Digital Commons Network^™

Invisible Transitions: A Phenomenological Study On The Lived Experiences Of Christian Working Women Navigating Perimenopause, Rebekah S. Willis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Perimenopause is a significant life transition that can affect how women experience their bodies, relationships, work, and sense of self. However, the experiences of working women during this transition, specifically women of faith, remain underrepresented in existing literature. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences of Christian working women navigating perimenopause, with attention to how they understood changes in daily life, professional identity, personal coping, workplace experiences, and faith. Eight women participated in semi-structured interviews. Data was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Five major themes emerged from the findings: the disruption of a previously …

Colorado Mental Health Professionals’ Personal And Professional Perspectives Of Nutrition: A Phenomenological Study, Tanya M. Tyrrell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Growing evidence supports the relationship between nutrition and mental health. However, little is known about how mental health professionals (MHPs) experience nutrition, perceive its role in relation to mental health, or integrate nutrition into psychotherapy. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore Colorado MHPs’ lived experiences with nutrition and examine how those experiences informed their professional perspectives of nutrition. Guided by constructivist epistemology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 MHPs practicing in Colorado, and data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Analysis generated eight themes. Findings revealed that 1) MHPs experienced nutrition as a lifelong developmental process …

Examining The Relationships Among Cultural Intelligence, Religiosity, And Cross-Cultural Adjustment Among Faith-Driven Expatriates Living And Working In Thailand, Jerry W. Bosken

Masters Theses

This quantitative correlational study examined the relationships among cultural intelligence, religiosity, and cross-cultural adjustment among adult faith-driven expatriates living and working in Thailand. Data were collected through an anonymous online survey using three established instruments: the Cultural Intelligence Scale, the Centrality of Religiosity Scale, and the Expatriate Adjustment Scale. The final analytic sample included 85 usable responses. Analyses included data screening, descriptive statistics, assumption testing, and multiple regression models. The results indicated that the four dimensions of cultural intelligence collectively predicted overall cross-cultural adjustment. However, motivational cultural intelligence was the only statistically significant individual predictor. Religiosity did not significantly predict …

The Effects Of Home Virtual Reality (Vr) Firearms Systems On Self-Efficacy, Gun Attitude, And Stress, Raffi R. Stambultsyan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Advanced virtual reality (VR) firearms training systems have demonstrated benefits for military and law enforcement personnel; however, limited research has examined the psychological effects of commercially available home-based VR firearms systems. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to investigate the immediate effects of the GAIM and AceXR home VR dry-fire training systems on general self-efficacy, leadership self-efficacy, perceived stress, and gun attitude among firearms-trained military and law enforcement veterans. A total of 128 participants completed validated pretest and posttest measures following participation in a VR training session using either the GAIM or AceXR platform. A one-way multivariate analysis …

The Correlation Of Information-Seeking Traits With Perceptions Of Artificial Intelligence Output To Ill-Defined Problems, Joel Bouchard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a new class of technological tool whose innovation exists in its ability to engage in reciprocal, socially fluent, undetermined response generation. How individuals come to trust such responses, especially as it regards classes of problems previously unavailable to programmed computational responses, is a question of importance. Prior research has addressed motivational dispositions towards epistemic decision-making, but work examining the relationship between these traits and perceptions of AI output in epistemically ambiguous circumstances is limited. The current study aimed to address this gap by exploring how trait curiosity and need for cognitive closure (NFCC) relate …

Beyond Transformational Leadership: The Moderating Role Of Leader Hexaco Personality Traits In Fostering Psychological Safety In Law Enforcement, Daniel Q. Lentz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Law enforcement agencies struggle to recruit and retain officers due to lack of public support, criticism, and declining well-being, which raises stress levels. While operational stress affects officers, organizational stress is more damaging. Transformational leadership can help create a psychologically safe work environment, but research on this link is limited and mixed. This study examined how each HEXACO personality trait (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness) moderates this relationship, drawing on social exchange and attribution theories. Conducted in U.S. law enforcement agencies, a survey assessed officers' perceptions of their leader’s transformational style, HEXACO traits, and psychological safety. Moderation and mediation …

The Effect Of Job Enlargement Programs On The Wellbeing Of United States Air Force Personnel, Joseph Earl Stone

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between job enlargement programs and overall wellbeing among active-duty United States Air Force personnel using a mixed method, convergent parallel approach. Utilizing a sample of 125 active-duty personnel, these two variables were examined for a predictive relationship while controlling for eight covariates utilizing multiple regression analysis (quantitative) and assessed for contextual purposes using thematic analysis (qualitative), employing survey data from all participants. The study was framed by self-determination theory (SDT), which posits that the wellbeing of individuals is affected by three core needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Quantitatively, no …

A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Exploration Of Educational Support Model Accessibility And Parent-Perceived Connections To High School Outcomes For Students With Adhd In Georgia, Whitney Rae Bowden Kling

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of parents of students diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who attended public schools in Georgia, a southeastern state of the United States of America (USA), with a particular focus on how parents perceived the influence of access to, or denial of, Section 504 Plans and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) on their children's high school outcomes. The study was informed by the theoretical principles of behaviorism and Bronfenbrenner's bioecological process-person-context-time (PPCT) model to examine how access to individualized educational supports within the school microsystem influenced educational outcomes …

Agree To Disagree? Classification Agreement Among Discrepancy-Based Sld Models Used In School Psychology, Emma M. Ferns, Carlos O. Calderón-Tena

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

For decades, school psychologists have attempted to operationalize the federal definition of the most prevalent disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), specific learning disability. These attempts have led to three major identification method camps: the severe discrepancy approach, the patterns of strengths and weaknesses (PSW) approach, and the response-to-intervention approach—all of which are federally permissible under the IDEA. This study aimed to determine whether three operationalizations of the severe discrepancy approach (simple severe discrepancy using 1 and 1.5 standard deviations and the regression approach) identified the same students as those classified by their school as having an …

Refereed Research - Indispensable Yet Not Fully Legitimate: Street Markets As Invisible Subsistence Infrastructure, Raji Srinivasan, Maria C. Merino

Subsistence Marketplaces

Street markets are key provisioning systems across the Global South, supplying fresh food, employment, and retail access absent formal infrastructure. Yet despite street markets’ functional indispensability to millions of low-income consumers, their legitimacy is chronically contested, affirmed by vendors and communities yet challenged by planners, developers, and state authorities who apply formal-economy criteria in evaluating them. We theorize this as a legitimacy paradox and ask what structural mechanisms sustain it? Using composite vignettes grounded in fieldwork, we theorize three mechanisms. First, visibility without recognition: street markets are hyper-visible yet excluded from cognitive templates of legitimate, formal retail. Second, asymmetric essentiality: …

Black Existential–Spiritual Counseling: A Content Analysis, Miles Matise

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Black American existential–spiritual counseling integrates existential philosophy with the unique cultural, historical, and spiritual contexts of Black Americans to address their psychological and spiritual needs. Rooted in the lived experience of systemic oppression, alienation, and the quest for identity and freedom, this counseling approach emphasizes meaning-making, personal responsibility, and authentic living. It acknowledges the interconnectedness of spirituality and psychology, recognizing the importance of the Black church, music, and communal values in fostering resilience and empowerment. Drawing on existential themes, such as mortality, freedom, loneliness, and purpose, this approach supports clients in navigating sociocultural stressors and generational trauma through a spiritually …

Predictors Of Psychological Strain In College Students In The Context Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Randy M. Ludwig

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic exacerbated the traditional challenges of being a college student. This study examined the factors associated with the mental health difficulties many college students faced during the pandemic. Factor analysis was used to uncover a latent variable called psychological strain, which was composed of mental instability, mental health strain, sadness, anxiety, and unhappiness. An exploratory path model was created to determine which factors most closely related to psychological strain. Of the 14 factors considered, 11 were significant predictors. Overall, the most important risk factor was found to be social isolation (total effects = .437), while …

Lived Experiences Of Spiritually Communicating Individuals Regarding Identity And Relationship Development In Early Adulthood, Bonnie Jean Kane

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Spiritually communicating individuals (SCIs), those who report interactions with non-physical entities, may face misunderstanding, stigmatization, and pathologization. Although spiritual experiences are recognized across cultures and hold significant psychological importance, they remain largely absent from developmental psychology, leaving a gap in understanding how SCIs navigate identity formation, emotional regulation, and social integration in early adulthood. The foundation of this study is transpersonal theory, which incorporates spiritual and transcendent dimensions of human experience, and phenomenology, which served as the guiding methodological and philosophical approach to explore lived experiences as subjectively perceived. This study examined the lived experiences of SCIs aged 26–35, investigating …

“I Was Not Wonder Woman And Required Help”: Black, Latina, And White Women’S Recovery From The Covid-19 Pandemic, J. Mitchell Vaterlaus, Colton Pierce, Harry Foster, Alison Brennan, Nicole Wanago

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected women, particularly women of color, yet less is known about their recovery experiences following the end of the public health emergency. This exploratory mixed-methods study examined recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic among Black, Latina, and White women in the United States. Participants (N = 133) completed a survey that included a self-reported recovery measure and open-ended questions regarding their recovery experiences. A chi-square analysis indicated a significant association between race/ethnicity and recovery status, with Latina women more likely to report ongoing recovery than Black and White women. Codebook thematic analysis identified four themes: (1) …

Review Of Archives And Emotions: International Dialogues Across Past, Present, And Future, Caelin Ross

Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies

This review analyzes Archives and Emotions: International Dialogues Across Past, Present, and Future, edited by Ilaria Scaglia and Valeria Vanesio, which argues that emotions are constitutive forces in archival practice rather than distortions of objective work. This volume explores international case studies from the 1800s to the present, bridging the gap between archival science and historical scholarship. It examines how emotions influence preservation, access, and the production of knowledge. The editors use various theoretical frameworks to show that affect plays a contextual role across different types of archives and institutional settings. Key contributions include analyses of international standardization, archivists' …

Mission Over Bureaucracy: Special Operations Command’S Warrior-Driven Model For Defense Innovation, Robert D. Seader

Joint Force Quarterly

In an era of accelerating technological change, military organizations must rapidly develop and field new capabilities to maintain battlefield superiority. Traditional defense acquisition processes, optimized for peacetime oversight and risk avoidance, now take four times longer than in the 1950s, threatening to undermine military effectiveness against rapidly modernizing adversaries. This paper examines how the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has pioneered a fundamentally different acquisition approach that delivers new capabilities in months rather than the decades typical of conventional programs.

Through extensive interviews with senior acquisition leaders, this analysis identifies three core elements of USSOCOM’s success: a mission-centric culture …

Building The Mental Golden Dome: Arming The Joint Force For Defensive Cognitive Warfare, James Davitch

Joint Force Quarterly

Modern conflict increasingly hinges on mental strength, yet current military thinking lacks a clear defense for the mind. This article introduces a vital new concept: protecting military personnel from an adversary's attempts to distort their perceptions, disorient their judgment, and degrade their decision-making. Building on established research into behavioral psychology, the essay integrates this defense into existing military functions, proposing practical steps. It offers a precise explanation of this protective strategy, suggests pre-deployment exercises for joint personnel, and outlines ways to measure effectiveness even under pressure. A detailed, multi-year plan describes how to update joint doctrine, create training programs, and …

Drug Court Graduation Rates Of African American Males Attending Habilitation Empowerment Accountability Therapy, Tierney President

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American males between the ages of 18 and 29 have lower rates of successful completion in drug court programs compared to other populations, increasing their risk of incarceration and recidivism. This study examined whether participation in the Habilitation Empowerment Accountability Therapy (HEAT) program, a culturally responsive intervention, was associated with improved drug court graduation outcomes among African American male participants. Guided by cognitive behavioral theory, a quantitative retrospective causal-comparative design was used to analyze archival data from 96 African American male participants enrolled in a drug treatment court program in Columbia, Missouri. A chi-square test of independence was conducted …

The Anxious Patient: How Breathing, Presence, And Calming Cues Transform What Happens In The Dental Chair, Kelly Davis Pt, Dpt, Faaompt, Mt

New Orleans Dental Association News

In part two of her three-part series for NODA News, Dr. Kelly Davis, PT, DPT, FAAOMPT, MTC, explains why a dentist's own regulation is one of the most powerful tools in the operatory. Dental anxiety triggers a genuine sympathetic nervous system response — elevated heart rate, muscle guarding in the jaw and neck, and a body primed for threat — that makes procedures harder for patient and clinician. Dr. Davis introduces co-regulation, the neuroscience-backed principle that a calm, grounded provider can help settle an anxious patient's nervous system through presence alone. She offers concrete, simple techniques dentists can use before, …

Effects Of Social Comparison Instructions On Affect, Motivation For Healthy Behavior, And Health Behavior Selections: Guidance To Identify Or Contrast, Raj Harsora

Theses and Dissertations

Engaging in healthy behaviors early in life is crucial for preventing noncommunicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. College is an optimal period to establish these habits, yet students often engage in poor dietary and physical activity practices; thus, identifying effective health behavior change techniques for this population is essential. Social comparisons are known to influence health behaviors, yet no research has tested comparison instructions as a behavior change technique, particularly identification versus contrast with upward and downward targets. Using a preregistered protocol (https://osf.io/z29en), we tested whether guiding college students (N=664) to identify with or contrast …

Problematic Technology Use And Quality Of Life In College Students With Varying Levels Of Schizotypy, Joseph P. Skinner

Theses and Dissertations

Problematic Technology Use (PTU) has emerged as a growing concern with technology’s continual integration into daily living. Individuals higher in schizotypy may be particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of digital environments. The present study cross-sectionally examined associations among schizotypy, PTU, and quality of life (QOL) in 533 college students using structural equation modeling. Consistent with hypotheses, greater total schizotypy was associated with higher PTU and lower QOL. Additionally, positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy all uniquely predicted poor QOL with the negative domain demonstrating the strongest standardized association. Contrary to hypotheses, PTU did not significantly moderate the relation between total …

Book Review: Adrian Harris’S Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness. Pathways To Curiosity, Presence And Belonging, Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

American Letters # 1 -- Scott Nearing (1975), Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

Trauma Work With Horses: Compassion And Connection, Olivia Sagan Prof

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

New ways of working with trauma survivors are being sought with the case being made that dominant trauma therapies have relied too heavily on verbal narration and cognitive processing.  Evidence suggests that traumatic experiences are often encoded in sensory, emotional, physiological, and relational systems that may be difficult to access through language alone. This has led to interest in the potential of body-oriented, movement-based, and experiential interventions alongside traditional talk therapies. There are also calls for exploring nature-based therapies as these have shown that engagement with natural environments may help aid the process of healing. Within this context, equine-assisted therapies …

Traumatic Experiences, Perceived Discrimination, And Psychological Distress Among Members Of Various Socially Marginalized Groups, Kimberley Matheson, Mindi D. Foster, Amy Bombay, Robyn Mcquaid, Hymie Anisman

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

Perceived discrimination has consistently been shown to be associated with diminished mental health, but the psychological processes underlying this link are less well understood. The present series of four studies assessed the role of a history traumatic events in generating a proliferation of discrimination stressors and threat appraisals, which in turn predict psychological distress (depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms) (mediation model), or whether prior traumatic events sensitize group members, such that when they encounter discrimination, the link to stress-related symptoms is heightened (moderation model). Each of the studies assessed a different marginalized group in Canada, including Indigenous peoples, Blacks, Jews, …

Black American School Counselors’ Experiences Of Racial Discrimination In The Workplace, Tiffany Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While school counselors play a pivotal role in promoting equity and inclusion within educational institutions, they may experience systemic challenges themselves, particularly in predominantly White professional environments. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of Black American school counselors who experienced racial discrimination in the workplace and how they made meaning of those experiences. The research addressed the lived experiences of Black American school counselors who experienced racial discrimination in the workplace and how they make meaning of those experiences. The study was grounded in hermeneutic phenomenology and critical race theory. Six Black American school …

Distinguishing Between Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder And Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Role Of Childhood Maltreatment, Catherine Harris

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current study examined whether court-substantiated childhood maltreatment may be associated with increased risk for Complex PTSD (CPTSD) and whether individuals with CPTSD and individuals with PTSD could be distinguished in terms of complex trauma exposure. Children with documented cases of abuse and neglect prior to age 11 were matched on age, race, sex, and approximate family socioeconomic status with children without documented histories of maltreatment (controls) and both groups were followed prospectively into adulthood. Participants (N = 1,196) were assessed using a DSM-III-R based structured interview of PTSD symptoms and other self-report measures of psychiatric symptoms at mean age …

Intimate Partner Violence And Emotion Regulation Among Emerging Adults: Investigating The Roles Of Dispositional Mindfulness And Executive Function In The Context Of A Laboratory-Induced Stress Paradigm, Mikell Bursky

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major public health concern that impacts an estimated 10 million men and women in the United States annually. IPV refers to a range of physical, sexual or psychological forms of aggression committed against a current or former romantic partner in the context of a relationship. The highest rates of IPV are observed in emerging adulthood, a developmental period between the ages of 18 to 25 that is significant for the transition from adolescence into adulthood, and the establishment of first meaningful intimate relationships. Although distal risk factors for IPV such as violence in the …

Social Media-Based Social Comparisons Among Socially Anxious Young Adults: The Role Of Cognitive Reappraisal, Jennifer L. De Rutte

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Social media is a central context for social interaction and self-evaluation among young adults. For those with elevated social anxiety, these environments may be especially salient because they provide frequent opportunities for social comparison. Although upward social comparison on social media has been linked to poorer emotional outcomes, less is known about its experimental effects among socially anxious young adults or whether upward and downward comparison have distinct effects that extend to later socially evaluative situations. The present study examined these questions in 84 socially anxious young adults randomly assigned to view simulated Instagram feeds eliciting upward comparison, downward comparison, …

The Influence Of Childhood Experiential History On U.S. Vice President Jd Vance’S Personality, Amelia Brower, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of a developmental causal analysis of the adult personality of U.S. vice president JD Vance, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data relating to Vance’s personality were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5-TR.

The findings of the personality assessment were previously reported in a separate paper. Vance’s primary personality patterns were found to be Dominant/controlling and Ambitious/confident, supplemented by …