Digital Commons Network^™

The Relation Between Parenting Daily Hassles And Child Behavior Problems Among Low-Income Families: Examining The Role Of Caregiver Positive Expressiveness, Shawna Tanner

Wayne State University Theses

Examined was the role of caregiver positive expressiveness (PE) in the relation between parenting stress and change in child adjustment from preschool to early elementary in a low-income sample. Participants included 133 caregiver-child dyads who participated in a laboratory task and completed measures on parenting daily hassles (PDH), depressive symptoms and child problem behaviors when children were in preschool; and 98 who returned when the children were in elementary. Observed caregiver PE was coded from a videotaped family drawing task. The moderated regression analysis did not support the hypothesis that caregiver PE was a protective factor, attenuating the relation between …

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Benefit-Provisioning And Cost-Inflicting Mate Retention Tactics Through Relationship Outcomes, Tara Delecce

Wayne State University Dissertations

Mate retention has received much less research attention compared to mate choice and attraction. Even the research that has been done on mate retention often only aims to identify what constitutes as mate retention tactics. In the current studies, the effectiveness of mate retention strategies is explored by measuring relationship outcomes of tactics unlike previous research that measures effectiveness through perceptions of relationship satisfaction. In Study 1, individuals who have experienced a nonmarital breakup reported on their own and their ex-partners’ mate retention tactics before the breakup to see which ones predicted the outcome of relationship dissolution. Tests for moderation …

The Narrative Of The Outsider: Marginalization In The Works Of María Luisa Bemberg, Lucrecia Martel, And Lucía Puenzo, Natalie Nagl

Wayne State University Dissertations

Through film and literature, my dissertation explores the representation of race, social class, and gender in the works of three Argentine directors. These social constructs have become so ingrained in interpersonal relations that there is rigidity in how they are considered. Therefore, those individuals who do not think and interact appropriately with the constructs occupy the outside. The possibility of marginalization adds another layer to the constructs by sensitizing them to the point that they affect the individual and their relationships (i.e. psychologically and socially). However, several representations, such as those that make up our corpus, challenge the definitions of …

Sleep In Adolescents : Sleep And The Prediction Of Academic Investment And Achievement, Justin Farhat

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study was part of a larger and ongoing research effort involving the investigation of aggression, socioeconomic status, student productivity, social functioning, sleep patterns, school environment, and academic achievement in 892 high-school adolescents. The present study specifically examines potential psycho-physiological, environmental, and habitual predictors of adolescent academic achievement and academic investment. Students were assessed on various dimensions including instances of insomnia, restless leg syndrome, sleep hygiene; and attributes such as demographics, academic investment, and GPA. It was hypothesized that participants’ levels of sleep disturbances, would in turn significantly predict grade point averages. Furthermore, it was believed that sleep quality, measured …

Measurements Of Emotional Attributional Biases : A Confirmatory Study Of Infrahumanization, Courtney Tobin

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This study asks if infrahumanization a detectable individual trait, and how empathy and emotional literacy predict infrahumanization or emotional bias between groups. Black and white participants did not systematically attribute more distinctly human emotions to characters of different races in a series of vignettes, nor did cognitive empathy, empathic capacity, or anti-social personality traits predict a difference in emotional bias.

The Effect Of Justice And Injustice On Sleep Quality, Jessica Wooldridge Brown

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The effect of workplace stressors on physical health has been well documented (Ganster & Rosen, 2013; Nixon, Mazzola, Bauer, Krueger, & Spector, 2011). However, gaps in the research led to two main goals of the study: (1) understanding in a fuller range of reactions through the study of justice adherence and rule infraction and (2) exploring an explanation for the justice-health effects. This multilevel, daily diary study was designed to measure participants’ perceptions of organizational fairness and physical health. After that participants responded to daily surveys on the perceived supervisor interactions, emotions, rumination, and sleep quality over the course of …

Intra-Exposure Levels Of Anxious Arousal In A Lab-Based Exposure Intervention For Fear Of Public Speaking, Matteo Bugatti

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background. Exposure therapy is effective for addressing social anxiety and public speaking fears, yet there are differences in suggested exposure strategies among empirically supported, manualized treatments. Manualized exposure strategies differ in the relative theoretical emphasis that underpins the specific procedural approach. Some approaches rely more heavily on the principle of habituation and formal cognitive restructuring; alternative approaches emphasize inhibitory learning and the individual's response to his/her own negative emotions, while promoting present-focused awareness. Innovative process methods can shed light on the similarities and differences between these approaches. Objectives. The goal of this study was to examine differences in anxious arousal …

Does Multiracial Identity Integration Moderate The Relation Between Racism And Health?, Michael Gale

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Current estimates suggest that approximately 9 million U.S. citizens identify as biracial or multiracial (henceforth “multiracial”) and that the multiracial population grew 32% from 2000 to 2010 (Humes et al., 2011). Despite the growth and increased visibility of this population, the psychological research on this group is limited and further research is needed to address the potential unique needs of multiracial individuals with regard to experiences of racial oppression, racial identity, and connections to health (Choi, Harachi, Gillmore, & Catalano, 2006). Past findings have suggested a significant, direct relation between perceived racial discrimination and psychological distress among multiracial individuals and …

Depression And Anxiety In Emerging Adults : The Impact Of Executive Function And Coping, Elisabeth J. O'Rourke

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Emerging adulthood is a developmental period marked by increased anxiety related to academic, social, and professional stressors. The ability to successfully cope with stress is strongly negatively related to mental health outcomes. Furthermore, recent studies indicate a connection between executive function impairment, anxiety and depression. The current study examines executive functioning (EF), coping, anxiety, and depression in a sample of 210 emerging adults (NMales = 131, Mage = 19.14). Additionally, the relation between EF and coping is explored. Finally, coping’s effect on the relation between EF and outcome (anxiety and depression) is investigated. The results demonstrate that males and females …

The Lived Experience Of Caregivers For Children With Asthma, Caroline Weiss Dawson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Lived Experience of Caregivers for Children with Asthma

Understanding Trait-Turnover Relationships : An Examination Of The Utility Of Holland's Congruence Theory And The Riasec Typology, Sarah Rebecca Strahan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The goal of the current study is to improve our understanding of the relationship between personality and employee turnover. Research is reviewed to demonstrate that after decades of research we still know very little about the role of personality in turnover. As a result, many researchers have called for new approaches to improve our understanding of the relationship between personality and turnover (Griffeth, Hom, & Gaertner, 2000; Hom & Griffeth, 1995; Russell, 2013). One approach that has received little attention is examining whether job context matters –that is, do the traits that predict employee turnover depend on the particular job. …

A Brief Motivational Intervention For Marijuana Use In College Students, Vivian S. Hwang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The prevalence of marijuana use has risen among young adults, and marijuana is

Female Athlete Body Project Intervention With Professional Ballet Dancers, Sasha Gorrell

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Professional dancers have increased vulnerability for eating disorders (EDs), with three times higher risk than non-dancers. Among ballet dancers, generalized risk for EDs associated with internalization of female beauty ideals (i.e., the thin-ideal) in western culture is compounded by idealization of a ballet-specific body ideal, a combination that confers unique vulnerability for eating pathology. Empirical support has been established for a healthy weight intervention (HWI) that promotes body acceptance and reducing eating pathology; the current study adapted a HWI specifically tailored to female athletes for implementation among professional ballet dancers. Participants from two elite ballet companies were randomized to a …

Mediating And Moderating Factors Of The Relationship Between Sexual Orientation And Eating Pathology And Body Satisfaction In Sexual Minority And Heterosexual Men, Andrea Denae Murray

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Most research on body image and disordered eating has focused largely on women, as women are at higher risk than men for eating disorders. In recent years research has revealed that men are at increasing risk for these outcomes, especially as the ideal male body represented in media images and therefore frequently internalized among men is becoming so lean and muscular as to make it very difficult for most men to realistically achieve. Sexual minority men in particular have been found to be at increased risk for body dissatisfaction, body shame, and disordered eating than their heterosexual counterparts. The research …

An Early Start Denver Model-Based Group Intervention For Parents Of Very Young Children Diagnosed With Or At Risk For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Stephanie A. Fox

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The current study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of an Early Start Denver Model-based (ESDM; Rogers & Dawson, 2010) group intervention for parents of infants and toddlers, ages 12 to 48 months, diagnosed with or at genetic risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This project consisted of a six-week intervention program in which parents attended training sessions twice a week for 60-90 minutes per session. The training sessions used didactic instruction to teach parents how to elicit social communication from their very young children. The topic areas were based on the ESDM parent manual (Rogers, Dawson, & Vismara, 2012), and …

The Impact Of Stress On Steroid Hormones And Cue Reactivity In Smokers And Gamblers, Stephanie Elaine Wemm

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Addictions, both substance and behavioral, have been conceptualized as having similar biopsychosocial processes with different opportunistic expressions (Shaffer et al., 2004). Biological processes such as the hormonal response to stress as measured by cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and the ratio of the DHEA/cortisol may be among the variables underlying the disposition to develop an addictive disorder, regardless of whether it is a substance-based or a so-called behavioral addiction. The current study aimed to examine whether physiological and psychological reactions to stress are similar in high-frequency smokers and gamblers. The subjective (urges, cravings) and physiological responses (skin conductance and heart rate) of …

The Right Approach To Success : Approach And Avoidance Motivation In Anticipatory Self-Control, Ellen O'Malley

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Self-control success often requires considerable effort in moments of temptation. The current research examines the effectiveness of self-control strategies based on individual differences in self-regulatory motivation. Although self-control appears to come easier to those who are avoidance-motivated rather than approach-motivated, this may be due to the conditions under which self-control is needed and tested. Specifically, the temporal context of an anticipated selfcontrol conflict (i.e., if it is near or distant) may be more instrumental for approach-motivated self-regulation relative to avoidance-motivated self-regulation. Three studies test the temporal and motivational conditions under which participants successfully pursue self-control goals. Results suggest that anticipatory …

On The Relationship Between Meaning And Prejudice: Examining Self-Transcendence And Value-Behavior Consistency In A Sample Of College Students, Ivonne Andrea Florez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined whether the value of self-transcendence and the degree to which individuals report behaving consistently with their values (value-behavior consistency) impact the association of meaning and racial prejudice against White and Black individuals. The study was conducted with a college population from a university located in the southern United States. The final sample was composed of 362 people, 281 females and 81 males, with a majority of participants self-identifying as White (73.8%). To assess meaning, the Purpose in Life test – Short Form (PIL-SF) and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire Presence subscale (MLQ-Presence) were administered. Social judgment …

Psychedelic Psychotherapy : Existential And Neuroscience Perspectives On The Therapeutic Journey, Arthur W. Seelig

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Psychotherapy with the use of high-dose psychedelic drugs shows immense promise in treating a myriad of debilitating psychiatric conditions. After a three-decade long suspension, regulators have allowed for new studies and re-awakened interest in the potential of psychedelics. However, while research on the topic has quickly progressed, little has been done to reinvigorate our clinical understanding of the psychedelic healing process. This thesis interprets the psychedelic state through the twin perspectives of existentialism and neuroscience with the goal of starting to develop a theoretical language.

The subjective experience of high-dose psychedelics under therapeutic conditions often results in a loss-of-self referred …

Understanding Math Anxiety In Children: Deciphering The Contribution Of Math Achievement, Working Memory, And General Anxiety, Emma Kate C. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Children with learning disabilities frequently have comorbid anxiety, with some experiencing Math Anxiety (MA). Presently, research on MA in children with a math learning disability (MLD) is limited, and there are no childhood electroencephalography (EEG) studies of MA exploring the neurobiological basis of MA. The current study sought (1) to examine the relationship between MA and math achievement, working memory (WM), and EEG variables; (2) to clarify the distinction between MA and MLD by controlling for GAD; and (3) to examine if WM mediates the relationship between MA and math achievement. The study included 30 children with MLD and 29 …

The Prevalence And Needs Of Homeless Undergraduates At A Large, Urban University, Corissa Carlson

Wayne State University Dissertations

Empirical research has been limited with respect to homelessness among college undergraduates. Research on educational outcomes has been limited to K-12th grade, but what is known points to worse outcomes for people who are homeless. The National Coalition for the Homeless (2014) reported that 75% of homeless or runaway teenagers drop out of school. Furthermore, while federal funding though the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act has been able to help younger students, funding for homeless youth considering or attending college is minimal. Recently, some more attention has been given to this issue through the College Cost Reduction Access Act (CCRAA) which …

The Influence Of The Physical Workspace On Creative Performance: Alternative Mediation Models, Reed James Bramble

Wayne State University Theses

The present study assessed how individuals respond to stimuli in their immediate work environment. Specifically, I conducted a laboratory experiment with a student sample to test the influence of natural stimuli in the workspace on individuals’ creative performance. Additionally, I tested a series of potential mediating variables that could have driven the effect: state positive affect, state openness to experience, and self-regulation of effort. While the results indicated that the hypotheses were broadly unsupported, supplemental analyses revealed that the intervention significantly predicted effort regulation in a high-performing subgroup. Study limitations and recommendations for future directions are discussed.

Mental Health Service Utilization Among At-Risk Urban Adolescents: The Relative Contributions Of Perceived Need, Attitude, And Spirituality/Religiosity, Yi Tak Tsang

Wayne State University Theses

Adolescence has been described as “a time of storm and stress” (Arnett, 1999; Hall, 1904). In fact, a national survey in the United States estimated that adolescents were twice as likely than adults to report at least one major depressive episode in the past 12 months (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2016). In particular, adolescents who are poor, who belong to ethnic minority groups, and who live in urban neighborhoods are more vulnerable to mood and behavioral symptoms than their White/Caucasian counterparts who grow up in relatively affluent suburban and rural areas (Beyers, Bates, Pettit, & Dodge, 2003; …

Phylogeny, Psychology, And The Vicissitudes Of Human Development: The Anxiety Of Atavism, Frank Pittenger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This cross-disciplinary dissertation provides a missing intellectual history of an ostensibly dead idea. Once widely held and no less elegant for its obsolescence, the principle of biogenetic recapitulation is best remembered by its defining mantra, “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.” Among psychologists and sociologists as well as embryologists, the notion that the development of any individual organism repeats in compressed, miniaturized form the entire history of its species enjoyed broad (if not uncontested) acceptance through the early twentieth century. The author reexamines the origins of this theory in the work of Charles Darwin and Ernst Haeckel, and traces its influence in psychology …

Examining The Role Of Ethnic Identity In The Relationship Between Characteristics Of Autism Spectrum Disorders And Eating Disorders, Ashley Bojorquez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present work provides a synthetic literature review investigating the potential role of ethnic identity in the relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and eating disorders (EDs). To date, there is no literature that directly examines the role that ethnic identity may play in the relationship between these two disorders. However, there is reason to believe it may; previous literature has shown that race/ethnicity plays a role in both of these disorders, and the role of ethnic identity has been more fully explored in the ED population. Notably, there is little research that examines the role of ethnic identity on …

Self-Efficacy And Gender In Stem Majors, Katie Jordan, Randy Carden

Modern Psychological Studies

This study investigated self-efficacy in men and women studying STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) majors at a small private university in order to determine whether women had lower self-efficacy scores than men, as has been suggested by previous research. The study also investigated the possibility of a negative correlation between femininity and self-efficacy. The participants (N=67) were evaluated using the College Academic Self-Efficacy Survey created by Owen and Froman (1988) to find self-efficacy scores, and the women (N=37) were also given the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem,1974) to determine femininity scores. The results found no relationship between gender and …

Graduate Bulletin, 2017-2018, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Towards A Model Of Internal/External Motivation To Respond Without Prejudice: An Examination Of White Racial Identity And Affect, Christina Barnett

Theses and Dissertations

The current study explored how White racial identity influences the relationship between affective reactions to racism and one’s internal or external motivation to respond without prejudice. The first aim was to examine the bivariate relationships between White racial identity ego schemas and affective reactions to racism. The second aim examined the bivariate relationships between affective reactions to racism and an internal/external motivation to respond without prejudice. The third aim explored whether Phase I or Phase II White racial identity ego schemas explained the relation of affective reactions to racism and internal/external motivation to respond without prejudice. PROCESS mediation models were …

Academic Freedom As The Freedom To Do Academic Work, David Moshman

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Academic freedom is defined as the freedom to do academic work. It follows that academic freedom (1) includes freedoms of teaching, learning, and inquiry; (2) is a type of intellectual freedom; (3) is specific to academic roles and contexts; (4) is crucial at all levels of education and in all other academic contexts; (5) is individual, collective, and institutional; and (6) is central to the academic integrity of any academic endeavor or institution. This conception, which coordinates multiple traditions and literatures, enables us to explain the nature and limits of academic freedom and to justify it as a necessity for …

Cortisol Responses Enhance Negative Valence Perception For Ambiguous Facial Expressions, Catherine C. Brown, Candance M. Raio, Maital Neta

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Stress exposure elicits a prolonged neuroendocrine response, marked by cortisol release, which can influence important forms of affective decision-making. Identifying how stress reactivity shapes subjective biases in decisions about emotional ambiguity (i.e., valence bias) provides insight into the role stress plays in basic affective processing for healthy and clinical populations alike. Here, we sought to examine how stress reactivity affects valence decisions about emotional ambiguity. Given that stress prioritizes automatic emotional processing which, in the context of valence bias, is associated with increased negativity, we tested how individual differences in acute stress responses influence valence bias and how this decision …