Digital Commons Network^™

Therapist Behaviors That Predict The Therapeutic Alliance In Couple Therapy, Bryan C. Kubricht

Theses and Dissertations

Couple therapy is successful in treating relationship distress. However, couple therapy does not benefit everyone. Consequently, it is important to study factors that predict therapeutic success. One such factor is what predicts the development of the therapeutic alliance in couple therapy. The purpose of this study was to code therapist behaviors, therapist warmth, empathy, presence, validation, collaboration, and technique factors (systemically-based techniques and session structure), in the first session of couple therapy to examine their ability to predict two aspects of the therapeutic alliance, between- and within-alliance, after the session for males and females. The hypotheses were tested utilizing multiple …

Evaluating The Usability Of Two-Factor Authentication, Kendall Ray Reese

Theses and Dissertations

Passwords are the dominant form of authentication on the web today. However,many users choose weak passwords and reuse the same password on multiple sites, thus increasing their vulnerability to having their credentials leaked or stolen. Two-factor authentication strengthens existing password authentication schemes against impersonation attacks and makes it more difficult for attackers to reuse stolen credentials on other websites. Despite the added security benefits of two-factor authentication, there are still many open questions about its usability. Many two-factor authentication systems in widespread usage today have not yet been subjected to adequate usability testing. Previous comparative studies have demonstrated significant differences …

The Effects Of Social Communication Intervention On Emotion Inferencing In Children With Developmental Language Disorder, Capri Annissa Seaberg

Theses and Dissertations

Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) often face problems in areas of social communication including negotiating with peers, entering ongoing interactions, and engaging in conflict resolution. A potential cause of these social communication difficulties is the decreased ability to make emotional inferences. This thesis investigates the effects of a social communication intervention on the ability of school-aged children with DLD to make inferences about emotions. Five children with DLD between the ages of 6;10 and 12;4 participated in a social communication intervention that highlighted principles of emotion understanding (recognizing emotions in facial expressions, inferring emotions with contextual information, and discussing …

Using Religious Themes And Content To Affect Cultural Sensitivity In Russian Language Learning, Paul Tristan Gallo

Theses and Dissertations

Specifically oriented towards Russian culture, this study addresses the need in diplomacy for deeper cultural understanding. As research suggests a link between the inclusion of religious perspectives in second language acquisition (SLA) and student motivation and cultural empathy, this study examines how Russian language classrooms could leverage an understanding of Russian religious themes to foster cultural sensitivity. The study invited 24 second-year university students of Russian to complete a previously-validated assessment of cultural sensitivity: the Global Perspectives Inventory (GPI). Divided into a control and a treatment group, the participants also watched a short video depicting a story from Russian history …

Do Maternal Psychosocial Factors Predict Adolescent Weight?, Sandra Jody Marks

Theses and Dissertations

Do Maternal Psychosocial Factors Predict Adolescent Weight? Sandra Jody MarksDepartment of Exercise Sciences, BYUMaster of SciencePurpose: This study investigated the possible relationship between maternal psychosocial factors, mainly maternal stress and maternal depression, and adolescent weight status. Also, this study examined the predictive effect of these maternal psychosocial factors on adolescent weight loss during a health education intervention as well as the months following the health education. Methods: Study design was a longitudinal pretest posttest with a health education intervention. We assessed 40 adolescents and their mothers on four occasions over a 1-year period. At each occasion, the Stress Index for …

Application Of The Entropy Concept To Thermodynamics And Life Sciences: Evolution Parallels Thermodynamics, Cellulose Hydrolysis Thermodynamics, And Ordered And Disordered Vacancies Thermodynamics, Marko Popovic

Theses and Dissertations

Entropy, first introduced in thermodynamics, is used in a wide range of fields. Chapter 1 discusses some important theoretical and practical aspects of entropy: what is entropy, is it subjective or objective, and how to properly apply it to living organisms. Chapter 2 presents applications of entropy to evolution. Chapter 3 shows how cellulosic biofuel production can be improved. Chapter 4 shows how lattice vacancies influence the thermodynamic properties of materials. To determine the nature of thermodynamic entropy, Chapters 1 and 2 describe the roots, the conceptual history of entropy, as well as its path of development and application. From …

Characterizing The Spatial Variation Of Crop Water Productivity For Variable-Rate Irrigation Management, Jeffrey David Svedin

Theses and Dissertations

Irrigated agriculture is the primary consumer of limited worldwide freshwater resources. Drought, growing world populations, and environmental demands compete with irrigation for freshwater resources"”threatening sustainable global food, fuel, and fiber production. This escalating global crisis demands that agriculture produce more food using less water. Traditional irrigation management has used technology to apply uniform irrigation rates across landscapes"”ignoring natural environmental variation. This provides inherent inefficiencies of over- or under- irrigation within individual fields. Variable-rate irrigation (VRI) is modern technology that employs global positioning systems and geographic information systems to match irrigation to spatially variable crop water demands within a field. Although …

The Psychological Odyssey Of 1909: Carl Gustav Jung's Pivotal Encounter With Sigmund Freud During Their Journey To America, William E. Herman, Axel Fair-Schulz

Swiss American Historical Society Review

M any volumes in the scholarly literature explore the complex evolution of the relationship between Carl Gustav Jung and Sigmund Freud as well as the eventual split between these two influential contributors to psychoanalytic thought and more generally to the field of psychology and other academic fields/professions. The events that transpired during the seven-week journey from Europe to America and back in the autumn of 1909 would serve as a catalyst to not only re-direct the lives of Jung and Freud along different paths , but also re-shape the roadmap of psychoanalytic thinking, clinical applications, and psychology. The 1909 visit …

Social Media Use And Its Impact On Relationships And Emotions, Spencer Palmer Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

A large majority of the people throughout the world own a smartphone and access social media on a daily basis. Because of this digital attachment, the author sought to understand to what extent this use has impacted the users' emotional well-being and offline interpersonal relationships. A sample size of 627 participants completed a mixed-methods survey consisting of Likert scale and short answer questions regarding social media use, emotional well-being and interpersonal relationships. Results revealed that the more time an individual spent on social media the more likely they were to experience a negative impact on their overall emotional well-being and …

Plane Of Energy Nutrition On Blood Metabolites, Milk Production And Lamb Growth In Friesian Sheep, Rebekah Paige Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

Small ruminant species are utilized for their diverse products including meat, dairy products, and wool. Effective and humane management are essential to maintain high production rates and comfortable animals. To attain this objective, managers needs to have an extensive knowledge of husbandry techniques, understanding of physiological processes, and familiarity with nutritional requirements. We examined the effects of varying feed components on two different ruminal species. In Chapter 1, we conducted a study to evaluate"¯the effects"¯of a low metabolizable energy (LME) and high metabolizable energy (HME) diet on twenty-two Friesian/Lacuane"¯cross ewes and lamb nutritional status."¯Effects on milk production during early lactation …

Social Outcome Following Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: A Meta-Analysis, Jonathan James Mietchen

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Children and adolescents with a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at increased risk for developing social incompetence and impairment in broad psychosocial functioning. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between history of TBI, social competence, and broad psychosocial functioning using meta-analytic methods. Methods: Studies relating to social outcome following pediatric TBI were searched for using scientific, academic databases. Sixteen studies (N=2,005) met inclusion criteria, and relevant data relating to social functioning was extracted. Meta-analytic methods were used in order to obtain Hedges's g effect size data for mild, moderate, and severe TBI groups. …

Evaluation Of Pigments From A Purple Variety Of Atriplex Hortensis L. For Use In Food Applications, Eva Graciela Vila Roa

Theses and Dissertations

Atriplex hortensis L., also known as orach, is a leafy vegetable from the Amaranthaceae family, which has historically been consumed as a potherb, like spinach. The brightly colored leaves are a source of high quality protein, but may also be of interest as a potential source of natural food pigments. An aqueous extraction was obtained from the freshly harvested leaves of the'Triple Purple' variety of A. hortensis. The extract was spray-dried into a powder, and individual pigments were analyzed using HPLC and LC-MS. The powder was also included as a color additive in a typical stabilizer/sweetener preparation and mixed into …

Development Of Affinity Monoliths In 3d Printed Microfluidic Devices For Extraction Of Preterm Birth Biomarkers, Ellen Kelsey Parker

Theses and Dissertations

Preterm birth (PTB) is defined as birth before the 37th week of pregnancy and affects 15 million infants per year. Presently, there is no clinical test to determine PTB risk. A 3D printed microfluidic device is being developed as a clinical test for PTB risk via detection of a panel of biomarkers. A significant step is extraction of the PTB biomarkers from blood serum. In this work, I developed 3D printed microfluidic devices in which monoliths can be polymerized. Using the monolith as a solid support to attach antibody, I show that ferritin, one of the PTB biomarkers, can be …

Camera View Planning For Structure From Motion: Achieving Targeted Inspection Through More Intelligent View Planning Methods, Trent James Okeson

Theses and Dissertations

Remote sensors and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have the potential to dramatically improve infrastructure health monitoring in terms of accuracy of the information and frequency of data collection. UAV automation has made significant progress but that automation is also creating vast amounts of data that needs to be processed into actionable information. A key aspect of this work is the optimization (not just automation) of data collection from UAVs for targeted planning of mission objectives. This work investigates the use of camera planning for Structure from Motion for 3D modeling of infrastructure. Included in this thesis is a novel multi-scale …

Articulatory Kinematic Differences During Adaptation To A Bite Block, Madison Ann Mchaley

Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the effects of bite blocks on articulatory kinematics when producing /r/ within a phrase. Participants consisted of 20 young adults (10 males, 10 females) with no speech, language or hearing disorders. Participants produced the carrier phrase, I say __ with the nonsense words /əri/ (high front vowel), /əræ/ (low front vowel), /əru/ (high back vowel), /ərɑ/ (low back vowel). A Northern Digital Instruments Wave electromagnetic articulograph measured the articulatory movements while the speaker produced the stimuli in two conditions (Pre bite block and post bite block). Bilateral bite blocks were made using Express dental putty, which …

The Effect Of The Slope Of The Psychometric Function On The Measurement Of Speech Recognition Threshold Using A Female Talker, Jessica Lee Reese

Theses and Dissertations

Speech audiometry has long been a component of a thorough audiological examination. The speech recognition threshold (SRT) measurement is perhaps the most widely used measurement in speech audiometry. For decades, researchers and clinicians have worked to create and fine-tune word lists that for use in SRT testing; their aim being to improve the accuracy for classifying a client's ability to hear and comprehend speech. Experts in the field have agreed to follow four tenets of speech audiometry when selecting word sets. This study examined whether improvement to stimulus lists for SRT measurement could be made in regards to the tenet …

Mercury And Dissolved Organic Matter Dynamics During Snowmelt In A Montane Watershed, Provo River, Utah., Brian Noel Packer

Theses and Dissertations

Mercury (Hg) transport in streams is typically facilitated by dissolved organic matter (DOM), however, the dynamics of Hg and DOM during snowmelt in montane watersheds are poorly understood. Hg transport during snowmelt is widely recognized as a significant source of Hg to downstream lakes and reservoirs, such as Jordanelle Reservoir where fish consumption advisories are in effect due to elevated Hg concentrations in certain species of fish. For this study, total mercury (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), and DOM samples were collected at three sites in the upper Provo River, northern Utah, during the 2016 and 2017 water years. To evaluate Hg …

Self-Regulation, Threat Perception, And Inhibitory Control: An Fmri Investigation Of Children With Adhd, Erin Kaseda

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the role of perceived parental support on adolescents aged 12-19 who have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Specifically, the study focused on inhibitory control, one form of cognitive executive control often implicated in ADHD, in three ways: first, through the use of a Go/No-Go task during a functional MRI scan of the brain; second, through the use of a neuropsychological cognitive battery using the NIH Toolbox; and third, through a qualitative interview that examined self-control in school and home contexts. Contrary to the initial hypothesis, parental support was found to be negatively correlated with inhibitory control …

A Standardized Hand-Off Tool For Undergraduate Nursing Students, Abigail Sutton, Stacie Hunsaker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In establishing patient safety, communication is one of the most important components to consider. In order to coordinate a patient’s care properly, the multiple and diverse healthcare providers must operate smoothly as a team through well-constructed communication techniques. TeamSTEPPS is a government designed program to educated healthcare professionals on how to work and communicate effectively as a team. The program initiators included specific tools to be used to perform hand-offs. Hand-offs is when a healthcare professional transfers crucial information requiring a patient’s care with another healthcare professional. This is an extremely important process because it can cause devastating results if …

Food Insecurity Among Byu Students, Kielee Wiser, Neil Peterson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to assess food insecurity among college students attending Brigham Young University (BYU). Food insecurity is the lack of consistent access to food, which has become an increasing problem among college students throughout the United States. The lack of food can contribute to poor performance in school, health complications, and homelessness.

It Runs In The Family: Determining The Most Important Characteristics In Family Health Histories, Lauren Bretzing, Gaye Ray

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Family health history (FHH) is a significant risk factor for many diseases and can help determine which patients need further genetic testing, lifestyle changes, and preventative screenings at earlier ages. Though recognized as an important step in controlling and preventing disease, FHH is often underutilized in health care settings. In a busy clinic setting, many clinicians may only have a couple minutes to discuss FHH with their patient, or may choose to forego it entirely. Apart from being time intensive and inaccurate, the FHH tools available are often seen as too complex. Additionally, a lack of uniformity in the collection, …

Effect Of Formal Simulation Training On Perceptions Of Students, Joni Lybbert, Stacie Hunsaker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

High-fidelity simulation refers to the use of computerized manikins to simulate real-life situations. High-fidelity simulation is now a crucial part of nursing programs everywhere helping students gain necessary critical-thinking skills. The College of Nursing (CON) at Brigham Young University (BYU) includes simulation in their curriculum to assist students in developing decision-making skills in a modified clinical setting. However, more than the possession of simulation technology, the interaction between students and the simulation facilitator helps to achieve these aims.

Parents Of Children With Special Healthcare Needs: Relationships With Healthcare Providers, Janet Jackson, Dr. Janelle Macintosh

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to explore the significance and influence of relationships between healthcare providers (HCP) and parents of children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN) regarding healthcare plans.

In exploring previous research conducted in this area, we found many examples of the stress related to raising CSHCN, including physical, mental, and social stress. Much of this stress involved caregivers feeling unsupported, isolated, and misunderstood. For this reason, we chose to conduct focus groups to gather data and provide connections for these caregivers that would help them feel less stressed.

Research previously conducted in this area lacked an emphasis, …

Palliative Care Services Perception Study, Klinton Metcalf, Katreena Collette-Merril, Phd, Rn, Kevin Mcewan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Patients with chronic illnesses are often plagued with multiple side effects and secondary diagnoses that significantly limit everyday function. Managing these side effects along with the patient’s illness often requires a multidisciplinary approach to providing optimal care. Palliative Care is a growing field of medicine that delivers quality symptom management for patients with complex illnesses and symptoms. Although relatively new, evidence shows that Palliative Care interventions not only decrease the severity of side effects during the treatment process, but also improve the quality of life and feelings of well-being for the patient, and even extend length of survival. Palliative Care …

Red Vienna Sourcebook, Blake Taylor, Dr. Rob Mcfarland

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Under the guidance of my ORCA mentor, Professor Rob McFarland, I teamed up this semester with an international working group that is producing the Red Vienna Sourcebook, a reference work that will help North American scholars to supplement their knowledge of German-speaking Europe in the interwar period. I worked with Professor McFarland primarily to search out newspaper articles that demonstrate this time period, write introductions to the articles, and submit the articles for inclusion in the sourcebook.

Can Pokémon Go “Protect The World From Devastation”?, Hannah Schmidtlein, Dr. Neil Peterson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purposes of this project were to assess how Pokémon Go impacts physical activity levels in players and whether it produces short- or long-term health benefits. This project was an observational study. Subjects were required to meet three requirements to be eligible: (1) they started playing Pokémon Go when it launched in July 2016, (2) they currently use a device such as a FitBit or Apple Watch to track physical activity, and (3) they began wearing the activity tracker at least one week prior to beginning to play Pokémon Go. Once subjects were determined to be eligible, they filled out …

Organizational Learning On Hospital Units: Instrument Development Cognitive Interviews And Content Validity Stages, Hannah Hoyt, Dr. Bret Lyman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Approximately 400,000 deaths occur each year due to preventable errors in hospitals.¹ Organizational learning² is the process through which organizations progress toward achieving their desired outcomes. Hospital units can use principles of organizational learning to reduce errors and achieve excellent performance outcomes.³ Unit managers have limited evidence-based resources to guide their organization’s development toward achieving desired outcomes. The purpose of this project was to develop two reliable survey instruments to measure the presence of certain contextual factors (environment) and mechanisms (actions) that are conducive to organizational learning on hospital units. These contextual factors and mechanisms emerged from …

Parental Experiences Of Raising A Child With Type 1 Diabetes To Adulthood, Claire Christiansen, Sn, Donna Freeborn, Aprn, Phd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this research was to better understand parental experiences of raising a child with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) to adulthood in order to help parents and educators better understand how to facilitate child(ren) with T1DM in transitioning into adulthood and managing diabetes independently. T1DM is commonly diagnosed when someone is younger than 18. This life-changing diagnosis not only affects the child, but the whole family unit. Although there is research involving parents who are currently raising T1DM children, there is very little research involving parents whose children with T1DM are now adults. As parents reflect on their …

Law Enforcement Trauma Informed Response Training In Adult Sexual Assault Cases, Chelsie Lawter, Julie Valentine

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Sexual assault (SA) is one of the most common crimes in the state, affecting one in three Utah women (Mitchell & Peterson, 2008). Despite this, shockingly low numbers of Utah SA victims see their cases progress to prosecution; for example, in Salt Lake County from 2003-2011, only 6% of SA cases were successfully prosecuted (Valentine, Shaw, Lark & Campbell, 2016). These numbers reflect an urgent need in Utah to identify barriers to prosecution and take steps to eliminate those barriers. Police officers, as first responders when victims seek to report an incidence of SA, have an important role in determining …

Utah Immunization Module, Erin Marshall, Lacey Eden

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Herd immunity requires that 95% of a population is immunized in order to be effective. In Utah, only 75.2% of children have received all of the recommended vaccinations by age two1. Herd immunity is of great importance to a population because it protects those who cannot be immunized (such as newborns and those with chronic illnesses). These individuals are offered some protection because when the majority of a population is immunized, the disease has little opportunity to spread within the community2. In Utah, the number of individuals that choose not to immunize themselves or their children is constantly increasing. Those …