Digital Commons Network^™

Reviewing Research On Down Syndrome To Then Inform And Create A Children’S Book With A Child Protagonist Who Has Down Syndrome, Trey Williams

Honors Projects

Children's literature continually evolves, requiring a steadfast commitment to align with new insights into various disabilities for genuine and accurate portrayal. This project delves into leveraging research to craft a children's book featuring Bonnie Lynn, a protagonist with Down Syndrome, recognizing the growing presence of individuals with Down Syndrome in today's society and the imperative for empathetic understanding within this community.

The Influences Of Acculturative Stress And Gender Roles On Sexual Subjectivity In European, Asian, And Latinx Immigrant Women In The U.S., Silvia Re

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

In the process of acculturation, cisgender immigrant women are at greater risk of experiencing acculturative stress, often entailing a reconsideration of their self-concepts and identities as members of new sociocultural contexts. Gender roles and sexual subjectivity are two identity features they can revise given their ties to culture and socialization. Results from previous studies suggest that cisgender immigrant women’s sociocultural contexts, related values, and attitudes may contribute to their levels of stress, sense of self-efficacy, self-esteem, and sexual subjectivity. This study aimed to fill gaps in the existing literature and raised awareness of the relationship between acculturative stress, gender role …

Smad8 Is Increased In Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy And Suppresses Mir-1, Mir-133a, And Mir-133b, Meghan L Royle, Eric J Connolly, Sara Nowakowski, Jeff R Temple

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: Studies are beginning to document an association between sleep duration and a range of adolescent delinquent behaviors, including weapon carrying. However, little is known about whether and to what extent sleep quality - another dimension of sleep for healthy adolescent functioning - is associated with weapon carrying. We address this gap in knowledge by evaluating the role of restless sleep and sleep duration in adolescent weapon carrying.

METHODS: We analyze data from a diverse sample of 994 adolescents from Texas, USA collected in 2010. Multivariate logistic regression models estimate the association of sleep duration and restless sleep on weapon …

A Quantitative Study Examining Minority Employees' Comfort Levels Within The Organization, Saunteria Teyana Moorer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The term comfort level has been characterized as an employee’s wellbeing within an organization. Employee comfort level has been shown to be related to an employee’s ability to assist in decision making, their opportunity to be around individuals similar to them, environmental surrounding aspects, and experiences. There is limited research connecting employee comfort levels to how satisfied employees feel or their desire to leave the organization. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the impact that minority employees’ comfort levels have on their job satisfaction and turnover intention. Variables of comfort, job satisfaction, and turnover intention were analyzed …

Constructing The Life Skills Education Experiences Of Maldivian Adolescents: Exploring Personal Narratives Of Transition, Challenge, And Becoming, Aishath Nasheeda Dr., Steven E. Krauss Dr., Haslinda Abdullah Dr., Nobaya Ahmad Dr.

The Qualitative Report

Life skills have been shown to help young people cope with challenges and facilitate their transition into adulthood. Few studies have explored life skills programs from the lived experiences of youth themselves. Using a retrospective narrative analysis approach, this study uses social construction and social learning theories to investigate how young people construct their experiences of life skills education in the context of their embedded social environments, including their relationships with family, school, and peers. The study incorporates a series of in-depth, face-to-face, and social media-based interviews with two young adults from the Maldives who had very different experiences …

Effects Of Language Status, Community Advice, And Parent Beliefs On Heritage Language Maintenance In The U.S.: A Scoping Review, Jasmine Loeung

University Honors Theses

This scoping review examines the effects of language status, community advice to parents, and parents' beliefs on heritage language maintenance within a U.S. context. A total of 34 articles met the inclusion criteria. Four key themes were identified as follows: (1) status of a language in society affects maintenance, (2) parents' beliefs about the impact of the heritage language affect family language practices, (3) community advice impacts parents' beliefs and practices, (4) other factors affecting maintenance of the heritage language across generations. Overall, HL maintenance was observed as a dynamic relationship between a variety of factors, with individuals as well …

Residential Vacancy And Crime In The Wake Of Housing Crisis In Chicago, Shaun Bhatia

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Trends of subprime and predatory mortgage lending were largely responsible for the housing crisis in the late 2000s. These circumstances resulted in a high concentration of home foreclosures, and subsequent vacant and abandoned housing, particularly affecting disadvantaged neighborhoods. There is evidence to suggest that neighborhood spaces characterized by blighted properties and other signs of physical disorder reduce collective efficacy and informal social control, leading to increases in crime. Despite US government efforts to support economic recovery following the housing crisis, interventions were largely not concentrated enough to match spatial patterns of foreclosure and vacancy, and as such, reductions of crime …

Examining Remorse In Attributions Of Focal Concerns During Sentencing: A Study Of Probation Officers, Colleen M. Berryessa

International Journal on Responsibility

This research, using interviews with probation officers in the United States (n = 151) and a constant comparative method for analysis, draws from the focal concerns framework to qualitatively model a process by which probation officers use a defendant’s remorse to attribute focal concerns in order to guide their sentencing recommendations in pre-sentencing reports. The model suggests that officers use expressions of remorse to make attributions about mitigated criminal intention (blameworthiness and notions of responsibility), reduced dangerousness and a high potential for reform (community protection), and organization-level effects for increasing caseload efficiency and using correctional resources (practical effects of …

Publishing Inequality In Lgbtqia+ Research In Psychology: A Content Analysis, Mackenzie L. Fingerhut

Student Theses

Despite the American Psychiatric Association’s removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973 and ego-dystonic homosexuality in 1987, nonheteronormative sexual orientations remain stigmatized and underrepresented in scientific literature. To estimate the prevalence of LGBTQIA+ topics in popular psychological research, the author queried more than 20,000 articles from 1987 to 2022 in the two most cited journals in each of four major domains (cognitive, clinical, developmental and social). In addition, the author randomly queried 20% of all empirical articles published from 1987 to 2021 in the top eight empirical journals to understand how often sexuality …

Body Appreciation Around The World: Measurement Invariance Of The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (Bas-2) Across 65 Nations, 40 Languages, Gender Identities, And Age, Viren Swami, Ulrich S. Tran, Stefan Stieger, Toivo Aavik, Hamed Abdollahpour Ranjbar, Sulaiman Olanrewaju Adebayo, Reza Ahfami, Oli Ahmed, Annie Aimé, Marwan Akel, Hussam Al Halbusi, George Alexias, Khawla F. Ali, Nursel Alp-Dal, Anas B. Alsalhani, Sara Álvares-Solas, Ana Carolina Soares Almaral, Sonny Andrianto, Trefor Aspden, David A. Frederick

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset – with data collected between 2020 and 2022 – to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has …

The S9 Model: A Comprehensive Framework For Conceptualizing Student Suicidality, Katherine C. Wilson

Dissertations, 2020-current

This dissertation introduces the S9 Model of Suicidality, an innovative framework for conceptualizing and understanding suicidality among college students. The S9 Model integrates biological, psychological, ecological, and sociocultural dimensions of suicidality into a comprehensive approach to help inform prevention, intervention, and postvention on college campuses. Drawing from empirical research, the history of suicidology, relevant psychological theories, and insights from mental health practitioners, this model encapsulates a holistic view of suicidality, considering key factors like genetic predispositions, neurobiological processes, cognitive function, psychosocial stressors, cultural norms, societal expectations, and broader ecological contexts.

The model’s tripartite approach, focusing on the ontological, ecological, and …

Opportunity Discrimination: Resettlement Efforts Made By Ngos In The United States, Sarah Rauf

Capstone Collection

Social identity plays a key aspect in life. This research tests whether homogeneity between refugees and their host communities correlates to the immigration process and resettlement success. The analysis helps form a conclusion that people want to help those who look like themselves before those who appear more foreign. This is related to the central theories of social identity and prejudice stemming from stereotyping. Data collection comes from interviews with staff at a number of NGOs in the United States. The immigration and resettlement policies of these NGOs have been researched, and members were interviewed on the reformation of their …

Signings Of Graphs And Sign-Symmetric Signed Graphs, Ahmad Asiri

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we investigate various aspects of signed graphs, with a particular focus on signings and sign-symmetric signed graphs. We begin by examining the complete graph on six vertices with one edge deleted ($K_6$\textbackslash e) and explore the different ways of signing this graph up to switching isomorphism. We determine the frustration index (number) of these signings and investigate the existence of sign-symmetric signed graphs. We then extend our study to the $K_6$\textbackslash 2e graph and the McGee graph with exactly two negative edges. We investigate the distinct ways of signing these graphs up to switching isomorphism and demonstrate …

Entering Terra Incognita: Adapting Psychotherapists To Work During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Monika Zielona-Jenek, Agnieszka Izdebska, Emilia Soroko

The Qualitative Report

Sudden historical events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may critically change the circumstances in which psychotherapy is conducted. The objective of this study was to analyze Polish psychodynamic psychotherapists’ experiences of working with patients at the onset of the pandemic and hence to understand the process of their coping with the external reality challenges. 183 Polish psychotherapists (160 women and 23 men) aged 26-66 years (average 38) completed a survey about their therapeutic work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed in accordance with Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis framework. Five general themes were identified: (1) Facing a taboo; (2) …

Hoping As A Transformational Imperative In Puerto Rico: A Phenomenological And Grounded Theory Study Within Colonized Space, José Luiggi-Hernández

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the United States continues to restrict Puerto Rico’s self-determination and imposes oppressive institutions such as the Oversight Board, the people of the archipelago live in precarity and hopelessness. Limited psychological research on colonialism has focused on the detrimental impact of oppression and its influence on the development of fatalism and the inferiority complex. On the other hand, existing psychological theories of hope fail to describe how it is lived within the post-colonial context and to explain the ways in which this psychological phenomenon arises even in the face of systematic dehumanization. As Puerto Ricans show evident signs of hope …

Age And Sex Of Wild Asian Elephants Observed In And Around Protected Areas In Kanchanaburi, Thailand, Leah D. Wersebe

Theses and Dissertations

This study observed the wild Asian elephant population in and around Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary and found a greater proportional presence of adults and subadults than calves and infants per observation, and a greater proportion of males than females outside of the protected area compared to inside the protected area.

Black College Students Perceptions Of The Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate, Rickae Rodney

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored Black college students’ perceptions of COVID-19 related mandates. Black college students with higher perceptions of racism, stronger ethnic identity, and greater distrust in science were expected to have more negative attitudes about COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates. Results varied when relationships were tested.

The African American Dream Deferred: Exploring The Relationship Between The “American Dream” And The Black American Millennial Reality, Simonleigh P. Miller

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this qualitative study is to highlight and bring understanding to the lived experiences of Black American millennials. This study was conducted from the constructivist and critical research paradigms and utilized Reflexive Thematic Analysis methods to analyze qualitative data. The study places specific focus on Black or African American millennials’ associated thoughts and feelings regarding their current reality and positionality within the American context, and its relation to the idealized reality of the American Dream. The influence of the American Dream on the African American millennial reality was explored to gain a better understanding of how, or if …

Caregiver Burden: Support Needed For Those Who Support Others And The National Health Service, Michael Stephanou

Patient Experience Journal

This literature review focuses on the complexities and inequalities of informal caregiving in the UK and was inspired by the story of the following individual: EL is a 68-year-old Caucasian lady who attended Movement Disorder Clinic and was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease Dementia following many years of symptoms. The diagnosis came as a big relief to EL and her daughter (SL) who were eager to get treatment started as soon as possible. EL lives alone with SL and solely relies on her for care and support. SL does not have children and devotes her daily routine to looking after her …

The Impact Of Beliefs About Emotions On Emotion Regulation & Psychological Health, Sarah Brock

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examined the effects of different beliefs about emotions (controllability vs. control value) on emotion regulation strategies and psychological health, specifically depression. Little research has examined how different types of beliefs about emotions may interact to impact the emotion regulation strategies they implement, whether that be cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, or acceptance. Online questionnaires measuring beliefs about emotion controllability, emotion control values (i.e., whether emotions should be controlled), emotion regulation, psychological health, and coping strategies were completed by 164 participants (117 females; 42 males; 4 non-binary). The participants ranged from 18 to 33 years old. The study found evidence …

Identifying Psychosocial And Neural Correlates Associated With Future Homicide In A Sample Of Incarcerated Boys, Samantha N. Rodriguez

Psychology ETDs

Previous research has observed significant group differences regarding neuroanatomical and psychosocial variables between incarcerated boys who have and have not previously committed a homicide, resulting in successful postdictive classification (Cope et al., 2014). However, no study to date has investigated whether similar group differences characterize future homicide offenders. Following the methodology of Cope et al. (2014), the current study aimed to identify baseline neural, clinical, and environmental deficits (collected in a sample of n = 242 incarcerated juvenile offenders) associated with future homicidal behavior as adults. Results indicated that youth who went on to commit homicide as adults were characterized …

Risk And Resilience Factors For Black Individuals Who Face Racial Discrimination, Tabitha M. Mpamira

Dissertations

African Americans report extensive experiences of discrimination across a range of individual, institutional, cultural situations, and more than any other marginalized group (RWJF, 2017). The pervasiveness of discrimination keeps Black individuals at risk of severe physiological ills and heightened risk of psychopathology, including onset of depression and racial trauma symptoms (Williams & Mohammed, 2009). This study investigated risk and resilience factors for Black individuals who face racial discrimination in the United States of America by examining whether encounters of discrimination correlated with psychological distress (depression, anxiety) and racial trauma symptoms. Additionally, the study investigated factors (social support, psychological flexibility, and …

Mediumship And Mental Health: Investigating Spirit Communication And The Importance Of Integration, Daniel A. Seda Ph.D.

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Sensitivity to paranormal phenomena can be a source of emotional, mental and psychospiritual stress for individuals demonstrating verified mediumistic abilities, yet integrating these anomalous experiences in a healthy, affirming manner can reduce distress and potentially deflect egodystonic diagnoses of pathology. Because mediums can relay information which appear to be otherworldly from meditation, during trance, or by automatic writing and painting, health professionals have diagnosed mediums with mental disorders such as dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia. This overreliance on pathology to explain anomalous experiences is troublesome and can cause severe distress to individuals demonstrating extrasensory capabilities. This paper was written to …

Evolution Of Women’S Consciousness: Toward Integral Consciousness, Katherine T. Ziemke

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This article presents research materials which demonstrate historical consciousness for women of ancient European descent, the cultural heritage of the author. Awareness is examined from various historical angles in a transdisciplinary approach to the work. I explore the possibility that women’s historical and continued oppression may be a sign of the disintegration of the mental and a re-emergence of the integral structure of consciousness. A broad examination of women’s historical roles and corresponding thought shows how ancient consciousness may be used to accelerate a path toward integral consciousness today. Finally, this essay proposes that women’s historical consciousness and primordial memories …

No Injustice So Peace: The Interaction Between Race-Related Stress, Colorblind Racial Attitudes, And Resistance And Empowerment Against Racism, Kaela A. Yamini

Graduate Masters Theses

Past research has indicated that Black people are subjected to overt and covert forms of racism that can have a range of effects on emotional and psychological wellbeing. The current study sought to explore the how race-related stress and colorblind racial ideology impact Black people’s engagement in resistance and empowerment against racism. I hypothesized that higher endorsement of colorblind racial ideology would be associated with lower engagement in resistance and empowerment against racism. Additionally, I hypothesized that moderate levels of race-related stress would be associated with higher endorsement of resistance and empowerment against racism while low and high levels of …

Examining The Measurement Invariance Of The Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory Among Hispanic And Non-Hispanic White College Women, Christina Nicole Gillezeau

Psychology ETDs

I examined whether the Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R) was invariant between Hispanic/Latina and Non-Hispanic White (NHW) undergraduate women. I performed confirmatory factor analysis to assess model fit and used increasingly restrictive models to test invariance. I included 208 Hispanic/Latina women and 190 NHW women. The CFI and RMSEA model fit statistics (CFI=0.98, RMSEA=0.06 (90% confidence interval=0.04-0.08, p-value=0.16) showed that the model fit well. I constrained factor loadings to be equal in both groups to test metric invariance. I observed non-significant differences in model fit (deltaX² (9)=88.67, p>0.95, deltaCFI=0.003, deltaRMSEA=-0.011). I also constrained intercepts to be equal to …

Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Adolescent Girls In Residential Treatment: Relationship With Trauma Symptoms, Substance Use, And Delinquency, Akemi E. Mii

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) refer to negative events during childhood or adolescence including abuse, maltreatment, and exposure to household dysfunction (Kalmakis & Chandler, 2014). ACEs are associated with negative outcomes including mental and behavioral health concerns and offending (Fox et al., 2015). The risk of negative outcomes associated with ACEs increases when an individual experiences polyvictimization (experiencing multiple types of adverse events; Felitti et al., 1998; Finkelhor et al., 2011). A majority of adolescents served by residential treatment programs (RTPs) have experienced polyvictimization (Briggs et al., 2013). Research examining juvenile offending and youth delinquency has focused on boys. Thus, research …

Gender-Neutral Bathrooms On Campus: A Multicampus Study Of Cisgender And Transgender And Gender Diverse College Students, Merle Huff, Katie Edwards, Victoria Mauer, Heather Littleton, Stephanie Lim, Kayla E. Sall

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: This study examined cisgender and transgender and gender diverse (TGD) college students’ perceptions of gender-neutral bathroom availability across eight U.S. campuses, TGD students’ fear of harassment related to (lack of) availability of gender-neutral bathrooms, and the relation between fear of harassment and TGD students’ psychological distress.

Methods: Participants were 4,328 college students (4,195 cisgender, 30 binary transgender, 103 gender diverse) from eight U.S. institutions of higher education.

Results: The majority (84.2%) of TGD students and 34.6% of cisgender students perceived there were too few gender-neutral bathrooms on their campus. Further, TGD students’ fear of harassment related to a lack …

The Impact Of Covid-19 Stressors, Racial Discrimination, And Racial Socialization On Family Functioning In Black Families, Regina L. Alexander

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Marginalized communities, specifically Black Americans, have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in more hospitalizations and deaths within this particular community. However, this disproportionate impact of COVID-19 is likely the result of ongoing health disparities related to a lack of access to adequate healthcare. In addition to health disparities specifically related to COVID-19, Black Americans have also experienced public displays of racial discrimination resulting from the systemic racism that has occurred for many years. It has been determined that stress spillover can impact relationship factors and this same spillover may be an important factor by which …

The Effect Of Viewing Different Modalities Of Alcohol-Related Social Media Content Shared By Friends On Alcohol Outcomes: A Longitudinal Examination, Megan E. Strowger

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Social influences have robust associations with problematic alcohol use among emerging adult college students. Examinations of social influences increasingly focus on social media influences via alcohol-related content (ARC) sharing and viewing. Limited longitudinal research suggests that increased exposure to ARC is associated with increased alcohol consumption among college students over time. Most research examining exposure has not focused on who (e.g., specific friends) is sharing this content, the modality (e.g., photos) or the qualities of those sharing content and their relationship (e.g., closeness) to the viewer. The current study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between alcohol consumption/consequences and: 1) sharing …