Digital Commons Network^™

A Randomized Trial Of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Leah D. Talbert

Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) affects over 1.7 million people annually in the U.S., often leading to autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation and reduced heart rate variability (HRV), which may impact cognitive performance. This study investigated whether HRV biofeedback (HRV-B) improves HRV at rest and recovery after stress in individuals with TBI. Secondary aims examined links between HRV improvements and reductions in physical symptoms, enhanced emotional functioning, and better cognitive performance, as well as the role of practice adherence in moderating HRV-B effects. This randomized controlled trial compared HRV-B treatment to a sham control using a pre- and post-assessment design. Of …

The Latter-Day Saint Indian Placement Program: An Examination Through An Experiential Lens, Quinn Elise Christiansen

Theses and Dissertations

The Indian Placement Program, operated by the LDS Church from around 1947 to 2000, was influenced by the Church's belief in a connection between Native Americans to a Book of Mormon group known as the Lamanites. This group held a special status within the LDS Church because of their believed Israelite heritage as well as a prophecy promising their conversion in the last days. Spencer W. Kimball, motivated by both personal goals and his authority within the LDS Church, expanded on a successful experience of a young Native girl, Helen John, growing it into the broader Indian Placement Program. This …

Promoting Caregiver-Child Attunement: Social Emotional Wellness Through Yoga, Gianna R. Delfino

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2025

This doctoral capstone program, Social-Emotional Wellness Through Yoga: Promoting Caregiver-Child Attunement, aimed to develop, implement, and evaluate a family-centered occupational therapy (OT) program designed to enhance emotional connection, co-regulation, and wellness in caregiver-child dyads at a pediatric outpatient clinic. This project was guided by a systematic review of literature on the effects of yoga on the mental health of children 3-10 years old, which suggests that yoga has positive outcomes on the mental health and wellbeing of children (Khunti et al., 2022). Grounded in neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed, and strengths-based care, the 10-week group was designed for children ages 3–11 and their …

Examining Equifinality And Multifinality Using Outcome-Partitioned Person-Centered Analyses: A Proof-Of-Concept With Youth Developmental Assets And Health, Luke Russell, Todd M. Jensen, Jonathon J. Beckmeyer, Chang Su-Russell

Faculty Publications - Family and Consumer Sciences

Early general systems theorists proposed a key difference between living systems and physical systems is the widespread presence of equifinality and multifinality among living organisms. That is, in living systems, there are often variable pathways to the same outcomes (equifinality), or the same starting conditions can lead to disparate outcomes (multifinality). Family scientists, however, frequently use methods (adapted from the physical sciences) that fail to reflect these characteristics within their statistical models. In this paper, we propose and provide a preliminary proof-of-concept of how an outcome-partitioned set of person-centered analyses might be used to develop alternative models that more comprehensively …

Layers Of Identity, Elizabeth Toffel

Teaching Resource Archive

Students explore identity, specifically that identity is layered, shaped by personal experience, cultural background, community ties, and unique traits. Students conduct interviews with peers, reflect on identity components, both individually and collectively, and create a layer artwork on transparent acetate sheets. When stacked the layers visually showcase the layers of the student’s identity and represent how identity is complex, constructed, and always shaped by multiple influences.

Positive Youth Development For Youth Living In Structurally Diverse Families, Jonathon J. Beckmeyer

Faculty Publications - Family and Consumer Sciences

Research on family structure diversity and youth well-being has largely aligned with deficit orientations, emphasizing that living in structurally diverse families is a potential risk-factor for youth well-being and development. In this article, I advocate for increased strengths-based scholarship on youth living in structurally diverse families by centering this research with positive youth development (PYD) frameworks. Broadly, PYD frameworks orient scholars toward viewing youth holistically, attending to positive indicators of well-being as well as how youth capacities and experiences intersect with family and community resources to promote flourishing and thriving. Approaching family structure diversity and youth well-being from a PYD …

Fp-25-01 First Marriage Rate, 2023, Natalie Bankey

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Fp-25-04 Age Variation In Prevalence Of Cohabitation Among Unmarried Men And Women, 2009 & 2024, Christopher A. Julian

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Fp-25-02 First Divorce Rate, 2023, Natalie Bankey

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Fp-25-03 Remarriage Rate, 2023, Natalie Bankey

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

“I Learned To Bottle Up My Feelings From A Young Age”: A Narrative Analysis Of Latina Young People’S Family Mental Health Socialization, Jenn M. Lilly

Social Service Faculty Publications

Latina young people report high levels of mental health problems and low levels of helpseeking

compared with their white peers, but little research has examined factors influencing

their mental health views. Inductive analysis of 25 participants’ narratives revealed that Latina

young people described three stages in the development of their mental health-related beliefs,

attitudes, and behaviors: undergoing a process of family mental health socialization, suffering

in silence, and attaining a new perspective. Within each of these phases, participants shared

stories that attest to their agency and resilience. This research uncovers a novel theoretical

construct, “family mental health socialization,” which elucidates …

Factors Affecting The Joy Of Life In Old Age: A Scale Development Study, Yalçın Karagöz, Yusuf Karaşi̇n, Mustafa Filiz, Mehmet Ateş

Adultspan Journal

This study aims to introduce a measurement tool into the literature that can reveal the factors affecting the joy of life in older adulthood. Participants included 266 individuals aged 55 and over living in Izmir, Turkey. The process of developing the scale includes the following stages: problem identification, item pool creation, expert opinion, form shaping, pilot application, and finalizing the scale. The exploratory factor analysis revealed that the scale consists of 6 different dimensions, and the variance explained by these dimensions was found to be 65.184%. The acceptable values for the scale's fit indicators are as follows: χ²/df0.90, IFI > 0.90, …

The Geography Of Care: Rural Versus Urban Caregiver Perspectives On Community Resources For Parkinson’S Disease Management, Rebecca Jones

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigated the experiences and perceptions of caregivers for individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) in rural versus urban settings, with particular emphasis on their access to and utilization of community resources. Through semi-structured interviews with 30 caregivers, the research explored how geographical location impacts caregiving challenges, support systems, and resource accessibility. Using Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Use as a theoretical framework, the study revealed both universal caregiving challenges and location-specific barriers. While all caregivers reported significant emotional burden and healthcare system navigation difficulties, rural caregivers faced distinct challenges related to resource accessibility and specialized care availability. …

A Kind Of Goodness, Marianne Chan

English Faculty Publications

[Introduction]At the playground, my mother hid from me, I couldn’t find her, and I called her name a thousand times.

And when she reappeared, I ran to her, and she ran to me, and I clenched her neck, and I put my hands on her face, and I said, Where were you? Where were you? and she said, I’m so glad you found me. And we hugged, and she smiled as she cradled me, and I howled, like a gibbon, at her shoulder.

Family And Social Factors In Emotion Regulation And Adjustment In Adolescents, Julia J. Morgan

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Adolescents face many challenges during this unique phase of development. Because of this, it is important to identify how to promote resilience and positive adjustment for these individuals. The present dissertation includes three studies which focused on familial and social factors in promoting emotion regulation and ultimately adjustment among middle and late adolescents.

The first study focused on the importance of alexithymia in the relationships between closeness and communication and internalizing problems, namely depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Results showed that closeness was negatively associated with depression and positively associated with self-esteem. Communication was not associated with any of the studied …

Debt Through The Decade: Exploring Connections Between Debt Type, Psychological Stress, Spending Habits, And Life Satisfaction, Emily Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Average households in the United States holds $101,915 in consumer debt, contributing to the greater total of America’s $17.3 trillion of total consumer debt (Experian, 2024). Accruing some amount of debt is considered normal throughout a financial lifespan, however, many Americans find themselves completely overwhelmed by keeping up with personal debts and increasing costs of necessities due to inflation. (George & Hansen, 2018; Kim et al., 2019). Following the financial crisis in 2020, many individuals felt increasing financial hardship, with many Americans heavily impacted by their debt holdings. The purpose of the present study is to examine the impact of …

Growing Up Online: Children, Family Vlogs, And The Monetization Of Childhood, Jenna Anderson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

As family life continues to enter and unfold on YouTube, the boundaries between intimacy, entertainment, and monetization have become strikingly blurred. This thesis examines how YouTube family vloggers construct and monetize their families through curated portrayals of authenticity, care, and morality. Using a qualitative content analysis of 100 videos from ten of the most popular YouTuber family channels of 2023, this study investigates how families and children are presented, how performances of authenticity are constructed and perceived, and how advertisements and sponsorships shape the narratives that these families produce. The analysis considers how parents act as both narrators and producers …

Addressing Economic Instability And Workforce Turnover In Early Childhood Education: The Role Of Stipends, Wage Supplements, And Professional Development, Lucinda J. Leffler

Endeavors: Mississippi State Undergraduate Research Journal

Child care workers are vital to early childhood education, yet they face persistent economic instability, low wages, and high turnover rates. To address these challenges, states and policymakers have implemented stipends, wage supplements, and professional development programs aimed at improving financial security, job satisfaction, and workforce retention. This literature review examines the effectiveness of these initiatives across the United States, drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Vroom’s Expectancy Theory and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory to contextualize their impact. Research indicates that financial incentives significantly reduce turnover, while professional development fosters job satisfaction and career advancement. However, sustainability concerns remain, particularly with …

Social Determinants Of Health And Aging In Africa: Structural Inequality, Vulnerability, And The Future Of Care, Aremu Umor Lukman, Sunkanmi Folorunsho, Abdulrauf Olaitan Taofeeq

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Population aging is accelerating across Africa yet remains underrepresented in research, policy, and public health planning. This review critically examines how social determinants shape aging experiences across the continent, focusing on health, care systems, and structural inequalities. While traditional African societies have historically valued older adults, modernization, migration, and economic hardship have eroded support systems, leaving many to face old age with limited resources. Older Africans, particularly women and rural residents, contend with lifelong disadvantages including low education, informal labor, poverty, and gendered caregiving roles that contribute to poor health and social vulnerability. Health systems remain poorly equipped to address …

Climate Change And Parenthood: Impact On Family Size Decision-Making, Minha Hossain, Jennifer Lai, Mindy Engle-Friedman

Publications and Research

This study explores how parental status relates to childbearing decisions in the context of climate change and builds on prior research linking climate anxiety to reduced family size intentions. A survey of 114 participants revealed that non-parents were significantly more likely than parents to plan to have fewer children and to express concerns about climate change. These findings underscore differences in how parents and non-parents approach future reproductive decisions and highlight the role of climate-related concerns in shaping family planning intentions.

Discussing Race And Racism With Young Children: A Qualitative Longitudinal Investigation, Chang Su-Russell, Luke T. Russell, Adena B. Meyers, Christina Michaels

Faculty Publications - Family and Consumer Sciences

Racial socialization, a process in which parents communicate beliefs and values about children’s race and cultural backgrounds to help children prepare for their current and future social interactions, has lasting effects on child development. Understanding the extent to which children understand race in the context of racialized violence, and the extent to which parents are willing to engage their children in such conversations, is critical for professionals who work with and support families through these challenging contexts. Existing evidence suggests parents in racially minoritized groups often put more conscious efforts into racial socialization than their White parent peers. Although recent …

Experienscape And The Interior Environment: A Case Study At A Bar With Entertainment, Paige J. Hendrickson

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to understand what aspects of the interior environment at a bar with bowling affect customers’ willingness to return and word-of-mouth sharing. The dimensions of the experiencescape model were used to guide the research, focusing on sensory, functional, social, and hospitality culture. A mixed qualitative methods approach was used, combining observations, focus group interviews, and moment maps to investigate customer comfort, satisfaction, excitement, memorability, and the difference in one’s perception of their experience based on ethnicity. It was found that the unique atmosphere, price, staff, and diversity were the main reasons customers returned or shared …

Normalizing Delinquency And Risky Behaviors In Adolescents: An Application Of Neutralization Theory To Parents, Audrey Cheatham

Theses and Dissertations

Sykes and Matza’s Neutralization theory (1957) was originally developed to explain juvenile involvement in delinquency, with extensions of this theory being used to understand crime in other offending groups. Although neutralization theory has been widely applied to offenders, far less research has examined how neutralizations may be used by non-offending groups. This study applies Sykes and Matza’s framework to parents to explore whether neutralizations are being employed to justify risk taking or delinquent behavior among their adolescent children. This study also examines how parents differentiate risky behavior from delinquent behavior, as well as their attitude towards seven major risk factors …

Family And Community Role In The Provision Of Informal Care For Older People Living With Chronic Life-Limiting Illnesses In Rural Ghana, Barbara Adonteng-Kissi, Obed Adonteng-Kissi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Informal care for older people living with chronic life-limiting illnesses is associated with difficulties. The informal care system built around generational values and cultural norms is steadily weakening in rural Ghana because of economic challenges, migration, urbanisation, and changing family structure. In responding to this knowledge gap, we aimed to ascertain how the immediate family, extended family and community support impact on mechanisms underlying provision of informal care for older people living with chronic life-limiting illnesses. Ethnographic interviews were conducted amongst fifteen older people; fifteen informal caregivers; ten health care professionals, after participatory observations during six months of fieldwork utilised …

Social Relational Notions Of Successful Aging: Contesting Dominant Individualized Conceptions Of Successful Aging By Examining Migrant Intergenerational Lived Experiences, Hien Thi Nguyen, Loretta Baldassar, Raelene Wilding, Bronte Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background and Objectives: Critiques of the concept of successful aging (SA) include attention to its foundation on an individualized western medical approach that emphasizes personal choice, agency, and lifestyle. This paper aims to examine how individual notions of SA can be linked to, and co-constituted by, relational and intergenerational notions of personhood within the broader socioeconomic, familial, and cultural contexts of migration. Research Design and Methods: Qualitative research was conducted in Australia (2020–2021) with 42 Vietnamese migrants using ethnographic interviews and participant observation. Data analysis applied inductive reasoning and intersectional analysis to investigate the notion of SA from the perspectives …

Access To And Utilization Of Dental Care Services By Older Adults In Nigeria: Barriers And Facilitators, Sunkanmi Folorunsho, Victor Ajayi, Munirat Sanmori, Medinah Suleiman, Raji Abdullateef, Abdulazeez Abdulganiyu

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Aims: Nigeria’s rapidly aging population presents urgent challenges for the healthcare system, particularly in oral health, which remains an overlooked aspect of well-being. While older adults are especially vulnerable to dental issues such as tooth loss, periodontal disease, and oral pain, access to care remains limited due to systemic, economic, and cultural barriers. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of older Nigerians in accessing and utilizing dental care, with the goal of identifying key barriers, facilitators, and policy-relevant insights.

Methods: Fifteen participants aged 50–83 years were purposively selected from urban and peri-urban areas of Ilorin, North- Central …

Exploring The Dynamics And Outcomes Of Family Engagement In Child Welfare Services: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach, Jianchao Lai, Michelle Graef, Todd Franke

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

Background: Engaging families effectively in child welfare services remains a persistent challenge, shaped by complex interactions between agency practices and family circumstances. While existing research has explored this issue, it has predominantly relied on data from agency and caseworker perspectives, often overlooking the crucial viewpoint of the families. Objectives: This study investigates families’ subjective experiences and perceptions within the child welfare system, focusing on their satisfaction with child welfare workers and overall engagement. Methods: The study draws on data collected through an evaluation of the implementation of Alternative Response in a Midwestern state. Agency administrative data is integrated with additional …

The Romanticization Of Human-Vampire Relationships: How 'Twilight' And 'The Vampire Diaries' May Prime Young Women To Accept Dating Violence, Natalie M. Bowen

UROP Posters

The first literary vampire can be traced back to 18th century Germany, with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s poem “Die Braut von Korinth,” but the stereotypical features of a vampire are traditionally accredited to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Modern vampires, such as Edward Cullen and Stefan Salvatore of the Twilight and The Vampire Diaries series respectively, have managed to win the hearts of teenage girls all across America with their sex appeal and charismatic nature. According to Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, individuals learn new behaviors by modeling and imitating the actions of those around them. This comprehensive literature review investigates the connection …

Fp-25-05 First Marriage Rate By Age And Race/Ethnicity, Natalie Bankey

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Fp-25-06 First Divorce Rate By Age And Race/Ethnicity, Natalie Bankey

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.