Digital Commons Network^™

Managing Student Behavior: Occupational And Discrimination-Related Stress As Moderated By Coping Resources, Madeline S. Blocker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Student behavior management is a critical component of efficacious teaching and a leading contributor to teachers’ stress. Prior research has shown that teachers experiencing greater levels of workplace stress may utilize more punitive and exclusionary disciplinary techniques. However, these strategies often do not effectively manage student problem behavior and are associated with adverse student outcomes. In contrast, positive behavior management techniques have shown efficacy in managing student behavior while promoting students’ success and wellbeing. This study explored the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of workplace stress (i.e., work-related and discrimination-related) and their use of positive or punitive behavior management techniques. Additionally, …

Institutional Rhetoric And Campus Reactions: A Multi-Method Case Study Exploring University Communication And Social Responsibility In A Racial Crisis, Rockia K. Harris

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This case study explores how an institution in the southeastern conference (SEC) responded to racial reckonings before and after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, how students came to perceive the institution's responses and commitment to diversity and inclusion. To understand this phenomenon beyond apologia and image repair theory, the discourse of renewal theoretical framework and university social responsibility guides this dissertation. This work fills a gap in the literature on crisis communication in response to racism in higher education spaces. Using critical discourse analysis and an open-ended survey, this dissertation further explores the idea of social responsibility of institutions …

A "Rock To Lean On": Young Singers' Experiences In A Community Choir In Louisiana, Yulene Velásquez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to investigate young singers’ experiences in the Livingston Parish Children’s Choirs organization (LPCC), a community-based children’s choir program in Denham Springs, Louisiana. I investigated the impact of those experiences on the children’s lives inside and outside of the ensemble from the perspective of the artistic director and co-director, parents, and the singers themselves.

The LPCC was founded in 1991 by Barbara Walker and her mother, Regina Walker. According to Barbara Walker, the mission of the organization is “to prepare children to go out and be lifelong singers.” This choral community is characterized …

Women's Interracial Friendships: Cultivating Coalitional Possibilities Across Difference Through Dialogue, Akie Fukushige Wenk

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In my dissertation, I thread through the macro-structure as well as micro-operations of hegemonic ideologies, namely white-supremacist capitalist cis-hetero patriarchy (hooks, 1995, Valdes, 1996), that has historically plagued the United States, eventually gaining a global reach over time. I center interracial friendship between Black and White cis-women, where I locate coalitional possibilities that begin at the grassroots level. I situate this interracial relationship within the socio-ecological system where the personal meets the social (including racialized backgrounds). I use a series of analogies to equate these ideologies as toxins in the air, water, and soil. Soil is where we can work …

The Case For Succession Planning In Higher Education: A Study Of Knowledge Transfer Within Louisiana State University, Leila Shaik Villien

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to explore the challenges, benefits, and perceptions of succession planning among currently employed administrators at research universities in the southern portion of the United States at the level of assistant department head or higher and the accessible population was defined as currently employed administrators at Louisiana State University at the level of assistant department head or higher. Deans, Associate Deans, Department Heads, Assistant Department Heads, and Department Chairs were invited to participate in an online survey designed by the researcher to assess the attitude toward succession planning and training, along with a variety …

Implicit Bias In School-Based Suicide Risk Assessment, Jessie Munson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Suicide remains a leading cause of death for youth, and the prevalence of suicidal behaviors continues to increase while demographic trends shift. Despite the considerable scope and impact of this global public health issue and robust evidence that cultural minority and gender-diverse youth are at particular risk, there is a significant dearth in the literature with respect to nonrandom variance or possible systematic error in suicide risk assessment practices. Moreover, studies related to school-based risk assessment are scarce despite the ethical and legal imperative to identify and serve at-risk youth as well as the unique ecological position of schools to …

Integrating Behavioral Research Findings With A Liberal Arts Paradigm, Jonathan Peterson

LSU Master's Theses

This paper explores the role of behavioral research in understanding the complexity and relevance of creativity. A brief history of the liberal arts and its current application is followed by a discussion of the importance of variability in generating novel and diverse responses, challenging the notion that creativity is solely a product of innate talent. The effects of reinforcement on variability, and how it relates to a complex relationship between reinforcement and the probability of variable responding leads to a discussion of how the combination of previously trained behaviors can lead to creative problem-solving, emphasizing the role of combinatory behavior …

What Happens Online Doesn't Stay Online: Female Elected Officials' Experiences With Online Harassment, Sarah M. Carpenter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Online harassment towards female elected officials is a prevalent problem that threatens women’s parity in local and state government. It is used for the purpose of diminishing women’s efficacy in government by stifling their voices in public spaces through behaviors that aim to belittle, embarrass and abuse women for existing in traditional masculine spaces that reify a white patriarchal social hierarchy. Female elected officials at all levels of government are susceptible to harassment on- and offline. The aim of this study expands current understandings of how online harassment affects female elected officials by focusing on online harassment experiences of women …

Neural Mechanisms Of Resiliency And Susceptibility After Repeated Social Defeat, Christy R. Wayne

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Social defeat is a powerful experience leading to drastic changes in physiology and behavior, many of which are negative. For example, repeated social defeat in vertebrates results in reduced reproductive success, sickness, and behavioral abnormalities that threaten individual survival and species persistence. However, little is known about what neural mechanisms are involved in determining whether an individual is resilient or susceptible to repeated social defeat stress. I used a resident-intruder experiment in the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, to create and investigate the behavior and neural correlates of these two opposing groups. Resilient fish used both searching and freezing behaviors …

“Why We Play The Game”: An Exploration Of Sport Employees’ Conceptualizations Of Meaningful Work, Nathan Baer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Modern sport management scholars have looked to pair the fields of positive organizational behavior (POB) and human resource development (HRD) with sport management to enhance the productivity of sport organizations through their employees (see Kim et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2023a; Kim et al., 2023b; Kim et al., 2017; Oja et al., 2015, 2020; Oja et al., 2022; Schuetz et al., 2022; Zvosec et al., 2021). One area of study that has received recent attention amongst sport management scholars is meaningful work (Baer et al., 2021; Oja et al., 2022), an emerging employee well-being metric whose definition is often …

Media Coverage Of Non-Ideologically Motivated Mass Shootings Versus Ideologically Motivated Mass Shootings And How The Media Affects College Students' Perceptions Of Mass Shootings, Jennifer L. Larose

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

While much is known about how the media covers mass shootings within the United States and how this coverage impacts the public, much remains unknown about the media and international mass shootings. To address this gap this dissertation examines the relationship between the media coverage of ideological and non-ideological mass shootings that have occurred around the world. It then examines the relationship between media consumption and perceptions of mass shootings. To this end, newspaper coverage on a sample of ten mass shootings from 2011-2021 are examined temporally using the Social Coping Model. Results show that media coverage varies across time …

Evaluation Of A Nutritional Calming Supplement For Stress Management In Beef Cattle, Randall Mallette

LSU Master's Theses

Two studies were conducted to determine the efficacy of two formulations of a nutritional calming product, Placid 1.0 and Placid 2.0, at keeping beef cattle in a calm state when exposed to environmental factors that put them into an excited state. In the pilot study, nine crossbred beef heifers were orally drenched daily for three days with 60 mL of their respective treatments, pen scores and exit scores were recorded, and blood was collected for cortisol analysis. There were no treatment effects for either treatment on any of the measured behavioral parameters or serum cortisol concentrations.

The products were …

The Ọkụmkpọ Masquerades Of The Afikpo Society Of Southeastern Nigeria: An Art Form And An Instrument Of Social Control., Chinenye Miriam Emelogu

LSU Master's Theses

Masquerade performances are prevalent in West Africa, but they hold particular importance among the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria. This thesis explores the cultural significance and artistic expressions of Okunkpo masquerade at Afikpo, a sub-Igbo group in Nigeria. It demonstrates how Okunkpo has served as a mechanism of social control using humorous skits, storytelling and dance up to the 21^st century. Okunkpo is an elaborate and the most attended masquerade performance at Afikpo. It appears only once in a year and is exclusively reserved for male initiates. Its popularity draws audience from far and near. As a community theatre, Okunkpo …

Autism, Comorbidities, And Adaptive Functioning: A Potential Moderator, Joshua J. Montrenes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Deficits in adaptive functioning and the presence of comorbid symptomatology are both commonly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous research has identified relationships between functional level (e.g., intellectual quotient [IQ], adaptive functioning [AF]) and comorbid symptomatology in ASD. However, further insight into the relationship between AF, comorbid psychopathology, and ASD is unclear. Specifically, how AF affects the relationship between ASD and comorbid conditions is not well understood. Whether AF moderates the relationship between autism symptom severity and comorbid symptom severity in toddlers with ASD was examined. ASD symptom severity positively correlated with comorbid symptom severity across domains and negatively …

Eating Disorders In Weight-Related Therapy (Edit): Protocol For A Systematic Review With Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis Of Eating Disorder Risk In Behavioural Weight Management, Hiba Jebeile, Natalie B. Lister, Sol Libesman, Kylie E. Hunter, Caitlin M. Mcmaster, Brittany J. Johnson, Louise A. Baur, Susan J. Paxton, Sarah P. Garnett, Amy L. Ahern, Denise E. Wilfley, Sarah Maguire, Amanda Sainsbury, Katharine Steinbeck, Lisa Askie, Caroline Braet, Andrew J. Hill, Dasha Nicholls, Rebecca A. Jones, Genevieve Dammery, Alicia M. Grunseit, Kelly Cooper, Theodore K. Kyle, Faith A. Heeren, Fiona Quigley, Rachel D. Barnes, Melanie K. Bean, Kristine Beaulieu, Maxine Bonham, Kerri N. Boutelle, Braulio Henrique Magnani Branco, Simona Calugi, Michelle I. Cardel, Kelly Carpenter

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

The Eating Disorders In weight-related Therapy (EDIT) Collaboration brings together data from randomised controlled trials of behavioural weight management interventions to identify individual participant risk factors and intervention strategies that contribute to eating disorder risk. We present a protocol for a systematic review and individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis which aims to identify participants at risk of developing eating disorders, or related symptoms, during or after weight management interventions conducted in adolescents or adults with overweight or obesity. We systematically searched four databases up to March 2022 and clinical trials registries to May 2022 to identify randomised controlled trials of …

Preliminary Validation Of Digital Photography To Assess The Home Food Environment, Daniela Quan, Isaac Michael, Elizabeth Gollub

Faculty Publications

The home food environment (HFE), the availability and accessibility of foods and food products within the home, has a strong influence on healthy eating behaviors. Studies assessing the HFE commonly utilize a home food inventory (HFI) for data collection. However, this approach tends to be burdensome for participants. This study validated a low-burden digital photo method for assessing the home food environment and confirmed that this method is preferred by participants. Study participants completed an HFI, submitted photos of household foods, then identified preference for the HFI or photo reporting method. Researchers completed an HFI based on each participant’s photo …

Current Discoveries And Future Implications Of Eating Disorders, Bing Feng, Jerney Harms, Emily Chen, Peiyu Gao, Pingwen Xu, Yanlin He

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Eating disorders (EDs) are characterized by severe disturbances in eating behaviors and can sometimes be fatal. Eating disorders are also associated with distressing thoughts and emotions. They can be severe conditions affecting physical, psychological, and social functions. Preoccupation with food, body weight, and shape may also play an important role in the regulation of eating disorders. Common eating disorders have three major types: anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED). In some cases, EDs can have serious consequences for an individual’s physical and mental health. These disorders often develop during adolescence or early adulthood and affect …

Association Between Maternal And Infant Screen Time With Child Growth And Development: A Longitudinal Study, Chelsea L. Kracht, Leanne M. Redman, Jayne Bellando, Rebecca A. Krukowski, Aline Andres

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Background: Sedentary screen time is an early, modifiable risk factor for obesity and poor child development. Objectives: To examine the relationship between maternal and infant screen time with child growth and development. Methods: Pregnant women were recruited for a cohort study related to maternal and infant development. Screen time was assessed in mothers during pregnancy, and subsequently in children at 3 months, 12 months, and 24 months of age. Child anthropometry was measured, and nuclear magnetic resonance quantified child fat mass. Fat mass index (FMI) was calculated. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III were used to assess child development. Linear …

Characteristics Of Yogurt And Culture Bacteria As Affected By Ingredients That Help Treat Leaky Gut, Ricardo Jose Santos Aleman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

At least 100 million people have leaky gut syndrome. This syndrome is associated with multiple health problems such as diabetes, celiac disease, asthma, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease, costing more than $3 billion per year to treat. L-Glutamine, quercetin, slippery elm bark, marshmallow root, N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (NAG), licorice root, maitake mushrooms, and zinc orotate have been reported to help treat leaky gut.

The objectives were to explore the characteristics of yogurt and culture bacteria as affected by ingredients that help treat leaky gut. In yogurt, the pH, titratable acidity, syneresis, viscosity, color, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, yeast and mold and …

Rethinking Attention Control: An Individual Differences Approach, Vincent A. Medina

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

While there is extensive literature on visual spatial attention, less is known about auditory spatial attention, especially in terms of attention control. There is also a growing literature highlighting the importance of considering individual differences in attention control ability. Given these points, the purpose of this study was twofold. The first was to understand how auditory attention control is influenced by spatial location as well as vision. The second was to examine whether individual differences in attention control ability can predict task performance in that context. We utilized two tasks for these purposes. Experiment 1a consisted of a cross-modal Stroop …

Femme Fatale In Lieder: Songs Of Lorelei By Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt, And Alexander Zemlinsky, Eun Chong Kang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The femme fatale, a seductive and dangerous woman, is a popular archetype found in literature, art, and music. In German literature, the character of Lorelei is a well-known example of the femme fatale. She is associated with a steep rock cliff on the Rhine River and, from the cliff, convicted of bewitching men resulting in their murder. This written document focuses on Lorelei as the femme fatale character in German literature as seen in three musical settings by composers Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt, and Alexander Zemlinsky. The document also includes limited musical analyses of and singer’s commentary on …

Crisis Leadership In Higher Education: A Case Study Of Administrative Responses During A National Pandemic, Katelyn M. Gerlach

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore institutional crisis leadership during a global pandemic in the athletic departments of five mid-major universities located in the Midwest United States, including Blue University, Red University, Green University, Orange University, and Purple University. This study examined the leadership response and decisions surrounding the COVID 19 pandemic. Research leaders consisted of members of the university’s executive leadership team and the athletic departments senior staffs.

I have gathered data in one-on-one, in person and virtual interviews with each member of the executive teams and gained insight and understanding of their leadership …

Reasoning The Voice: Toward A Diagnostic And Prescriptive Technique In The Teaching Of Singing, Carlos E. Santelli

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Voice pedagogy literature often draws a parallel between a doctor’s ability to diagnose illness and prescribe treatment, and a voice teacher’s ability to identify vocal obstacles and design solutions. The core of these parallel procedures lies in an ability to utilize critical reasoning skills within highly specific contexts. Medical literature describes this as “clinical reasoning” and has studied it as a learned process. Voice pedagogy literature has traditionally described this as an innate process which is solely developed through experience. This document broadly examines the ways in which medical literature has broken down clinical reasoning into specific cognitive processes and …

Further Refinement Of An Asd-Subscale For The Childhood Behavior Checklist, Kimberly Ellison

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is tied to receiving the earliest possible intervention services that can influence a child’s development (Filipek et al., 1999). There are different measurement tools utilized to aid in the diagnostic assessment process, including broadband behavioral rating scales. The Childhood Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) is a parent/caregiver completed questionnaire about one’s child (typically or atypically developing). The CBCL is one of the most utilized broadband measures at the initial stages of a diagnostic assessment or screening to aid in understanding the symptom presentation (Hyman et al., 2020). Currently, there …

Opinion: How Fear Of Nuclear Winter Has Helped Save The World, So Far, Alan Robock, Lili Xia, Cheryl S. Harrison, Joshua Coupe, Owen B. Toon, Charles G. Bardeen

Faculty Publications

The direct effects of nuclear war would be horrific, with blasts, fires, and radiation killing and injuring many people. But in 1983, United States and Soviet Union scientists showed that a nuclear war could also produce a nuclear winter, with catastrophic consequences for global food supplies for people far removed from the conflict. Smoke from fires ignited by nuclear weapons exploded on cities and industrial targets would block out sunlight, causing dark, cold, and dry surface conditions, producing a nuclear winter, with surface temperatures below freezing even in summer for years. Nuclear winter theory helped to end the nuclear arms …

Pathways To Blunted Facial Affect In Negative Schizotypy: Social Motivation And Online Cognitive Resources, Tovah M.D. Cowan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Schizotypy, a range of personality traits which confer liability for schizophrenia, is associated with significantly diminished social functioning and quality of life. Social dysfunction in all forms of schizotypy, including schizophrenia, is connected to blunted affect, or diminished expressivity, particularly facial expressions which are less frequent, intense, or long than typical. However, the mechanisms and treatments for blunted affect are, as yet, poorly understood and underdeveloped. In this project, two putative mechanisms of blunted affect were explored. The first involves cognitive load capacities, which are diminished in schizotypy, causing blunted affect – individuals do not have the cognitive resources to …

A Comparison Of Self-Report Measures To Screen For Mental Health Concerns In Youth, Jacob Landon Deboer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Proactive screening for treatable conditions is not a new concept. Instead, screening has been present in the United States since at least the early 1900s. Accordingly, many schools actively screen for academic problems, yet the same attention is not paid to mental health. Past research estimates that one out of five children in the U.S. has a mental health disorder. However, recent research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic has found these numbers to be increasing. Additional estimates suggest that only one-third of children with a mental health disorder receive treatment. Schools have a role to play in addressing the identification …

Association Of Type 2 Diabetes Subgroups With Cognitive Status Without Modification From Lifestyle Intervention, Michael P. Bancks, James Lovato, Ashok Balasubramanyam, Mace Coday, Karen C. Johnson, Medha Munshi, Candida Rebello, Lynne E. Wagenknecht, Mark A. Espeland

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Context: Type 2 diabetes is a risk factor for incident dementia but whether risk and treatment/prevention strategies differ by diabetes subgroup is unknown. Objective: We assessed (1) whether specific type 2 diabetes (T2D) subgroups are associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or probable dementia (PD), and (2) whether T2D subgroups modified the association of the Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) multidomain intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) with MCI/PD. Methods: We included 3760 Look AHEAD participants with T2D and overweight or obesity randomly assigned to 10 years of ILI or diabetes support and education. We used k-means clustering techniques with …

A Delayed Intervention Start Randomized Controlled Trial Of High- And Low-Tech Communication Training Approaches For School-Age Autistic Children With Co-Occurring Intellectual Disability, Shawn P. Gilroy, Joseph P. Mccleery, Geraldine Leader

Faculty Publications

The researchers designed a delayed intervention start randomized controlled trial to compare improvements in functional communication following augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions. The study compared outcomes from function-based applied behavior analytic (ABA) and eclectic non-ABA forms of classroom-based communication strategies (waitlist control) as well as from high- and low-tech forms of AAC. High-tech AAC consisted of tablet-based communication, and low-tech AAC used an exchange of picture cards. The community-based sample consisted of 29 autistic children with a co-occurring intellectual disability. Participants were randomized to groups (AAC, waitlist control), and each group received approximately 3 months of communication intervention. Multilevel …

Demystifying Longitudinal Data Analyses Using Structural Equation Models In School Psychology, Garret J. Hall, Kelly N. Clark

Faculty Publications

Structural equation models (SEM) are a method of latent variable analysis that offer a high degree of flexibility in terms of modeling methods for applied research questions. Recent advancements associated with longitudinal SEM have unlocked innovative ways to decompose variance and to estimate mean trends over time (e.g., Allison et al., 2017; Berry & Willoughby, 2017; Hamaker et al., 2015; McArdle & Nesselroade, 2014). However, these longitudinal methods are not necessarily readily accessible to scholars seeking to advance theory and practice in school psychology. Importantly, not all longitudinal data are the same and not all longitudinal SEMs are the same; …