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Exploring Risk Factors Associated With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptomatology In Police, Lori Camacho Jan 2023

Exploring Risk Factors Associated With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptomatology In Police, Lori Camacho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Mental health outcomes, especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in police have become more of a concern for law enforcement administrators, peers, family and friends. Using culture as a theoretical framework, the current cross-sectional, convergent mixed methods study explored the relationship between personal cumulative exposure to different types of critical incidents and likelihood of reporting PTSD symptoms in a sample of officers (n=71) from one municipal police department. This study also examined how personal cumulative exposure to different types of critical incidents and likelihood of reporting symptoms of PTSD may be moderated by the degree of perception of social support from …

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It's In The Design: Student Perceptions Of Intercultural Interactions In Online Communication Classrooms, Darius Lana Jan 2023

It's In The Design: Student Perceptions Of Intercultural Interactions In Online Communication Classrooms, Darius Lana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study identifies how intercultural interaction takes place in online communication courses within higher education. Radically politicized efforts to remove discussion around identity and difference from education and increased enrollment in online courses has raised a concern regarding the degree to which diversity, equity, and inclusion goals are being met in college classrooms generally and online sections specifically. This study identified how current pedagogical content, structure, and delivery of online communication courses may impact intercultural interaction and interaction. Findings indicate a need to address the design of online communication courses to better meet the desired intercultural interaction of the students …

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The Relationship Among Identity Development, Dark Personality, And Risk-Taking Behaviors, Reilly Branch Jan 2023

The Relationship Among Identity Development, Dark Personality, And Risk-Taking Behaviors, Reilly Branch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Previous research has found significant relationships between various dark personality traits (Machiavellianism, sadism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and externalizing behaviors including delinquency (Muris et al., 2013). Although many studies have examined the relationships among dark personality, risk propensity, and delinquency, little research has examined the role of identity development and identity distress in predicting risky or antisocial behaviors. Therefore, this study examined the utility of using both the Dark Tetrad and identity dimensions to predict risk propensity and delinquent behaviors. Emerging adult college students (N = 424) completed an anonymous online survey battery. Results indicated that specific dark personality traits (i.e., …

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It Is Time To Change The Way We Change, Thane Keller Jan 2023

It Is Time To Change The Way We Change, Thane Keller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Seventy percent of organizational change initiatives fail. Among organizations where change and adaptation are necessary for survival, the U.S. military stands at the top. The disparity between desired health and fitness behaviors and actual behaviors is a glaring reminder that change is difficult to implement and that current change systems struggle. Merit-based systems offer a solution by rewarding and reinforcing good behavior to generate lasting change. This paper evaluates Kotter's Change Model and Nudge Theory and found them insufficient because they do not sufficiently address reinforcement learning or the temporal tie between behaviors and rewards for reinforcement. This paper then …

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Capturing And Scaffolding The Complexities Of Self-Regulation During Game-Based Learning, Daryn Dever Jan 2023

Capturing And Scaffolding The Complexities Of Self-Regulation During Game-Based Learning, Daryn Dever

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Game-based learning environments (GBLEs) can offer students with engaging interactive instructional materials while also providing a research platform to investigate the dynamics and intricacies of effective self-regulated learning (SRL). Past research has indicated learners are often unable to monitor and regulate their cognitive and metacognitive processes within GBLEs accurately and effectively on their own due mostly to the open-ended nature of these environments. The future design and development of GBLEs and embedded scaffolds, therefore, require a better understanding of the discrepancies between the affordances of GBLEs and the required use of SRL. Specifically, how to incorporate interdisciplinary theories and concepts …

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Cultural Movement(S) And Counternarratives: The Rhetorics Of Native Womxn Runners, Kim Martinez Jan 2023

Cultural Movement(S) And Counternarratives: The Rhetorics Of Native Womxn Runners, Kim Martinez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This analysis demonstrates the complex ways that Native womxn runners mobilize the rhetoric they create around and through their running activity to challenge settler colonial, heteropatriarchal ideologies in favor of Indigenous lifeways; build upon cultural practices that include running and a wider spectrum of gender roles to enact more inclusive, modern Native identities; and lead intersectional advocacy efforts that center Native communities. Utilizing a Cultural Rhetorics, Indigenous Feminist, and Decolonial framework that recognizes Native womxn as experts in their own lived experiences, I have gathered Native womxn runners' counternarratives from virtual spaces/social media to learn from their cultural, rhetorical (oral, …

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Gendered And Racialized Bodies In Dobbs V. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Saphronia Carson Jan 2023

Gendered And Racialized Bodies In Dobbs V. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Saphronia Carson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In June 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abandoning nearly 50 years of precedent, and removing federal protections for abortion access. In doing so, the Court drew on a lineage of explicit and implicit discourses that have constructed abortions, abortion providers, and pregnant and fetal bodies in ways that make overturning Roe seem inevitable. This thesis takes a reproductive justice perspective while conducting a feminist critical discourse analysis of the majority and concurring opinions in Dobbs. Two main findings stand out. First, the decision relies on originalist constructions of abortions, abortion providers, pregnant people, and fetuses to …

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Sexual Violence In Armed Conflict: How Levels Of Sexual Violence In Peacetime Affect Levels Of Sexual Violence In Conflict, Sydney Snowden Jan 2023

Sexual Violence In Armed Conflict: How Levels Of Sexual Violence In Peacetime Affect Levels Of Sexual Violence In Conflict, Sydney Snowden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Why do some armed conflicts have higher levels of sexual violence than others? Some existing theoretical work has pointed toward the possibility that the presence of sexual violence before armed conflict occurs can impact the levels of sexual violence during armed conflict, however, little empirical work has examined these theories. This thesis uses new, unique data to address concerns about the validity of previous studies and to explore sexual violence over the boundaries of time, looking at pre-conflict levels of sexual violence in addition to levels of sexual violence during armed conflicts. Using a parallel mixed methods research design, this …

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The Assemblage Of The Rings: Reading Lord Of The Rings Through The Philosophy Of Gilles Deleuze And Félix Guattari, Kieran Leeds Jan 2023

The Assemblage Of The Rings: Reading Lord Of The Rings Through The Philosophy Of Gilles Deleuze And Félix Guattari, Kieran Leeds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is a monument to literary achievement; a world built so completely that other literature, both canonical and not, attempts in vain to match its grandeur. Likewise, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's body of philosophy is conspicuous not only for its thematic variation across books but also the profundity of its concepts. Given this, it is shocking then that the critical apparatuses of Deleuze and Guattari have not been used to explore Tolkien's novels, given the innate symmetry between the two bodies of work. While ample research has been carried out regarding each separately, there …

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Predicting Implementation Citizenship Behavior Rating Discrepancies Between Supervisor-Subordinate Dyads, Alexandra Kandah Jan 2023

Predicting Implementation Citizenship Behavior Rating Discrepancies Between Supervisor-Subordinate Dyads, Alexandra Kandah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), defined as behavior that is discretionary and not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, has gained significant interest in the literature over the past few decades. Recent OCB research has begun to address more specialized facets of citizenship behavior that target behaviors that support specific strategic goals in the organization. One form of OCB encompasses those behaviors that assist with the implementation of new practices or innovations in the organization, above and beyond typical implementation. This study extends both the general OCB literature and the newer literature on implementation citizenship by examining factors …

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Racial Discrimination, Social Support And Psychological Distress Among Black Pregnant Women, Camilla Carey Jan 2023

Racial Discrimination, Social Support And Psychological Distress Among Black Pregnant Women, Camilla Carey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this dissertation research was to examine the associations among racial discrimination, social support, and psychological distress among Black pregnant women. The dissertation was guided by the Ecological Systems theory which has three domains that pertain to this research: individual, interpersonal, and community. A literature review was conducted to investigate what is known about the association between racial discrimination and psychological distress among Black pregnant women. This review found that seventeen of the nineteen studies included reported a positive association between racial discrimination and psychological distress among Black pregnant or postpartum women. Limited research focused on the potential …

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Miss-Adventures: Fantasy And Friendship In The Context Of Animation, Nathaniel Shrage Jan 2023

Miss-Adventures: Fantasy And Friendship In The Context Of Animation, Nathaniel Shrage

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Friendship is not always magical, as the protagonists learn in "The Miss-Adventures of Molly & Sage." In this buddy-comedy set in a magical fantasy world, the titular characters are two teenage girls who go on epic quests and cause mischief. Many aspects of the story went through changes during the production of this hand-drawn animated short film. However, the main characters and their chaotic friendship remained consistent throughout the animation process. While developing this film, I noticed that my peers responded positively when I referenced my Ashkenazi Jewish heritage in various story elements. The film's artistic style was heavily inspired …

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The Narratives Of Sexulization: The Perspectives Of Young Entertainers Around Their Own Public Sexulizaiton, Alexis Williams Jan 2023

The Narratives Of Sexulization: The Perspectives Of Young Entertainers Around Their Own Public Sexulizaiton, Alexis Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Sexualization happens when agency is taken away from the individual being sexualized, where one is seen, depicted, and treated like a sexual object rather than a person. This thesis aims to explore celebrities' reactions to their own public sexualization. To do this, an inductive approach was used when analyzing first-person narratives (written and video) and interviews (podcast, magazine and newspaper) by those whose sexualization is a notable feature of their career in the United States. I used a nonprobability sampling technique in order to cast a wide net to find the sample (prior knowledge, Google searches, and Google alerts). This …

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Inkling: An Exploration Of Visual Effects As A Character, Joshua Cooper Jan 2023

Inkling: An Exploration Of Visual Effects As A Character, Joshua Cooper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Inkling is an animated short film about a creature made of ink falling into a cycle of anxiety. This film explores the use of visual effects in character design. Inspiration for this film was drawn from Absurdist essays and stories and used abstract imagery and cinematic devices to manipulate the audience into feeling the character's anxiety. This thesis briefly examines the foundation of methods pioneered by visual effect artists. To produce this short film, critical decisions in software and animation were made to streamline the process to allow more time to focus on creating a method for the visual effect …

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A Digitally Enhanced Virtual Cognitive Behavior Skill Building Intervention To Reduce Parent Stress And Family Obesogenic Behaviors, Sharlene Smith Jan 2023

A Digitally Enhanced Virtual Cognitive Behavior Skill Building Intervention To Reduce Parent Stress And Family Obesogenic Behaviors, Sharlene Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Parental stress is associated with increased obesogenic family lifestyle behaviors contributing to childhood obesity. Novel interventions are needed to reduce parental stress and improve healthy lifestyle behaviors for preschool-age children and families. The primary study aim was to analyze preliminary effects of a digitally enhanced evidence-based cognitive- behavior skill-building (CBSB) intervention on parental stress and healthy lifestyle behaviors (diet and physical activity) among parents of preschool-age children. A secondary aim was to evaluate feasibility/acceptability of this school-based virtual intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 12-week intervention involved text messaging and three pre-recorded CBSB educational video presentations accessed by parents of …

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Communication Scholarship And The Quest For Open Access, Preston Carmack, Michael R. Kearney, Abbey Mccann Jan 2023

Communication Scholarship And The Quest For Open Access, Preston Carmack, Michael R. Kearney, Abbey Mccann

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

The advent of black, green, and gold open access publication models poses unique questions for scholars of communication. Plato’s (1956) classic critique of writing in the legend of Theuth and Thamus warned that the printed word “rolls about all over the place, falling into the hands of those who have no concern with it” (pp. 69–70). More than two 2 millennia later, scholars and administrators at all levels of the discipline face just such a phenomenon. As scholars of cyberspace debate whether “information wants to be free” (Levy, 2014), a communication perspective involves consideration of the importance of authorship and …

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Open, Organized, And Onerous: Understanding And Recognizing The Labors Of Open Science, Nick Bowman, Patric R. Spence, Lindsay Hahn Jan 2023

Open, Organized, And Onerous: Understanding And Recognizing The Labors Of Open Science, Nick Bowman, Patric R. Spence, Lindsay Hahn

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

In the face of high-profile cases of scientific fraud, there has been a renewed call among scholars to reconsider current best practices in academic publishing. Prominent in these discussions is a set of open science practices that ask scholars to “publish more” of their research—not in terms of manuscripts, but in terms of supplemental materials to the scientific enterprise. Through creating, curating, and publishing artifacts such as study materials (experimental stimuli, survey texts, etc.), datasets and analysis code, and other content, the scientific process is made more transparent for readers. However, such practices involve a substantial labor cost to researchers …

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Learning To Think Like A Leader, Mark Hickson Iii Jan 2023

Learning To Think Like A Leader, Mark Hickson Iii

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the second in a three-part series that the author has been working on. The first part was included in an earlier issue of this journal.

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A Typology Of Perceived Negative Course Evaluations, Heather Carmack, Leah E. Lefebvre Jan 2023

A Typology Of Perceived Negative Course Evaluations, Heather Carmack, Leah E. Lefebvre

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Instructors and administrators continue to debate the merit and value of using course evaluations to assess instructor effectiveness and course outcomes, especially when students see course evaluations as satisfaction surveys where they can unload negative and/or hurtful comments directed at instructors. Little is known about instructors’ perceptions of negative course evaluations. This study qualitatively examined faculty’s (N = 90) perceptions of negative course evaluation qualitative comments. Using a grounded analyst-constructed typologies approach, three types of negative course evaluation comments were identified: professional, personal, and performance. These types of negative comments call into question the disconnection between what students and instructors …

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The Impact Of Student Motivation, Preparation, And Learned Helplessness On Undergraduate Students’ Communication With Advisors, Heather Carmack Jan 2023

The Impact Of Student Motivation, Preparation, And Learned Helplessness On Undergraduate Students’ Communication With Advisors, Heather Carmack

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine communication factors that influence students’ academic advising appointments, including predictors of scheduling future advising appointments. Undergraduate students’ motivation and feelings of learned helplessness were related to their advising meeting preparation and their communication involvement during advising meetings. Students who reported high levels of motivation and low levels of learned helplessness were more likely to prepare for advising meetings and be communicative during meetings. Students with immediate advisors were more likely to communicate with their advisors during meetings. Advising meeting preparation, motivation, and learned helplessness were significant factors in future advising appointments.

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“A Cog In A Wheel That Gets It Done”: A Qualitative Study Of The Experiences Of Faculty Seeking Administrator Support, Lakesha Anderson, Mattea A. Garcia Jan 2023

“A Cog In A Wheel That Gets It Done”: A Qualitative Study Of The Experiences Of Faculty Seeking Administrator Support, Lakesha Anderson, Mattea A. Garcia

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This qualitative study sought to determine the stressors that motivate faculty to seek administrator support and examined faculty experiences of administrator support. Participants were 27 full- and part-time faculty members who completed a seven-item online questionnaire. Findings show that many participants felt unsupported by their administrator while navigating the stressful situations for which they sought help. This lack of support led to negative departmental cultures and faculty feeling insecure, undervalued, and isolated. This study highlights the need for policies and practices designed to build relationships between faculty and administrators. Efforts to improve the faculty-–administrator relationship can lead to increased understanding, …

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Perceived Barriers To And Comfort Levels With Hypothetical Intimate Partner Violence Help-Seeking Among Arab Americans, Jana Mostafa Jan 2023

Perceived Barriers To And Comfort Levels With Hypothetical Intimate Partner Violence Help-Seeking Among Arab Americans, Jana Mostafa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Members of the Arab American community experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) face unique barriers to help-seeking and have different comfort levels with using formal and informal resources. This thesis surveyed Arab-Americans to identify perceived barriers and comfort levels with IPV help-seeking. A culturally informed and centered approach was taken to examine connections between individual level factors, perceived barriers and comfort levels in using resources. To do so, I gathered data via an online survey with 82 Arab American participants. Findings suggest that participants perceived the greatest barriers to seeking help for IPV are related to how others view and understand …

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And They Saved My Sorry Ass: A Documentary Discovering Self In Contemporary Fan Culture, Chunxiao Yang Jan 2023

And They Saved My Sorry Ass: A Documentary Discovering Self In Contemporary Fan Culture, Chunxiao Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

"And They Saved My Sorry Ass" is a documentary/personal essay film about queer ani- me lovers (including the filmmaker) based both in the US and in China. This film focuses on how these fans express their identities by embodying and re-interpreting anime characters. Experimental methods, such as staged performance, first-person narration and abstract imaging are explored in addition to conventional interviews. This thesis follows the pre-production, production and post-production processes of making this film through 2020 to 2023, also mapping out marketing and distribution plans after finishing the project.

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Silent Agony: Automated Detection Of Ethnic And Religious Cyberbullying Using Machine Learning, Emil Agbemade Jan 2023

Silent Agony: Automated Detection Of Ethnic And Religious Cyberbullying Using Machine Learning, Emil Agbemade

Data Science and Data Mining

The use of electronic mobile devices, social media, and networking websites has increased tremendously in recent years. Despite the advantages of these systems, such as exchanging ideas and information, being sociable, and providing entertainment, users may encounter adverse behaviors like toxicity, bullying, extremism, and cruelty. The prevalence of such behaviors has grown significantly in cyberspace, posing a threat to individuals and communities. To address this issue, there is a high demand for automated cyberbullying detection systems. Machine learning algorithms have been widely used to build such systems by classifying and detecting cyberbullying. In this study, we employed popular machine learning …

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Homogeneity Test On Error Rates From Ordinal Scores And Application To Forensic Science, Ngoc Ty Nguyen Jan 2023

Homogeneity Test On Error Rates From Ordinal Scores And Application To Forensic Science, Ngoc Ty Nguyen

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve is used to measure the classification accuracy of tests that yield ordinal or continuous scores. Ordinal scores are common in medical imaging studies and, more recently, in black-box studies on forensic identification accuracy (Phillips et al., 2018). To assess the accuracy of radiologists in medical imaging studies or the accuracy of forensic examiners in biometric studies, one needs to estimate the ROC curves from the ordinal scores and account for the covariates related to the radiologists or forensic examiners. In this thesis, we propose a homogeneity test to compare the performance of raters. We …

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Who Cares About Virtual Campus Tours? Virtual Tours In The College Choice Model And Perceived Student-Institution Fit, Christopher Thompson Jan 2023

Who Cares About Virtual Campus Tours? Virtual Tours In The College Choice Model And Perceived Student-Institution Fit, Christopher Thompson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

College recruitment practices have remained stagnant for quite some time. However, due to decreases in state funding and hypercompetitive applicant pools colleges must adapt their recruitment practices to remain competitive. Due to precautions and social distancing guidelines which occurred in 2020 caused by the coronavirus pandemic, college information sessions, college fairs, campus tours and other recruitment events were suspended. As such, admissions administrators were forced to rely on virtual recruitment practices, including virtual campus tours, to recruit applicants. Virtual campus tours allow colleges to expand their applicant pool by engaging with prospective students, who may not possess the required finances …

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An Equal Wage For All: Investigating The Gender Wage Gap In Opticianry, Christine E. Pinkney Jan 2023

An Equal Wage For All: Investigating The Gender Wage Gap In Opticianry, Christine E. Pinkney

Honors Undergraduate Theses

To better understand the gender wage gap and how it affects licensed working opticians in Florida, an attitudinal survey was constructed using a Likert scale and an online survey instrument through Qualtrics. A pilot study was used with student opticians to investigate the clarity of the questions. This research aimed to learn about Florida opticians' current attitudes toward the gender wage gap in their field and to investigate if this knowledge had somehow affected their decision to stay in the opticianry field. The data from the pilot study indicates that while opticians are aware of the gender wage gap, they …

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The Relative Contribution Of Health-Care Points Of Service To Overall Patient Satisfaction At A University Health Center, Jay M. Parikh Jan 2023

The Relative Contribution Of Health-Care Points Of Service To Overall Patient Satisfaction At A University Health Center, Jay M. Parikh

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Throughout the process of receiving healthcare, a patient is affected by several factors and processes. To just name a few, how long a patient must wait at the clinic, how friendly the front desk is, how the nurse treats the patient, how effective the physician is with his or her communication, what the cost of a patient's healthcare is, and how clean the clinic is all affect the patient's experience. When clinics excel in these factors, it promotes a favorable relationship between the patient and the clinic. Patients trust the healthcare provider and desire to continue attending that clinic when …

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Authority And Politics: The Relation Between Authority And Political Views Among Those With The Normative Identity Style, Patrick Oefelein Jan 2023

Authority And Politics: The Relation Between Authority And Political Views Among Those With The Normative Identity Style, Patrick Oefelein

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between the theorized identity styles and political positions, views, and opinions. Also investigated were the effects of authority on political views, specifically within the normative identity style. Students at a large southeastern metropolitan university (N = 440) took an anonymous online survey in exchange for course credit. Those with a normative identity style, who look to authority figures for answers, were found to have much higher levels of conservatism and held more conservative positions than did those with an informational style, who seek out their own sources for …

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Observing The Relationship Between Physical Activity, Overall Health, Anxiety, And Sleep, Brianna Chicas Jan 2023

Observing The Relationship Between Physical Activity, Overall Health, Anxiety, And Sleep, Brianna Chicas

Honors Undergraduate Theses

College students' mental health has been researched for some time. In particular, the correlation between physical activity and mental health symptoms has been researched. The study examines the relationship between physical activity and anxiety, sleep, and overall health. College undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida took an online survey that measured all of these variables. A Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to assess correlations. Positive correlations were found between anxiety and sleep, anxiety and social desirability, sleep and social desirability, and strength training and vigorous physical activity. Negative correlations were found between overall health and physical activity, overall …

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