Digital Commons Network^™

Switching Sides: A Grounded Theory Study Of Transition From Christian To Atheist, Joel C. Furches

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study developed a data driven, six stage model of deconversion, defined as the transition from publicly identifying as a Christian to publicly identifying as an atheist. Using a Grounded Theory approach for analysis, and an archival approach for data collection, the research analyzed 35 autobiographical accounts of deconversion to identify common psychological, social, and behavioral processes underlying religious-deidentification and atheist identification. The findings revealed six background features characteristic of religious environments with higher likelihood of producing deconverts, four categories of objections that precipitate dissonance, and six coping strategies individuals employ in response to that dissonance. Central to the model …

Screening And Treatment Protocols Used In Nicus Across Minnesota For Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders (Pmads), Rachael Witt

Journal of Justice-Informed Social Work Practice and Research

Parents of infants with prolonged neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalizations are a population that is overlooked in recommended routine screening for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), yet this population is at greater risk for developing diagnosable mental health disorders. Previous research shows that across the US, PMAD screening and treatment practices vary widely, with many NICUs not providing any routine PMAD screening, psychoeducation, or treatment options to parents. The objective of this study was to explore the current mental health screening and treatment protocols used in NICUs across the state of Minnesota to learn if there are areas …

Exploring Stress And Mindfulness In Central Asia: Perspectives Of English Language Students In Uzbekistan, Laurie A. Wolfe, Rakhmatullo Akhmedov

The Interactive Journal of Global Leadership and Learning

Stress is a growing concern among university students worldwide, yet little is known about how stress is conceptualized and experienced within Central Asia, particularly Uzbekistan. This study explores how Uzbek university students understand and experience stress, identifies the primary sources of stress in their daily lives, and examines their perceptions of mindfulness as a potential stress‑reduction strategy. Participants were 60 students, primarily Muslim women, at a large public university in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Open‑ended questions on a post‑intervention survey were analyzed using a combination of deductive and inductive coding. Students most frequently described stress in emotional terms, including irritability, sadness, and …

The Role Of Rhyme In Children’S Word Learning, Tengwen Fan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Rhyme increases the phonological similarity of phrases individuals hear and enhances recall from working memory. The present study explores whether rhyme aids word learning in children and examines the underlying neural mechanisms through which rhyme facilitates word learning. Thirty-four children between 6 and 8 years old completed a word learning task where they were exposed to 15 nonwords (NWs), four times each, in the sentence-final position as their EEG was recorded. Participants were randomly assigned to either a Rhyme or No-Rhyme group, where the NWs rhymed or did not rhyme with a prime real word in the sentence, respectively, during …

Distributed Impressions: How Multiple Minds Come Together To Shape Person Perception, Lindsey J. Tepfer

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Moments after perceiving another person, we immediately infer a wealth of information about them. Despite the complexities within our social environments, we distill an incredible magnitude of details available to us into compressed representations of other people’s minds and mannerisms. Yet research has focused largely on mapping isolated stimuli—divorced from its messy context—to the spontaneous impressions they provoke. As a result, there are many unanswered questions about how our judgments are influenced by the rich and noisy social world we inhabit. Here, I’ve leveraged two paradigms to investigate how impression formation and updating may operate when the constraints of the …

Not Two Selves But A Relational Field: A Relational Frame Theory Reading Of Gollum, Emilio R. López-Navarro

Journal of Tolkien Research

This article examines Gollum’s divided selfhood in The Lord of the Rings as a phenomenon constructed and enacted through language rather than as a simple moral or psychological split. Building on recent linguistic work on Gollum’s idiolect, it draws on Relational Frame Theory (RFT) as a descriptive framework for analyzing how speech organizes perspective, value, and action. The argument is literary rather than clinical: RFT is used not to diagnose Gollum, but to specify the verbal structures through which Tolkien renders inner conflict audible. Four relational processes are central to the analysis: deictic instability in shifts among “Sméagol,” “Gollum,” “we,” …

Telling On Themselves: A Qualitative Study On The Linguistic Markers Of Deception In High-Stakes Speech, James Butcher

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Deception detection in forensic and legal settings has historically relied on behavioral and nonverbal cues. Extensive research has demonstrated that these indicators are unreliable and prone to bias. This reliance has a significant impact on investigations, legal outcomes, and public trust. Although linguistic research has identified individual markers of deceptive speech, limited attention has been given to how multiple linguistic cues interact in real-world, high-stakes contexts. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how pronoun shifts, avoidance language, and equivocation cluster together during high-stakes deceptive speech. Truth-default theory (TDT) served as the theoretical foundation, and critical discourse analysis …

Systematic Errors In Judging The Performance Of Others, Michael J. Benson

Psychology ETDs

The well-documented tendency of people to be poor estimators of their relative abilities can be problematic in real life. These errors in are highly asymmetric: the worst performers dramatically overestimate their relative ability, whereas the best performers underestimate theirs (Kruger & Dunning, 1999). There are two possible causes of this misjudgment of relative ability: 1) participants are poor estimators of their own performance, or 2) participants are poor estimators of the comparison group’s performance. Kruger and Dunning (1999) attributed overestimation in the worst performers to the former problem but attributed the underestimation in the best performers to the latter problem. …

Examining The Relationship Between Trauma-Informed Safety Drill Practices And School-Level Chronic Absenteeism In Maine Secondary Schools, Tina Nightingale

Dissertations

School safety practices can influence students' perceptions of safety, emotional well-being, and engagement in the educational environment; however, limited research has examined whether trauma-informed safety drill practices are associated with measurable educational outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental, correlational study was to examine the relationship between trauma-informed safety drill practices and school-level chronic absenteeism in Maine middle and high schools. Guided by trauma-informed care, adolescent neurodevelopment, and Protection Motivation Theory, the study investigated whether higher levels of trauma-informed implementation of safety drills, as measured by the Trauma-Informed Safety Drill Practices Index (TISDPI), were associated with lower rates of chronic …

Do I Fit In Here? How Immigrants’ Endorsement Of Social Markers Is Related To Their Wellbeing In Three Migrant Receiving Societies, Justine Dandy, Chan Hoong Leong, Adam Komisarof, Travis Lim, Krystal Perkins

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Social markers of acceptance are the attributes seen as important for immigrants to achieve or display in order to be accepted similarly to a local-born citizen. In research on constructions of national identity, factor analysis reveals a culture-specific, two-factor structure akin to the ethnic–civic distinction observed. In this paper, we extend this work by examining the relationship between social markers of acceptance and immigrants’ well-being in three national contexts: Australia, Japan, and the U.S. Specifically, in study 1 we examined the factor structure of social markers in non-immigrant samples in each context (Australia, n = 1357; Japan, n = 2000; …

Roots Or Resources?: Understanding Latino Student Leadership In Higher Education, Kelly Parra

Honors Theses

For the purpose of this study, Latino/a refers to individuals who are from Latin America or of Latin American descent. The term Latino/a is used because it captures individuals from a variety of Latino American cultural backgrounds and is not limited to a single national origin or ethnic subgroup (Pratt Institute Libraries, n.d).

Student leadership development is often fostered with involvement in student organizations, leadership programs, mentorship opportunities, and other institutional resources provided through higher education (Lebrón et al., 2017). However, for many students’ Latino/a leadership-related skills may begin developing long before entering college through family responsibilities, cultural experiences, and …

Promoting The Hpv Vaccine Across The League Of Arab States: A Scoping Review Of Interventions, Basil H. Aboul-Enein, Patricia J. Kelly, Fatmah Almoayad, Teresa Keller

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

INTRODUCTION: This scoping review examined existing interventions designed to promote and educate about HPV vaccination in the league of Arab states (LAS).

METHODS: Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines and using a PICOS-informed approach, a comprehensive search was conducted across 16 databases to identify peer-reviewed intervention studies published between 2010 and August 2025.

RESULTS: Twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria. Most interventions originated from Egypt and Saudi Arabia and were delivered in academic or clinical settings using short, didactic, one-group pre-post designs. Only a few studies incorporated behavioral theories, digital modalities, or multi-component strategies. Nearly all studies reported short-term improvements in HPV-related knowledge …

The Problem With People: Signed Language Interpreter Disposition Match And Attrition, Dawn M. Wessling

Journal of Interpretation

In the United States, communication access is a legislated right for Deaf people in many settings; however, recent data suggest that the number of signed language interpreters does not meet current service demand. This multiple‑case study contributes to understanding interpreter attrition by examining how disposition mismatches between novice interpreters and more experienced co‑interpreters influence early exit from the field. Attrition among novice interpreters may exacerbate demand–supply imbalances and contribute to persistent shortages in interpreting services.

This study draws on applied and organizational psychology frameworks, specifically attraction, selection, and attrition (ASA) theory and person–organization fit (P–O fit). Using these theoretical lenses, …

Career Decidedness Among Multicultural Adolescents In South Korea: Relational Support And Internalized Psychological Resources, Kahyen Shin

Dissertations - ALL

Despite the growing number of multicultural adolescents in South Korea, little is known about how to support their career development. Specifically, Korean multicultural adolescents who have foreign-born mothers and Korean fathers have experienced educational and career gaps compared to non-multicultural adolescents in Korea. Given that relational supports are documented to have significant associations with adolescents' career decidedness, this study aims to examine the relationship between relational supports and career decidedness through internalized psychological resources such as self-esteem and achievement motivation. Grounded in the Relational Theory of Working (RTW; Blustein, 2011), the researcher focused on the mediating role of internalized psychological …

“Cutting-Off With My Family Is Never An Option In My Mind”: An Exploration Of Navigating Identity, Connections And Relational Resilience In Family And Intimate Relationships For Transgender Asian Americans, Jixuan Zhao

Dissertations - ALL

Transgender Asian Americans navigate gender identity within complex cultural, familial, and relational contexts shaped by collectivist values, racialized stereotypes, and social stigma. Despite increasing research on transgender experiences, limited scholarship has explored how transgender Asian Americans understand and negotiate their identities within family and intimate relationships. Grounded in Minority Stress Model and intersectionality theory, the current study, adopted strength-based perspectives, aims to understand unique experience related to familial and intimate relationships as well as their supports, and how they manage their relational needs as well as resilience process, shaped by the intersection of transgender identity and racial/ethnic identity. Through semi-structured …

Evaluating The Role Of Individual Differences: Impact On Fruit And Vegetable Intake Outcomes In Nourish-T+ Caregivers Of Pediatric Cancer Survivors, Sandra Soca Lozano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric cancer survivors are at increased risk for obesity and related long-term health complications, highlighting the need for interventions promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors during survivorship. The present study examined caregivers’ fruit and vegetable intake in the full NOURISH-T+ intervention and evaluated whether their dietary outcomes changed from baseline to the 3-month post-assessment and differed by selected caregiver sociodemographic characteristics. The study also examined whether these characteristics accounted for variance in 3-month fruit and vegetable outcomes. Participants included 68 caregivers in the full NOURISH-T+ condition who completed both baseline and 3-month post-assessments. Fruit and vegetable intake was assessed using the Healthy …

Adaptation Of Moral Integrity Scale To Kazakh Language: A Psychometric Investigation, Madina Ishkibayeva, Nesrullah Okan, Zhazira Abdykhalykova, Nursulu Makhambetova

Higher Learning Research Communications

The present study has been designed to adapt the Moral Integrity Scale (MIS), originally developed by Schlenker (2008), into Kazakh and to examine its psychometric properties among undergraduate students. Moral integrity, a critical component of ethical behavior, is essential in tertiary education, yet few culturally validated tools exist in the Kazakh context. Following a rigorous scale adaptation process (including translation, back-translation, expert review, and pilot testing), the scale was administered to three independent student samples. The results of the exploratory factor analysis (n = 470) revealed a single-factor structure explaining 52.13% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis ( …

Examining The Referral Pathway For Black Families Evaluated Through The Early Steps Program, Zelda Fleming

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that for children with or at risk for developmental delays, early intervention services are associated with improvements in academic and cognitive skills by the time they reach kindergarten (Atkins et al., 2020; Litt et al., 2017). Untreated developmental delays are linked to early school failure and social and emotional problems (Sher et al., 2020). Black children are 5 times less likely to receive early intervention services when compared to their White peers (Barnard-Brak et al., 2021; Feinberg et al.,2011). Thus, they often do not have the opportunity to receive early intervention services. The literature in this area suggests …

Experiences Of Black Francophone Students Entering The United States For Higher Education, Anu Nifemi Ferguson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Urban Indian Parents' Occupational Perceptions Of Play And Governance Of Children's Excessive Screen Time Preferences And Behaviours In This Digital Era, Joanna Priyadarshini Udaykumar, Tony Sam George

International Journal of Playwork Practice

Abstract

Children’s innate urge to engage in joyous, self-directed, meaningful, iterative activities embodies their unique play experiences and facilitates their holistic development. However, the exponential growth of digital technology in an urbanized world has transformed their social landscape by offering them a plethora of novel play opportunities that ‘pushes children away from the outdoors and pulls them indoors’. Moreover, the radical transition from nature-based recreation to media-centric activity insinuates the surge of a global pandemic characterized by low physical activity, sleep deprivation and sedentary, lifestyle diseases. This emerging trend reflects children’s predilection for videophilia over biophilia due to the dominance …

A Link Between Emotional Intelligence, Age, And Diverse Learners, Christina Jedlicka Blake

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative comparative study explored the complex relationship between emotional intelligence (EQ) and Learning Differences (LDs), focusing on academic, social, and emotional development of adolescents diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLDs), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and high- functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study investigated whether differences in EQ exist between students with and without LDs and whether age influences EQ development. The 102 participants included male and female students in grades 6-12, ages 11-18, attending a Christ-centered college preparatory school. Students completed a 30-question EQ questionnaire during the researcher’s class time, and online surveys were coded to identify …

“Being An Arab Is Like Fighting For Your Joy”: Exploring Bicultural Identity, Racialization, And Psychological Well-Being Among Us-Born Arab Americans, Hisham Nsier

Master's Theses

Bicultural identity development in Arab Americans, who must manage sometimes conflicting cultural expectations, is understudied. Even less is known about Arab Americans born in the United States (US-born AA), who are American by birth yet are alienated from society due to differences between their ‘white’ racialization and their cultural identities. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between bicultural identity, racialization, and psychological well-being at the intersection of US-born AA’s co-existing identities. Eight adult US-born AAs (Mage = 28 years, SD = 4) were recruited from professional Listservs and WhatsApp affinity groups. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed …

Barriers And Beliefs: Narratives Of Mental Health Help-Seeking Among First-Generation Latino/Hispanic College Students, Karina L. Alba Lockhart

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Mental health challenges among college students in the United States have increased in recent years, yet first-generation Latino/Hispanic college students continue to underutilize available services while facing unique cultural and structural barriers to care. This qualitative narrative study explored how first-generation Latino/Hispanic college students made meaning of mental health help-seeking in relation to perceived barriers, perceived benefits, and cultural values such as familismo and stigma. Guided by the health belief model and cross-cultural psychology, this study recruited 15 participants from four-year institutions in the United States and collected data through an online asynchronous questionnaire. Thematic and narrative analysis revealed that …

Children With Cerebellar Malformations And Co-Occurring Autism: A Phenomenological Study Exploring Challenges Faced With The Dual Diagnosis Process, Service Acquisition, And Psychosocial Impacts, Ladeana W. Gambill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Parents of children who have been diagnosed with cerebellar malformations, such as Dandy-Walker Malformation, often face confusion and frustration as they are given uncertain prognoses about their child’s future. The uncertainty is further compounded when there are concerns for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and testing is sought, with conflicting answers on whether their child has autism or not. Acquisition of autism-specialty services may be delayed if a diagnosis of autism is not received in a timely manner. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences and challenges faced by parents of children with cerebellar malformations …

Engaging Immigrant Families Of Children With Disabilities: Recommendations For Practitioners, Robai N. Werunga, John William Mckenna, Rocio Rosales

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Family involvement is essential for positive school outcomes. Yet research suggests that family engagement for students with disabilities may be marked by conflict. Furthermore, creating an environment that promotes active engagement for immigrant families may be challenging. In this paper, we synthesize existing research, legal guidance, and community-engaged insights to present four practice-oriented recommendations for educators and practitioners working with immigrant families of children with disabilities. Grounded in Hans and Love’s stages of immigrant family engagement, these recommendations aim to support meaningful and culturally responsive participation in special education processes.

When School Culture Excludes: Deficit Discourse, Microaggressions, And The Mental Health Of Marginalized Students – A Conceptual Framework With Implications For School Psychology Practice And Equity Policy, Modupe Mercy Oyewunmi

Publications

Deficit-laden language like ‘behavior problem,’ ‘not college material,’ ‘won’t fit in’, ‘not a cultural fit’, operates as a systemic form of implicit bias and microaggression in school settings. Despite decades of research on school belonging and well-being, school psychology has yet to integrate these exclusionary discursive practices into a coherent health-determinant model that also accounts for the current anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy environment. This conceptual paper proposes a testable framework linking deficit discourse and school-based microaggressions to student identity suppression, academic impostor phenomenon, and educator moral injury, with downstream effects on school mental health outcomes. We situate these …

Entre La Lucha: Familismo And Well-Being Of Latino Immigrant Families Navigating Manual Labor And Anti-Immigrant Sentiment, Faviola Robles Saenz

Dissertations and Theses

The United States' history of treatment toward Latino immigrants has been shaped by anti-immigrant sentiment and exploitative labor practices, creating psychological violence that harms their families' well-being. Although previous research has examined anti-immigrant sentiment, labor conditions, and familismo among Latinos, these areas are often studied in isolation, with limited attention to their intersections and how they are experienced across generations. Informed by history, prior research, and my lived experiences, this study qualitatively explored the intersections of anti-immigrant sentiment and parents' manual labor to understand how these contexts shape familismo and well-being among Latino immigrant families. This work was grounded in …

Blended Family Dynamics And Executive Functioning In Preschoolers: A Cross-Sectional Study, Kayla Butler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Predictors And Outcomes Of Reading Intervention Success In Autistic Children: Memory And Brain Connectivity, Meagan Elizabeth Beckerson

ETDs from 2020-2029

Reading comprehension is a complex skill that relies on linguistic and cognitive abilities, including executive control processes. Creating a cohesive representation of text involves maintaining visual and verbal information in short term memory (STM) and using executive control skills to integrate information, apply it to questions, and draw inferences. Many autistic children demonstrate strong individual word reading (decoding) but poor comprehension, resulting in a discrepant reading profile. The role of STM and executive control—along with the underlying neural systems that support these processes—in reading comprehension and response to intervention has not been examined in autistic children with this profile. The …

Emotion-Focused Teaching And Preschool Children's Social, Emotional, And Self-Regulatory Development, Brielle Emily Petit

Dissertations and Theses

Contributing to the literature on supportive mechanisms for children's development of social, emotional, and self-regulatory competencies, the current study examines the contributions of emotion-focused teaching in preschool classrooms. Emotion-focused teaching is a framework used within preschool classrooms that encompasses three domains of teaching that support children's development of emotion skills—how teachers display their own emotions or emotion-related behaviors and actions (modeling), the ways they respond to children's emotional expressions (responding), and how instruction is used to inform children about emotions and related processes (instructing). More frequent emotion-focused teaching has been shown to be a …