Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Interactive Object Provisioning On Corticosterone, Stress-Related Behaviors, And Cognition In Juvenile And Adult Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia Guttata), Lucas West

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identification and reduction of unnecessary stress in lab animals is important for welfare, and for scientific validity. Providing animals with infrastructure and objects that encourage exercise and species-typical manipulative behaviors can help reduce stress by meeting physical and psychological needs. The effects of such "environmental enrichment" (EE) have been heavily studied in both zoo animals "where it has been shown to reduce maladaptive behaviors" and in lab animals such as rodents, where it clearly reduces stress and anxiety, dampens reactions to stressful events, and increases cognition and the volume of related brain regions. While there is some evidence that EE …

Experiences Of Black Professionals At Predominantly White Institutions: Toward A Shared Understanding, Nequel Renee' Burwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This Dissertation in Practice highlights a problem of practice within the field of Higher Education regarding the work place experiences of Black staff and administrators at Predominantly White Institutions. The dissertation seeks to understand more about the experiences of Black professional staff and administrators at Predominantly White Institutions as well as the personal and professional resources, support services, and networks that assist with their ability to grow and thrive in higher education work place environments that are predominantly White. The dissertation is comprised of three manuscripts. Manuscript 1 is an expanded literature review regarding the problem of practice. Manuscript 2 …

Sales Technology: A Three-Part Multi-Method Approach To Examining Sales-Stacks, John Galvan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Salespeople depend on sales-related technologies to make themselves more efficient and effective. The extant sales-technology research tends to examine specific sales technologies in sales settings with the emphasis on the impact on salespeople. With the growth of technological capabilities, sales technology has become more integrated, thus making it harder to separate individual technologies from one another. The current research conducts a typological literature review of sales technology. Next, with an eye toward the development of indigenous theory, it introduces the term sales-stacks as capturing the aggregate of sales technologies that, when effective, provide a powerful, connected, easy-to-use experience for every …

Organizational Green Claims And Consumer Green Perceptions In The Foodservice Industry, Jangwoo Jo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to the ever-growing consumer demands and global pressures for more sustainable business operations, corporations disclose their sustainable practices, products, and services to enhance their environmental image. Consumer green perceptions resulting from those organizational green claims have not been the focus of foodservice research. The application of green performance dimensionality of the foodservice domain identified that organizational green claims regarding food, environment and administration increase consumer green confusion and green trust at the same time. Based on the results of CFA, SEM, and multigroup analyses, this study suggests implications both theoretical and practical.

Choral Music Teacher Educators' Practices: Preparing Undergraduates To Teach World Choral Music, Stellah Mbugua

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how undergraduate choral music teacher educators (MTEs) are including world choral music pedagogy (WCMP) in choral music education courses. Participants of this study were faculty of colleges and universities in the Southern Region of the United States of America (USA), as defined by the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). Participants either held a choral music education position or teach choral music education courses. A survey design was used to collect data for this descriptive study. The research questions that informed this study focused on the extent of the inclusion of WCMP in …

Bland Treacherous Water: Diluvial Epistemologies In Flood Narratives Of The Us South Since 1927, Sara Stephens Loomis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship between southern flood narratives and the epistemological changes wrought by the Anthropocene epoch in the past hundred years. It participates in the turns toward ecocriticism and environmental justice within 21st-century southern studies, situating the US South as a testing ground for ecosystem epistemologies shaped by overabundant water. An expansion of Steve Mentz’s call for a blue humanities that shifts focus from land to sea, Bland Treacherous Water explores what happens to Anthropocene subjects’ ways of knowing their environments when waterways inundate the land itself. By investigating works by William Faulkner, James Dickey, Cormac McCarthy, Marilou …

Challenges Of Leading During Covid-19: A Qualitative Study Of K-12 Administrators, Jerry Bradford Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research discusses the impact of environmental and social crisis events, how

Ceo Personality & Stakeholder Engagement, Kaushik Mukherjee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation examines how the chief executive officer (CEO) personality traits have implications for the firm’s strategy. The first chapter discusses the relationship between CEO Big Five personality traits and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The next chapter is on CEO Big Five and equity analyst forecasts. The final chapter deals with how CEO personality traits relate to corporate governance aspects such as board independence and board diversity.

Repetitively Counting Sheep: Sleep As A Moderator Of Executive Function Performance On Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms, Brittany S. Sapp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a leading cause of disability worldwide, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is associated with considerable costs on individual and economic levels. According to a U.S. national comorbidity survey, approximately 28% of individuals experience obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms in their lifetime. As with most psychiatric disorders, sleep disturbances are highly prevalent in individuals with OCD and have been linked to greater severity of OC symptoms and poorer treatment response. Similarly, deficient executive functioning (EF) has been demonstrated in OCD, with research evidencing a connection between EF impairment and OCD course, symptom severity, and treatment response. Sleep difficulties are also implicated in impaired EF, …

Latent Profiles Of Young Adults Based On E-Cigarette Outcome Expectancies, Victoria Alicia Torres

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: While cigarette smoking has steadily declined, electronic cigarette use (e.g., e-cigarettes, electronic nicotine delivery systems [ENDS]) has led a new generation to become addicted to nicotine (Cummings & Proctor, 2014; USDHHS, 2014). Some individuals believe these products have the potential to provide benefits in helping smokers quit; however, many harmful aspects have been uniquely associated with e-cigarette use (e.g., toxicity, vape-specific injuries, gateway effects, etc.). If e-cigarettes are to be established as useful cessation tools, researchers must better understand e-cigarette use beliefs and associated clinical targets. Purpose: To better inform e-cigarette prevention and intervention, investigators developed profiles of young …

Efficacy Of Acceptance-Based Interventions For Migraine: A Meta-Analytic Review, Ashley Nicole Polk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Migraine is the most disabling of the common primary headache disorders and is the sixth most prevalent disease worldwide. Migraine contributes greatly to economic, healthcare, and personal burden. Psychological factors, including depression, anxiety disorders, and stress, further compound functional impact of migraine and contribute to avoidant coping behaviors in anticipation of or during migraine. Traditional behavioral interventions for migraine include biofeedback, relaxation training, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) targeting stress management, coping skills training, and control over pain. Contrastingly, acceptance-based approaches to headache management are those in which individuals learn to mitigate the influence of pain-related experiences on their general …

Testing Emotion Regulation As A Functional Transdiagnostic Construct, Enoch Sackey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The polythetic criteria of the DSM and ICD generate high amount of symptom heterogeneity as there are clusters of symptoms within various diagnostic category that are heuristically similar, resulting in multiple, often confusing, ways of describing sequelae of symptoms presentation. This is because the DSM and ICD classification systems were developed based on the neo-Kraepelinian framework for classifying physical illnesses, which assumes that the underlying architecture of psychopathology, which manifest in disorder symptoms, are distinct and specific. Based on this, the categorical approach to describing psychopathology has been described as purely conceptual artefact with no empirical basis in research or …

Optimizing Exposure For Contamination Ocd: What Happens When Digust Is Specifically Targeted?, Molly E. Wickenhauser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Disgust is a basic emotion with distinct subjective, physiological, cognitive, and behavioral processes that include revulsion, parasympathetic nervous system activity, contamination-specific appraisals, and disease-avoidance behaviors. Pathological disgust responses may contribute to the development and maintenance of anxiety-related psychopathology, particularly spider and blood-injection-injury phobias, health anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Evidence-based treatments for these disorders were developed based on theories of fear and anxiety and involve exposure-based cognitive-behavior therapy. However, traditional exposure methods appear to be less effective at achieving habituation to disgust compared to fear and anxiety. Additionally, individuals with elevated disgust and primary contagion concerns seem …

An Exploration Of Community Needs: The Lafayette County Foster Care System,, Meredith Mckissick

Honors Theses

Are there enough foster parents to meet the needs of our community? Who advocates on behalf of children who are in the custody of the state? What do children in custody need? Prior to this research, the general public was unable to find these answers in a concise and accessible manner. This study explores the community needs of the Lafayette County Foster Care System in Mississippi, through the means of a needs assessment. The assessment involves six interviews with local foster care leaders, collection and analysis of results, and formal recommendations. Findings are organized by both individual interviews and thematic …

Psychologist Invited For National Academies Second Term, Staff Report

University of Mississippi News

Laura Johnson working to increase international presence in professional research journals

Launchpad To Graduate School, Abigail Meisel

University of Mississippi News

Revamped accelerated master's program fast-tracks talented students

Tenure And Promotion Announcement, 2022, University Of Mississippi. Provost

Tenure and Promotion Announcements

No abstract provided.

Issue 397: June 30-July 14, 2022, The Local Voice

The Local Voice

No abstract provided.

Isom Center Names 2022-23 Fellows, Benita Whitehorn

University of Mississippi News

Fellowship emphasizes interdisciplinary research in gender and sexuality

Liberal Arts Professors Honored For Excellence In Teaching, Research, Edwin B. Smith

University of Mississippi News

Award recipients span the college's disciplines

Exploring The Impact Of A Brief Counseling Intervention For Improving Mental Health Factors And Learning Strategies Among College Students At An Hsi, James Ikonomopoulos, Kristopher Garza, Javier Cavazos Vela

Journal of Academic Underperformance

Abstract

This study evaluated a counseling intervention called the University Turn Around Program (U-Turn) for college students experiencing mental health issues and low academic performance. Social Anxiety, Hostility, and Alcohol Use were measured on the CCAPS-34, and Attitude, Information Processing, Selecting Main Ideas, Test Strategies, and Using Academic Resources were measured on the LASSI-3. Paired samples t-tests revealed improvement for each measure (d = 0.45 to 1.09) supporting the U-Turn program’s inclusion in university counseling centers.

Keywords: College Students, Quasi-Experimental, University Counseling Center

The Effectiveness Of Developmental Academic Advising As A Retention Intervention For First-Generation Community College Students, Valarie A. Morgan, Mary Bess Pannel

Journal of Academic Underperformance

Student retention is a primary concern for community colleges since retention rates at the community college are unquestionably lower than retention rates at four-year institutions. First-generation college students are a high-risk student group of particular concern, because they make up over thirty percent of the undergraduate population and are two times more likely to exit college at the end of the first year of enrollment when compared to students whose parent or parents have a bachelor’s degree. The results of this study indicate that neither prescriptive advising nor developmental advising made a significant difference in student retention or graduation rates …

Anxiety Symptoms Among Extension Professionals' During The Covid-19 Pandemic With The Gad-2, Glenn D. Israel, Colleen E. Gariton, Harsha E. James

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are a common mental health disorder but often remain undetected and undertreated. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Extension professionals have worked hard to address emerging issues that communities face, possibly impacting the amount of anxiety they experience. This study determined the prevalence of anxiety symptoms among Extension professionals in the United States. Participants from 24 states completed a survey containing the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item (GAD-2) screener. Almost one-quarter of Extension professionals had a GAD-2 score greater than three, an indicator of anxiety with a possibility of generalized anxiety disorder, which …

Implications Of Covid-19 Mitigation Policies On Recreational Trail Users: Exploring Antecedents To Physical Distancing On Trails Across The Rural-Urban Continuum, Christopher J. Wynveen, Ingrid Schneider, Deonne Vanderwoude, Taylor Stein, Heather Gibson, Kim Shinew, William Hendricks, Megha Budruk

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions led to a worldwide increase in greenspace use. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged policies including physical distancing and COVID-related signage. However, the extent to which these policies influenced behavior is unknown. To fill this gap, we report on a 2020 observational study at 14 trails across six U.S. states framed within a social-ecological model. Behavioral observations of 8,093 groups assessed compliance rates with infection-mitigation behaviors. Additionally, we noted the presence of COVID-related signs, the days between the observation and stay-at-home order start date, the setting (i.e., urban, suburban, and …

Preventive Behaviors Along The Rural-Urban Continuum In Utah During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad, Jennifer E. Givens, Mitchell Beacham

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Rural individuals and places face major vulnerabilities in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet how and why rural residents adopted preventive behaviors as a result is not well understood. Using cross-sectional data from an online panel survey of Utahans along the rural-urban continuum collected in June of 2020, we find that, overall, rural Utahans were less likely than their more urban counterparts to adopt preventive behaviors. Those who perceived less risk, knew someone sick with COVID-19, thought former President Trump was doing a good job handling the pandemic, had false optimism about the pandemic, had less formal education, and belonged …

Rural-Urban And Within-Rural Differences In Covid-19 Mortality Rates, Yue Sun, Kent Jason G. Cheng, Shannon M. Monnat

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Since late-2020, COVID-19 mortality rates have been higher in rural than in urban America, but there has also been substantial within-rural heterogeneity. Using CDC data, we compare COVID-19 mortality rates across the rural-urban continuum as well as within rural counties across different types of labor markets and by metropolitan adjacency. As of October 1, 2021, the cumulative COVID-19 mortality rate was 247.0 per 100,000 population in rural counties compared to 200.7 in urban counties. Higher COVID-19 mortality rates in rural counties are explained by lower average educational attainment and lower median household income. Within rural counties, mortality rates have been …

About The Contributors, Journal Editors

Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society

No abstract provided.

Tradition: Intermittent And Persistent, With Particular References To The Cherokees, Raymond D. Fogelson

Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society

No abstract provided.

About The Contributors, Journal Editors

Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society

No abstract provided.

Becoming An Ally: How Communities Can Empower And Embrace Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Hillary Adams, Eugenia Damron

Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society

No abstract provided.