Digital Commons Network^™

Optimizing Remote Work Engagement And Performance, Jessica Chackoria

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Remote work prevalence continues to remain higher than pre-pandemic levels and hybrid structures are increasingly becoming the norm. Therefore, it is important for researchers and organizations to understand how to optimize important employee outcomes, such as engagement and performance, in a remote work context. In this study, I addressed this need by investigating whether factors that have been found to enhance engagement and performance in traditional contexts—specifically, job design characteristics (task identity, task significance, autonomy, skill variety, and feedback) and microbreaks or small breaks during the workday—were positively linked with better remote work engagement and performance (task and contextual). The …

Chicago’S Migrant Serving Ecosystem: Perspectives From Providers On The Frontline, Safa S. Asad

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Global destabilization has resulted in nearly 110 million people forcibly displaced from their homes. Sanctuary cities like Chicago have become “migrant hubs,” seeing thousands of migrants enter the city to access shelter and resources. City officials have called for more support, as the number of migrants has outweighed the number of migrant service providers.

Migrant service organizations play an integral role in the resettlement journey of migrants. These organizations provide direct and indirect services to support their clients. However, as the migrant crisis continues to worsen, it threatens the social safety net established by governments and immigrant serving nonprofit agencies …

A Longitudinal Study Assessing The Influence Of Salivary Cortisol, Alpha Amylase, And Interleukin-1Β Levels On Sleep And Physical Activity Among Emerging Adults, Bernardo Loiacono

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Emerging adulthood can be marked by psychological disorders and distress. Stress exposure activates several bodily responses involving the hypothalamic pituitary axis (HPA) and autonomic nervous system (ANS). Research into these systems involves the examination of several biomarkers including cortisol and alpha amylase. Basal values of these biomarkers have been linked to well-being and health outcomes. Also, stress biomarkers have been shown to influence physical activity (PA) which is salient because it is linked to chronic illness and disease (e.g., obesity, cancer, depression, diabetes). The present study aimed to explore the bidirectional relationships between basal stress biomarkers and daily PA in …

Effects Of Receiving Peer-Status Feedback On Chinese Adolescents, Mingqi Li

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated the negative impacts of social status insecurity on adolescents’ behavior and mental health. Hence, there is an urgency in exploring mechanisms that may alleviate adolescents’ concerns about their peer status. The present study is the first to 1) use an experimental design to examine the effect of providing feedback on adolescents’ peer status in an attempt to reduce or induce their social status insecurity and 2) investigate how these changes would influence adolescents’ immediate outcomes such as present mood, behavior intentions, and social status goals. Participants were 465 high school students (253 boys; M_age = …

Considerations For Interviewing And Intervening With Suicidal Gender Expansive Individuals, Abigail Herrold

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

It has been well documented that transgender individuals are at a higher risk for death by suicide compared to their cisgender peers. However, limited consideration has been given to studying suicidality in individuals who identify outside of the gender binary (non-binary, gender queer, gender fluid, etc.). Additionally, while there is considerable evidence for risk factors for suicide and protective factors against suicide, there is a lack of guidance on how to implement this information. The aim of this paper is to expand upon the literature of research that is inclusive of all gender identities and propose guidelines working with gender …

Leadership Coaching In The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Ray Forbes

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Today’s world of extraordinary change follows a long history of technology-driven industrial revolutions. Author Alvin Toffler eloquently identified, categorized, and named the first three of them: Agricultural, Industrial, and Informational. Likening these revolutions to major waves of change, Toffler also described their impact on the social, political, economic and environmental ethos of the times in which they occurred. Recently, a number of knowledgeable commentators have suggested that we are now on the cusp of a fourth industrial wave. This large-scale transformational groundswell is being propelled by a dramatic acceleration in the rate of change itself. It is characterized by major …

Finding Common (Moral) Ground In Critical Service Learning: Promoting Balance And Civil Discourse Through Moral Foundations Theory, James Morgan Lewing

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Critical approaches to service learning courses may not innately maximize student engagement, civil discourse, and the confrontation of stereotypes. The purpose of this article is to propose the utilization of Moral Foundations Theory as a complimentary framework for service learning courses seeking to critically analyze systems and policies. Recommendations for practice and future research are included.

Graduate And Undergraduate Student Development As A Result Of Participation In A Grief Education Service Learning Course, Laura S. Wheat, Arden Szepe, Nathan B. West, Melinda M. Gibbons

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Limited research exists on the role service learning can play in helping students understand loss and grief. Through semi-structured interviews with students and instructors, online surveys, and course feedback, this qualitative case study examined the experiences of 15 university students in an outreach course working with grieving K-12 students. Students self-reported gaining greater intra- and interpersonal understanding and grief processing self-efficacy. Instructors emphasized intentionality and the intertwined nature of course experiences influencing meaning making.

Pursuing Reciprocity In Engaged Scholarship Partnerships Using Community Sustainability Certification Programs, Elyzabeth W. Engle, Michele W. Halsell

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of sustainability certification programs at the local, state, and national level to highlight the use of policies, programs, and infrastructure to achieve sustainable development outcomes within communities. In this paper, we use examples from Penn State’s Sustainable Communities Collaborative to demonstrate how institutions with community-engaged scholarship programs can use these certification programs to enhance program operation and reciprocity by identifying projects, engaging new disciplines, and improving relevance.

Social And Cognitive Outcomes Of Service Learning: Results From A Pre-Post And Control Group Comparison, Rebecca G. Ryan

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Students in an undergraduate course opted to either complete a service-learning project or write article summary papers over the course of a semester. Analyses revealed a significant increase in aspects of empathy, social responsibility, and community and personal involvement in the service-learning group, but not in the control group. The findings are discussed in terms of the social and cognitive benefits of service learning and considerations for incorporating service learning into a gerontology-related course.

Service Learning For The Port Jefferson History And Nature Center: Senior Capstone Forestry Course, David L. Kulhavy, Daniel Unger, Ryan Grisham, Gary Endlsey

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

A community partnership between the Collins Academy, Jefferson, Texas, and the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas, developed a plan to manage the 38-acre Port Jefferson History and Nature Center, located on Big Cypress Bayou. Students used knowledge of the resources, GPS (global positioning systems), ArcGIS 10.4, presentations, and posters to complete the project. The reflection and feedback with the community partners continued throughout the project and as guidance for future work. This partnership instilled in participating students the value of incorporating service learning into development of professional relationships for continued cooperation …

Enhancing Learning, Changing The World: How Service-Learning Influences The Brain, Tracey Honeycutt Sigler, Kristi Lewis Tyran

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Service-learning helps students learn about course concepts through applying them in a setting outside the classroom. The experiences provided by service-learning create conditions that can lead to changes in the learner’s brain. In this paper, we provide support for this assertion from research in brain-based learning with suggestions of how to explicitly apply concepts from these areas of study to service-learning pedagogy so that we might increase learning.

Maintaining Engaged Scholarship In Challenging Times: Experiences Working With Veteran Medical Providers In Greater Los Angeles, Angela Chalé, Elizabeth Avila, Yvette Avila, Christina Chalé

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper describes the challenges experienced in a study premised on scholarly engagement that consisted of a partnership between the nutritional science program and medical providers at the Veterans Administration, Greater Los Angeles, following allegations of systemic misconduct in the delivery of health care by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Since the VHA is a primary provider of medical training in the United States, we were interested in obtaining their opinion about and knowledge of vitamin D nutriture in relation to cognitive and physical functioning. We were unable to overcome challenges that undermined collaboration and propose incentivization, partnering with grounded …

Faculty Feel It Too: The Emotions Of Teaching Through Service‐Learning, Carrie W. Lecrom, Lynn Pelco, Jill W. Lassiter

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The authors used Coles’ (1993) framework of emotional satisfactions and hazards to examine the experiences of faculty members teaching service-learning classes for the first time. Seven faculty from two institutions completed monthly reflections and focus groups for one year. Qualitative analysis indicated that faculty experienced several of Coles’ emotional satisfactions and hazards, were prone to emotional contagion, and depended on colleague mentoring to navigate the experiences of using service-learning pedagogy for the first time.

Factors That Predict Immune Function Resilience Among Adult Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Samantha Dewey Colombo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Not long ago, researchers and providers learned about the negative impacts that adverse childhood experiences have on not only the psychological health of the survivor but also the physical. Adverse physical health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes mellitus, autoimmune diseases, and more were identified as a risk for this population. These adverse outcomes occur largely due to immune dysfunction through systemic inflammation. One group within those who have adverse childhood experiences is those who have survived childhood sexual abuse. This group has experienced profound trauma that can impact them many years later psychologically, physically, and spiritually. Resilience factors …

Two Masked Prime Arrows Simultaneously Affect A Response To A Target: Revealing Of An Additive Unconscious Priming Effect, Shen Tu, Jiuhong Yan, Chengzhen Liu, Jieyu Lv, Jerwen Jou, Jiang Qiu

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Since there are many sources of unconscious information in our minds, there is a possibility that multiple channels of unconscious information can affect a response at the same time. However, this question has been largely ignored by researchers. In the present study, we presented two opposite pointing arrows as the masked primes followed by a target arrow. The results suggested that the two directions in which the two prime arrows are pointing influenced the response to the target simultaneously and additively, that is, the overall priming effect caused by the two opposite pointing prime arrows was equal to the net …

When Pushback Comes To Emotional Shove: Examining The Impact Of Harsh Parenting On Children’S Behavior, Elyse Christian

Master of Arts in Human Services

As parents are a child’s first teachers, high-quality information about parenting techniques is vital. Parents should have the opportunity to make informed, evidence-based decisions about the best parenting styles for each child through an understanding of appropriate developmental implications. Many parents are not aware of the adverse effects some techniques can have, even if outcomes appear positive on the surface. This research paper aimed to illustrate how harsh parenting methods can negatively impact a child’s behavior. To accomplish this, a collection of peer-reviewed articles was thoroughly reviewed. Following an introduction to the existing knowledge, 18 articles were presented. The articles …

The Moderating Effect Of Social Support On The Relationship Between Occupational Distress And Somatic Symptoms Among Catholic Clergy, Aldo Antonio Molina-Moore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Clergy exhibit significantly higher rates of stress, mortality, and chronic disease than the general population. Despite existing research on clergy stress, there remained a gap in understanding how social support affected the relationship between occupational distress and somatic symptoms among Catholic clergy in the United States. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental correlational study was to determine if perceived supervisor support and perceived organizational support moderated the relationship between occupational distress and somatic symptoms among clergy. The stress-buffering model of social support was used as the theoretical framework. Data were collected through surveys from a sample of 253 Catholic priests …

Parent & Child Aces: How They Impact Parenting Practices & Child Development, Gracie Lenz

Master of Arts in Human Services

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are adverse events that occur in childhood and can have a profound impact on an individual’s health and development. Recent trends in literature surrounding ACEs have sought to explore the relationship between parental adversity and the intergenerational transmission of risk for adversity to the child. The aims of this review are as follows: 1) to examine current literature on how adversity impacts parenting, whether that be stemming from childhood or current in the family. 2) how parenting practices and adversity impact children’s health and development. To accomplish these objectives, research was conducted primarily by using …

Differences In Race And Gender Of Retired Servicemembers In The Decision To Reenlist, Samantha R. Loeza

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of the study was to examine the race and gender differences among retired enlisted service members in work self-determination regarding the decision to reenlist. Existing research indicated little to no information regarding these factors. The independent variables are race and gender, and the dependent variable is work self-determination in the decision-making to re-enlist. This research utilized an adapted version of the Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale, an 18-item assessment of work motivation theoretically grounded in self-determination theory. Only retired active-duty enlisted service members between the ranks of E-5 through E-9 were surveyed. Regarding race, this study only …

Social Learning In Individuals With Autism, Benjamin Ellis

The Kabod

Honors Petition submitted to PSYC 365-001: Psychological Foundations of Learning.

Interfamilial Childhood Sexual Abuse, Emilie Potter

Master of Arts in Human Services

The purpose and intent of this capstone project is to spread light onto the very important, and often very taboo, topic of interfamilial childhood sexual abuse. This research aims to cover all bases of interfamilial childhood sexual abuse from the why’s, to the aftermath and care of the victims. The overall goal of addressing the issue of childhood sexual abuse within the family unit would be prevention of its occurrence. To prevent this from continuing to happen to so many children, there needs to be a full understanding of the entire situation from beginning to end. We need to look …

Maternal-Child Cortisol Attunement Differs In Preschoolers With Autism, Fragile X Syndrome, And Neurotypical Development, Rachel Hantman

Theses and Dissertations

Early maternal-child attunement sets a critical foundation for later social development. While maternal and child cortisol attunement in neurotypical (NT) development has been clearly established, little research has examined these relations in neurodevelopmental populations, such as those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). Given their elevated-risk for disrupted maternal-child attunement and given elevated stress and dysregulated cortisol patterns in both children with ASD and FXS and their parents independently, this is a critical gap. This study addressed this gap in the literature by examining early maternal-child cortisol attunement in 97 mother-child dyads (_nNT = …

Associations Between Infant Vagal Regulation, Early Social Communication, And Socidemographic Risk, Tessa Djiko

Theses and Dissertations

Respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA), a measure of parasympathetic nervous system activation, has been linked to socioemotional and language development (Porges, 2007; Thayer & Lane, 2000). Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show lower RSA (Patriquin et al., 2011) while both children with ASD and children from lower SES backgrounds show differences in early social-communication development (Jones-Mason et al., 2018). However, little is known about interactions between sociodemographic risk and physiological regulation within the context of ASD and social-communication development. The present study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between RSA (as indexed by RSA suppression and resting-state RSA), …

Evaluating Gender Bias In An Early Reading Screener Of Word Identification Abilities, Donna Perazzo

Theses and Dissertations

Children who have difficulty learning to read, particularly those with a specific learning disorder in reading (SLD-R) are at risk for an array of adverse outcomes. However, children who are identified and receive reading interventions early perform better on social, emotional, academic, and behavioral outcomes relative to those who do not receive early identification and intervention. In response to the growing body of research that has developed on the importance of the early identification of children have difficulty reading, many states have mandated the screening of all children for reading difficulties, specifically dyslexia. However, with the development of new reading …

Psychosocial And Spiritual Predictors Of Mental Health Among Protestant Christian Latino Clergy, Ingrid M. Granados Ms

Doctoral Dissertations

Research relating to the experiences of Protestant Christian Latino clergy in the United States is scarce. This study sought to explore the role of religion and spirituality on depression, burnout, and suicidality in Protestant Christian Latino clergy using multiple regression analysis. The study consisted of 212 Protestant Christian Latino clergy participants who completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire online that included measures for religious commitment and spiritual well-being, burnout, depression, and suicidality. Participants also completed a measure of ethnic/cultural identity and self-reported gender that were used as moderators in this study. The study revealed that stronger spiritual well-being-Daily (CSWS-Daily) and lower …

Themes In Help-Seeking Of Female Military Sexual Assault Survivors, Priscilla Phan

Doctoral Dissertations

While large efforts have been made to address military sexual assault, there are still barriers in the help-seeking journey that need attention. This study aimed to examine barriers and facilitators to formal and informal help-seeking behaviors and to understand the role of stigma in survivors' help-seeking behaviors for female military sexual assault survivors. Through semi-structured interviews, the study explored the help-seeking experiences and mental health sequela of fourteen female military sexual assault survivors. This study focused on cis-gender women over the age of eighteen who experienced a military sexual assault, by another military service member, while on active-duty. Women shared …

Gender Differences In Relations Between Social Comparison, Social Support, And Sleep Disturbance Among Midlife And Older Adults., Iris Bercovitz, Gabrielle M Salvatore, Jacqueline A Mogle, Danielle Arigo

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between sleep disturbance, social support, and social comparison among midlife and older adults, including the moderating role of gender.

METHODS: Adults ages ≥40 years (N = 557, MAge = 57, 53% men) completed a cross-sectional survey including validated measures of sleep disturbance, perceptions of social support, and social comparison orientation.

RESULTS: Sleep disturbance was negatively associated with social support (rs = −0.42 to–0.33, ps = 0.001) and associations were stronger for men than women–particularly perceived support from friends (η 2= 0.01). Sleep disturbance was also associated with upward comparison orientation (r = 0.12, p = 0.003), …

Adaptation And Evaluation Of Guideline-Based Family-Based Behavioral Treatment For Overweight And Obesity In Childhood Survivors Of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia And Lymphoma, Jessica Jakubiak

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Children who survive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and lymphoma are at considerable risk for chronic, treatment-related medical complications known as “late effects.” Not only are these late effects significant in and of themselves, but many are exacerbated by excess weight, a particularly concerning combination given the elevated rates of overweight and obesity within this population. Although the therapeutic regimens (e.g., steroid “pulses”) endured by children who survive ALL and lymphoma may contribute to excess weight, accumulating evidence also demonstrates the development of poor dietary habits and inadequate levels of physical activity during cancer treatment. Such weight-related health behaviors appear to …

Adhd And Chronic Anhedonia: Antecedents Of Treatment-Resistant Depression And Suicidality In Adults, Tia Sternat

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Depression is a chronic and debilitating disorder. Approximately 280 million people live with depression, and more than 700,000 lives are lost due to suicide each year. Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a severe form of depression which is highly correlated with comorbid psychiatric disorders such as attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and associated with increased suicidality. Anhedonia, the reduced ability to experience pleasure, is associated with various psychiatric conditions, including ADHD. The theoretical framework for this study was the biopsychosocial model. Depression may be diagnosed in accordance with a defined cluster of symptoms, and/or how symptoms are experienced vary by individuals …