Digital Commons Network^™

Substance Abuse And Psychosocial Factors In The Hepatitis C Population: Identifying Risk Factors In Disease Severity And Quality Of Life, Jill Courtney Clarida

Theses and Dissertations

Hepatitis C is the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the United States. Research has focused on contributing factors to the development and progression of liver disease, but few studies have considered nicotine use as a potential prognostic factor with CHC. Research has commonly found that CHC patients report with a diminished quality of life. Several factors have been proposed to account for a decrease in QOL; however, the mechanisms underlying the impairment in QOL have not yet been elicited. 76 CHC patients completed self-report measures on a variety of psychosocial variables and biochemical data for determining the patient's liver …

Represent: The New York City Public Housing Resident Alliance And Its Struggle Against The Imposition Of The Neoliberal Agenda, Gretchen Susi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research has focused on four interconnected topics: the formation of a citywide group of public housing residents and advocates (The New York City Public Housing Resident Alliance); a collaboration between the Resident Alliance and building trade unions in New York City to gain jobs for public housing residents—The TRADES Coalition (Trade Unions and Residents for Apprenticeship Development and Economic Success); public housing activism in an era of neoliberal reform; and efforts on the part of the Resident Alliance to engage in what Henri Lefebvre refers to as the production of space. It has examined how The New York City …

Collaborating In Care: Developing A Model Of Dialogic Empathy In Nursing Education, Kimberlee Jean Trudeau

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The goal of this exploratory study was to teach nursing students to perceive empathy as a dialogic process versus as a personal characteristic through narrative reflection. This required the development of a dialogic empathy model for nursing education; that is, a model that presents empathy as a reciprocal process shared by the nurse and client within their interactions. Given the increasing cultural diversity between providers and clients in stressful medical situations, awareness of the interaction of the characteristics of oneself and another (i.e., dialogism) could potentially enhance both the efficacy and experience of care.

This study included (a) narrative reflection …

Home To Jesus (Chapter 9 On Finding Our Way Home), Mark R. Mcminn

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Excerpt: "Like so many, I was raised in a religious home- praying before meals, attending Sunday services, seeking to follow God's will for my life. I remember getting two Christmas presents in ninth grade-a new pair of skis and a new Bible. Honestly, I was more thrilled with the Bible than with the skis (though both gifts made me ecstatic about my generous parents for a few days). I remember wondering in those youthful years why anyone would choose a life apart from Jesus. As I grew toward adulthood I began to understand their reasons. The faith I had loved …

'The Steps To Respect' Program Uses A Multilevel Approach To Reduce Playground Bullying And Destructive Bystander Behaviors, Karin Frey, Leihua Van Schoiack Edstrom, Miriam Hirschstein

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Bullying reduction efforts benefit from combining universal and selected interventions. All children are involved occasionally as aggressor, victim or encouraging bystander, and some children are frequently involved. Bullying behavior is amply rewarded in the school environment. The Steps to Respect program aims to reduce rewards by increasing adult intervention and support for socially responsible student behavior. Cognitive-behavioral classroom curricula address peer norms, assertiveness, and general social-emotional skills. A random control trial showed decreases in playground bullying and negative bystander behavior after one year. Longitudinal analyses showed declines in all five problem behaviors after two years. Results were strongest when teachers …

An Exploratory Cross-Cultural Investigation Of The Organisational Strategies Employed To Prevent And Ameliorate Workplace Bullying In University Settings, Dragana Krestelica

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Workplaces abound in conflict. Individuals within organisations are therefore vulnerable to a wide range of intimidating interactional tactics. These tactics can have an extremely negative impact upon individual workers and upon subsequent organisational performance. Consequentially, the diverse forms of organisational social harassment, and specifically bullying, place a large financial burden upon both organisations and nations. Therefore, the identification of strategies used to prevent and ameliorate workplace bullying and an examination that highlights their comparative success or failure is of great importance for all employers, employees and government. This study focuses upon those strategies used to prevent and ameliorate such workplace …

Correlates Of Health Promotion: Meaning In Life, Religiosity, And Christian Identification, Daniel Melvin Huber

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The relationships among meaning in life, religious orientation, Christian identity, health locus of control, and health promotion behaviors were assessed using 206 Christian students from a public university. Six areas of health promotion (physical activity, interpersonal relations, nutrition, health responsibility, spiritual growth, and stress management) were measured using the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II. Predictions included (1) intrinsic religiosity, meaning in life, Christian identity, internal health locus of control, and God control will be positively associated with health promoting behaviors; and (2) intrinsic religiosity and internal health locus of control will be positive predictors of health promoting behaviors. Meaning in life …

Relative Efficacy Of School-Home Notes And Teacher Feedback In Minority Elementary Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Andrea Nichole Jurbergs

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

School-home notes have proven to be an effective and acceptable method for improving children’s classroom behavior. School-home notes require teachers to rate students on any number of target behaviors and parents to provide consequences based on the evaluation. School-home notes recently have been shown to increase attention in low income children with ADHD. Although successful at decreasing off-task behavior in the classroom, treatment integrity (parent providing earned consequences at home) is not always maintained at acceptable levels. The goal of the current research was to dismantle the proven school-home note to identify the efficacy of the teacher feedback component alone. …

The Relationships Among Perceptions Of Family Disharmony, Parent-Child Relationships, Disharmonious Family Experiences, And Adolescent Cigarette Smoking., Herbert F. Wolfe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among the following perspectives: perception of family disharmony, parent-child relationships, disharmonious family relationships, and adolescent cigarette smoking. Participants from a southeastern university reported about whether they smoke daily, weekly, monthly, never, or no longer smoke. The independent variable was smoking status of participants. Four to eight rating scales served as dependent variables for the three perspectives. Independent groups (smoking status) multivariate analyses of variance with unequal cell sizes were performed on the rating scale measures. Because none of the comparison tests were significant, the results were interpreted to suggest that …

Positive Self-Talk Statements As A Self-Esteem Building Technique Among Female Survivors Of Abuse., Fred Jackson Teaster Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this integrated review of literature was to explore the relationship between and among females in abusive relationships, self-esteem, and positive self-talk. Various models are discussed that provide possible explanations in the understanding of the complex social and psychological nature of cyclic abuse. These models are: learned helplessness, psychological entrapment, self-verification theory, and feminist theory. It is suggested that positive self-talk statements used by the female survivor as a basis for cognitive restructuring can act as a self-esteem building technique, thus promoting healthier cognitions over time. Furthermore, it is argued that self-esteem enhancement can assist females in developing …

Influence Of Age, Gender, And Race On Depression In Heart Failure Patients., Ronald Freudenberger, Stacey C. Cahn, Christine Skotzko

PCOM Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Child Pornography: Patterns From Nibrs., David Finkelhor, Richard Ormrod

Crimes Against Children Research Center

Presents findings from the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). By collecting data on pornography/obscene material offenses from law enforcement jurisdictions, NIBRS enables researchers to draw conclusions about the number, locations, and characteristics of these crimes. NIBRS data suggest that approximately 2,900 crime incidents of pornography with juvenile involvement were known to state and local police in 2000; these offenses most often were committed by a lone adult male offender, occurred in a residence, and did not involve a computer. Currently, NIBRS data represent about 14 percent of the population. As more jurisdictions support uniform reporting of accurate data to …

The Influence Of Performance Success, Skill Level, And Gender On The Causal Attributions Of Recreational Golfers, Kevin W. Mchenry

Graduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of performance success, skill level, and gender on the causal attributions made by recreational golfers. Skill level was determined by handicap, and performance success was the golfer’s estimation of whether the particular round of golf was successful or unsuccessful. It was hypothesized that the causal attributions that recreational golfers made would be more internal, stable, and personally controllable after a successful performance than after an unsuccessful performance. Male and female golfers (N=101), from age 19 to 73, with an average age of 39, playing recreationally completed the Causal Dimension Scale-ll …

The Alive Center (A Local Information & Volunteer Exchange): An Evaluation Of The Year 2003-2004, Joel Kaunisto

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Volunteerism plays an important role in modern American society with benefits accruing to the community and individuals who volunteer. This thesis evaluated the first year of operation of the ALIVE Center (A Local Information and Volunteer Exchange) by addressing four objectives of the program with data obtained from the ALIVE Center. To meet its first objective, the ALIVE Center maintains a current database of local human service organizations. The second objective, to establish a resource center and provide referrals and information to 1,000 people, was achieved. The third objective of maintaining a website was also met. Matching over 200 volunteers …

Is Empathy Gendered And If So, Why? An Approach From Feminist Psychological Anthropology, Claudia Strauss

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Difference feminists have argued that women have special virtues. One such virtue would seem to be empathy, which has three main components: imaginative projection, awareness of the other's emotions, and concern. Empathy is closely related to identification. Psychological research and the author's own study of women's and men's talk about poverty and welfare use in the United States demonstrate women's greater empathic concern. However, some cross-cultural research shows greater sex differences in empathy in the United States than elsewhere. This combination of findings (women tend to demonstrate greater empathic concern, but this typical difference varies cross-culturally) requires a complex biocultural …

Measuring Student Well-Being In The Context Of Australian Schooling : Discussion Paper, Julian Fraillon

Wellbeing

This report was commissioned by the South Australian Department of Education and Children's Services as an agent of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). The report constitutes Phase 1 of a planned two phase process. Specifically this report defines a measurement construct for student well-being; outlines a methodology for measuring student well-being; and provides recommendations for ongoing work in the measuring, reporting and monitoring of student well-being (Phase 2).

The Relationship Among Pathological Internet Use, Level Of Social Anxiety, And Degree Of Self-Esteem, Mark Tanner Gibson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the variables of degree of selfesteem, level of social anxiety, level of education, age, and gender can predict whether or not individuals meet criteria for Pathological Internet Use (PIU). The Diagnostic Questionnaire was used to ascertain the degree of pathology in each participant's Internet use. Participants also completed a 25-item Social Anxiety Inventory, a 30-item SelfEsteem Inventory, and several demographic items. The sample consisted of399 individuals, 31 of whom met criteria for PIU (leaving 368 Non-PIUs). A discriminant analysis was used to analyze the data to determine whether PIUs and Non-PIUs …

Intimate Partner Violence And The Justice System: An Examination Of The Interface, Carol E. Jordan

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

Women entering the court system face a challenging experience, in part, because a courtroom can be an intimidating and difficult place for any person, and in part because women victimized by crimes in which the offender is known to them face distinctive difficulties when they seek the court’s remedies. The interface is also made more challenging for women as the literature offers disparate findings as to the efficacy of criminal justice responses and civil remedies. This article briefly explores the unique characteristics of intimate partner violence cases that influence the interface of these victims with the court system.Areviewis provided of …

Toward A National Research Agenda On Violence Against Women: Continuing The Dialogue On Research And Practice [Part Two], Carol E. Jordan

Office for Policy Studies on Violence Against Women Publications

No abstract provided.

A Meta-Analytic Review Of The Effects Of High Stress On Eyewitness Memory, Kenneth A. Deffenbacher, Brian H. Bornstein, Steven D. Penrod, E. Kiernan Mcgorty

Psychology Faculty Publications

In the past 30 years researchers have examined the impact of heightened stress on the fidelity of eyewitness memory. Meta-analyses were conducted on 27 independent tests of the effects of heightened stress on eyewitness identification of the perpetrator or target person and separately on 36 tests of eyewitness recall of details associated with the crime. There was considerable support for the hypothesis that high levels of stress negatively impact both types of eyewitness memory. Meta-analytic Z-scores, whether unweighted or weighted by sample size, ranged from -5.40 to -6.44 (high stress condition–low stress condition). The overall effect sizes were -.31 for …

Reinforcement Schedules Modulate Discriminative Stimulus Properties Of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine And Cocaine, Daniel Kueh

Masters Theses

Drug discrimination is a model used to assess the subjective effects of different psychoactive drugs such as 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and cocaine. However, results from MDMA discrimination studies across different laboratories have not been consistent. Possible confounds for this inconsistency may include the use of different reinforcement schedules such as the fixed-ratio 20 (FR20) and the variable interval 15 seconds (VI15 s) during discrimination training. Studies examining the effects of these two schedules on the discriminative stimulus properties of MDMA and cocaine have not been conducted. Thus, the present study compared the FR20 and the VI15 s schedules to determine their …

Shame And Negative Body Image In Adolescent Females, Erin K. Anderson-Fortier

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Current research in the fields of shame, body image, and adolescent female weight has had little convergence until recently. Biological changes that occur during adolescence, particularly weight gain for females, may result in feelings of shame. Shame is an involuntary reaction to the belief that the self is inherently flawed. Body image begins to form in early childhood, and "is a multidimensional construct that refers to subjective perceptual and altitudinal experiences about one's body, particularly one's physical appearance" (Cash, Melnyk, & Hrabosky, 2004, p.305). Body image may be negatively impacted when the adolescent female's belief that her actual body is …

Effects Of Nicotine And Anatoxin-A Exposures On The Operant Performance Of Rats, Kimberly Ann Jarema

Dissertations

Tolerance has previously been shown to develop to nicotine's effects on operant behavior. This experiment explored whether tolerance would still develop when nicotine administrations were separated by three weeks. Anatoxin-a, a nicotinic-receptor agonist, was also tested and the results were compared to nicotine. Male Long Evans rats performed under a multiple VR30 VI30-sec food-reinforcement schedule. Phase I rats were divided into 6 groups of 8 that received four weekly subcutaneous injections of nicotine (0.0-1.8 mg/kg) and anatoxin-a (0-250 mcg/kg) prior to testing sessions. An ED50 was derived, for each compound, from the VR dose-response curve. Phase II rats were divided …

Representation Of The Elderly In Counselor Education Textbooks, Alicia V. Fahr

Dissertations

The counseling profession requires multicultural competence in meeting the needs of diverse groups. The responsibility for training counseling students to work effectively with the elderly falls upon counselor educators. Textbooks convey cultural values and contribute to what is learned by students. Specifically,textbooks may contribute to how counseling students think about older adults and aging issues. This study was designed to determine how older adults and aging issues are represented in counselor education texts.

The textbooks used most frequently by 11 randomly selected master's degree programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (2001) were identified …

A Multicomponent Intervention System Using Goal Setting, Feedback, And Incentives To Improve Performance In Small Service Businesses, Doug Lafleur

Dissertations

A small business servicing dealerships in the chimney lining industry was responsible for training and resupplying contractors in a propriety chimney lining system. A process was developed for sharing and comparing the dealerships' financial reports and business processes. The process involved a small group of dealers attending regular 6-month meetings called Impact Groups. A monetary incentive system was used to encourage dealers to join the Impact Groups and to maintain continued attendance and participation. Dealers took turns hosting the meetings and having the attending dealers analyze their business. A detailed list of problems and solutions was provided to each host …

The Information Used To Judge Supportiveness Depends On Whether The Judgment Reflects The Personality Of Perceivers, Objective Characteristics Of Targets Or Their Unique Relationships, Brian Lakey, Catherine Lutz, Alan Scoboria

Psychology Faculty Publications

People who judge their relationships as more supportive enjoy better mental health than people who judge their relationships more negatively. We investigated how people made these judgments; specifically, how people weighed different types of information about targets under three different conditions: when judgments reflected the personality of perceivers, the objective characteristics of targets, and the unique relationships between perceivers and targets. Participants (i.e., perceivers) judged the same four videotaped targets on personality, similarity to perceivers and likely supportiveness. As in previous research, perceivers based their judgments on perceived target similarity to perceivers, and on target personality. However, how perceivers weighed …

Psychopathy And The Five Factor Model In A Noninstitutionalized Sample: A Domain And Facet Level Analysis, Scott R. Ross, Catherine J. Lutz, Steven E. Bailley

Psychology Faculty Publications

The current study examined the relationship of the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality to primary and secondary psychopathic dispositions in a noninstitutionalized sample. Previous investigations suggest that Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism are basic personality traits that characterize psychopathy. However, few studies have examined the relationship of the FFM to primary and secondary psychopathic attributes, respectively. In the current study, the relationship of the FFM using the NEO-PI-R to primary and secondary psychopathic dispositions was investigated in a sample of young adults. Previous findings were extended by (1) addressing the relationship of higher and lower order FFM traits (i.e., facet …

Common Sense Parenting (Csp) Learn At Home Kit: A Clinical Effectiveness Evaluation Of A Commercially Available Video Training Program For Parents, Sean T. Smitham

Dissertations

Much has been made of the gap between psychotherapy research and clinical practice. Most current psychotherapy research is focused on what could be viewed as macro-level efficacy type issues, while practicing clinicians are often most concerned with micro-level effectiveness questions. The current study-an evaluation of a parent training (PT) program provides an example of how scientist-practitioners can contribute meaningfully to psychotherapy research by conducting small scale clinical effectiveness studies. Parent Training (PT) is a well established efficacious treatment approach for child disruptive behaviors and non-compliance. Recent research has also established that self-administered videotape PT programs may also be efficacious. A …

Examining Restricted And Repetitive Behavior In Children With Autism: A Descriptive Study, Dawn Deann Detweiler

Masters Theses

This exploratory study examined the specific topographies and corresponding demographic information of restricted, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, interests and activities of children with autism, and evaluated developmental differences between age groups. Previous literature has largely neglected this core feature of autism despite the need, and frequent call for such foundational data (Bodfish et al., 2000; Kennedy et al., 2000; Mercier et al., 2000; Turner, 1999). Participants included primary caregivers of 104 children who met DSM-IV-TR criteria for autism (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) and ranged in age from 3 to 7 years (M = 4. 7). The behaviors reported as occurring …

Prayer As A Treatment Modality In Patient Healthcare: Physicians' Spiritual Beliefs And Religious Practices And Their Relationship To Patient Health, D. Ronald Rickerhauser

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The intention of this study was to determine whether physicians' spiritual beliefs and the integration of prayer in medical practice are associated with patient health. In this study, 546 physicians from 40 different family practice residency programs in the contiguous United States completed and returned surveys. Regression analyses using these data and patient statistics provided by the clinics were performed. Patient's length of hospital stay and a ratio of clinic patients to hospital patients were used as dependent measures. The results did not show a relationship between physician beliefs, prayer, and patient health. However, there was a significant relationship between …