Digital Commons Network^™

In Our Own Backyard: A Qualitative Investigation Of Marginalized And Dominant Perspectives On White Privilege In Counseling Psychology Training Programs, Steven Matthew Andrews

Dissertations

Systemic racism endures in the United States (Feagin, 2010). The race-related barriers experienced by trainees of color in counseling, clinical, and school psychology programs (Clark et al., 2012; Maton et al., 2011) reflect this reality. Focusing exclusively on the barriers confronting people of color, though, can distract from the benefits and power that Whites accrue to maintain a system of privilege and oppression. Recently, counseling psychologists have recognized the critical importance of understanding social privilege (Israel, 2012) and its unique features based on context (Ancis & Szymanski, 2001). However, the study of White privilege within counseling psychology training is an …

Racial Microaggressions, Stress, And Depression In African Americans: Test Of A Model, Jessica Ra'chel Roberts

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships between daily hassle stressors (i.e., racial microaggressions and college hassle stress), racial identity, perceived stress, and depression among Black/African American college students. It was hypothesized that perceived stress would partially mediate the relationships between daily hassle stressors and depression. Racial identity was hypothesized to moderate the relationship between racial microaggressions and perceived stress. Data were analyzed from a sample of 142 Black/African American college students from a medium sized university in the Midwest. Utilizing EQS, a path analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized model. Findings from the analysis revealed …

A Study Of Student Engagement Activities, Discipline Referrals, And Student Achievement In Reading First Schools, Shelly Lynette Fransen

Dissertations

High quality student engagement activities are essential if students are to be successful learners. Over the years, many instructional strategies and models have been devised to encourage teachers to develop student engagement activities that result in high achievement. The Reading First Model initiative was introduced as a part of the No Child Left Behind legislation and was implemented in hundreds of schools across the United States over the last twelve years. Yet, in 2009, federal funding for Reading First was eliminated. The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between student achievement on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) …

The Social Construction Of Deviance, Activism, And Identity In Women's Accounts Of Abortion, Mallary Allen

Dissertations

The mainstream abortion rights debate in the United States, its opposing factions popularly identified as pro-choice and pro-life, is reliant upon identifiable narratives of abortion's value to women and society and, alternately, its harms. This dissertation traces more than one hundred years of evolution of popular rhetoric surrounding the practice of elective termination of pregnancy in the U.S. and identifies the understandings of abortion and the women who have them which are most prominent in our culture today. This dissertation examines the ways in which women who have had abortions invoke the rhetoric of "sympathetic abortion" in making sense of …

A Case Study Of Information Searching Experiences Of High School Students With Visual Impairments In Taiwan, Hui-Fen Chen

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Development And Evaluation Of A Thermochemistry Concept Inventory For College-Level General Chemistry, David A. Wren

Dissertations

The research presented in this dissertation culminated in a 10-item Thermochemistry Concept Inventory (TCI). The development of the TCI can be divided into two main phases: qualitative studies and quantitative studies. Both phases focused on the primary stakeholders of the TCI, college–level general chemistry instructors and students. Each phase was designed to collect evidence for the validity of the interpretations and uses of TCI testing data. A central use of TCI testing data is to identify student conceptual misunderstandings, which are represented as incorrect options of multiple– choice TCI items. Therefore, quantitative and qualitative studies focused heavily on collecting evidence …

A Description Of Group Supervision In Internships: A National Study Of Programs Accredited By Cacrep, Robert Powell

Dissertations

Counselor Education programs that are accredited by The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) must provide group supervision for students during their internship experience. To gain an understanding of what is currently taking place in group supervision during a student’s internship experience in CACREP-accredited counselor education programs, descriptive and qualitative data were collected utilizing an online survey. To capture a profile of who is teaching group supervision as well as their qualifications and experience, the researcher gathered demographic data from 62 participants. All participants in the study had taught group supervision in a CACREP program within …

"Having Our Say": High Achieving African American Male College Graduates Speak About Parental Involvement And Parenting Style, Lynn Cheryl Lanier Odom

Dissertations

This study examined the patterns of parental involvement and parenting styles of a particular sample of academically successful African American males who attended and graduated from historically Black colleges or universities. More specifically, investigated was the presence of any relationships between parental involvement, parenting styles, grade point average, family structure, and parent(s) educational level. An online self­ report instrument was administered to 36 participants. Information gathered focused on how the graduates viewed their parents' child-rearing or parenting style during their educational experiences from kindergarten to the 12th grade. Three students agreed to participate in interviews designed to provide more information …

Prekindergarten And Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions Of Demographic Determinants And Academic Success, Melanie Ellen Boyle

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine kindergarten and prekindergarten teachers' perceptions of academic success for children based on the type of care children received prior to beginning kindergarten, as well as other demographics, which could cause variations in academic success. The researcher used a seven section multi-method survey instrument, which included teacher demographic questions, Likert-scale perception questions, and one open-ended question. Sections of inquiry included: Common Core, general academic risk factors for students, barriers to overall academic success, student demographics, and promotion of academic success for students. The survey instrument was distributed to prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers in …

Role Of Msa In Immune Evasion, Persistence, And Protease Regulation In The Human Pathogenic Strains Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Maria Deepa Basco

Dissertations

Opportunistic pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus on entering the host can stay colonized at the foci of infection or evade the immune system to disseminate to other sites. In this study we investigated the regulatory influence of the modulator of sarA (msa) on immune evasion and host persistence, employing the hospital-acquired strain S. aureus UAMS-1 and community-acquired strain S. aureus USA300 LAC. In the murine sepsis model, mutation of the msa gene in LAC showed no change in dissemination of infection; however, in UAMS-1 a decrease in microbial load was observed in the lungs. Differential regulation by the msa gene was …

Examining College Students' Use Of Protective Behavioral Strategies From The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Melissa Ann Bonnell

Dissertations

Previous studies on college alcohol use suggest that approximately 65 - 73 percent of college students drank alcohol within the past 30 days (Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2011; Nelson, Xuan, Lee, Weitzman, & Wechsler, 2009). Researchers also suggest that with increasing levels of alcohol consumption, students are more likely to experience alcohol-related consequences such as missing class, involvement with the legal system and expulsion from school. Therefore, prevention efforts have attempted to reduce the associated economic and personal consequences experienced with increased alcohol consumption. Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) such as using a designated driver, setting a predetermined time to …

Evaluation Of Behavior Subtypes Of Sexual Addiction: A Latent Profile Analysis Of Sexual Behaviors, Nicole Lea Blazek

Dissertations

Sexual addiction has been characterized as out of control sexual behavior that leads to decreased functioning and negative consequences in a number of areas (Kafka, 2010). The current study aimed to demonstrate whether or not homogenous classes of individuals presenting for treatment and diagnosed with sexual addiction could be identified utilizing a person-centered approach, Latent Profile Analysis, using sexual behavior frequency scales from the Sexual Dependency Inventory-4.0 (SDI-4.0; Green, Arnau, & Carnes, 2013) as indicators. After identifying the distinct subclasses of sexual behaviors, the study examined the nature of the groups through an analysis of external correlates of group membership. …

The Impact Of A Dance Aerobics Program On Middle School Girls' Physical Activity Level, Self-Efficacy, And Decisional Balance, Alexis Suozzi Bridley

Dissertations

Rates of childhood obesity have increased dramatically in recent years. Decrease in physical activity is among the leading causes, with adolescent females at greatest risk for obesity. School-based interventions have shown promise; however, few studies have considered the type of activity on physical activity level. According to the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), intrinsic readiness, self-efficacy, and perceived risks and benefits regarding change contribute to behavior change. Yet no known studies have considered the impact of intervention with a traditionally preferred activity on selfefficacy and decisional balance. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the impact of a 2- week dance aerobics program …

Trayvon Martin And Election 2012 Social Media Messaging: An Analysis Of Framing, Rhetoric, And Media Types In Online Messages By Civil Rights Organizations, Riva Renee Brown

Dissertations

This content analysis study explored framing, rhetoric, and media types used by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Urban League, National Action Network, and ColorOfChange.org in website and social media messages posted during the Trayvon Martin case and Election 2012. It also examined the mainstream print news media coverage these civil rights organizations generated.

On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman, a 28 year old White and Hispanic male, fatally shot Martin, a 17 year old Black male, in Florida. After authorities did not charge Zimmerman with the teenager’s murder, these organizations drafted petitions and staged rallies …

Biophysical Understanding Of Novel Synthetic Amyloid-Β (Aβ) Prions In Alzheimer's Disease, Amit Kumar

Dissertations

Oligomers of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide are the primary toxic agents that play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Oligomers are the intermediates formed during the Aβ aggregation process leading up to insoluble fibrils. It is important to know that oligomers can also be formed via pathways that do not lead to fibril formation. Such ‘off-pathway’ oligomers would have significantly longer half-lives than the ‘on-pathway’ ones, which may result in prolonged toxicity to neuronal cells. Furthermore, neither the mechanism of neurotoxicity nor the potential mechanisms of propagation and proliferation to neighboring cells are well understood. Moreover, recent …

The Predictors Of Calling And The Role Of Career Satisfaction In Working Adults, Kari Ann Leavell

Dissertations

A significant amount of time in adult life is spent working. Individuals enter into their world of work by many circumstances, including feeling called to a given career or viewing their work as a calling. The psychological construct of calling has been shown to have considerable implications for career-related outcomes, including career satisfaction. Further, satisfaction with work has demonstrated a considerable impact on more global areas such as satisfaction with and quality of life, meaning in life, and religiousness. Increased understanding of the construct of calling and its contribution to career development and career-related outcomes can clarify how individuals’ experiences …

The Role Of Distress Tolerance In Aggressive Behavior, Anne Winston Mcintyre

Dissertations

Berkowitz (1989) proposed that the degree of negative affect experienced following a frustrating event determines whether one will respond aggressively, suggesting that one possesses a certain amount of tolerance for distressing emotions. However, little research has been conducted on the relation between distress tolerance and aggression. Moreover, no published study has examined the relation between distress tolerance and behavioral aggression using a multi-modal assessment approach, nor examined the potential mediating role of negative affect in the relation between distress tolerance and aggression. To address this gap in the literature, college students (N = 87) aged 18 to 49 years (M …

The Sexual Assault Severity Scale: A Comprehensive Measure Of Assault Severity, Karyn Crystal Swinson

Dissertations

Many studies in the sexual assault literature have found a significant relationship between sexual assault severity and psychological distress, specifically PTSD and suicidality. However, in the current literature, there is an inconsistent and incomplete definition of the construct of assault severity. The present study aims to create a comprehensive self-report questionnaire, called the Sexual Assault Severity Scale (SASS) that includes assault characteristics, such as victim-offender relationship, substance use, and peritraumatic responses, and cognitive variables, such as posttraumatic schema disruptions and coping self-efficacy in the conceptualization of assault severity. Two models evaluating the relationship between assault severity and post assault distress …

Mindfulness, Facets Of Big Five Personalities, And Psychological Health, Nicholas J. Schmidt

Dissertations

The concept of mindfulness, nonjudgmentally being aware of one’s environment, whether internal or external, has long been a core component of eastern religions, such as Buddhism, for over 2,000 years. Not until relatively recently, however, has the concept of mindfulness gained attention in Western psychology. As mindfulness has come to be associated with both psychological health and the absence of psychological distress, its practice has begun to be implemented in a number of cognitive behavioral therapies for a wide range of mental disorders.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the possible relationships between facets of measures used …

Three Essays On Social Health Insurance In Developing Countries: The Case Study Of Ghana, Stephen Ofori Abrokwah

Dissertations

More than 2 billion people live in developing countries with health systems constrained by inequitable access and inadequate funding. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 150 million of these people suffer financial breakdown every year having to make unexpected out-of-pocket expenditures for emergency care.

To improve health and reduce the financial burden on households, a number of developing countries, including Ghana, Colombia, and Peru, have recently introduced social health insurance programs which are heavily subsidized. The dissertation is a collection of three essays looking at how individual health care choices changed as a result of the availability of …

Clinician's Experience Of Suicide Assessment From A Qualitative Perspective, Eric W. Macleod

Dissertations

Using a qualitative research method, the researcher explored the lived experiences of 17 clinicians in southwest Michigan who assess the risk of their clients committing suicide as a part of their professional practice. A phenomenological approach was used to interpret and understand the results. In-person interviews were conducted at a place chosen by the participant. Four broad interview questions with several subquestions within each created a semi-structured format. The questions explored the way clinicians assess suicide, the professional impact of suicide assessment, the personal impact of suicide assessment, and any changes in participants’ worldview as a result of suicide assessment. …

Exploring Adolescent Experiences Of Race, Ethnicity, And Socioeconomic Status In Counseling Relationships: A Qualitative Approach, Christina Crans

Dissertations

The ACA Code of Ethics (2005) states the expectation that counselors must understand the diverse backgrounds of their clients. In addition, counselors are called to understand how their personal cultural identity informs and affects the counseling process. Yet there is paucity in the literature regarding the multicultural client experience within a counseling relationship. Of the few multicultural counseling studies that attempt to address multicultural client concerns, the approach has been quantitative or reliant on counselor self-report. In addition, the lived counseling experiences of adolescents and individuals from lower socioeconomic status (SES) is absent in present literature. This qualitative study examined …

The Characterization Of Algae Grown On Nutrient Removal Systems And Evaluation Of Potential Uses For The Resulting Biomass, Kristin Hampel

Dissertations

Eutrophication resulting from excess nutrient loads is a major environmental issue that affects surface water quality and causes surplus primary production, thereby reducing dissolved oxygen concentrations. A method for managing nutrients in surface waters involves absorption of excess nutrients by deliberately cultivating benthic algal turf biomass, then harvesting it for a variety of uses, including biofuels, soil amendments, or feed supplements, thus coupling nutrient removal to additional economic drivers.

The goals of this work are to (1) evaluate the composition of algal biomass grown to remove surface water nutrients, (2) compare biomass grown at different geographic locations and in dissimilar …

Anxiety-Reducing Strategies In The Classroom, Robin K. Buchler

Dissertations

This case study research explored how sixth grade students experience and respond to anxiety prior to, during, and after receiving 10 sessions of instruction in anxiety-reducing strategies in the classroom compared to a group of similar students who do not receive instruction in anxiety-reducing strategies in the classroom. Three research-based strategies were taught: (a) progressive muscle relaxation, (b) breathing exercises, and (c) positive self- talk. Qualitative data were collected through journals the students kept, pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires, observation notes, and field notes. Four strong themes, in the words of the students, were identified: (a) “I like it” – demonstrating autonomy; …

Computerized Behavioral Activation Treatment For Major Depressive Disorder And The Effects On Sexual Desire, Anthony G. Bonita

Dissertations

The present study was designed to examine the effects of a computerized behavioral activation treatment program on sexual desire, sexual behavior, and depression symptoms. Seven adults who met criteria for either major depressive disorder or dysthymic disorder were recruited from Kalamazoo, Portage, and surrounding areas in Southwestern Michigan. All participants completed at least five sessions of behavioral activation treatment, and six out of seven participants completed all ten sessions. Symptoms of depression, sexual desire, and sexual behavior were assessed at pretreatment and before each treatment session through a combination of the Beck Depression Inventory – II (BDI-II), the Revised Hamilton …

Adjusted Variance Components For Unbalanced Clustered Binary Data Models, Intesar N. Abdoslam

Dissertations

In practice, it is very common to have clustered binary responses, where binary data are naturally grouped by sampling technique or some property of the sampling units. Often these clusters are unbalanced. The preferred class of models for clustered binary data is the Hierarchical Generalized Linear Model (HGLM), where random effects are used to account for the overdispersion known to exist for clustered binary data. There are many methods to estimate the parameters in Hierarchical Generalized Linear Models, but none of the current methods allowed the overdispersion to vary from cluster to cluster. As clustered binary data led to overdispersion, …

Design, Development, And Psychometric Analysis Of A General, Organic, And Biological Chemistry Topic Inventory Based On The Identified Main Chemistry Topics Relevant To Nursing Clinical Practice, Corina E. Brown

Dissertations

This two-stage study focused on the undergraduate nursing course that covers topics in general, organic, and biological (GOB) chemistry. In the first stage, the central objective was to identify the main concepts of GOB chemistry relevant to the clinical practice of nursing. The collection of data was based on open-ended interviews of both nursing and chemistry teaching faculty as well as practicing nurses. From the resulting interviews, three themes emerged: topics that were Important--had a direct application in nursing clinical practice; topics that were Foundational--not directly important for nursing clinical practice but facilitated the understanding of the important topics; and …

Willingness To Seek Academic Help In Preclinical Nursing Students: The Influence Of Social Self-Efficacy And Learning Environment, Bernice Wallace Carmon

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Applying Learner-Centered Teaching In The Nursing Education Classroom: From Theory To Practice, Donna M. Ellis

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Relationships Between Social Connectedness And Spirituality On Development Of Depression And Perceived Health Status In Rural Populations, Ann P. Galloway

Dissertations

No abstract provided.