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Relations Of Changes In Self-Efficacy, Exercise Attendance, Mood, And Perceived And Actual Physical Changes In Obese Women: Assessing Treatment Effects Using Tenets Of Self- Efficacy Theory, James J. Annesi, Jennifer L. Unruh, Ann C. Whitaker

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Obese and sedentary women ( N = 76) initiated an exercise and nutrition program based on self-efficacy theory. Significant within-group improvements in body fat, waist size, and body mass index were found over 6 months. Changes in Physical Self-Concept (task self-efficacy) and Exercise Self-Efficacy (self-regulatory efficacy) scores, together, accounted for a significant portion of the variance in exercise session attendance, R2 = .24, F = 11.67, p < .001, with both significantly contributing to the overall explained variance. Exercise attendance was significantly related to changes in Body Areas Satisfaction (β = .39) and Total Mood Disturbance (β = -.27) scores. Findings suggested a path from increased self-efficacy, to exercise attendance, to improvements in body satisfaction and overall mood. Suggestions for replication and extensions were given.

Effects Of The Youth Fit For Life Protocol On Physiological Factors, Mood, Self-Appraisal, Voluntary Physical Activity, And Fruit And Vegetable Consumption In Children Enrolled In Ymca After-School Care, James J. Annesi, Avery D. Faigenbaum, Wayne L. Westcott, Alice E. Smith, Gayle M. Dixon

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Changes associated with the Youth Fit For Life physical activity intervention were assessed with 5- to 12-year-old children in after-school care ( N = 477). Body mass index (BMI), strength, and flexibility significantly improved over 12 weeks. Initial BMI was negatively related to observed changes, r = -.29, p < .001. Significant within-group improvements in tension, vigor, and physical self-concept scores, and levels of voluntary moderate-to-vigorous physical activity/week were also found in the 9- to 12-year-olds (n = 91). Multiple regression analysis indicated that changes in physical self-concept, exercise self-efficacy, and general self scores explained a portion of the variance in changes in voluntary physical activity that approached significance, R2 = .08, F = 2.55, p = .06. Revisions and extensions of the protocol were suggested.

'Science Of Trivalency', Kwaku L. Carlisle Woods Rn Md Metd1, Dr. Kwaku L Carlisle Woods Rn Md Metd1

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

Due to mine cross cultural living, (I was born in the U.S. but grew in Southeast Asia), I became very interested in the Anthological, Social and Scientific difference between cultures. This led to a historical meta evaluation of humanity in general. Using the principals of Noetic Science, this evaluation reviled the ignorance and down right absence of any educational opportunities to learn the true functional abilities of mankind.

Public Humiliation As A Mitigator In Criminal Sentencing, Barbara Benoliel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined the relationship between the public humiliation and shaming of offenders in the sentencing portion of a criminal trial and the subsequent severity of the sentence the offender receives. Judicial moral shaming of offenders is returning to popularity in the courts, influencing the final sentence outcome as an under-identified mitigator, that substitutes for judges’ other punitive sanctions. Support for this shaming is found in Heider’s attribution theory and in Homans’ theory of social exchange; however Braithwaite found this form of shaming is overly punitive and ineffective. This four phase study used a sequential, mixed method, exploratory research design. …

A Study Of The Decision To Remove Children From Their Parents By Child Welfare Supervisors, Charles F. Lorbeer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A STUDY OF THE DECISION TO REMOVE CHILDREN FROM THEIR PARENTS BY CHILD WELFARE SUPERVISORS

by Charles F. Lorbeer

Dissertation Chair: Dr. Aqueil Ahmad

Committee Members: Dr. Aqueil Ahmad, Dr. Robert Butters, and Dr. Ashakant Nimbark,

The goal of this study was to analyze the decision by child welfare supervisors to remove children from their parents. This was accomplished by studying the effect that three specific factors have on that decision. The three factors were 1) physical abuse, 2) domestic violence and substance abuse, and 3) availability of services to help the family.

Decision theory provided the conceptual framework for …

Impact Of Central Venous Catheter Type And Methods On Catheter-Related Colonization And Bacteraemia, E. W. Moretti, C. Ofstead, R. M. Kristy, H. P. Wetzler

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

A prospective, randomized, controlled, multi-centre clinical trial was performed to test the effectiveness of an antimicrobial central venous catheter (CVC) made of polyurethane integrated with silver, platinum and carbon black (Vantex). Adults expected to require a CVC for more than 60 h were eligible, and were randomized to receive the test or control catheter. All CVCs were inserted with new venipunctures using full aseptic technique. Following catheter removal, the distal tip and an intracutaneous segment were removed and cultured using semiquantitative and quantitative methods. Peripheral blood samples were obtained and cultured to confirm cases of catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI). Bacterial …

A Probabilistic Multidimensional Data Model And Its Applications In Business Management, Bhaskara Reddy Moole

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

This dissertation develops a conceptual data model that can efficiently handle huge volumes of data containing uncertainty and are subject to frequent changes. This model can be used to build Decision Support Systems to improve decision-making process. Business intelligence and decision-making in today's business world require extensive use of huge volumes of data. Real world data contain uncertainty and change over time. Business leaders should have access to Decision Support Systems that can efficiently handle voluminous data, uncertainty, and modifications to uncertain data. Database product vendors provide several extensions and features to support these requirements; however, these extensions lack support …

Information-Processing Skills Related To Working Memory In Individuals With Asperger's Disorder, Nancy Lynn Musarra

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

The present study examined information-processing (IP) deficits specific to the ability of individuals with Asperger's disorder (AD) to interpret and respond to nonverbal and verbal information inherent in social relationships as it relates to working memory capacity. Sixty boys between the ages of 11.0 and 15.7 years (30 diagnosed with AD [Group A], and 30 typically developing, same-age peers [Group T]) were assessed using the Working Memory Test Battery for Children (WMTB-C). The present study combined theories from cognitive, neurological, and clinical psychology, isolated specific working memory components, and identified a connection between working memory capacity and the social skill …

Psychological Resilience: The Influence Of Positive And Negative Life Events Upon Optimism, Hope, And Perceived Locus Of Control, Michael Philip Hand

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

The purpose of this study was to clarify the optimal levels of optimism, perceived locus of control, hope, and degree of adversity experienced in life, in the development and maintenance of psychological resilience. A sample of 328 male and female students from Walden University and Washington State University completed either online or paper versions of a questionnaire consisting of the Life Orientation Test-Revised, Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, HOPE Scale , and the Life Experiences Scale . A series of bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses tested the relationships between and among the five variables. As predicted, the bivariate analyses …

Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, And Firm Value In The Oil And Gas Industry, Javier Fadul

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

This study investigated the relationship between ethical performance, corporate social responsibility, and firm value in companies in the oil and gas industry. Ethical behavior and social responsibility were conceptualized by a series of social indexes used to carry out empirical observations. The data were collected from a sample of 55 companies drawn from the population of companies in the oil and gas industry and consisting of public documents, including proceedings of government bodies and court records, and newspapers and magazines dated from January 2000 through December 2003. The set of social indexes was analyzed statistically to establish any significant relationship …

A Narrative Inquiry Into The Experiences Of Individuals In The Midst Of Organizational Change: A Shift From Systems To Stories, Stanley M. Amaladas

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This study explores how individuals understand and make meaning of their experiences while in the midst of radical organizational change. Empirical materials for this research were obtained though written stories and interviews of two groups of managers within the Canadian public sector who were themselves in the throes of organizational change. The findings of this study were analyzed through a three-dimensional-narrative-inquiry-space framework.

The results of this study (a) support the postmodernist notion of a recursive relationship between metaphors and stories, and (b) between metaphors/stories and experiences, namely that they dialectically inform, structure and maintain the other. It was also discovered …

The Relationship Of Consideration And Structure Leadership Styles To Employee Job Satisfaction In Nonprofit Child Care Organizations, Stephanie L. Brooke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined the relationship between leadership style, as measured by the Leadership Opinion Questionnaire, and job satisfaction, global job satisfaction, and satisfaction with supervision, as measured by the Job Satisfaction Survey. Past research suggests that leaders with a considerate style of leadership are associated with greater job satisfaction compared to leaders who initiate structure. Although many studies of leadership style have been conducted in for-profit organizations, the objective of this research was to better understand the relationship of leadership style to job satisfaction in nonprofit child care centers. Eight directors in nonprofit child care centers in Rochester, New York, …

Nursing Students' Experiences Of Workplace Violence And Aggression: Making Sense Of The Phenomenon For Educators, Bonnie Jean Beardsley

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

This phenomenological study explored female nursing students' perceptions of their experiences of workplace violence and aggression, their methods for coping with and adjusting to the violence, and the implications for nursing education.

A notice soliciting volunteers was posted on student bulletin boards in multiple schools of nursing throughout Illinois. Ten participants were selected from a pool of volunteers who met predetermined criteria. Open-ended interviews each lasting approximately 60 minutes were conducted and tape-recorded. Four interview questions that guided the process changed as the narrative unfolded, and in some cases, probing became necessary to gain a rich description. Data analysis was …

Beliefs About The Appropriate Degree Of Directiveness In The Management Relationship, As Related To Demographic Characteristics, Educational Background, And Organizational Position, Janet L. Pershing

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

Correlations between beliefs about management and age, gender, nationality, level of education, education field, functional area, and hierarchical level were examined. Analyses were conducted at the ecological level and focused on beliefs regarding appropriate degree of directiveness in the managerial relationship. Two thousand staff members of an international intergovernmental organization received an electronically distributed written survey. Factor analysis was used to develop summated rating scales for each independent variables. Differences between subgroup means were then examined using ANOVA or t tests. The strength of the association between the independent variables and a common scale was assessed using eta squared. Directiveness …

Effectiveness Of A Relaxation Technique To Decrease The Memory And Behavior Problems Of Alzheimer's Patients, Stella Maris Verna

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

This study explored the effects of instruction in a relaxation technique on patients diagnosed with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). The two-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was implemented with 34 pairs of AD patients and caregivers in a group setting. It was hypothesized that treatment patients, compared with controls, would show (a) increased mental functioning, measured by their scores on the Annotated Mini-Mental State Examination (AMMSE) (Folstein, Folstein, & McHugh, 1975); and (b) decreased memory and behavior problems, measured by caregivers' scores on the memory and Behavior Problems Checklist (MBPC) (Zarit, Orr, & Zarit, 1985). Treatment subjects were instructed in …

Hiv/Aids In Context: The Culture Of Health Promotion Among Ndau Women In Rural Zimbabwe, Lynne Duffy

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This ethnographic study explored factors that facilitate or hinder women's participation in health promotion and HIV prevention in the Mt. Selinda area of rural Zimbabwe. Rates of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe are among the highest in the world and increasing most quickly among young females. A purposeful convenience sample of 11 Ndau women (key participants) was interviewed twice. Seventeen key informants and four focus groups offered further perspectives. The resulting narrative presents a picture of Ndau women's existence that is difficult and oppressive. Females are socialized early to be workers and mothers within a context of limited voice, subservience, …

The Effectiveness Of Experiential Education In Executive Development, Marlene Handley Rodenbaugh

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This study explored the effectiveness of the Tavistock model, an experiential learning approach, in mobilizing change in the perception of authority relations of business executives as they interacted in a group relations event. A secondary goal was to test perceptions about this model as an effective executive development program. Results of prior studies on experiential learning outcomes are inconsistent, and few demonstrate that results match learning goals. This exploratory study used both quantitative and qualitative methods: Q-methodology and a questionnaire augmented by personal interviews, respectively. The results were triangulated in operationalizating the Kirkpatrick model, a widely accepted evaluation method for …

The Influence Of The Louisiana Systemic Initiatives Program On Instructional Practices In Classrooms, Rochelle Gilbert

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the stages of concern and levels of use that LaSEP fostered in 16 third-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth grade-teachers that were involved in the 1999-2000 LaSIP Mathematics project. A fixation point was produced regarding the existent stages of concern and levels of use these teachers. The data provided a basis for making inferences regarding LaSIP training modifications and for determining which strategies were required to move these teachers to the next levels.

The study derived its theoretical constructs from concerns theory found in the Concems-Based Adoption Model (CBAM). The Stages of Concern …

Cross-Cultural Interpretations Of Fraud: An Attitudinal Study In A Middle Eastern Multinational Corporation, Douglas Moore Watson

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This research tested the theory that cultural heritage affects attitudes toward business-related fraud and, as a consequence, influences ethical decisions. A sample of 695 white-collar employees from a Middle Eastern multinational corporation (MNC), who represented nine world cultures, were asked to evaluate scenarios describing five business frauds--bribery, conflict of interest, embezzlement, management fraud, and industrial espionage--against a 7-point Likert-type scale that measured levels of approval. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the responses revealed those claiming African, Caribbean/South American, European, Middle Eastern, and North American cultural heritage viewed fraudulent behavior with a greater degree of disapproval than did those claiming Asian, …

Theater Education And Emerging Technologies, Michael E. Butterworth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Theater educators need compelling arguments for including the use of emerging technologies in the secondary theater classroom. The research documents the current uses of emerging technologies in the secondary theater classroom and contrasts the uses of traditional theater technologies with the uses of emerging technologies. Interviews with theater professionals identify current issues and practices in the theater community regarding the usage of technology.

A telephone survey of theater teachers reveals patterns of technology use in the Seattle School District. The research concludes that theater teachers have many tools at their disposal to teach students the processes of artistic problem solving …

An Analysis Of Physicians' Reluctance To Follow Terminally Ill Patients' Advance Directives, Norma Poirier

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

This explanatory study examined the reasons why physicians have difficulty respecting the wishes of terminally ill patients who refuse treatment. Consistent with the relevant literature, three alternative explanations were hypothesized in answering the question: fear of litigation, religious beliefs, and medical professional values.

Evidence was gathered from three different sources. Semistructured interviews were carried out with 24 emergency physicians from the Moncton Area in the Canadian province of New Brunswick and submitted to both quantitative and qualitative content analysis. Nineteen cases of terminally ill patients whose wishes not to be treated were not respected were collected and submitted to content …

Oyster Fisheries Management Of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, Diana Locke

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

This study examines the concept of property rights in relation to fisheries resource management in the Maryland oyster fishery. An analysis of the past and present state of this fishery on the Chesapeake Bay focused on the administrative, biological, social, economic, and political influences in fisheries management and their potential consequences. This single fishery once provided a quarter of America's oysters but, if the oyster population decline continues, it may soon become a memory. Though Maryland has a dual property rights structure, private and public, the public fishery predominates. The reasons why privatization has not been a successfully implemented strategy, …

The Father-Wound In Folklore: A Critique Of Mitscherlich, Bly, And Their Followers, Hal W. Lanse

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

Bly, following the work of Mitscherlich, posits that the Industrial Revolution divided fathers and sons, because they no longer bond while working together on family farms. Bly claims that one result is that fathers feel angry and disenfranchised and their sons consequently suffer a father-wound (either physical or psychic abuse) at their hands.

This, according to Bly, causes young men either to be so angry that they become a threat to society, or so dependent on their mothers that they are socialized as ineffectual, soft males. Many writers and therapists have embraced this theory--despite a lack of historical evidence. This …

A Content Analysis Study Of Portable Assisted Study Sequence Mathematics Curricular Materials For Migrant Students Using The National Council Of Teachers Of Mathematics Standards, Karen I. Conger

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

The need for change in the mathematics curricula in our public schools has been well documented (Kirwan, 1990; National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983; National Research Council, 1989; Overby, 1993). Testing surveys show low overall performance at every age throughout the K-12 levels. The Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, (Standards) issued by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 1989 are designed to move mathematics curricula forward to meet the needs of students for the future. The analysis of new curricular materials is essential in order to produce materials that meet recommended standards.

Migrant students …

Coping Strategies And Adaptation Mechanisms Utilized By Female Holocaust Survivors From The Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Joy Erlichman Miller

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

The female experience during the Holocaust has largely been ignored as significantly different than that of male counterparts. This gender-specific research study investigates the "unique, poignant voices" of women's coping strategies utilized during internment in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

Focusing specifically on the video oral history testimonies of the complete collection of female survivors of Auschwitz, which were produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the study suggests that the predominate coping strategies used by females was affiliation with others as the means of survival. Through the utilization of clustering sheets, the data suggested that affiliation and assistance from …

Parent Satisfaction With Staff Interactions At A Community Based Mental Health Center, Chrisanne Marie Christensen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study investigates an important issue in mental health service provision, the level of parental satisfaction with staff interactions at a community based mental health center. A small target population, which included all families who had received services within a one year time frame, were surveyed via mail to determine levels of satisfaction. Parents responded to a questionnaire and data were collected to determine overall satisfaction, areas of service in need of improvement and areas of interaction which were most unsatisfactory. Additionally, data were compared to past study material to determine either an increase or decrease in parent satisfaction within …

Nietzschean Pedagogy: A Revaluation For Contemporary Education, Arthur Gilmore Ogden

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

This inquiry is intended to present a compilation of the work nineteenth century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche offered in the field of philosophy of education. It focuses on three elements which attempt to offer some solutions to the problems facing our contemporary educational institutions, particularly public schools: (1) the similarities between our contemporary educational climate and the educational climate in Nietzsche's Germany during the second half of the nineteenth century; (2) the viability of an education which stresses personal achievement through academic rigor (i.e., teaching the ubermensch, the over-man, or the higher state of the human condition); and, (3) the …

Environmental Public Policy: An Analysis Of Public Opinion And Environmental Legislation In North Carolina, John Carson Cato

Frank Dilley Award for Outstanding Doctoral Study

The research was designed to give additional insight into the public policy process. Specifically, the focus of the study was on environmental public policy and the assumed relationship between public opinion on environmental issues and environmental legislation. A secondary emphasis of the research was to review environmental quality and consider the environmental quality as a function of legislative and regulatory impact. The study was restricted to the state of North Carolina and used a public opinion survey, legislative record review, and environmental quality data as the primary indicators.

The results of the study showed that (a) citizens in North Carolina …

The Effects Of International Trade On Income Inequality In The United States, 1979-1992, Thomas James Milton

Harold L. Hodgkinson Award for Outstanding Dissertation

The primary purpose of this study was to find out if international trade was a cause of the increase in income inequality that occurred in the United States after 1979. The secondary purposes were to test the predictions of international trade theory regarding the effects of trade on income distribution within nations and to see if trade is a cause of diverging productivity growth between economic sectors.

The general hypothesis was that international trade affects income inequality through its effects on wage structure and employment structure. With the relationship between income inequality and the labor market variables established by definition, …

Diversity Deprivation Overcome: A Predominately Caucasian Catholic High School Addresses Societal Racial Prejudice, Michele Ray Campbell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examines Monsignor Donovan High School, Toms River, Trenton Diocese, New Jersey's situation as a predominately Caucasian environment seeking to prepare students to adapt successfully to an increasingly diverse society. The author identifies the need for the students to gain a broader view of the world than evidenced by their school's population, examines the societal situations that led to the problem of prejudice in American society, explores the role of Catholic education in addressing prejudice and reports on polls of the MDHS Classes of 1994 and 1997 relative to their racial attitudes. Through a qualitative case study, the researcher …