Digital Commons Network^™

De-Epithelialization Versus Pedicle De-Skinning In Reduction Mammoplasty: Comparative Outcomes From The Literature, Samantha Fry, Karina Vizzoni

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background- Reduction mammoplasty treats symptomatic macromastia. A key step involves pedicle preparation before breast mound reconstruction. Two main techniques include: De-epithelialization: Removes epidermis, preserves dermis, De-skinning: Excises both epidermal and dermal layers. Evidence comparing surgical outcomes between these techniques is limited.

Hypothesis- De-epithelialization will result in fewer vascular complications but longer operative times than de-skinning; thus, superiority depends on case selection.

Methods- A literature review identified studies on skin removal techniques in breast reduction mammoplasty.

Results- De-skinning was faster than de-epithelialization, though energy-assisted modalities were fastest. Nipple–areola complex (NAC) ischemia and necrosis rates were low across all methods. Superficial de-epithelialization …

Hormonal Contraceptives And Menstrual Symptom Severity Among Women With Elevated Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Global And Daily Assessment, Maria Cox, Danielle Arigo, Gabrielle M. Salvatore

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Hormonal contraceptive (HC) use is primarily for pregnancy prevention and may reduce menstrual symptoms in some individuals, though evidence is inconsistent. The aim of the study was to examine differences in symptom presence and severity among 64 menstruating women with ≥1 CVD risk factor (e.g., hypertension), including HC users (20.63%) and non-users (79.37%; sample M_age= 31.88 ± 9.89, M_bmi= 31.79 ± 7.6). Participants completed the global Premenstrual Screening Tool at baseline and then reported the presence and severity of 16 menstrual symptoms (1=Not Present to 4 = Severe) in end-of-day surveys over 45 days. In a …

Music And Movement For Individuals With Parkinson's Disease, Jordan Butler

The Corinthian

Parkinson’s disease, affecting approximately 10 million people worldwide, causes deficits in fine motor function, speech, and movement, as well as many other secondary symptoms, such as depression (Parkinson’s Foundation, 2020, para. 1). Past researchers have outlined many different studies and interventions regarding Parkinson’s and the effects of various types of music therapy (Andrejeva et al., 2019; Bukowska et al., 2016; Tamplin et al., 2019; Thaut, Rice, Braun Janzen, Hurt-Thaut, & McIntosh, 2019; Zhang, Liu, Ye, Li, & Chen, 2017). This review includes numerous ways that music therapy has benefited, and assisted people diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Vocal practices, auditory stimulation, and …

Coherent Breathing As A Stress-Reduction Intervention, Ete Kwegang

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Improving Medication Adherence In Outpatient Mental Health Care Through Staff Education And Training, Nonye Frances Nwokoro

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Underdiagnosis Of Bipolar Disorder And Under Utilization Of The Mood Disorder Questionnaire, Sandeep Grewal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Trauma-Informed De-Escalation Staff Education For Outpatient Psychiatric Nursing, Alice Sesay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Examining A Positive Variation Of The Good Behavior Game With Head Start Children At Risk For Child Adversity And Externalizing Behavior Problems., Alexandra Gibson, Courtney P D Goldenberg, Malinda J. Colwell, Amelia E. Talley, Joaquín Borrego, Adam T. Schmidt

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Children participating in the Head Start program in the United States are predominantly from underserved groups, have increased rates of child adversity, and are at risk for externalizing behavior problems in the classroom. The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is an effective classroom management strategy for reducing disruptive and off-task classroom behaviors. However, previous research has not examined the GBG within the Head Start context.

METHODS: The current case-controlled study evaluated the effectiveness of the GBG in six Head Start children aged 3-5. Researchers conducted daily classroom behavioral observations of disruptive behaviors, and teachers completed pre- and post-treatment assessments of …

Staff Education To Use Best Practices For Implementing And Utilizing The Digital Depression Screening Tool In An Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic, Robert James

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Co-Active Therapeutic Filmmaking: A Methodology Pilot Project, Blair Webber

Expressive Therapies Theses

This pilot project examined the intersection of drama therapy and filmmaking. Drawing on the Co-Active Therapeutic Theater model from drama therapy and digital storytelling and participatory video methods from social work research, this methodology designed and delivered a co-created filmmaking intervention at a residential treatment center for adult men with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder. Four participants made a seven-minute-long short fictional film based on their definition of active recovery and a theme of recovery they wished to share with an audience. It was screened at the treatment center for staff and their fellow residents. Data collection was …

Barriers To Palliative Care Access In Rural South Dakota: A Policy And System-Level Analysis, Harshavardhan Kadarkaraisamy

Honors Thesis

Palliative care improves the quality of life for people living with serious illness. It helps by addressing symptoms, improving communication, and providing mental, physical, and spiritual support. However, in South Dakota access to palliative care is limited in rural areas. These challenges include geographic isolation, workforce shortages, healthcare infrastructure, reimbursement, and misunderstandings about palliative care. This thesis examines the key policy barriers that limit access to palliative care in rural South Dakota. This work involves engaging with South Dakota-specific literature, rural health research, policy sources, community education, telehealth expansion, and policy reform. By focusing on the rural context of South …

Falling Star Program: A Visual Cue Intervention To Reduce Falls In Long-Term Care, Maggie Shanahan

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Falls among older adults in skilled nursing and long-term care settings remain a leading cause of injury, functional decline, and increased healthcare utilization, contributing significantly to morbidity and mortality in this population (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2023; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ], 2022). The primary purpose of this project aimed to implement and evaluate a structured visual cue–based fall prevention intervention to reduce fall rates among high-risk residents in a long-term care facility in Northwest Indiana. The project included 23 participants aged 65 years and older who were identified as high risk for falls. Using …

Variation In Prevalence Of Participation Limitation, Injury Location, And Training Habits Between Young And Master Runners: A Cross-Sectional Study, Rachel Berns, Jo Armour Smith, Natalia Sánchez, Samantha N. Jeffcoat, Susan Sigward, Andrew Hooyman, Shawn Farrokhi

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background/Objectives

Running is a popular form of physical activity, but its growing participation has been accompanied by high rates of injury that may limit ongoing engagement, particularly in older runners. This study explored differences in running participation limitation, injury location, and training characteristics between young (18–34 years) and master (>35 years) runners.

Methods

A total of 207 runners (105 young, 102 master) completed an online survey assessing demographics, training habits, and injury-related participation limitations using the updated Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center Overuse Injury Questionnaire.

Results

Master runners reported higher rates of injury-related participation limitation than young runners (51% …

A Quality Improvement Project To Strengthen Hospice Spiritual Care Delivery, Patricia Boudreau

Doctoral Projects

Spiritual care is an essential component of holistic end-of-life nursing, yet it is inconsistently provided in home hospice settings. For this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) quality improvement project, we developed and implemented the Compassionate Spiritual Comfort Integration Program (CSCI), a brief, theory-based educational intervention to strengthen hospice nurses' spiritual care practices. Grounded in Kolcaba's Comfort Theory and Jinpa's Compassion Framework, the CSCI was delivered as a prerecorded webinar. A quasi-experimental single–group pretest–posttest design was used to evaluate changes in spiritual care behaviors, measured with the 17-item Nurse Spiritual Care Therapeutics Scale (NSCTS) and a single-item confidence measure. Twenty-two nurses …

Cystic Fibrosis Mental Health And Wellness Questionnaire - Factors And Properties Of A Comprehensive Cf-Specific Self-Report Measure, C. Virginia O'Hayer, Patrick J. Smith, Max J. Genecov, Christopher F. Drescher, Heather Bruschwein, Chelsi N. Nurse, Katherine Lawliss, Darcy C. Esiason, Gunnar H. Esiason

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Existing mental health self-report measures have been criticized for over-simplification, lack of CF-specific focus, susceptibility to measurement reactivity bias, and conflation of symptoms of anxiety and/or depression with CF-related symptoms and/or treatment side effects. The CF Mental Health and Wellness Questionnaire (CFMHWQ) is a 25-item measure assessing CF-specific mental health burden symptoms.

METHODS: To examine common underlying factors contributing to scores on the CFMHWQ, principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted of all 25 items. We conducted cross-validation of CFMHWQ principal components, examining unadjusted correlations between each principal component, demographic characteristics (age and biological sex), negative affect (mean rank global …

Descriptive Analysis: Effects Of Insufficient Sleep Among College Students Ages 18-22, Divine Ighalo

Honors Theses

Background: Not getting enough sleep is common among college students and is often linked to habits such as screen time, caffeine intake, stress, and irregular routines. This study examined how these lifestyle factors are associated with insufficient sleep among college students ages 18-22 and how poor sleep affects their overall wellbeing. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional survey design and collected data through an anonymous 25 question online Qualtrics questionnaire. This was completed by 150 participants. The survey was designed to be completed in about 5-7 minutes. It included a mix of multiplechoice questions, frequency-based responses and select all that …

The Meaning Of Physical Activity In The Context Of Health Sciences: A Concept Analysis, Martín G. Farinola

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

Physical activity has been defined in numerous ways. Thus, this study aimed to conduct a concept analysis of the existing physical activity definitions in the health sciences literature to evaluate its conceptual precision and assess the need for a revised or novel concept better suited for this domain. The concept analysis was accomplished using tools derived from philosophical semantics. The analysis identified six definitions that explicitly state what physical activity is with sufficient clarity to allow for conceptual examination. The findings indicated that these definitions frequently merge the concept of physical activity with its contextual attributes. To address these semantic …

Improving Nursing Orientation: A Preceptor-Led Competency Program, Brandy Tanesa Broadway

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Staff Education To Improve Phq-9 Knowledge, Confidence, And Competency In An Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, Zainab Lawal

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Parenting Style And Academic Success: How Can You Help Your Child Succeed?, Elizabeth A. Weicker

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between the parenting style a college student experienced during childhood and the student’s most recent college GPA. Using survey data collected from undergraduate students throughout the United States, a between-subjects ANOVA was conducted to comparing different parenting styles and mean GPA for those styles. The parenting styles analyzed were authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive. Results indicated significant differences in GPA between parenting styles, with the authoritative parenting style producing the highest college GPA. In addition, an independent samples t-test was conducted to analyze the relationship between student satisfaction with the parenting …

The Role Of Paraprofessionals In The Mental Health Structure Of India, Amy Abraham, Kimberly D. Becker, Wendy Chu

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

The mental health treatment gap in India is part of a growing public health crisis, with over 95% of those in need of services never receiving them. Over 197 million Indians suffer from at least one diagnosable mental health disorder, and this number continues to grow given the treatment gap. The treatment gap is a result of four major factors: lack of government support, stigma, limited treatment facilities, and dearth of professionals able to provide treatment. The current study aimed to analyze several factors of paraprofessional-led mental health interventions including setting, treatments delivered, treatment models, and client outcomes. A narrative …

Searching For A Connection Between Intellectual Humility And Decision-Making Ability, Mansi Verma, Kristin Kirchner

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

The present study investigated whether there was a relationship between intellectual humility and decision-making. The participants were 32 undergraduate students recruited from the University of South Carolina. Data was collected through self-reported measures of intellectual humility from the participants and their answers to questions testing for decision-making ability in a single survey. Results indicate that there is a correlation between the scores on the Intellectual Humility Scale and CRT scores. Overall, there does appear to be a relationship between intellectual humility and decision-making.

Moving America: A Study Examining The Relationships Between Early Residential Mobility, Anxiety And Academic Performance, Kelsey Thomas, Wendy Chu, Melanie Palomares

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

Early residential mobility has known negative effects on mental health outcomes and academic achievement. These effects have been studied broadly and globally, yet there lacks attention in examining early residential mobility to specific localities, regions, or states. As such, this study sought to investigate these associations, specifically its impact on anxiety and academic performance in adults residing or living in South Carolina. Participants were surveyed online regarding their demographic information, academic performance, and anxiety levels. Results found no significant relationships between early residential mobility, anxiety, and academic performance among adults residing or living in South Carolina. Despite these null findings, …

College Student's Ideal Age For Having Children, Corrie Sanders, Melanie Palomares, Kristin Kirchner

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

It has been observed that women are beginning to have children at a later age than traditionally seen in history. This study examines college student’s ideal age for having children, and how it compares to the age of their mother when she had her first child. The data was collected mainly from undergraduate students at the University of South Carolina through a survey completed by 39 participants. Through a one-way between-subjects ANOVA, this study found there was not a significant difference of the ideal age to have children between college students ages 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. The average …

Examining Biobehavioral Indicators Of Adhd In Children With Fxs, Hannah Pressler, Kayla Smith, Ramsey Coyle, Elizabeth Will, Jane E. Roberts

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity behaviors that are inconsistent with developmental age. Children with fragile X syndrome (FXS), a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder, are often diagnosed with comorbid ADHD (53–59% of males with FXS). Despite the prevalence of ADHD in FXS, little is known about the early manifestation of ADHD. The current project aims to explore group differences in play behaviors between children with FXS and typically developing (TD) children as well as the relationship between infant play behavior and heart activity to future ADHD attention outcomes. Participants included male children with FXS and …

The Effects Of Eating Disorder Knowledge On Dieting Beliefs, Kaitlyn Finn, Melanie Palomares, Kristin Kirchner

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

The study at hand was designed to look into the issues of eating disorder awareness and dieting attitudes. Specifically, it was hypothesized that individuals with more knowledge of eating disorders would be less likely to believe in dieting. It was additionally hypothesized that there would be a difference in amount of eating disorder knowledge seen between pre-determined age groupings. This was hypothesized due to the nature of the inception of eating disorders as a clinical diagnosis. Eating disorders did not begin to be added as a category into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual until the 80’s, suggesting that participants of …

Predicting Narcissism Through Social Media, Cameryn Freglette, Melanie Palomares

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

The objective of this study was to assess if narcissism can be predicted through social media behaviors such as frequency of posts, posting selfies, and social media presence on a variety of platforms. This study was conducted through a questionnaire related to social media use and a brief assessment from the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI- 16). Results indicated that social media use per day was significantly different between people who post selfies and those who do not. Participants that scored higher for narcissism used social media less but posted significantly more selfies. Results were not significant in predicting narcissism through …

Connecting On Campus: Exploring The Motivations And Behaviors Of College Students On Dating Apps, Emma Doyle, Melanie Palomares

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

Dating apps are increasingly popular among young people, including college students. However, these apps can be quite versatile, and there can be a number of reasons why a college student would use them, whether they are looking for a serious relationship, casual sex, or anything in between. Our study evaluated the intents, behaviors, and satisfaction of college students who used dating apps. Using Chi-Square and independent samples t-test analyses, results show that while satisfaction ratings were similar between men and women, more men use dating apps than women, which suggests that women might have a more negative perception of dating …

The Impact Of Weekly Workouts On Self-Reported Happiness Among College Students, Reid Davis, Melanie Palomares

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

College students are consistently at risk for depressive behaviors during a major time of habit transition (i.e., a time of gaining autonomy while developing their own lifestyle and health habits) and gaining in independence; this is met with only half of them not engaging in at least moderately vigorous exercise (Catellier 2013; Powell, 2019). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of types of exercise (cardio, weightlifting, and yoga/pilates) that undergraduate college students voluntarily engaged in on their subjective current and general happiness levels. There were 52 participants in the study, all undergraduates at the University of …

Evaluating The Role Of Stress, Self-Perceptions Of Health, And Self-Efficacy On Physical Activity Over Time: Results From Project Drive, Ashlynn Riley, Allison Sweeney, Dawn K. Wilson

Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal

Most Americans are not meeting the recommended levels of physical activity. In underserved communities, these inequities are even greater, with African American women being less likely to engage in physical activity and being at greater risk for chronic disease relative to non-minority women. This study seeks to further understand the factors that support or undermine engagement in physical activity among African American women. Specifically, the present study evaluates the impact of stress, self-perceptions of health, and self-efficacy on physical activity engagement in a 10-week physical activity intervention program for African American women. Participants (N = 33) completed measures of …