Social Psychology and Interaction Commons^™

Bystander Behaviour In Australian Nightlife Settings: Appendix A - Interview Guide, Aimee-Rose Wrightson-Hester, Alfred Allan, Maria Allan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

A semi-structured interview guide that was used to conduct interviews exploring young Australian nightlife users' perceptions of factors that might influence bystander behaviour in Australian nightlife settings. The interview guide includes a vignette depicting an incident of sexual violence that commonly occurs in nightlife settings.

Healing Racial Trauma And Reframing The Miseducation Of U.S. America: Altering Exclusionary Textbooks As A Therapeutic Experiential, Kamaria Erin Wells

Art Therapy | Master's Theses

This exploratory mixed-methods, arts-based research investigated the therapeutic impact of fusing art therapy, group therapy, altered book making and alternative therapeutic modalities on self-efficacy, self- awareness, community efficacy and awareness, and reduction of racial trauma symptomology. The intention of the study was to understand the experiences of mental health professional participants (n =5), consequent to four therapeutic group sessions. Participants disclosed experienced symptoms of race-based PTSD pre and post sessions via the University of Connecticut Racial/Ethnic Trauma Survey, in addition to qualitative data. Qualitative data consisted of artwork, written responses, and exit interviews confirming the hypothesis that this radical healing …

Co-Use Among Confidants: An Examination Of Polysubstance Use And Personal Relationships In Southeastern Nebraska, G. Robin Gauthier, Kelly Markowski, Jeffrey A. Smith, Sela R. Harcey, Bergen Johnston

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

This study examines the relationship between personal networks and polysubstance use among people who use drugs (PWUD) in a medium sized city in the Midwest. A large body of work has demonstrated that personal relationships have an ambivalent association with substance use. On the one hand, a supportive network is associated with safer drug use practices and dramatically improves the outlook for recovery. However, individuals whose personal networks are composed of co-drug use partners are more likely to engage in risky practices. We argue that this notion of “supportive” social contacts and “risky” social contacts is ultimately incomplete: risky behaviors …

Examining The Influence Of Political Affiliation And Orientation On Political Tolerance, Christopher R. H Garneau, Philip Schwadel

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Political identities are strongly associated with political tolerance. Specifically, previous research shows that American liberals report higher levels of tolerance toward marginalized groups than conservatives. Political orientation, however, varies more among Democrats than Republicans, which might mean that Democrats are relatively diverse in their levels of political tolerance. In this article, the authors ask how the association between political orientation and political tolerance varies across political parties. Using General Social Survey data, the authors find that tolerance is highest among liberals, followed by moderates and conservatives. Regression models with interactions between party and orientation demonstrate that political orientation is consequential …

A Message From The Editors Of Journal Of Survey Statistics And Methodology, Kristen Olson, Katherine Jenny Thompson

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

In June 2021, JSSAM received its opening impact factor (1.957 for 2020), ranking JSSAM as 46/125 in Statistics and Probability and 29/52 in Social Sciences Mathematical Methods. This ranking is especially gratifying given the relative youth of this journal, and credit should be shared among the dedicated editors (present and emeritus), associate editors, contributing authors, and readership. Truly, the past few years have brought about personal and professional challenges thanks to the coronavirus disease pandemic. Despite this, JSSAM has maintained its high standards, continuing to make great inroads toward its objective of being “the flagship journal for research on survey …

Isolation, Cohesion And Contingent Network Effects: The Case Of School Attachment And Engagement, G. Robin Gauthier, Jeffrey A. Smith, Sela Harcey, Kelly Markowski

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Isolation and cohesion are two key network features, often used to predict outcomes like mental health and deviance. More cohesive settings tend to have better outcomes, while isolates tend to fare worse than their more integrated peers. A common assumption of past work is that the effect of cohesion is universal, so that all actors get the same benefits of being in a socially cohesive environment. Here, we suggest that the effect of cohesion is universal only for specific types of outcomes. For other outcomes, experiencing the benefits of cohesion depends on an individual’s position in the network, such as …

Factors Associated With Arkansans’ First Use Of Telehealth During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jennifer A. Andersen, Holly C. Felix, Dejun Su, James P. Selig, Shawn M. Ratcliff, Pearl A. Mcelfish

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Objective. To examine the factors associated with the first use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic using Andersen’s Model of Healthcare Utilization. Andersen’s Model of Healthcare Utilization allowed the categorization of the independent variables into the following: (1) predisposing factors, including sociodemographic variables and health beliefs; (2) enabling factors, including socioeconomic status and access to care; and (3) need for care, including preexisting or newly diagnosed conditions and reasons to seek out care or to utilize a new mode of care. Methods. Potential respondents (n = 4,077) were identified for recruitment from a volunteer registry in Arkansas. Recruitment emails provided …

Why Neighborhoods (And How We Study Them) Matter For Adolescent Development, T.D. Warner, R.A. Settersten

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Adolescence is a sensitive developmental period marked by significant changes that unfold across multiple contexts. As a central context of development, neighborhoods capture—in both physical and social space—the stratification of life chances and differential distribution of resources and risks. For some youth, neighborhoods are springboards to opportunities; for others, they are snares that constrain progress and limit the ability to avoid risks. Despite abundant research on “neighborhood effects,” scant attention has been paid to how neighborhoods are a product of social stratification forces that operate simultaneously to affect human development. Neighborhoods in the United States are the manifestation of three …

The Relationship Between College Student Characteristics And Reporting Sexual Assault Experiences On Two Different Scales, Kimberly Tyler, Colleen M. Ray

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Though high rates of sexual assault are found on college campuses, prevalence rates between studies can vary considerable by gender, sexual orientation, and other student characteristics. Thus, it is unknown whether these are “true” differences for such characteristics or if there are methodological differences to consider. As such the current study examined whether student characteristics including gender, race, sexual orientation, sexual attraction, Greek affiliation, and relationship status are uniquely associated with reporting on two different sexual assault scales. Data were gathered from 783 college students in 2019–2020 at a large Midwestern university. Results revealed that the two different scales consistently …

U.S. State Policy Contexts And Physical Health Among Midlife Adults, Blakelee R. Kemp, Jacob M. Grumbach, Jennifer Karas Montez

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

This study examines how state policy contexts may have contributed to unfavorable adult health in recent decades. It merges individual-level data from the 1993–2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n=2,166,835) with 15 state-level policy domains measured annually on a conservative to liberal continuum. We examined associations between policy domains and health among adults ages 45–64 years and assess how much of the associations is accounted by adults’ socioeconomic, behavioral/lifestyle, and family factors. A more liberal version of the civil rights domain was associated with better health. It was disproportionately important for less-educated adults and women, and its association with adult …

Family Violence, Personality Traits, And Risk Behaviors: Links To Dating Violence Victimization And Perpetration Among College Students, Kimberly A. Tyler, Douglas A. Brownridge

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Though dating violence (DV) is prevalent on college campuses, few studies have examined a multitude of risk factors that may better explain this process. As such, we examined the role of family violence (i.e., childhood physical abuse, witnessing parental violence), personality traits (i.e., entitlement, antisocial personality [ASP] and borderline personality [BP]) and risk behaviors (i.e., risky sexual behaviors, heavy drinking, marijuana use, illicit drug use) on DV victimization and perpetration among 783 college students. Path analysis revealed that witnessing parental violence was linked to DV perpetration while experiencing more physical abuse was positively correlated with entitlement (females only), ASP traits, …

Associations Of Rheumatoid Arthritis And Depressive Symptoms Over Time: Are There Differences By Education, Race/Ethnicity, And Gender?, Julia Mcquillan, Jennifer A. Andersen, Terceira A. Berdahl, Jeff Willett

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Objective. To examine associations between changes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms and depressive symptoms adjusted for other time-varying characteristics, and to test if these associations differed by education, race/ethnicity, or gender.

Methods. Data from the 1988–1998 US National Rheumatoid Arthritis Study were analyzed (n = 854). Time-varying covariates included year of the study, pain, functional ability, household work disability, parental status, marital status, employment status, and social support. The time-invariant covariates included years since diagnosis, education, race/ ethnicity, and gender. Multivariate multilevel-model analyses were used to estimate associations within people over time.

Results. Patients with RA experience considerable change in …

Comparing Readability Measures And Computer-Assisted Question Evaluation Tools For Self-Administered Survey Questions, Rachel Stenger, Kristen Olson, Jolene Smyth

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Questionnaire designers use readability measures to ensure that questions can be understood by the target population. The most common measure is the Flesch-Kincaid Grade level, but other formulas exist. This article compares six different readability measures across 150 questions in a self-administered questionnaire, finding notable variation in calculated readability across measures. Some question formats, including those that are part of a battery, require important decisions that have large effects on the estimated readability of survey items. Other question evaluation tools, such as the Question Understanding Aid (QUAID) and the Survey Quality Predictor (SQP), may identify similar problems in questions, making …

Substance Use, Injection Risk Behaviors, And Fentanyl‑Related Overdose Risk Among A Sample Of Pwid Post‑Hurricane Maria, Roberto Abadie, Manuel Cano, Patrick Habecker, Camila Gelpí‑Acosta

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Background: While natural disasters like hurricanes are increasingly common, their long-term effects on people who inject drugs are not well understood. Although brief in duration, natural disasters can radically transform risk environments, increasing substance use and drug-related harms.

Methods: Based on a study of people who inject drugs (PWID) and injection risk behaviors in rural Puerto Rico, the present study uses data from two different phases of the parent study. Data for 110 participants were collected from December 2015 to January 2017, soon before Hurricane Maria landed in September 2017; the 2019 phase, in the aftermath of the hurricane, included …

The Influence Of Misinformation From The American Perspective, Tyler W. Nelson

Honors College Theses

Over the last decade, conspiracy theorists and larger groups have become much more prominent across the United States, despite conspiracies being present for decades. Previously, they have been dismissed by most, however over the last decade due to an explosive political climate and growing numbers, these groups have begun to act on their beliefs. Events such as the January 6th Insurrection on the United States Capitol building is an unfortunate example as to how far these groups are willing to go. This study’s purpose is to use a nationwide survey to help determine who exactly are these types of individuals …

The Correlation Between The Covid-19 Pandemic And Nursing Students’ Academic And Professional Engagement And Performance., Jolie Mathilde Komlan

Honors College Theses

Even without the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, nursing schools are recognized as a stressful environment "that often exert a negative effect on the academic performances and psychological well-being of the students" (Gomathi et al., 2017). Exploring the changes this ongoing pandemic has on nursing students' views and perspectives, along with their perceived threats, failures, and successes brought on by this pandemic will provide good insight into further changes that need to be implemented to better prepare nursing students through their programs. To accomplish this, participants within the nursing program were surveyed via a 21-question survey on Qualtrics. A retrospective analysis …

“Are You …”: An Examination Of Incomplete Question Stems In Self-Administered Surveys, Nestor Hernandez, Kristen Olson, Jolene D. Smyth

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Questionnaire designers are encouraged to write questions as complete sentences. In self-administered surveys, incomplete question stems may reduce visual clutter but may also increase burden when respondents need to scan the response options to fully complete the question. We experimentally examine the effects of three categories of incomplete question stems (incomplete conversational, incomplete ordinal, and incomplete nominal questions) versus complete question stems on 53 items in a probability webmail survey. We examine item nonresponse, response time, selection of the first and last response options, and response distributions. We find that incomplete question stems take slightly longer to answer and slightly …

Your Best Estimate Is Fine. Or Is It?, Jerry Timbrook, Kristen Olson, Jolene D. Smyth

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Providing an exact answer to open-ended numeric questions can be a burdensome task for respondents. Researchers often assume that adding an invitation to estimate (e.g., “Your best estimate is fine”) to these questions reduces cognitive burden, and in turn, reduces rates of undesirable response behaviors like item nonresponse, nonsubstantive answers, and answers that must be processed into a final response (e.g., qualified answers like “about 12” and ranges). Yet there is little research investigating this claim. Additionally, explicitly inviting estimation may lead respondents to round their answers, which may affect survey estimates. In this study, we investigate the effect of …

Pandemic, Politics, And Public Opinion About Crime, Lisa Kort-Butler

Sociology Department, Faculty Publications

Prior scholarship links ontological insecurities, racial tensions, and health issues to public opinion about crime. This project examined these forces in the context of the 2020 pandemic, racial justice demonstrations, and politics using data from the Nebraska 2020 survey (N=2775). Pandemicrelated insecurities and racial animus were associated with avoiding places in the community, worry about crime, and the belief that police in one’s community are underfunded. Trusting politicians but distrusting health leaders, and viewing COVID as an economic threat but not a health threat were associated with the belief police are underfunded. Results suggest that the politicization of the pandemic …

Reported Reasons For Avoiding The Covid-19 Vaccine Vary By Age, Kelsey Wilber

Population Health Research Brief Series

Despite various efforts by governments, businesses, and health care providers, a large share of the U.S. population remains resistant to getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Understanding why individuals refuse the vaccine is important for tailoring interventions to improve vaccination rates. This brief examines age differences in reasons reported for not getting the vaccine. Concerns about possible side effects are the most common among every age group, but other reported reasons, including lack of trust in the vaccine and the government vary by age group. Findings suggest that tackling COVID-19 misinformation is critical to increase vaccination rates in the United States.