Digital Commons Network^™

Does Increasing Biology Teacher Knowledge Of Evolution And The Nature Of Science Lead To Greater Advocacy For The Teaching Of Evolution In Schools?, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

This study investigated whether or not an increase in secondary science teacher knowledge about evolution and the nature of science gained from completing a graduate-level evolution course was associated with greater preference for the teaching of evolution in schools. Forty-four precertified secondary biology teachers participated in a 14-week intervention designed to address documented misconceptions identified by a precourse instrument. The course produced statistically significant gains in teacher knowledge of evolution and the nature of science and a significant decrease in misconceptions about evolution and natural selection. Nevertheless, teachers' postcourse preference positions remained unchanged; the majority of science teachers still preferred …

Acculturative Strategies And The Outcomes Of Self-Esteem And Well-Being Of Latino Immigrants To Boston, Jane Mellors

Modern Psychological Studies

Acculturation is the negotiation process that immigrants undergo as they struggle to adapt to their new culture. Four acculturative strategies are thought to exist that immigrants can choose, and, although the selection of an acculturative strategy is influenced by the sociocultural context, the adoptions of different strategies have been associated with specific psychological outcomes (Berry, 1997, 2005; Neto, 2002; Sam, 2000). Past acculturative research has largely focused on areas outside of the United States; the current project is designed to fill a gap in the psychological literature by exploring Boston, Massachusetts, a city which has experienced a tremendous increase of …

Building Relationships To Support Self-Regulation, Sherice Hetrick-Ortman

Graduate Research Papers

Discouraged students come to school unable to learn. Emotional and social factors affect their intrapersonal and interpersonal awareness and place them at high risk for school failure. This paper discusses the application of strategies influenced by; sociomoral atmosphere, trust development, self regulation, emotional intelligence, attachment theory, and cultural awareness.

The research addresses the question: Will emotionally discouraged children be able to regulate their emotions through positive relationship building with the classroom teacher? The results contribute to our knowledge of how to support children's ability to regulate themselves in the absence of external devices.

The Influence Of Childhood Factors On The Public Perceptions Of The Appropriate Consequences For Young Offender, Penny Hyde

Theses : Honours

With changes in policy relating to juvenile offenders being heavily influenced by the perceived public opinion of juvenile crime, the opinion of the public on the appropriate punishment for young offenders is important within contemporary society (Mukherjee, 1997). Public opinion research suggested that while society remains unsatisfied with current methods used to punish juvenile offenders, they believe a juvenile's punishment should be proportionate to the crime and that rehabilitation should be the main goal of juvenile punishment (Barber & Doon, 2004). This research further suggested that ignorance of both the juvenile's circumstances and the perceived prevalence of juvenile crime may …

Student Satisfaction And Program Evaluation For The First Three Psy. D. School Psychology Cohorts At The Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine, Ronald M. Deguffroy

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

There is a noticeable absence in the professional literature regarding what school psychology doctoral students believe leads to satisfaction during their advanced training. Consequently, a general review of available research was conducted to ascertain what other closely related fields say about student satisfaction during doctoral training. As the document progresses, a variety of issues including funding and mentoring as well as considerations for multicultural and ethical issues as they relate to the topic are investigated. A theoretical model of what constitutes a satisfying experience for doctoral training in school psychology is provided. A program specific evaluation was conducted of the …

Grounded Theory : Latino Mental Health Providers' Perceptions Of The Mental Health Beliefs Of Latino Clients, Marcelle Santiago-Serrano

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study explores the mental health beliefs of Latinos through the eyes of Latino Mental Health Providers. Many Latinos have a view of psychologists as a "healer." This view was explored relative to that of the cognitive behavioral approach, which has a strong emphasis on its self-help approach to therapy. In addition to its self-help qualities, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is recognized for its effectiveness in the mental health treatment of diverse ethnic/cultural populations. However, the CBT philosophy may seem at times, to be contradictory to many Latinos' beliefs that the therapist's role is as a "healer." A five item …

Promoting Resilience In Inner City Youth : Implications For Counselors, Anthony D. Lymus

Graduate Research Papers

The strain and difficulties that plague the inner city continue to mount. As a result, youth who grow up in this environment are exposed to violence, substance abuse, inadequate education, and poverty. Although some youth become a part of the cycle that produces these unfortunate events, some are able to make it out and become assets to society. This occurrence has been termed resilience. The study of resilience continues to grow as researchers attempt to provide information for school officials, communities, and mental health practitioners about how to promote resilience in inner city youth.

The Impact Of College Student Immersion Service Learning Trips On Coping With Stress And Vocational Identity, Brad A. Mills, Richard B. Bersamina, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

This study examined the impact of service learning immersion trips on vocational identity and coping with stress among college students. Fifty-one students (15 males, 36 females) who participated in immersion trips and 76 students (25 males, 51 females) in a non-immersion control group completed a series of questionnaires directly before and immediately after both fall and spring break immersion trips, and during a four-month follow up. Results suggest that, after returning from an immersion trip, students report a greater ability to cope with stress and a somewhat stronger sense of vocational identity relative to students who do not participate in …

Organizational Trauma: A Phenomenological Study Of Leaders In Traumatized Organizations, Shana D. Lynn Hormann

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

While some organizations die when trauma erupts, others do not succumb. They live and even thrive. The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1. To learn from leaders their perspectives about key conditions that allow organizations to withstand and heal from organizational trauma; and, 2. To inform practice about building and strengthening these conditions in organizations. Participants were leaders who led their organizations during an organizational trauma or who came into programs after the trauma occurred to facilitate recovery. Nine executive directors for sexual assault programs participated in this hermeneutic phenomenological study, sharing their experiences and reflections. Two composite depictions …

Psychotherapists Working With Homeless Clients: The Experience Of Stress, Burnout Symptoms, And Coping, Sharon D. Young

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Stress, secondary trauma, and burnout symptoms are significant problems within the field of human services. Homeless clients present many challenges, frequently are highly traumatized, and often require many services. Psychotherapist working with homeless clients experience negative effects of exposure to the stress and trauma of homeless clients, and as a result must develop strategies for coping in order to continue in the work. This study used a mixed method design to investigate psychotherapists' experience working with homeless clients through Healthcare for the Homeless grantee projects, and their strategies for coping with the stress of their work. A survey, which included …

The Process Of Seeking Treatment For Mental Health Problems, Stephen M. Saunders, Nicholas W. Bowersox

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

A model of the process of seeking treatment for mental health problems is presented that explicates much previous research in this area. A process comprising seven steps is proposed (recognize that there is a problem, decide the problem is mental health related, decide change is needed, make efforts to effect change, decide professional help is needed to effect change, decide to seek professional help, and seek help). Activities or decisions that interrupt the process, barriers encountered at each step, variations of the proposed sequence, and the experience of social support across the process are presented. Implications for improving access to …

A Cross-Cultural Community: An Evaluative Study Of The Global Health Corps Training Program At The University Of Northern Iowa, Kalani Kee Brown

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Despite the current increase in the globalization of companies and the increase in the number of international assignees there has been very little research showing the significance of cross-cultural training in reducing international assignee failure rates. The current study was completed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Global Health Corps (GHC) organization as a training program for improving cross-cultural adjustment. An analysis was conducted on data obtained from 108 GHC students for the purpose of understanding the influence of cross-cultural experience and its effect on the cross-cultural adjustment of a successful person in this environment. Results indicated that students immersed …

The Effect Of Brief Education And Dispositional Variables On Attitudes Toward Harm Minimisation Among A University Student Population, Amy Mcalpine

Theses : Honours

Attitudes are essential to understanding the individual within the context of their social world (Perloff, 2003). Australia's policy toward drug use and drug-related harm encompasses a harm minimisation approach (Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy [MCDS], 2004). Harm minimisation seeks to ameliorate the social, economic and health consequences of drug use through a comprehensive framework of supply reduction, demand reduction, and harm reduction policies and programs (MCDS, 2004). This paper reviews the relevant literature on attitudes towards harm minimisation, both internationally and in Australia. Indeed, Australian research suggested (Bammer, 1995; Lawrence, Bammer & Chapman, 2000) that there is a heavy media …

The Perceived Psychosocial Benefits Of Pet Ownership On Child Development: A Parental Perspective, Erin K. Leahy

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this review is to explore the beneficial role pets play in facilitating the psychosocial development of preadolescent children. It is proposed that the pet is perceived by both the child and parent as a developmental resource during preadolescent development, as it assists the child in accomplishing key developmental tasks such as responsibility and autonomy, socialisation and the development of humanistic qualities. This review also highlights the importance of pets in assisting preadolescents develop self esteem and identity, and examines how pets give children new perspective on important life matters such as birth, illness and death. Attainment of …

The Needs Of Western Australian Parents Of Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder, As Influenced By The Age Of The Child, Kerry Stedman

Theses : Honours

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) impact upon parental stress levels above and beyond other childhood disorders. Nevertheless, little systematic research has been done on the perceived needs of parents of children with ASD. The literature has, however, reported that having a child with ASD impacts upon parental well being. These parents report increased levels of stress, depression, dysphoria, fear and marital difficulties as well as other problems. Although there is a debate in current research as to whether the age of the child with ASD affects parental well being, much of the body of knowledge suggests that different stressors and needs …

Hierarchical Linear Modeling In Organizational Research: Longitudinal Data Outside The Context Of Growth Modeling, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, David Rindskopf

Publications and Research

Organizational researchers, including those carrying out occupational stress research, often conduct longitudinal studies. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM; also known as multilevel modeling and random regression) can efficiently organize analyses of longitudinal data by including within- and between-person levels of analysis. A great deal of longitudinal research has been conducted in the context of growth studies in which change in the dependent variable is examined in relation to the passage of time. HLM can treat longitudinal data, including data outside the context of the growth study, as nested data, reducing the problem of censoring. Within-person equation coefficients can represent the impact …

Group Therapy For Abused And Neglected Youth: Therapeutic And Child Advocacy Challenges, Janine Wanlass, J. Kelly Moreno, Hannah M. Thomson

Psychology and Child Development

Although group therapy for abused and neglected youth is a viable and efficacious treatment option, facilitation is challenging. Group leaders must contain intense affect, manage multiple transferences, and advocate for their clients within the larger social welfare system. Using a case study of a group for sexually abused girls, this paper explores some of these issues and discusses ways in which therapists recognize and deal with the dual challenge of advocating for and treating children.

Behaviorally-Based Disorders: The Historical Social Construction Of Youths' Most Prevalent Psychiatric Diagnoses, Christopher A. Mallett

Social Work Faculty Publications

The article discusses the historical social construction of the most prevalent diagnosis of youth in the U.S. The country's psychiatry controls the definitions of mental health disorders and diagnosis through required practice utilization of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. A research is conducted through a social construction theoretical paradigm to identify diagnostic classification systems, nosology changes, and critical time periods.

Culturally Adapted Mental Health Interventions: A Meta-Analytic Review, Timothy B. Smith, Derek Griner

Faculty Publications

There is a pressing need to enhance the availability and quality of mental health services provided to persons from historically disadvantaged racial and ethnic groups. Many previous authors have advocated that traditional mental health treatments be modified to better match clients? cultural contexts. Numerous studies evaluating culturally adapted interventions have appeared, and the present study used meta-analytic methodology to summarize these data. Across 76 studies the resulting random effects weighted average effect size was d = .45, indicating a moderately strong benefit of culturally adapted interventions. Interventions targeted to a specific cultural group were four times more effective than interventions …

Adolescent Mothers: Youth In Need Of Developmentally Appropriate Services, Patricia Arlyne Zimmerman

Dissertations and Theses

This research examines the childhood abuse and maltreatment experiences of adolescent mothers (age 14 to 17) to investigate if these experiences have hindered their socioemotional development and consequently, their parenting behaviors and attitudes. Data were gathered using four standardized self-report instruments: the Child Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC), the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory-Youth Version (EQi-YV), and the Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI-2). Two additional questionnaires were developed to gather demographic and social service information to add to the knowledge base of the field, and to examine what (if any) developmentally focused services young mothers may …

Expanded School-Based Health: The Mental Health And School Connection, Dr. Jill D. Duba

Counseling & Student Affairs Faculty Publications

Research suggests that expanded school-based mental health (ESMH) programs can offer benefits and hope for children and their families. Such programs are part of a national progressive movement involving collaborative relationships between schools and community mental health agencies. The purpose of this article is to highlight the constructs and details of ESMH programs, as well as counselor training possibilities.

Six-To-One Gets The Job Done: Comments On The Reviews, W. Joseph Wyatt, Donna M. Midkiff

Psychology Faculty Research

We are pleased to note that six of the seven responses to our article were marked by approval, and/or thoughtful contemplation, regarding our central theses—that the research said to support biological causation of mental disorders is relatively weak, and that the claims of drug effectiveness are often overstated.

Stress, Coping, Social Support, And Prostate Cancer Risk Among Older African American And Caucasian Men, Ann L. Coker, Maureen Sanderson, Gary L. Ellison, Mary Kay Fadden

CRVAW Faculty Journal Articles

Objectives: While psychosocial stress and high effort coping have been associated with reduced immune function, no epidemiologic study has addressed psychological stress and risk of prostate cancer. The purpose of this analysis was to investigate the association between stress, coping, social support, and risk of prostate cancer among older men (age 65–79 years). Design: Population-based case-control study in South Carolina.

Participants: Cases were 400 incident, histologically confirmed prostate cancer cases identified through the South Carolina Central Cancer Registry between 1999 and 2001 (70.6% response rate). Controls were 385 men identified through the 1999 Health Care Financing Administration Medicare beneficiary file …

Design And Implementation Of The Domestic Violence Services In Rural Clinics Intervention, Ann L. Coker, Paige H. Smith, Vicki C. Flerx, Daniel J. Whitaker, Mary Kay Fadden, Melinda Williams

CRVAW Faculty Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Program Outcomes: Assessment In Children, Cheryl M. Romano

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In an age of increased concern for accountability and the review of services, administrators of health programs should be able to present their clinics effectiveness, and demonstrate their excellent service to the community, along with providing evidence for the continued need of such clinics. Outcome evaluation plays an integral part in providing this information, and is intended to provide information concerning the effectiveness of a particular program, thus allowing for modification, and even better outcomes.

This project addressed pre and post functioning in children referred for academic and/or behavioral difficulties, in a university of health sciences-based clinic. The aim was …

The Effects Of Prolonged Job Insecurity On The Psychological Well-Being Of Workers, Cynthia Rocha, Jennifer Hause Crowell, Andrea K. Mccarter

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Job insecurity has been increasing since the 1980s. While researchers have found job insecurity to be negatively associated with multiple indicators of well-being for workers and their families in cross sectional studies, less is known about the long term effects of prolonged job insecurity. Specifically, there is a need to collect measures of both insecurity and its consequences at multiple time periods. The current study followed workers for 3 1/2 years to assess the effects of chronic job insecurity on psychological distress. Results indicate that while workers reported increased feelings of security over time, there were longer term negative effects …

Multicultural Competency Instrumentation: A Review And Analysis Of Reliability Generalization, Todd W. Dunn, Timothy B. Smith, Jared A. Montoya

Faculty Publications

This article reviews the internal consistency reliability of multicultural competency instrumentation. Additional psychometric properties are qualitatively reviewed for commonly used instruments and 5 other measures of multicultural competency that have not previously been reviewed in the literature. Results indicate that the most widely used instruments have generally acceptable internal consistency reliability across different populations and settings. Limitations of research conducted on multicultural counseling competencies are identified, and recommendations for future research are provided.

A Qualitative Examination Of The Psychosocial Adjustment Of Khmer Refugees In Three Massachusetts Communities, Leakhena Nou

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

This paper uses a sociological stress process model to explore the Khmer adult refugees’ experience in Massachusetts. The analysis is based on the responses of three focus groups in the Khmer communities of Lowell, Lynn, and Revere, Massachusetts. The focus groups provided an in-depth understanding of sources of stress, stress mediators, and psychosocial adjustment/adaptational patterns for Khmer refugees who had experienced the Cambodian genocide. Symptoms and reactions associated with underlying causes of mental health problems had culturally specific relevance to physical illness and mental health.

Paraprofessionals In The Classroom: Creating A Test Bank, Linda Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

This purpose of this thesis was to create a valid, reliable, fair test bank for the textbook Paraprofessionals in the Classroom (Ashbaker & Morgan, 2006). This textbook was written specifically for the education of paraprofessionals. Further education beyond high school is one of the options recommended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to assist paraprofessionals in becoming highly qualified to work with children with special needs. Extensive research was conducted by the researcher on what constituted a good test bank. Excerpts were selected from seven chapters of the textbook. Questions and a rating scale for each question …

Drug Addiction And Mothers: Does Parenting Get Better With Treatment?, Concetta Arabia

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To examine the parenting skills and attitudes of substance abusing mothers in a comprehensive drug treatment facility in Camden, NJ. Methods: Giving three self-report measures and urine analysis to 14 mothers at intake, 2-months, and 6-months. Participants were reimbursed for their time and travel. Results: Mothers parenting skills and attitudes at intake were found to lack the confidence and enjoyment in their parenting and to have high levels of perceived stress. Bigger sample sizes are needed. Discussion: Progress towards incorporating parenting skills training in in-patient and out-patient treatment facilities has been made. However, a distinction between bad parenting and …