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Using The Personal Health Inventory To Support Engagement In Mindfulness For Veterans With Ptsd: Mixed Methods Secondary Data Analysis, Emily M. Johnson, Mia R. Zappala, Jacob Scharer, Kyle Possemato

The Journal of Integrated Primary Care

Mindfulness has many potential benefits to physical and mental health but requires many hours of practice to attain the strongest benefits. Mindfulness interventions delivered within the context of primary care settings are often brief, so independent practice beyond the training context is important. Motivational factors are important predictors of sustained practice and different types of motivational factors are associated with different likelihood of sustained practice. The Personal Health Inventory (PHI) is a publicly available personal health planning tool that assesses motivational factors related to self-care behaviors like mindfulness. Our objective was to understand how the PHI can support patient engagement …

"Please Hold Space For Them": The Role Of Mental Health Professionals In Supporting Bipoc Female Survivors Of Campus Sexual Assault, Brianna Josefine Ortega

Doctoral Dissertations

Campus sexual assault (CSA) remains a pervasive issue in the United States, disproportionately affecting women. Despite this, the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and other Persons of Color (BIPOC) women are often underrepresented in the literature, limiting understanding of how best to support them. Based on intersectionality theory, this qualitative study explores how mental health professionals (MHPs) support BIPOC female survivors of CSA. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six MHPs, and a thematic analysis framework uncovered seven key themes: disclosure (subtheme: barriers to disclosure), impacts of campus culture, fear and distrust, impact of campus sexual assault, coping, resources available for survivors, …

The Impact Of Alternatives To Incarceration And The Motherhood Identity On Mothers And Their Children: A Qualitative Study, Chloe Blau

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The U.S. prison system population increasingly includes women, a significant proportion of whom are mothers, often incarcerated for non-violent crimes. Some research suggests that alternative to incarceration (ATI) programs can help these women to continue supporting their children while serving their sentences and receiving services that may decrease recidivism. However, few studies have explored the lived experiences of women in these programs. This dissertation investigates the impact of participating in ATI programs on mothers and their relationship to their motherhood identity, their ability to mother, and their relationship with their children. Using a qualitative approach to better understand how women …

The Impact Of The Doctor-Patient Relationship In Bipoc Women Suffering From Benign Gynecological Conditions, Gabriela Baez

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study sought to gain a better understanding of the impact of the doctor-patient relationship on BIPOC women with benign gynecological conditions. The current study explored how wellbeing is impacted in BIPOC cis-gender women with benign gynecological conditions by measuring the quality of the relationship. General racism experience was also explored as a moderator on the impact of doctor-patient relationship on wellbeing. A total of 169 participant responses were included in this study. Hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that there was a significant relationship between gynecological conditions and wellbeing. In addition, there was a significant negative relationship between racism experience and …

Master Of Social Work Portfolio, Payten Thistlewaite

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

A Thematic Analysis Of The Perceived Impact Of Nil Policy On Athletic Identity, Career Maturity, And Black Male Student-Athletes’ Experience Of Transitioning Away From Football, Jesse Merise

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

In 2007 the NCAA launched the widely recognized slogan, “There are over 380,000 student-athletes, and most of us will go pro in something other than sports.” Today, that figure has risen to over 540,000 and continues grow. Among them, Black male student-athletes (BMSAs) comprise 40% of collegiate football participation across all three divisions, a notable increase from 36% in 2012. Since only a small percentage of college football players go on to play professionally, it means that a large number of Black student-athletes will eventually have to leave sports and pursue other career paths.

This study examined the perceived impact …

Parent/Stakeholder, Practitioner, And Teacher Perception Of Applied Behavior Analysis As Influenced By Social Media, Brittany Hahn

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The current study was conducted to investigate individuals’ perceptions of ABA as influenced by social media. A survey that included videos selected from TikTok, a social media platform, was provided to parents/stakeholders of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), practitioners/employees of ABA (BCBAs, RBTs, etc.), and teachers. Participants were acquired using recruitment posts on TikTok and Facebook, through email, and by word-of-mouth/referral. 58 participants in total fully completed the survey. The survey was conducted using Qualtrics and included 32 questions and eight TikTok videos. The results showed that parents/stakeholders’, practitioners’, and teachers’ opinions of ABA were not influenced by the …

The Benefits Of Establishing Attending Behavior Prior To The Discriminative Stimulus During Discrete-Trial Instruction: A Systematic Review, Ruben S. Pereira

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Discrete trial instruction (DTI) is one of the most effective and commonly used instructional strategies for teaching individuals with autism. Researchers and professionals have informally promoted the importance of establishing attending behavior prior to initiating discrete trials. However, some researchers have reported a lack of literature analyzing the effects of establishing attending behavior, prior to instruction, on skill acquisition. Therefore, the benefits of establishing attending as part of DTI remain unknown. The goal of the current thesis was to conduct a systematic review using PRISMA guidelines to search for published studies where attending behavior was a primary independent variable within …

An Examination Of The Purity Culture Beliefs Scale And The Interaction Of Religiosity, Purity Culture Beliefs, And Pornography Use In A Census-Matched United States Sample, Kaelyn R. Griffin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The impacts of purity culture have been documented in the prevalence of abstinence-only sex education, perception of personal value tied to virginity, and shame and guilt related to sexual behavior. Similarly, models of moral incongruence often examine religiosity as a contributor of distress related to sexual behavior and pornography use, likely tapping into the influence of purity culture without directly naming its presence. This distinction is crucial due to the variety of religious beliefs and practices, some including purity culture and those without sexually restrictive beliefs and practices. Despite this, standardized measures for researching purity culture are limited. Ortiz (2018) …

Housewerk: How Drag Performers Engage In Emotional Labor While Navigating Community Care, Steph O. Landeros

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation examines drag performance as a form of service labor shaped by emotional labor, community care, and identity-based inequality. Drawing on interviews with drag performers shows how drag labor blends artistic skill, emotional regulation, interpersonal care, and entrepreneurial labor. While these demands mirror service sector roles in other industries, drag remains underrecognized and undervalued, particularly for performers who do not conform to white, cisgender norms. The study introduces Housewerk—an adaptation of Marlon Bailey’s concept of housework (Bailey, 2013)—to describe the mix of paid and unpaid labor drag performers engage in. Housewerk captures how performers must balance self-preservation (branding, income, …

Identifying Appropriate Clinical Cutoffs For Traumatic Dissociation In Maltreated Youth, Amanda L. Mraz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Maltreated youth who experience traumatic dissociation are at an increased risk for various severe psychopathological outcomes. Much is still unknown about the risk factors for traumatic dissociation in maltreated youth. The present study aimed to identify dissociation (e.g., dissociative amnesia, absorption and imaginative involvement, passive influence, and depersonalization and derealization) risk factors, via parametric statistical methods, in association with the appropriate clinical cutoff for the total and subscale scores from the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES). Investigatory variables included demographic (e.g., age, race, and gender), cognitive (e.g., resiliency and posttraumatic cognitions), and psychological (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression …

Internalized Weight Stigma As A Mediator Between Past Weight Stigma And Current Healthcare Avoidance/Comfort In Seeking Medical Care, Shannon Joyel Sagert

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research has found that medical providers such as physicians, nurses, and medical support staff may contribute to externalized weight stigma directed toward youth (Garcia et al., 2016; Gorlick et al., 2021). Individuals who have encountered weight stigmatization may internalize those experiences, leading to psychological, physical, and behavioral changes that reduce their quality of life (Palad et al., 2019; Romano et al., 2023; Tanas et al., 2022; Zancu & Diaconu-Gherasim, 2023). However, little is known about how historical externalized weight stigma from medical providers relates to future healthcare access behaviors. This study examined whether internalized weight stigma mediated two relationships: First, …

More Than A Feeling: A Mixed-Methods Examination Of Transgender Community Connectedness And Associations With Suicidality, Erin Rook

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Transgender adults experience significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation than the general population. A sense of transgender community connectedness (STCC) may reduce this risk, but predictors of STCC and its association with suicidal ideation are understudied. This cross-sectional mixed methods study examined STCC and past-year suicidal ideation in relation to dimensions of transgender community connectedness (TCC) at each level of the Social Ecological Model using data from a U.S. survey of transgender adults (n = 126). About half (52.4%) felt connected to the transgender community, and 27.0% reported past-year suicidal ideation. Hierarchical logistic regression models for both outcomes showed good …

School Absenteeism In Children With Disabilities: An Analysis Of School Climate And Academic Mindset, Karolyne Bastos Stucki

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Students with disabilities (SWDs) are more likely to be chronically absent than general education peers (Anderson, 2021; Gee, 2018, U.S. Department of Education, 2016). Etiology for SWDs is complex with influencing factors spanning multiple ecological levels, but bolstering protective factors for SWDs may address attendance disparities. Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) models have the potential to address absenteeism in SWDs via school-wide preventative and/or intervention efforts (Tier 1 & 2) aimed at increasing or decreasing influencing factors in students with disabilities. School climate and academic mindset may influence students with disabilities’ attendance. The purpose of the present study was to …

Segmentation And Memory In Interactive, Inferential Events, Ata Baris Karagoz

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Though everyday life is continuous, people tend to understand and remember experiences as discrete events separated by boundaries. Event segmentation theory (EST) (Zacks et al., 2007) describes these event boundaries as being driven by prediction error. People have an internal model of how an event unfolds, uses this to form predictions, and then places a boundary when a new model is necessary. Prior studies suggest that episodic memory is enhanced for information occurring near event boundaries, though less is known about these effects in interactive environments. To assess this, I designed an experimental paradigm where participants uncover changes in the …

Adolescent Social Media Use During Covid-19 Isolation And Subsequent Loneliness, Anxiety, And Depression, Nadine Dalheim

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents spent time in social isolation from their peers due to periods of mandated lockdown. It was unclear how social media use during lockdown could have influenced adolescents’ mental health after the pandemic. Psychosocial development theory and self-socialization theory formed the theoretical framework for this study. This study examined 158 adolescents aged 13-17 who experienced lockdowns and movement restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The independent variables were a) the social media sites most frequented during lockdowns, and b) the purposes of their use. The RCADS and the UCLA Loneliness Scale provided participants’ levels of anxiety, depression, …

An Exploratory Examination Of Profiling Techniques In Criminal Cases, Marilou Verburg Erb

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Profiling is a vital process in criminal investigations that facilitates not only the proper identification of offenders in the fight against crime but also the quick apprehension of said individuals. Finding viable techniques to investigate criminal activity has been a significant focus of research on crime and related fields. The objective of this qualitative study was to examine the primary techniques involved in geographic profiling, crime scene profiling, suspect-based profiling, psychological profiling, and psychological autopsies in order to assist academics and professionals in the profiling field as well as law enforcement and criminal justice officials in identifying and apprehending offenders …

Increasing Implementation Of The Comfortable Cafeteria Program To Promote School-Age Children’S Mental Health And Well-Being, Reinecka Mondesir, Angela Labrie Blackwell Phd, Otr

Summer 2025 OTD Capstone Symposium

Every Moment Counts (EMC) is a positive mental health promotion initiative that offers several initiatives to create inclusive environments that support student participation and emotional well-being throughout the school day. Comfortable Cafeteria, part of EMC, fosters positive mealtime experiences supporting peer interaction, emotional regulation, and inclusion. Many SBOT practitioners lack the resources to implement Comfortable Cafeteria, despite its benefits. This capstone project addresses the need for practical tools to help school-based occupational therapy (SBOT) practitioners integrate the Comfortable Cafeteria program into daily practice. Using the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework, the project developed and disseminated an interactive, evidence-based video …

Counselors’ Competency Development In Suicidal Ideation Assessments Of Black American Adolescents, Salita Mcclelland Wynn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Black American adolescents have increased rates of suicidal ideation above what is noted in the general U.S. youth and adolescent population. An in-depth literature supports the notion that many counselors and mental health clinicians, post-graduation from their training programs, feel ill-equipped to assess suicidal ideation in Black American adolescents. The purpose of this qualitative, hermeneutic phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences and competence of counselors who have clinical experience working with Black American adolescents who have suicidal ideation. Prior to the inception of this research, no other documented study addressed counselor competence with assessing suicidal ideation in Black …

The Impact Of Family Violence On Bullying Behaviour Among Secondary School Students In Ilorin Metropolis, Oyedotun Dolapo Ilori, Patrick O. Akerele, Ifeoluwa Blessing Michael

Buletin Konseling Inovatif

Family violence remains a significant social issue with far-reaching consequences for adolescents, particularly in shaping their behavioural tendencies, including bullying. This study examines the impact of family violence on bullying behaviour among secondary school students in Ilorin Metropolis, which comprises three Local Government Areas (Ilorin South, Ilorin West, and Ilorin East). The study adopts a descriptive survey research design to assess the extent to which exposure to family violence influences students' bullying behaviours, while also considering the role of peer influence. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select 417 students from both public and private secondary schools in Ilorin …

Autism Awareness Training For Law Enforcement Officers: A Pilot Study, Kaylie Holke, Meghan Cosier, Elissa Green Kaustinen, Cathy Scherer, Andrew Wall

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to pilot a research-based autism training session for law enforcement officers (LEOs), test the Police Self-Efficacy for Autism (PSEA) scale as a measurement tool for the session and provide a preliminary examination of brief training. Design/methodology/approach

This study utilized a pre-post survey approach in which participants completed the PSEA scale pre- and post-training to measure the relationship between the training and self-efficacy scores. Findings

Results show a positive relationship between brief autism-specific training and officers’ self-efficacy scores across items and subscales. All four subscales and seven of thirteen items demonstrated statistical significance. Originality/value …

Addressing Psychosocial Barriers To Participation In People Experiencing Homelessness: An Occupational Therapy Workshop, Preston Bender, Steven M. Gerardi, Lacey Spark

Summer 2025 OTD Capstone Symposium

Despite the occupational therapy (OT) profession's emphasis on holistic, person-centered care, many OT practitioners and students report feeling a lack of self-efficacy and preparedness to navigate the complex psychological, social, and systemic barriers that hinder occupational participation in people experiencing homelessness (PEH). This capstone project aimed to address the perceived unpreparedness among clinicians through the creation of an 8-hour interactive educational workshop aligned with Experiential Learning Theory. The content is grounded in the Model of Human Occupation (MOHO) and informed by the Bridging the Transition from Homelessness: A Social Justice Framework (BTTF), trauma-informed care (TIC), harm reduction, and diversity, equity, …

Kind Kids, Healthy Teens: Child Prosociality And Fruit And Vegetable Intake, Farah Qureshi, Krista P. Woodward, Laura D. Kubzansky, Julia K. Boehm

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Introduction

Methods

Mental Health Disparities In Hospital Admissions For Youth With And Without Autism, Ben Pfingston, Lindsey Sneed

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The purpose of this study was to compare mental health diagnoses in a sample of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and youth without ASD (non-ASD) admitted to inpatient hospitals across the United States. We hypothesized that autistic youth would have a greater proportion of co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses compared to their typically developing peers. To do this, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) 2019 Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID). We compared the proportions of co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses between autistic and typically developing youth. Compared to 21% of non-ASD admissions, 36% of the ASD admissions …

Paradoxical Forms Of Scientific Heroism When Responsibly Conducting Research, Theresa A. Thorkildsen

Heroism Science

The Stanford Prison Experiment is widely known for offering insight into the responsible conduct of research as well as how prisoners and prison guards fall easily into potentially harmful roles. As the principal investigator of the study, Philip Zimbardo became a polarizing figure in the social sciences -- both celebrated as a pioneering hero and criticized for ethical shortcomings -- while consistently engaging with his critics throughout his career (Zimbardo, n.d.). Highlighting Zimbardo’s influence on the protection of human research participants, this article uses details from Zimbardo’s self-reflections and insights on the paradoxes of heroism to convey how research personalities …

The Consequences Of Workplace Racial Discrimination: A Scoping Review, Yaritza A. Ortiz, Evelyn D. Sarsar

McNair Summer Research Program

Racial discrimination has been consistently associated with negative mental health outcomes among marginalized communities. Racial discrimination within the workplace has shown to be detrimental to mental well-being and behavioral outcomes, however, there is much less work investigating these links. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to understand the association between workplace racial discrimination and mental and behavioral health outcomes.

Empirical articles were identified using Google Scholar and PsycINFO. The extracted data included, design of the study, the number of participants, ethnicity or race, type of discrimination, mental or behavioral outcome, and the results produced by the data. For the final review, …

Sex-Related Measurement Bias In Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms In The Baby Siblings Research Consortium, Catherine A. Burrows, Sooyeon Sung, Shuting Zheng, Greg S. Young, Tony Charman, Cherly Klaiman, Ami Klin, Natasha Marrus, Sally Ozonoff, Joseph Piven, Diana L. Robins, Rebecca J. Schmidt, A. J. Schwichtenberg, Sara Jane Webb, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Leslie J. Carver, Katarzyna Chawarska, Suzanne Curtin, Shafali S. Jeste, Jana M. Iverson, Jane E. Roberts

Faculty Publications

Importance Disparities exist in age of diagnosis and prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for female compared with male children. Correcting for sources of bias is critical for improving equitable ASD identification.

Objective To determine whether sex differences exist in measurement of ASD symptoms using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) among young children at high familial likelihood (HFL) and low familial likelihood (LFL) of ASD.

Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study collected longitudinal, prospective data from the Baby Siblings Research Consortium between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2021. Participants included 3106 children who had an older sibling …

Sex-Related Measurement Bias In Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms In The Baby Siblings Research Consortium, Catherine A. Burrows, Sooyeon Sung, Shuting Zheng, Tony Charman, Cheryl Klaiman, Ami Klin, Natasha Marrus, Sally Ozonof, Joseph Piven, Diana L. Robins, Rebecca J. Schmidt, A. J. Schwichtenberg, Sara Jane Webb, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, Leslie J. Carver, Katarzyna Chawarska, Suzanne Curtin, Shafali S. Jeste, Jana M. Iverson, Rebecca J. Landa, Daniel S. Messinger, Jane E. Roberts, Wendy L. Stone, Helen Tager-Flusberg, Amy N. Esler, Meghan Miller, Somer L. Bishop, Jed T. Elison

Faculty Publications

IMPORTANCE Disparities exist in age of diagnosis and prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for female compared with male children. Correcting for sources of bias is critical for improving equitable ASD identification. OBJECTIVE To determine whether sex differences exist in measurement of ASD symptoms using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) among young children at high familial likelihood (HFL) and low familial likelihood (LFL) of ASD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cohort study collected longitudinal, prospective data from the Baby Siblings Research Consortium between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2021. Participants included 3106 children who had an older sibling …

Illness Terminable And Interminable: A Lacanian Exploration Of Medical Assistance In Dying, Matthew Devine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

More and more people worldwide are requesting euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide (PAS), or medical assistance in dying (MAiD). Arguments in favor of expanding access to MAiD tend to prioritize the rational, competent, autonomous subject who has the right to make decisions about their body, including their death. Some have argued that this perspective – common in biomedical and bioethical literature – tends to neglect the fact that requests for assisted dying involve a relational structure: a relationship between the subject who requests an assisted death and the Other to whom this request is addressed. After reviewing relevant psychoanalytic approaches to suicide …

The Anti-Work Attitude Scale: Conceptualizing And Measuring The Resistance To The Institution Of Work, Alayna Del Rosario

Master's Theses

Recent shifts in labor discourse have drawn attention to rising burnout, declining organizational commitment, and diminishing job satisfaction, which challenge traditional assumptions about the centrality and desirability of work. These tensions have given rise to the concept of anti-work, a growing discourse that questions the moral, economic, and psychological foundations of work itself. Despite its cultural relevance, anti-work remains largely undertheorized and unmeasured in empirical research. Drawing from interdisciplinary scholarship, this study defined anti-work as a negative critique of work as a social construct, questioning its value, purpose, and impact on individuals and society. Anti-work was operationalized through two higher-order …