Digital Commons Network^™

Identifying Modifiable Factors Associated With Depression Across The Lifespan In Stroke Survivor-Spouse Dyads, Michael Joseph Mccarthy

Dissertations and Theses

Depression is the most common psychological sequela associated with stroke, affecting approximately 33% of stroke survivors (Hackett, Yapa, Parag, & Anderson, 2005) with corresponding impacts on spouses, partners, or other informal caregivers (Han & Haley, 1999; Low, Payne, & Roderick, 1999). Although stroke is more common in older persons, persons of all ages are at risk for stroke and especially post-stroke depression (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2007; Barker-Collo, 2007; Hughes, Giobbie-Hurder, Weaver, Kubal, & Henderson, 1999). One of the factors which could explain increased risk of depression is "biographical disruption" (Bury, 1982), which happens when couples experience …

A Multi-Level Study Of The Predictors Of Family-Supportive Supervision, Ginger Charmagne Hanson

Dissertations and Theses

There is a growing awareness that informal supports such as family-supportive supervision are critical in assuring the success of work-life policies and benefits. Furthermore, it is believed that family-supportive supervision may have positive effects regardless of the number or quality of work-life polices and benefits an organization has in place. Given this recognition, work-life experts have emphasized the need for supervisor training to increase family-supportive supervision. To date however, there has been a paucity of research on the predictors of family-supportive supervision which could be used as the target of such a training intervention. This dissertation had three major aims: …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Between Violence Exposure, Internalizing And Externalizing Problems, And Adolescent Alcohol Use, Gregory Lloyd Forehand

Dissertations and Theses

Adolescent Alcohol Use (AAU) is widespread and potentially harmful to the health of youth. Substantial research and theoretical development suggest that both violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing problems of adolescents are associated with AAU. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the roles of internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescents to determine if the two types of symptoms are differential mediators of the link between violence exposure and AAU for females and males. Using Developmental Systems Theory as a framework, three primary hypotheses were examined: 1) Increased violence exposure at home and in the community are associated …

Perceptions And Voices Of South Sudanese About The North-South Sudan Conflict, Machar Wek Aleu-Baak

Dissertations and Theses

The conflict in Sudan reflects historic hatred and ethnic discrimination between Northern Arab Muslims and Southern African Christians and Animists. The longest and worst conflict began in 1983 and ended in 2005, when African Christians and Animists struggled to form an interim autonomous government. This conflict claimed 2 million lives from both sides and displaced almost 4 million people from the South. This thesis attempts to understand how people from Southern Sudan perceive the root causes and sustaining factors of the Sudanese conflict between Arab Muslims and African Christians. This research looks specifically into the roles of ethnic differences and …

"You Can See It In Their Eyes:" A Communication Ethnography Of A Humane Society, Sara Victoria Kaufman

Dissertations and Theses

This study sought to understand the culture-sharing group of people working within the shelter area of a Pacific Northwest animal shelter through the Ethnography of Communication. About 63% of households in the United States live with a companion animal (Risley-Curtis et al., 2006). Recently, there has been a shift toward closer examination into the ways in which humans interact with animals, particularly companion animals. The guiding questions of this study were: RQ1: What are the cultural communication forms performed in the context of the humane society? RQ2: How do shelter workers communicate about companion animals? RQ3: What cultural meanings are …

Emotion Language And Emotion Narratives Of Turkish-English Late Bilinguals, Melike Yücel Koç

Dissertations and Theses

The primary focus of this research was to investigate the emotion language and emotion narratives of Turkish-English late bilinguals who have been living in the U.S. Previous research has shown that the emotion language and narratives of second language learners and native speakers of English are different. This study focused on late bilinguals who had learnt English in instructed settings in their home country, and came to the U.S. for M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. The study consisted of two parts. In the first part, the elicited personal narratives of Turkish-English late bilinguals in English were compared to those elicited from …

Social And Human Capital: Contributing Effects Of Incarceration On Neighborhoods, Jacqueline Victoria Swofford

Dissertations and Theses

Interest in human and social capital's contribution to the desistence of crime is increasingly popular amongst criminologists, economists and policy makers. However, little attention has been drawn to the influence human and social capital indicators contribute towards the relationship between the re-entry process and juvenile crime at the neighborhood level. The current study hypothesizes the existence of a mediating relationship between human and social capital indicators (2000) and the rates of receiving formerly incarcerated persons (1997-2002) and juvenile arrest (2006-08) in 92 Portland, Oregon neighborhoods. Portland, Oregon receives more formerly incarcerated persons from Oregon's state correctional facilities than any other …

Campus Sexual Assault: How Oregon University System Schools Respond, Michael William Murphy

Dissertations and Theses

College is usually thought of as a time where students, often living alone for their first time, are encouraged towards healthy risk-taking behavior, as well as social, intellectual, and vocational development. Unfortunately for female students, college becomes the time of their lives where they are exposed to the highest risk of sexual victimization. Many colleges across America have taken steps to address the significant problem of sexual assault on their campuses. However, even with rising concern about the sexual victimization of college students, there remains very little systematic information published about the content of sexual assault policies, protocols and programs …

Runaway And Homeless Youth: Changing The Discourse By Legitimizing Youth Voice, Donald Dale Schweitzer

Dissertations and Theses

Undoubtedly, runaway and homeless youth (RHY) are one of the most vulnerable, yet underserved groups in our country. Well-meaning advocates have developed programs and services in an attempt to remedy this, yet there is little evidence of their effectiveness. Moreover, according to the research literature, a low utilization rate of current services by youth is a major concern. From a constructivist theoretical position, this study posits that the missing element is youth voice and the researcher hired formerly homeless youth to conduct the analysis of focus group data gathered from RHY who were participating in a range of services funded …

Youth Voices Of Bounty And Opportunity: High School Students' Experiences With Food And Community, Kara Marie Gilbert

Dissertations and Theses

Currently, garden-based research does not include input from young adults about their experiences and perspectives as individuals in garden-based programs, specifically those that address issues of food and community. To address this void, this qualitative research examines youth perspectives and engagement in garden-based community projects in Olympia, Washington, and Medford, Oregon. The sample of 11 students was chosen from these projects that use food as a means to engage the community and educate underprivileged young adults about local food systems. The main question that the research addresses is: Why, and in what ways, are young adults appropriate agents for community …

Writing Her Way To Spiritual Perfection: The Diary Of 1751 Of Maria De Jesus Felipa, Stephanie Oliver

Dissertations and Theses

Throughout the colonial period of Mexican history, cloistered nuns wrote spiritual journals at the request of their confessors. These documents were read and scrutinized, not only by the confessors, but also by others in the hierarchy of their Orders. They are important sources of study for historians in that they provide a window into the religious culture of the times and the spiritual mentality of their authors. This thesis will examine one such record, discovered in a collection of volumes at the Historical Franciscan Archive of Michoacán in Celaya, Mexico. The diary covers eleven months of 1751 in the life …

Prestructuring Multilayer Perceptrons Based On Information-Theoretic Modeling Of A Partido-Alto-Based Grammar For Afro-Brazilian Music: Enhanced Generalization And Principles Of Parsimony, Including An Investigation Of Statistical Paradigms, Mehmet Vurkaç

Dissertations and Theses

The present study shows that prestructuring based on domain knowledge leads to statistically significant generalization-performance improvement in artificial neural networks (NNs) of the multilayer perceptron (MLP) type, specifically in the case of a noisy real-world problem with numerous interacting variables.

The prestructuring of MLPs based on knowledge of the structure of a problem domain has previously been shown to improve generalization performance. However, the problem domains for those demonstrations suffered from significant shortcomings: 1) They were purely logical problems, and 2) they contained small numbers of variables in comparison to most data-mining applications today. Two implications of the former were …

Effects Of Daily Social Support On Tension-Reduction Drinking, Deborah L. Brannan

Dissertations and Theses

Researchers have argued that in times of need having supportive, caring people available can make all the difference between achieving optimum health and well-being or suffering from mental or physical illness (Cobb, 1976; Sarason & Sarason, 1985; Thoits, 1986). The direct-effect model of support postulates that having the knowledge of available relationship resources (i.e., perceived support) and receiving benefits from those relationships (i.e., received support) both have beneficial effects on health behaviors and well-being (Cohen & Wills, 1985). According to the stress-buffering model, when stressors are encountered, the certainty of having available resources, as well as having tangible support resources, …

Employee Age Differences In Formal Performance Feedback Reactions: Examining The Effects Of Perceived Valence, Content, And Delivery, Gabriela Burlacu

Dissertations and Theses

As the nature of work is rapidly changing, organizations in developed nations all over the world are experiencing shifts in the age composition of their workforces. These changes, which include an aging workforce that is becoming increasingly age-diverse, indicate that organizational researchers and practitioners need to be better aware of how age differences manifest themselves in the workplace and what implications this has for effective employee management. In the current study it is proposed that employees of different ages react differently to various elements of a formal performance feedback event. Specifically, Carstensen's developmental Socio-emotional Selectivity Theory is used as a …

Disordered Thought, Disordered Language: A Corpus-Based Description Of The Speech Of Individuals Undergoing Treatment For Schizophrenia, Lucas Carl Steuber

Dissertations and Theses

The characteristics of patient speech are used in clinical settings to make assumptions about the thought processes of people with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. However, there have not been any studies of the language of people with schizophrenia that present evidence drawn from a large group of speakers. This study employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to determine whether 140 medicated individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia exhibit the linguistic abnormalities claimed in the literature. It also compares the speech of people with schizophrenia with that of people diagnosed with depression in order to assess whether there is a …

Parent And Teacher Influences On Children's Academic Motivation, Tatiana Snyder

Dissertations and Theses

The current study developed a comprehensive theoretical framework of joint multiple contextual influences (JMCI framework) to guide empirical investigation of combine influences of social contexts on children's academic outcomes. Drawn from several general frameworks, four models of joint social influences were proposed: Independent, Interactive, Differential, and Sequential. Using a motivational framework, all four models were tested empirically for joint effects of parents and teachers on children's self-perceptions (relatedness, competence, and autonomy) and classroom engagement. Overall, this study provided some empirical support for every category of models proposed in the JMCI framework. The joint influences of parents and teachers on children's …

The Relationship Between Teachers' Multicultural Attitudes And Their Instructional Practice With English Language Learners: A Mixed Method Study, Adria Danielle Dodici

Dissertations and Theses

Teachers of English language learners (ELLs) are often ill prepared to provide content area instruction tailored to their students' needs. This explanatory mixed method study examined the relationship between 15 ELL teachers' multicultural attitudes and use of sheltered instruction (SI). The purpose of the study was to ascertain whether teachers' multicultural attitudes influenced their use of SI. Data were gathered using a Demographic Questionnaire, Multicultural Efficacy Scale (MES), Classroom Instruction Questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews. A correlational analysis found no statistically significant relationship (i.e., r = -.34; p = .22) between participants' scores on SI observations and the MES. A correlational …

Gendering The Body: Exploring The Construction Of The Sexually Dimorphic Body, Sarah Kaye Lewis

Dissertations and Theses

Gender is a pervasive and regulating social institution that is operationalized in mainstream Western culture as a natural extension of the ontological difference perceived to exist between the binarily sexed bodies of male and female. Feminist theory has widely established, however, that gender is done - i.e., gender is not a naturally occurring phenomenon, but is an ongoing construction engaged and replicated by individual actors and which, while compulsory, is nevertheless optional. Within this canon is a small number of feminist theorists, notably Judith Lorber, Judith Bulter, and Nancy Tuana, who argue that the constructive manifestations of gender performativity (that …

An Evaluation Of Moderating Influences Of Employee Proactive Personality: Empowerment And Political Skill, Deborah Kaylee Ford

Dissertations and Theses

An action-orientation within the workplace is often sought out by organizations as a source for competitive advantage. Organizational leaders are increasingly reliant on independently driven employees that will take action without being instructed to do so. Toward this effort, proactive personality has become increasingly popular within the literature as a personality trait associated with an employee's propensity to take charge of situations and demonstrate initiative to make a positive impact. In identifying potential variables that will moderate the effects of proactive personality, a highly relevant construct is empowerment. Proactive personality is thought of as a trait, whereas empowerment can be …

The Role Of Feedback In The Assimilation Of Information In Prediction Markets, Richard Donald Jolly

Dissertations and Theses

Leveraging the knowledge of an organization is an ongoing challenge that has given rise to the field of knowledge management. Yet, despite spending enormous sums of organizational resources on Information Technology (IT) systems, executives recognize there is much more knowledge to harvest. Prediction markets are emerging as one tool to help extract this tacit knowledge and make it operational. Yet, prediction markets, like other markets, are subject to pathologies (e.g., bubbles and crashes) which compromise their accuracy and may discourage organizational use.

The techniques of experimental economics were used to study the characteristics of prediction markets. Empirical data was gathered …

Raps Sheet, December 2010, Retirement Association Of Portland State

RAPS Sheet: Monthly Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Patients Reasons For Choosing Office-Based Buprenorphine: Preference For Patient-Centered Care, P. Todd Korthuis, Jessica Gregg, Wendy E. Rogers, Dennis Mccarty, Christina Nicolaidis, Joshua Boverman

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objectives - To explore HIV-infected patients' attitudes about buprenorphine treatment in office-based and opioid treatment program (OTP) settings.

Methods - We conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 29 patients with co-existing HIV infection and opioid dependence seeking buprenorphine maintenance therapy in office-based and OTP settings. We used thematic analysis of transcribed audiorecorded interviews to identify themes.

Results - Patients voiced a strong preference for office-based treatment. Four themes emerged to explain this preference. First, patients perceived the greater convenience of office-based treatment as improving their ability to address HIV and other healthcare issues. Second, they perceived a strong patient-focused orientation in …

Health, Transportation And Bicycling: Connecting The Dotted Lines, Jennifer Dill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Powerpoint presentation by Jennifer Dill at the Dudley H. Davis Center, University of Vermont, on November 17, 2010. Reviews current research on the relationships beetween health, transportation policy and bicycling. Discusses the role of psychology, thoeries of planned behavior, and future developments.

A City Club Report On Ballot Measure 74, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Who's In Charge Here? Authority, Authoritativeness, And The Undergraduate Researcher, Marybeth Meszaros

Communications in Information Literacy

No abstract provided.

Research For Design: Exploring Student And Instructor Attitudes Toward Accessing Library Resources And Services From Course Management Systems (Cms), Merinda Mclure, Karen Munro

Communications in Information Literacy

The authors report a study concerning student and instructor attitudes toward accessing library resources and services from within course management systems (CMS). In spring 2008, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with a small population of students and instructors at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) and at Colorado State University (CSU). They asked participants to respond to examples of library integrations in course management systems at other institutions and to report their local experiences with both the campus CMS and library services. Participant responses frequently challenged and complicated the authors' assumptions about best practices in integrating a library presence and …

Instruction 2.0 - What Are We Actually Doing?, Greg Bobish

Communications in Information Literacy

This survey looks at ARL Libraries' instruction websites and tries to identify publicly available Library 2.0 tools focused on user education. The reasons for each tool's presence or absence are discussed and an overall assessment of the current state of the use of these tools in the field is offered.

Community Engaged Research At The Regional Research Institute For Human Services, Diane Yatchmenoff, Laurie E. Powers

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

Participatory models of research, in which communities are actively engaged in the research process through partnerships with academic institutions, are restructuring how scientific knowledge is being created. Community engaged research, also known as, community based participatory research (CBPR), and participatory action research (PAR) is increasingly recognized as a framework for high quality scientific inquiry. In community engaged research, researchers and evaluators work side‐by‐side with community members in all phases of the research process, from defining social problems and research questions, conceptualizing research design, carrying out research, and interpreting and disseminating findings. It requires partnership development, collaboration and cooperation, and commitment …

Interview With W. T. "Bill" Lemman, W. T. "Bill" Lemman, Michael O'Rourke

Portland State University Oral Histories

In this interview with Michael O’Rourke, Mr. Lemman discusses his experiences and accomplishments from his undergraduate years at Vanport until his administrative position in Oregon higher education, and remembers faculty, students, and administrators with whom he worked to grow Portland State into an urban campus of almost thirty thousand students. Highlights include student life and media at Vanport Extension Center, the Vanport flood of 1948, urban renewal in Portland that facilitated the establishment of the campus during the 1960s and 70s, student housing, and collective bargaining with faculty and staff unions.

This interview was recorded in two sittings on September …

Center For Academic Excellence: Annual Report 2009-2010, Patrice Hudson, Leslie G. Mcbride, Kevin Kecskes, Amy Spring, Janelle De Carrico Voegele, Michael Chamberlain, Vincent Schreck

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Admittedly, a certain amount of tedium is involved in assembling an annual report. Retrieving, verifying, and summarizing all the data generated from CAE’s programs and services during the year feels a lot like double-checking references in a manuscript before sending it off for review. It’s a necessary part of the larger project; sometimes we are surprised.

Somewhere in the midst of the process, we may suddenly see a project from an entirely diff erent perspective, identify a theme that ties together threads or themes we hadn’t realized previously were connected, or more clearly see why faculty members may (or may …