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Development Of A Multidimensional Index Of Fall Risk For Older Adults: The Cache County Study, Alexandra G. Hammond

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

One out of four adults over the age of 65 are estimated to fall each year in the U.S. alone, with that number expected to rise to 52 million falls per year by the year 2030. Improving accuracy for identification of older adults at a higher risk of falling is increasingly important and may be integral in informing the distribution of limited resources and assist in preventing falls in older adults. This project examined the relationship between previously identified risk factors and fall risk to create multidimensional fall risk indexes for older adults, specific for each sex.

Factors best associated …

Predictors In Help-Seeking Intentions For Friends With Eating Disorders, Allie M. Robb

Honors Theses

Emotional intelligence is a significant factor in one’s well-being as high emotional intelligence predicts sound mental well-being and a better quality of life as one can accurately understand emotions (Kulkarni & Velhal, 2023). However, low emotional intelligence has also been found to be a predictor not only of the development of mental health disorders but also have the lowest intentions to seek help (Ciarrochi et. al., 2002; Kulkarni & Velhal, 2023). Because they are unlikely to seek help, it is important for others who see the potential cause to help intervene. The purpose of this study is to investigate the …

Biological Validation Of Peak-Width Of Skeletonized Mean Diffusivity As A Vcid Biomarker: The Markvcid Consortium, Alison M Luckey, Saptaparni Ghosh, Chen-Pin Wang, Alexa Beiser, Rebecca Bernal, Zhiguang Li, Djass Mbangdadji, Elyas Fadaee, Haykel Snoussi, Angel Gabriel Velarde Dediós, Hector A Trevino, Monica Goss, Laura J Hillmer, Christopher E Bauer, Adam M Staffaroni, Lara Stables, Marilyn Albert, Jayandra J Himali, Thomas H Mosley, Lars Forsberg, Vilmundur Guðnason, Baljeet Singh, Herpreet Singh, Kristin Schwab, Joel H Kramer, Gary A Rosenberg, Karl G Helmer, Steven M Greenberg, Mohamad Habes, Danny J J Wang, Brian T Gold, Hanzhang Lu, Arvind Caprihan, Myriam Fornage, Lenore J Launer, Konstantinos Arfanakis, Sudha Seshadri, Charles Decarli, Pauline Maillard, Claudia L Satizabal

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Peak-width of skeletonized mean diffusivity (PSMD), a neuroimaging marker of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), has shown excellent instrumental properties. Here, we extend our work to perform a biological validation of PSMD.

METHODS: We included 396 participants from the Biomarkers for Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (MarkVCID-1) Consortium and three replication samples (Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology = 6172, Rush University Medical Center = 287, University of California Davis Alzheimer's Disease Research Center = 567). PSMD was derived from diffusion tensor imaging using an automated algorithm. We related PSMD to a composite measure …

The Role Of Hope In Recovery From Sexual Assault For Hispanic Women, Esmeralda Rivera

Theses and Dissertations

Despite a growing amount of academic literature, there is a lack of research examining the levels of hope in Hispanic women recovering from sexual assault trauma. This quantitative survey investigates hope in Hispanic women healing from sexual assault trauma. The Miller Hope Scale (MHS) examines the variations and correlations between degrees of hope and demographic, personal, and self-advocacy factors. The research employs the Trauma Symptom Checklist—40 to investigate the correlation between levels of hope and trauma among women who have undergone sexual assault. Ninety-one Hispanic women from a crisis center in the U.S. were recruited for the study. Descriptive statistics, …

Harnessing The Power Of Peer Collaboration: Effects Of Cooperative Mock Exams On Statistics Anxiety And Self-Efficacy, Kristof Csaba

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study investigated the impact of collaborative mock exams on test anxiety and self-efficacy in undergraduate statistics courses. Students completed a mock exam individually or in pairs and provided pre- and post-activity measures of test anxiety and self-efficacy. Results showed that the collaborative condition exhibited lower statistics anxiety and exam-specific anxiety compared to the individual condition, but no significant difference in post-activity self-efficacy was found. Within-group analyses revealed a decrease in exam-specific anxiety and an increase in self-efficacy across both conditions. Condition by time interactions were not significant, although the pattern of results trended in the expected direction for exam-specific …

The Effect Of Gender Beliefs On Self-Determined Motivation As Measured By Organizational Citizenship Behaviors And Workplace Deviant Behaviors, Ryan Jaramillo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Employees are gauged by their motivation to complete their required job responsibilities, as losses in motivation can result in losses to organizations. Understanding motivation is necessary to achieving beneficial organizational outcomes such as organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) while reducing detrimental employee outcomes such as workplace deviant behaviors (WDBs). To this end, the present study analyzes motivation not through a dichotomy of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, but through a spectrum of self-determination for its relationship to employee behaviors. Gender is a potential moderator that can have important moderating effects between motivation and subsequent outcomes in the workplace. The purpose of this …

The Association Between Sports Camp Participation And Perceivedcompetence And Independence Among Visually Impaired Youth, Mary A. Keene, Justin Haegele, Xihe Zhu

Journal of Youth Development

Research on sport camps for visually impaired youth is limited. The purposes of this study were to examine if visually impaired campers’ self-perception of their perceived competence and independence changed as a result of attending a one-week sports camp. Forty visually impaired campers ranging from 10-15 years of age, who attended a one-week sports camp, completed a survey study from two outcome measures of the American Camp Association Youth Outcomes Battery. A bivariate correlation analysis and descriptive analyses were conducted. The campers reported relatively high levels of perceived competence (5.48 ± .57) and moderate levels of perceived independence (4.94 ± …

The Effects Of Individual Differences In Working Memory On Trust Recovery, Connie Ku

All Theses

While trust repair is an active area of inquiry, most technology does not have the ability to initiate trust repair. Thus, it is crucial to examine how unaided trust recovery occurs and the factors that could influence it. Prior research has highlighted the potential importance of individual difference factors such as working memory capacity (e.g., Rovira, Pak, McLaughlin, 2017). However, the specific dynamics of unaided trust recovery and how they are influenced by individual differences are unknown. This study examined how working memory (WM) was related to the process of unaided trust recovery. In addition, this study also examined the …

Influential Nature Of Empathy In The Relationship Between Psychopathy And Aggression, Alessia M. Valentino

Student Theses

Past research discusses the development of psychopathy and its association with aggression and empathy. It highlights that while personality traits central to psychopathy are believed to arise early in life, adolescence is a critical period where these traits interact and manifest in behaviors. Some research discusses the role of empathy in moderating aggressive behavior, suggesting that interventions targeting empathy could potentially reduce aggressive and antisocial behaviors in individuals with psychopathic traits. The current study explores the relationship between psychopathic traits, empathy, and aggression in adolescents, aiming to enhance our understanding of these complex constructs and their implications for risk assessment …

The Lasting Psychological Effects Of Juvenile Arrests, Nadia Olivia Bortolin

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the enduring psychological consequences, specifically depression and anxiety, stemming from juvenile arrests and their influence on adulthood. Literature has demonstrated impacts on juvenile arrests from cultural, socioeconomic, family dynamics, and environmental elements. This study addresses a notable gap in understanding the long-term impact on mental health and employment. Research indicates a sensitivity to outcomes based on the age of arrest, with early adolescent arrests having profound effects on development and an increased likelihood of subsequent criminal activities. Developmental and risk factors, such as socioeconomic challenges and pubescent difficulties, contribute to persistent delinquent behaviors into adulthood. Some studies …

Malicious Compliance: Examining Revenge Behaviors In Organizations, Patricia Jewel Emily Morrison

Theses and Dissertations

Revenge is a multifaceted behavior that manifests in various forms. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine a particular form of revenge known as malicious compliance, which has yet to be sufficiently researched. A two-study approach was used to examine malicious compliance. In the first study, qualitative data was collected from an online forum for sharing malicious compliance experiences. In the second study, 352 participants completed a mixed-methods survey online. Data from both studies was analyzed in RStudio and MAXQDA. Study 1 utilized unsupervised machine learning techniques, non-machine learning techniques, and thematic coding techniques to analyze the forum dataset. …

Association Of Common And Rare Variants With Alzheimer’S Disease In More Than 13,000 Diverse Individuals With Whole-Genome Sequencing From The Alzheimer’S Disease Sequencing Project, Wan-Ping Lee, Seung Hoan Choi, Margaret G Shea, Po-Liang Cheng, Beth A Dombroski, Achilleas N Pitsillides, Nancy L Heard-Costa, Hui Wang, Katia Bulekova, Amanda B Kuzma, Yuk Yee Leung, John J Farrell, Honghuang Lin, Brian W Kunkle, Adam Naj, Elizabeth E Blue, Frederick Nusetor, Dongyu Wang, Eric Boerwinkle, William S Bush, Xiaoling Zhang, Philip L De Jager, Josée Dupuis, Lindsay A Farrer, Myriam Fornage, Eden Martin, Margaret Pericak-Vance, Sudha Seshadri, Ellen M Wijsman, Li-San Wang, Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project;, Gerard D Schellenberg, Anita L Destefano, Jonathan L Haines, Gina M Peloso

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common disorder of the elderly that is both highly heritable and genetically heterogeneous.

METHODS: We investigated the association of AD with both common variants and aggregates of rare coding and non-coding variants in 13,371 individuals of diverse ancestry with whole genome sequencing (WGS) data.

RESULTS: Pooled-population analyses of all individuals identified genetic variants at apolipoprotein E (APOE) and BIN1 associated with AD (p < 5 × 10

DISCUSSION: We observed that complementary pooled-population and subgroup-specific analyses offered unique insights into the genetic architecture of AD.

HIGHLIGHTS: We determine the association of genetic variants with Alzheimer's disease (AD) using …

A New Normal: Testing Cumulative Prospect Theory In Defendant Plea Decision-Making, Grace Hanzelin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Plea-bargaining is a common and necessary part of the American criminal justice system and though psycholegal scholars have made great advancements in our understanding of defendant plea behavior, the field generalcy lacks a sufficient theoretical model of plea-bargain decision-making. Across two experiments, this dissertation empirically tests Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT; Tversky & Kahneman, 1992) as a potential model of defendant plea decisions. In Experiment 1, participants completed two risk aversion tasks, one economic and one adapted into a plea domain, to assess the presence of loss aversion and risk aversion in both domains. Findings suggest that, in a plea context, …

Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning In Cancer Pain: A Systematic Review, Vivian Salama, Brandon Godinich, Yimin Geng, Laia Humbert-Vidan, Laura Maule, Kareem A Wahid, Mohamed A Naser, Renjie He, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Clifton D Fuller, Amy C Moreno

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/objectives: Pain is a challenging multifaceted symptom reported by most cancer patients. This systematic review aims to explore applications of artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) in predicting pain-related outcomes and pain management in cancer.

Methods: A comprehensive search of Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science databases was conducted using terms: "Cancer," "Pain," "Pain Management," "Analgesics," "Artificial Intelligence," "Machine Learning," and "Neural Networks" published up to September 7, 2023. AI/ML models, their validation and performance were summarized. Quality assessment was conducted using PROBAST risk-of-bias andadherence to TRIPOD guidelines.

Results: Forty four studies from 2006 to 2023 were included. Nineteen studies used …

An Integrative, Systematic Review Of The Situational Judgment Test Literature, Sven Kepes, Sheila K. Keener, Filip Lievens, Michael A. Mcdaniel

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Situational judgment tests (SJTs) are popular assessment approaches that present scenarios describing situations that one may experience in a job. Due to its long history and cross-disciplinary nature, today’s SJT literature is quite fragmented. In this integrative review, we start by systematically taking stock and synthesizing the SJT literature from the different scientific disciplines via bibliometric techniques on 524 unique documents. We identify six literature clusters (i.e., SJTs in the medical sciences, SJTs in personnel selection, methodological issues and SJTs for specific constructs, SJTs to assess emotional intelligence and related constructs, technological advances in SJTs, SJTs for teacher assessment and …

Filipino American Cultural Beliefs And Perceptions Of Autism, Emily-Anne Sevilla Del Rosario

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Not much is known about Filipino American beliefs of autism due to the novelty of the research area. Most research has been conducted in Asian American populations disregarding the uniqueness of each cultural subgroup. The purpose of the present study was to reach out to Filipino Americans and understand their perceptive of autism along with the potential barriers to seeking out help for concerns of autism traits through a mixed-method study. Results indicated the important roles that acculturation and religion play on the likelihood of seeking medical professional help. Qualitative interviews suggest three major themes that characterize Filipino American support …

The White Peacock – A Masculinity Study, Katherine Pollert

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the feminist movement in England was making significant progress, effectively influencing the leading artists and scholars of the time to consider the nature of female oppression and to do their part to invoke change. Among these figures, D.H. Lawrence emerged as a provocative voice on gender and sexuality. To this day, his work remains a source of significant contention, often due to the controversial representation of gender and sexuality in his novels. For decades, feminist critics have debated Lawrence’s characterization of women, some accusing his work of misogyny, with others praising his careful …

Effect Of Epistemic Cognition And Self-Regulation On The Evaluation Of Online Information, Devin T. Foschi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While research has shown that epistemic cognition plays an important role in self-regulation, the way in which it does so in online contexts needs further research. The objective of this dissertation was to examine the relationship between Internet-specific epistemic cognition and Internet-specific self-regulated learning, and to use a mixed-methods approach in order to expand upon the way learners undergo the evaluation of information in online spaces beyond the traditional method of only using self-report measures and other common quantitative techniques. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, Phase 1 (N = 117) used quantitative methods to first look at the relationship …

Psychometric Properties And Use Of The Indonesian Florida Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory, Christiana L. Ticoalu, Samsunuwijati Mar'at, P. Tommy Y. S. Suyasa, Eric A. Storch, Wayne K. Goodman, Steffi Hartanto, Riangga Novrianto, Edo S. Jaya

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

Presently, in Indonesia, the lack of a validated measure for obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) hinders diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The current study evaluated the reliability, validity, and optimal cut-off score of the Indonesian Florida Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (FOCI) in predicting OCD presence. The participants included 384 adults: 157 with OCD, 80 case controls with anxiety or mood disorders, and 147 healthy controls. Assessments were conducted using FOCI, Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. Test–retest reliability of the FOCI was evaluated for over 2 weeks in 30 OCD patients. The internal consistency within OCD samples for the FOCI …

The Association Between Childhood Trauma And Adulthood Depression And Posttraumatic Symptoms. Mediated Through Emotion Regulation And Perceived Social Support., Josue David Luna Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Depression and posttraumatic stress are two psychological consequences commonly reported by adults exposed to adverse childhood experiences. High prevalence of childhood adversities in the United States is a significant concern. Despite this, the specific causal mechanisms connecting childhood adversity to adult psychopathology remain undiscovered and require further research. This research aimed to determine whether perceived social support, cognitive reappraisal, and expressive suppression, two alternate forms of emotion regulation, would independently mediate the link between adverse childhood experiences and psychopathology in adulthood among a sample of U.S. Hispanic students. A total of 814 undergraduate students completed an anonymous online battery of …

Prevalence Of Autism Spectrum Characteristics In Students Taking Undergraduate Computing Courses, Rachel Michaela Mettenbrink

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The incidence rate of autism spectrum condition (ASC) has increased significantly in recent decades, as awareness of the condition and its impacts increases amongst clinicians, parents, and the general population. Medical literature has proposed that there may be a relationship between ASC and participation in the computing field. This study tests for the prevalence of autism spectrum condition traits measured by delivering the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) to a population of undergraduate computer science students. We examine the relationships between AQ scores and students taking undergraduate computer science classes, sex, socioeconomic status, and parents in the computing industry. Additionally, we …

Music And Narrative Memory, Maxwell Kayser

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Music can overlap with many activities, but its effects on our memory for those activities are not fully understood. The experiments here investigated the effects of calm and intense background music on both memory and narrative transportation (the feeling that one is absorbed into the events of a narrative) during reading. Participants read narratives either in silence or with background music and completed a measure of narrative transportation (Transportation Scale-Short Form; Appel et al., 2015). Participants were then tested, either in silence or with background music, on memory for explicit details and inferences from the narrative. Across both experiments, memory …

Symptom Network Comparisons Between Pre- And Post-Concussion, Christine Salva

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Increased awareness about the short and long-term negative outcomes associated with sport-related concussion has resulted in active monitoring of cognitive and symptom profiles of athletes using a variety of assessments. The traditional approach to interpretation of cognitive and symptom measures has been based on a latent construct framework where domain scores reflecting latent constructs representing cognitive or symptom domains are collected at baseline and then compared to those obtained after concussion during the acute injury phase, with repeated additional assessments to determine when cognitive and symptom alterations have resolved. More recently, network approaches have been used to examine changes in …

Exploratory Learning In Two Modalities: Tabular Vs Graphical., Lianda Velic

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In traditional educational settings, an instructor delivers a lecture prior to providing students a practice activity. Exploratory learning reverses this order to encourage active learning and engagement, typically improving learning outcomes. However, more research is needed in order to determine how to optimally design exploratory learning materials, and how differences in such design impact learning processes and outcomes. The current study investigated the impact of instructional order and activity modality type (tabular or graphical) on learning outcomes. Undergraduate students (N=252) were taught the statistical concept of consistency and the formula to compute standard deviation. In the instruct-first condition, …

Course Of Disease Progression And Time To Death Among Different Dementia Types In A Population Based Study, Kaitlyn E. Kauzor

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, Other types of dementia include vascular (VaD) and mixed forms, like AD with VaD, other mixed forms of dementia or dementia of unknown etiology (DUE). Research has focused on factors that may increase risk of developing dementia, with less understood about disease course. Factors associated with risk for developing dementia onset include age, female sex, family history of dementia, genetics (e.g. having the ε4 allele of the Apolipoprotein E or APOE gene), and various health conditions. This project used previously collected data from the Cache County Study on Memory and …

Using Task Clarification And Feedback To Teach Feedback Reception Skills To Registered Behavior Technicians, Kira Elizabeth Flynn

Theses and Dissertations

Feedback is a common behavioral intervention to address performance issues in a variety of settings. Feedback has been heavily studied in organizational behavior management; most of this research has focused on the parameters of feedback delivery and behaviors of the feedback provider that impact the effectiveness of the feedback delivered. However, only two studies to date have examined how to teach individuals to effectively receive feedback. The current study investigated the efficacy of task clarification and feedback to teach appropriate feedback reception skills to individuals. One participant met mastery criteria of the feedback reception skills with task clarification alone, while …

On The Advantages Of Hierarchical Bayesian Regression For Cognitive Control Studies: A Case Study With The Dmcc Task Battery, Thomas Dudey

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Arising from the so-called 'replication crisis' in the experimental psychology literature, there has been a growing call to reassess whether specific analytic practices might lead to the improved accuracy and precision of given findings. This issue is explored here, through a case-study examination of two previously collected datasets (Dual Mechanisms of Cognitive Control [DMCC] task battery), used to illustrate some of the unique advantages afforded by Hierarchical Bayesian Regression (HBR) models as a potentially more rigorous analytic approach to statistical inference. The goal is not to provide a definitive argument for the HBR approach relative to other available computational methods, …

Let's Get The Ball Rolling: Dynamic Affordances For An Object Retrieval Task In Virtual Reality, Elenah Rosopa

All Theses

Virtual reality (VR) is widely used in domains such as training, rehabilitation, entertainment, and gaming. For users to perceive affordances in VR, the virtual environment must provide sufficient perceptual information. Recent studies have focused on affordance perception—individuals' ability to discern action-relevant information—primarily in static environments. This study explored dynamic affordances by manipulating the size, speed, and gap width of a virtual target. Participants performed an object retrieval task, and performance was measured by the percentage of targets retrieved and the percentage of errors on each trial. Participants were more successful in retrieving larger targets, contrary to the expectation that larger …

Utilizing Self-Management Strategies To Increase Staff Productivity In An Aba Clinic, Jasmine Margarita Hernandez-Morris

Theses and Dissertations

In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), self-management is defined as an individual's behavior change strategies and tactics implemented to achieve a desired behavioral outcome. Both clinicians and researchers aim to develop and implement efficient self- management strategies that enhance staff performance, ultimately driving positive outcomes for the clients they serve. At this time, the research regarding the use of self- management strategies to increase staff fluency is limited. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of using self-management strategies to increase fluency in administering a verbal operant card set. Six staff members from an ABA clinic in Central Florida were recruited for …

Examination Of The Role Of Ovarian Hormones On Nicotine Withdrawal Severity In Females, Priscilla Giner

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Women are more susceptible to the long-term consequences of chronic nicotine exposure, and clinical evidence has shown that abstinence from nicotine exposure produces a withdrawal syndrome that is intensified by estrogen (E2 in rats) and progesterone (PR) in females. The goal of this Masterâ??s thesis was to determine the mechanisms by which E2 and PR promote withdrawal from nicotine vapor inhalation in female rats. Prior work in male rodents has revealed that nicotine withdrawal is modulated in the medial habenula-interpeduncular nucleus (MHb-IPN) pathway. Our hypothesis is that females experience greater inhibition of the IPN via local interneurons that release the …