of environmental risk conditions and parenting practices in African American families, assess the similarities and differences between the parenting patterns and mainstream parenting types, clarify the efficacy of each parenting pattern in reducing risk and promoting adolescent adjustment, consider key variables that may influence these processes, and thereby advance understanding of African American child rearing in social-ecological context. A case-centered approach featuring cluster analysis was utilized to permit exploration of multiple child rearing behaviors across the dimensions of parental warmth and control and to afford examination of multiple combinations …

The Impact Of Service-Learning On College Students' Civic Development And Sense Of Self-Efficacy, Rachel Gershenson-Gates

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.