Digital Commons Network^™

The Acute Effects Of Tetrahydrocannabivarin (Thcv) On Appetite, Caroline M. Sokol

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The purpose of the current study was to assess the acute effects of tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) on appetite. Participants (N = 28) experienced 12.5 mg THCV, 25mg THCV, and placebo in counterbalanced order across three, 3-hr experimental sessions. Following baseline procedures, participants consumed THCV or placebo and completed self-report measures every 30 minutes. A series of repeated measures factorial ANOVAs were conducted to examine potential differences in study outcomes across THCV dosing conditions as well as within session (i.e., baseline, every 30 minutes after dosing (5), end of session) with respect to self-reported hunger, mood, and perceived drug effects (e.g., …

Subjective Socioeconomic Status Moderates Self-Esteem Reactivity To Daily Stressor Exposure: Evidence From A Daily Diary Approach, Yi Jing Chua, Nadyanna M. Majeed, Verity Yu Qing Lua, Chi-Ying Cheng, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Research on self-esteem reactivity has demonstrated that self-esteem fluctuates in response to daily stressor exposure, and the strength of this relationship varies between individuals. Drawing upon the positive link between objective socioeconomic status (SES) and self-esteem, how subjective SES influences self-esteem reactivity to daily stressor exposure was explored. Using a 7-day daily diary study, the current study (N-participants = 243, N-days = 1651) adopted a multilevel analysis to demonstrate that subjective SES attenuated the within-person association between daily stressor exposure and daily self-esteem, even after controlling for demographics and objective indicators of SES. The interactions were also consistent across social …

Efficacy Of Digital Mental Health Interventions For Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Meta-Analytic Review Of Randomised Controlled Trials, K. T. A. Kasturiratna, Andree Hartanto, Angel Khaterina Lee, Charmaine Jiali Koh, Nadyanna M. Majeed

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder that significantly impacts various facets of life. While traditional treatments such as medication and behavioural therapy are effective, they often fall short due to limited access and undesirable side effects. In response to these limitations, digital mental health interventions have emerged as a transformative approach in alleviating ADHD symptoms. The current meta-analysis investigates the effectiveness of digital mental health interventions for ADHD synthesising data across 23 randomised controlled trials, with 99 effect sizes across 1,472 participants. Results showed small, significant effects of digital mental health interventions in reducing overall ADHD symptoms …

Longitudinal And Bidirectional Relations Between Problematic Social Media Use And Cognitive Failures, K. T. A. Sandeeshwara Kasturiratna, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

With social media becoming increasingly pervasive in our daily lives, there have been heightened concerns that the distractions caused by compulsive and problematic social media use may lead to cognitive failures. While some preliminary work have explored the link between problematic social media use and cognitive functioning, most are cross-sectional, leaving it uncertain whether cognitive failures are a precursor or consequence of problematic social media use. To address this gap, the current study examines the bidirectional relationship between problematic social media use and cognitive failures. A sample of 252 young adults completed the Problematic Social Media Use Scale and the …

The Relationship Between Perceived Racial Discrimination And Psychological Distress: The Role Of Psychological Inflexibility, Kyrah Breann Frank

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Research has shown that marginalized groups experience perceived racial discrimination as traumatic, humiliating, and hurtful (Brown-Iannuzzi et al., 2014). Multiple studies have associated perceived racial discrimination with physical and mental health outcomes such as depression (Brown-Iannuzzi et al., 2014.; Shallcross & Spruill, 2017; Zapolski et al., 2018), cardiovascular problems (Watson-Singleton et al., 2019; Zapolski et al., 2018), anxiety (Zapolski et al., 2018), and stress (Graham et al., 2013; Watson-Singleton et al., 2019). Studies have also shown that mindfulness buffered/moderated the relationship between perceived racial discrimination and health outcomes (Brown-Iannuzzi et al., 2014; Graham et al., 2013; Shallcross & Spruill, 2017; …

Building Safer Spaces:Exploring Supportive Leadership And Remote Work As Strategies Against Lgbtqia+ Mistreatment, Saray Valenzuela Jaime

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Organizations worldwide are undergoing significant transformations driven by employees’ demands for healthier, more inclusive workplaces (Mercer, 2022). This shift amplified by the influx of Gen Z and Millennial workers, whose higher rates of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) identification have nearly doubled the proportion of sexual- and gender-minority employees over the past decade, reshaping work dynamics. Yet, nearly half of all LGBT employees experience unfair treatment based on their gender identity or sexual orientation (Sears et al., 2021). LGBTQIA+ identity and hostile workplace climates, marked by mistreatment and discrimination, negatively impact organizational effectiveness by undermining employee …

Clocking Out: Experiences Of Customer Sexual Harassment, Coping, And Psychological Well-Being Among Waitresses, Paola Lopez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Workplace sexual harassment (WSH) is an ongoing issue which has been growing in literature especially when looking at the effects of WSH on employees. Yet, few studies have looked at workplace sexual harassment that occurs from customers towards employees known as customer sexual harassment (CSH). The current study investigates the role of coping strategies as a moderator when responding to CSH and the effects on employees' short- and long-term psychological well-being in terms of anxiety and depression.

Gesture-Based Icon Messages: Examining The Effects Of A Nonverbal Transparency Strategy For Supporting Situation Awareness In Human-Autonomy Communication, Heather Watkins

All Dissertations

Automated systems continue to transform tasks that were once manual, introducing new challenges for operators to maintain situation awareness (SA). This research examines gesture-based icon messages (GIMs) as a transparency strategy to address challenges present in human-autonomy communication (HAC). Drawing from Endsley’s (1995) three-level model of SA, GIMs were designed to convey different types of information: perception, comprehension, and projection. The goal of this work was to understand whether GIMs could be distinguished by operators, and whether they support SA under conditions that reflect the divided attention demands that are common in operational settings. Study 1 focused on assessing whether …

Seeking Existential Meaning In The “Sea Of Trees:” A Qualitative Exploration In The Depths Of Japan’S Aokigahara “Suicide” Forest, Sophia Bates

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis explores the intercultural perceptions of suicidality and the role that these perceptions have on meaning of life in Japanese culture through an exploratory, autoethnographic analysis of my journey walking through Japan’s Aokigahara “suicide” Forest. In June 2024, I traveled to Fujikawaguchiko, Japan to conduct an autoethnographic analysis of my experiences walking through Aokigahara Forest using shinrin-yoku and mindful walking (Jung, 2014) as supplemental research methodologies to make empirical observations and take notes on my journey walking through suicide forest as an embodied sensory experience. Drawing upon the research and ideas of cultural anthropologist and existential philosopher Ernest Becker, …

Parenting In The Age Of Social Media: The Buffering Effect Of Parental Self-Efficacy On The Relationship Between Parental Social Media Use And Parent Child-Relationship Quality, Celeste Tipple, Cindy Branch-Smith

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The widespread use of technology in daily life has raised concerns about its potential to disrupt social relationships, particularly within one of the most important human relationships: the parent-child relationship. This study assesses whether parental social media use (measured by a novel parental social media intensity scale) affects the parent-child relationship (measured by the child-parent relationship scale – short form), and whether parental self-efficacy (PSE, measured by the parenting sense of competence scale) moderates this effect. A cross-sectional, online survey study using correlational methods was utilised, with a final sample of 89 parents and caregivers (71.9 % women), averaging 42.6 …

Sex Differences In The Risk Of Developing Alzheimer Disease, Cognitive Trajectories, And Relationships Between Cognition And Pathological Burden, Carling G. Robinson

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Prior work suggests females may develop Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia at a higher rate than males, and that this effect may interact with apolipoprotein (APOE) ε4 genotype. However, this work has often been limited by imprecise clinical diagnoses and a lack of AD biomarkers. In addition to the frequency of dementia, there are mixed reports on whether sex impacts rates of cognitive decline. Further, females consistently exhibit greater accumulation of AD pathological biomarkers, particularly tau, than males. It has been theorized that females initially demonstrate resilience to AD pathology, maintaining cognitive functioning longer than males, but experiencing a steeper cognitive …

Psilocybin And Death Anxiety: A Dual-Mechanism Approach To Existential Distress, Annabelle Swain

University Honors Theses

This literature review looks at how psilocybin, the active compound in "magic mushrooms," can help people deal with death anxiety; the deep fear of dying or losing control that shows up in lots of mental health struggles. While traditional treatments like SSRIs and talk therapy work for some people, they don't always get to the root of the problem. Psilocybin works differently. It changes brain activity, especially in networks tied to repetitive, self-focused thinking, as well as creates powerful, emotional experiences that help people rethink how they see life and death. This paper covers recent research showing how one or …

Link Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Parenting Styles Of African American Fathers, Tatianna P. Johnson

Dissertations

African American fathers may be more susceptible than fathers of other races to having a negative parenting style due to their high levels of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs are traumatic experiences during childhood that can affect a person’s mental and physical health, income and adult parenting style. African American adults tend to have experienced multiple levels of ACEs at a higher rate than White and Asian adults (Maguire-Jack et al., 2021). ACEs can lead to adults experiencing higher levels of alcoholism, depression, health-related issues, mental illness, substance use, and academic problems. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to …

Testing A Culturally Grounded Training For Black And Latine Clinicians: Creating Communities In Pcit For Providers Of Autistic Youth, Harlee Onovbiona

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Black and Latine families of autistic youth continue to face mental health disparities, some of which have been attributed to poor access to services, discrimination, and poor culturally responsive care. Black and Latine families call for more family-centered treatments that are in accordance with their values and culture with options for treatments to be delivered by clinicians with similar racial and ethnic backgrounds. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a widely known evidenced-based treatment (EBT) that has been used with Latine, Black, and neurodiverse children to improve the parent-child relationship and reduce challenging behaviors. Although considerable efforts have been made to …

I See Sick People: Beliefs About Sensory Detection Of Infectious Disease Are Largely Consistent Across Cultures, Joshua M. Ackerman, Theodore Samore, Daniel M. T. Fessler, Norman P. Li, Et Al

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Identifying cues to contagious disease is critical for effectively tracking and defending against interpersonal infection threats. People hold lay beliefs about the types of sensory information most relevant for identifying whether others are sick with transmissible illnesses. Are these beliefs universal, or do they vary along cultural and ecological dimensions? Participants in 58 countries (N = 19,217) judged how effective, and how likely they were to use, cues involving each of the five major sensory modalities in an imagined social interaction during a flu outbreak. Belief patterns were strongly consistent across countries (sight > audition > touch > smell > taste), suggesting a largely …

Evaluation Of Prerequisite Discrimination Skills For Obtaining Assent From Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities: A Translational Study, Jessica J. Helen Detrick

Dissertations

Assent can be defined as an individual’s affirmative agreement to participate and should be obtained by those who cannot consent (i.e., children and adults deemed as “incapable”) when conducting research or providing services. Federal policies recommend considering age, maturity, and psychological state to determine if a participant can assent. Beyond these considerations, there is little guidance. However, practitioners and researchers still have an ethical obligation to obtain assent. Morris and colleagues (2021) conducted a literature review of assent procedures documented within behavior-analytic journals and found few studies. Of the procedures identified, many would likely be difficult to implement with participants …

Mexican Americans’ Attitudes Toward Mexican Immigrants In The United States, Sandra Daisy Espinoza Montes

Dissertations

The United States (U.S.) has often been described as a nation of immigrants. Among the 40 million immigrants in the U.S., Mexican-descent individuals comprise 25% of the overall immigrant population, positioning them as the largest immigrant group in the country. Additionally, Mexican Americans constitute 63% of the Latinx population, making them the largest minoritized ethnic group in the U.S. Considering that Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans have a significant presence in the country, scholars have called for additional research on attitudes towards Mexican immigrants (Byrne & Dixon, 2016; Flores et al., 2022). However, much of the existing literature on attitudes …

The Impact Of Mindfulness Therapy To Reduce Disruptive Behavior In High School, Wendy Nell Peters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this project was to determine the impact and effectiveness of Gina Biegel’s mindfulness techniques for stressed teens method on adolescent anxiety and the disruptive symptoms that lead to high school adolescents being assigned to detention. This project described a quantitative correlational design research project that investigated a small adolescent sample size, with a goal of decreasing the number of local high school adolescent students who are repeat detention offenders, by implementing Gina Biegel’s mindfulness techniques for stressed teens method on those high school adolescents who were assigned to detention. This was achieved by collecting demographic data from …

Using Interpersonal Motives To Identify Latent Profiles Of Borderline Personality Pathology: Implications For An Overcontrolled Style Of Bpd, Regina Schreiber

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is conceptualized as a disorder of undercontrol (i.e., behaviorally impulsive, emotionally expressive), with affective, interpersonal, and identity instability. BPD related impairment is high, yet diagnostic accuracy remains a problem for individuals who present with greater overcontrol (i.e., behavioral inhibition, expressive suppression), which occurs in some BPD subtypes. The current study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to expand on prior research by identifying latent profiles based on interpersonal motives for agency and relatedness, desire for predictability, perceived dependency, and self-efficacy in a sample of people with elevated BPD features (n = 136). Individual differences in overcontrol, undercontrol, …

Resilience Redefined: Exploring The Impact Of Childhood Trauma On The Value Systems Of High-Achieving Corporate Men, Lana B. Henry

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study employed Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore how childhood trauma influences the value systems of high-achieving corporate men. In contemporary corporate culture, where stoicism, performance, and independence are often rewarded, little attention is paid to how early adversity informs internal frameworks of meaning, leadership, and success. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six high-achieving men, all executives and leaders in high-performing industries, who self-identified as having experienced childhood trauma. Data were analyzed using a six-step IPA process and interpreted through the lens of Schwartz’s Theory of Basic Human Values and social constructivism. Findings revealed that childhood trauma deeply …

Social Sprouts: A Play-Based Packaged Intervention - Improving Peer Interactions In Early Childhood Classrooms With A Novel Group Contingency, Brittany D. Garza

Master's Theses

Teaching prosocial skills such as positive peer interactions in early childhood settings not only promotes behavioral health but reliably predicts future learning outcomes. The literature suggests that decreasing levels of challenging behavior may improve peer interactions, and a feasible class-wide strategy that can address this combination of needs effectively is a group contingency. The current study investigated the effect of a novel group contingency, Social Sprouts, on both positive peer interactions and disruptive behavior. This study utilized a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design in three Head Start classrooms to evaluate the effect of this packaged intervention delivered just before and during …

Reflecting On Racial Microaggressions: The Impact On Food Consumption In Minority Women, Khadiza Akter

Master's Theses

U.S. laws, policies, and practices have been implemented to reduce forms of overt racism and discrimination. These structural barriers have been effective (e.g., Dovido & Gaertner, 2000; McConahay, 1986; Sue & Sue, 2007). Covert forms of racism, however, including racial microaggressions, are more difficult to address using structural changes and, therefore, continue to thrive (Omi & Winant 1994; Sue et al., 2007). Racist attitudes and discriminatory behaviors are sources of anxiety and stress (Kogan et al., 2014; Pascoe & Richman, 2009) with long-term anxiety and stress leading to elevated risks for mental and …

Experiences Of Discrimination During Pregnancy Predict Altered Neonatal Hair Cortisol At Birth, Kimberly D'Anna-Hernandez, Lillybelle K. Deer, Özlü Aran, Kenia M. Rivera, Melissa Nevarez-Brewster, Jenalee R. Doom, Benjamin L. Hankin, M. Camille Hoffman, Elysia Poggi Davis

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Objective

Prenatal glucocorticoids (e.g., cortisol) are a widely proposed prenatal programming mechanism, yet few studies directly measure fetal cortisol. Neonatal hair provides a non-invasive method to assess fetal cortisol. The current studies test the association between maternal exposure to discrimination and fetal cortisol, as measured in neonatal hair, in two cohorts.

Methods

Study 1: Pregnant individuals (N = 65) and their neonates (61.8 % female) participated in study 1 between 2017 and 2021. Participants self-identified as Asian (6.2 %), Black (21.5 %), Latinx (35.4 %), Multiracial or Multiethnic (35.4 %), and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (1.5 %). Experiences …

Diversity Training In Clinical Child And Pediatric Psychology Programs: Results From A Survey Of Training Directors., Mary Louise Cashel, Shalonda Brooks, Trista Perez Crawford, Omar G. Gudiño, Sharnita Harris, Astrida S. Kaugars, Noriel Lim, Jerlym Porter

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

This survey study presents satisfaction ratings completed by training directors of graduate, predoctoral internship, and postdoctoral programs in clinical child and pediatric psychology with respect to their culture and diversity training. The approaches to training and areas of diversity focus are also reported. All respondents (n = 42, 71% response rate) were from member programs of the Clinical Child and Pediatric Psychology Training Council, in geographical locations ranging from small towns to large cities across the United States. Over 90% of directors of graduate programs indicated that completing a course on multicultural psychology was a requirement for the program. …

Assessment Of Mental Health Needs For Chronically Unhoused Individuals Living In A Bridge Housing Community, Isabel Furse Augur

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Higher rates of psychopathology and substance use are reported in individuals experiencing homelessness compared to the general population, especially in those who are chronically unhoused. Chronically homeless individuals are also less likely to access treatment for these problems because of barriers to care. Addressing housing needs is an important first step in engaging people who are homeless with the care they need. This project focused on assessing the mental health needs of a Housing First community in Northwest Arkansas, which has few barriers for entry but does not provide direct support for mental health. This project adopted a community-based participatory …

Positive Psychology And Positive Education: A Strengths-Based Approach To Sen, Michelle Y. Tytherleigh

Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

This paper, originating from the ‘Power of Us!’ conference held in June 2025, reflects on the session titled: Positive psychology and positive education: a strengths-based approach to SEN, which looked at how positive psychology and positive education can be applied to better support students, and with a particular focus on those with SENs.The paper offers an insight into the session, sharing reflections from the discussions and research findings, and calls for action to create a truly inclusive educational system.

On Becoming A Hero: Insights From An Unexpected Experience, Christina Maslach

Heroism Science

In 1971, shortly after earning my Ph.D. at Stanford, I found myself unexpectedly drawn into the events of the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE). Although I was not involved in the study’s design, my reaction to the disturbing behaviors I witnessed led me to confront my partner, Philip Zimbardo, about the ethics of continuing the research. That conversation ultimately led him to end the study. In this personal reflection, I revisit my experience as an unintentional “outsider ombudsperson,” exploring the psychological and ethical challenges that unfolded within the SPE. I reflect on what I learned about dissent, disobedience, and how stepping …

Flex-Spatialities: Interior Spaces, Play, And Fantasy, Camilo Lozano-Rivera

Interiority

This article examines how interior spaces in the digital age have evolved into flexible, adaptive environments shaped by technological mediation and shifting everyday practices. Focusing on smart homes and home offices, this article introduces the concept of flex-spatiality to describe how these spaces continually reconfigure in response to changes in needs and digital interfaces. Grounded in Gregory Bateson’s (1972) theory of play and fantasy, the study explores how interior spatiality operates on two levels: as a locus for expressing identities and as a structure for organising social interaction. Through Bateson’s distinction between metalinguistic and metacommunicative functions, flex-spatiality is framed as …

“Medication Is Only 10% Of Recovery”: A Mixed-Method Analysis Of Facilitators And Barriers To The Equitable Implementation Of Medications For Opioid Use Disorder Treatment, Alexandra Hernandez-Vallant

Psychology ETDs

Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), the gold standard treatment for OUD, are underutilized. Yet, research on MOUD clinical encounters is limited. Attention to social determinants of health (SDOH) can help improve engagement and retention in MOUD treatment. This dissertation project describes development of a clinical vignette-based survey using a two phase exploratory sequential design to examine the extent to which SDOH influence clinical decision-making among MOUD providers. Study 1 included interviews with 23 providers to learn their perspectives on facilitators/barriers to MOUD treatment and the clinical and social determinants most influential to their clinical decision-making. Study 2 involved development …

More Schooling Can Delay The Onset Of Dementia Later In Life, Vikesh Amin, Jere R. Behrman, Jason M. Fletcher, Carlos A. Flores, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, Iliana Kohler, Hans-Peter Kohler, Shana D. Stites

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.