Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating The Effectiveness Of Parent-Implemented Interventions In Improving The Social Skills Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Zachary R. Shindorf

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There has been an increase in the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in recent years. As a result, many families who have a child diagnosed with ASD seek out effective treatment in improving the social skills of their child. Literature suggests varied results when considering the treatment outcomes of different social skills interventions. However, the use of evidence-based practices (EBP), parent involvement in the treatment, and individualized treatment goals is considered best practice when treating ASD. This study combined the use of three EBPs: video modeling, social narratives and parent implemented intervention (PII), in attempts to effectively improve the …

Toward A Comprehensive Worldview Measure, Shailee R. Woodard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Worldview is an individual difference construct that has been linked to various behavioral and health outcomes. However, very little is known about how worldviews develop and how worldview beliefs, values, and attitudes coalesce into different worldview factors. One obstacle that has impeded research on worldviews is the lack of a robust worldview measure. The creation of a new, more valid worldview measure will aid in answering these important questions. This research project is the first step in the creation of a more comprehensive worldview measure. The primary aims of Study 1 were to compile existing published worldview measures and reduce …

Patient Perspectives Of An Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program For Stroke Survivors, Anya A. Leyhe, Catherine A. Off, Carolyn R. Baylor, Jenna R. Griffin, Kirsten W. Murray

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Introduction: Persons with aphasia (PWA) who participate in intensive comprehensive poststroke language rehabilitation programs make a variety of significant investments. While intensive aphasia programs and intensive comprehensive aphasia programs (ICAPs) are becoming increasingly prevalent across health care settings, patient perspectives of ICAPs have not been explored. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine patient perspectives about the experience of participating in an ICAP at the University of Montana. The primary research question of this study was: “what is it like to be a PWA in an ICAP?” Methods: Researchers used an interpretive phenomenological approach to conduct …

Ecological Wonder In Annie Dillard's Pilgrim At Tinker Creek, Mary Morgan Beavers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Through a close reading of Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, this thesis presents an argument for the ecological value of a sense of wonder in our engagements with the more-than-human world. The first chapter explores Dillard’s desire to see truly, like the Romantics, and follows her journey of attention into the natural world, analyzing her epiphanic, enchanting, and enlivening experiences of deeply intimate engagement with things both minute and massive. The second chapter considers how Dillard’s practice of close attention opens her perception in a way that allows her to see the full reality of the more-than-human world, including …

No Man's Land, Jesse Daniel Durovey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

The Work Of The Living, D'Addario, Thomas J. D'Addario

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Gendered Melancholy In Lolita: Reading Into Humbert Humbert’S Dolorous Haze, Joseph D. Brookbank

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper argues that in Lolita, the narrator Humbert Humbert uses the subject-position of the great male melancholic in order to, at the discursive level, (re)perform violent acts of appropriation against Dolly’s body, subjectivity and representation. Humbert attempts to translate the loss and waste which he brings about into perverse sorts of gain; these gains relate to processes such as catharsis, compensation, redemption, regeneration, a sense of exceptionality, and aesthetic/erotic/artistic enjoyment. The project has an introduction and two sections. The introduction demonstrates how Humbert enters into the male melancholic subject-position in order to perform his sorrow in a way that …

Ugly, Odd, And Gorgeous, Joseph Chamberlain Kirk Iii

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ugly, Odd, and Gorgeous is a collection of excerpts from a longer, in-progress work of nonfiction that explores the valences of home, family, and the places we find them.

“Out Of The Mother . . . And Home To The Mother”: Essays On Medieval Literature And Climate Crisis, Rachel Kuhr Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Navigating The Closet: A Mixed Methods Approach To Assessing The Impact Of Concealment On Psychological Outcomes For Sexual And Gender Minorities, James Michael M. Brennan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Background: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals suffer at disproportionate rates of depression, anxiety, and substance use, among other mental and physical health outcomes, compared to heterosexual individuals. Concealment of non-heterosexual sexual identity and/or non-cisgender gender identity may be a key contributor to these disparities. Many SGM individuals engage in concealment as a means to avoid victimization, or because of negative perceptions of their own identity. Concealment as a construct has been conceptualized as comprising cognitive, affective, and behavioral components, each of which individually has been demonstrated to have negative health impacts. Additionally, concealment occurs over time between the intrapersonal …

The Relationship Between Longevity And A Leader’S Emotional Intelligence And Resilience, Erica L. Allen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The role of an educational leader is complex, challenging and, at times, fraught with adversity. Overcoming the many challenges and adversities, and flourishing as an educational leader, requires resilience and an instinct for survival. Understanding how to prevail in the face of adversity, by employing one’s emotional strengths as well as vulnerabilities and how to increase one’s ability to remain resilient, is essential for an educational leader to succeed in the face of adversity.

The purpose of this study was to research Montana educational leaders to discern whether emotional intelligence EI is necessary to remain resilient and successful in a …

Managing Just World Beliefs In An Unjust World For Victims Of Sexual Violence, Lindsey Chatfield Grove

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The foundational expectations for good things to happen to good people, while bad things happen to bad people, is referred to as the belief in a just world (BJW) hypothesis (Lerner, 1980; 1966). The understanding is that BJW is a deep-rooted belief that when challenged with injustice, an individual implements strategies in order to protect this core belief from shattering (Lerner, 1980). BJW has long explained victim blaming (Hayes, Lorenz, & Bell, 2013; Jones & Aronson, 1973) and a positive relationship with psychological protection for injustice to self (L Bègue & Bastounis, 2003; Lerner & Simmons, 1966; Sutton & Douglas, …

The Alphaback: A Novel Processing Speed Test, Meredith Kathleen Reynolds

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Processing speed is a sensitive indicator of normal aging, as well as neurological impairment. Despite the importance of assessing this cognitive domain in neuropsychological assessments, few tests of processing speed are available. The purpose of the current study was to establish the operating characteristics, as well as the convergent and divergent validity of a novel processing speed test, the Alphaback, on a healthy college student population (N = 91). The Alphaback is a 2 min computerized task in which examinees must orally state the alphabetical letter that precedes the letter presented on a screen as fast as possible. Cognitive tests …

Exploitation Or Empowerment? Women’S Experiences In The Cam Modeling Industry, Ekaterina Bays

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sex work and the experiences of women within it have been studied in-depth over the past four decades. However, the majority of studies on sex work focus on women who work in prostitution, overlooking rapidly growing cam modeling industry and its female workers. Over the past ten years cam modeling has become an increasingly popular adult entertainment industry, gradually displacing traditional pornography from the online sex market (Senft 2008). In this study, I used theoretical frameworks of radical and liberal feminists as well as polymorphous paradigm to investigate if the cam modeling industry is either an empowering or an exploitative …

The Impact Of Salient Naming Targets During Aphasia Therapy, Kathy Kay Molesh, Catherine Off Ph.D., Craig Mcfarland Ph.D., Jenna Griffin M.S.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Translational research has led to aphasia therapies that incorporate principles of experience dependent neuroplasticity. The neuroplasticity principle of salience has received less attention from speech language pathologists than other principles, such as dose and treatment intensity. Incorporating salience in aphasia therapies has the potential to increase functional outcomes by addressing multiple aspects of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. This study explored the impact of salient stimuli targets on picture naming acquisition and maintenance for two individuals with chronic aphasia, following cerebrovascular accident. Participants were enrolled in a five-week Intensive Comprehensive Aphasia Program (ICAP) at …

Speech-Language Pathology And Psychology Students' Perceptions Of An Interprofessional Autism Intervention: An Exploratory Case Study, Haley Marie Nelson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how the interprofessional collaboration (IPC) experience of Youth Engagement Through Intervention (YETI) changes perceptions and knowledge regarding scope of practice of pre-service professionals in the Communicative Sciences and Disorders (CSD), School Psychology, and Clinical Psychology programs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with pre-service professionals participating in YETI as student clinicians at three different time periods. The results contribute to the existing literature base affirming that interprofessional experiences during pre-professional programs are beneficial. For the Departments of Communicative Sciences and Disorders and Department of Psychology at University of Montana, findings have the …

Making The Most Of People We Do Not Like: Capitalizing On Negative Feedback, Christopher Edward Anderson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Capitalization was first articulated by Langston (1994) to describe how individuals increase their own positivity by sharing good news with others. This study tests the idea that sometimes people share positive news with others they do not like in an attempt to savor their dissatisfaction with shared accomplishments. A fully crossed randomized 2 X 2 experiment was used to set an initial impression (positive or negative) followed by an interview procedure where the participants would disclose some recent positive event and the confederate interviewer would provide feedback (positive or negative). This procedure was used to test capitalization processes in a …

Decisions Leading To Inequalities In The Juvenile Justice System: Using Data To Predict Delinquent Outcomes, Inform Decisions, And Reduce Disparities For Justice-Involved Youth, Patrick David Mckay

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This dissertation focuses on how decisions are made in the juvenile justice system and what strategies can be used to make more informed decisions in the future, in three separate investigations. (1) To begin, eight years of initial detention decisions (N=26,128) were collected to determine what factors affect the arresting officers’ decision to detain youth at arrest. Findings reveal that the severity of current offense and prior offending history are the greatest predictors of initial detention. However, results demonstrate that race and the distance from a detention facility also influence these decisions. Non-white youth are more likely detained than their …

Characterization Of Novel Cyp26b1-Inhibitor, Dx314, For The Treatment Of Keratinization Disorders, Joachim Gwenn-Stephan Veit

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Our skin, particularly the barrier provided by the epidermis, functions as our primary protection from the harsh environment. It protects us from dangerous pathogens, allergens, ultraviolet radiation, and mechanical injury, as well as playing a major role in fluid and thermal regulation. Disruption of skin functions can lead to life-threatening consequences due to increased risk of infection, trans-epidermal water loss, and allergen sensitization. Many common skin disorders often result in a disrupted skin barrier placing patients at risk of complications.

Retinoic acid (RA) is a major component of the vitamin A pathway, which critically controls multiple skin functions including cell …

Bone Stress Injuries In Collegiate Distance Runners: Review Of Incidence, Distribution, And Risk Factors, Maryn E. Lowry

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This literature review investigates the risk factors for bone stress injuries that apply to collegiate distance runners. Collegiate distance runners demonstrate high incidence rates of this type of injury and can suffer from a loss of training time. It is important to review the risk factors that apply to these athletes in order to mitigate the time lost to injury and optimize training. PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for original articles pertaining to risk factors associated with bone stress injuries and/or stress fractures. Results from these original articles demonstrate that this injury has many risk factors including biomechanical, biological, …

Pragmatist Ecological Economics: Focusing On Human-Nature Relationships And Social-Ecological Systems, Christopher Aden Armatas

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

I propose pragmatist philosophy as a companion for ecological economics, a research tradition with a focus on addressing sustainability issues and integrating ecological principles, economics, and the broader social sciences. Ecological economics laudable goals include balancing competing values, tradeoffs, and insights for more equitable decision-making. However, the field is built upon somewhat tenuous philosophical and theoretical foundations, which has resulted in a muddled body of literature, concerns about relativistic science, and questions about the future viability of the field. To address such concerns, I propose and articulate pragmatist ecological economics. Generally, joining pragmatism and ecological economics provides established beliefs about: …

Tapering For Triathlon: Current Concepts, Effects, And Applications, Bruce Edward Rose

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The practice of tapering for competition is an integral component of training for triathlon competition. Coaches and athletes alike need to understand where tapering is effective and under what conditions in order to optimize race performance. Triathlon training poses some distinctive challenges for coaches in that it encompasses multiple sub disciplines and likewise presents special challenges in scientific evaluation. This review of both scientific and lay literature sought to evaluate the present state of tapering in academic, coaching, and athletic practices in order to guide present and future recommendations and investigations. Searches for key terms were performed in PubMed, an …

Considering Trauma In Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Evaluations In Children: A Qualitative Inquiry, Kaitlyn Page Ahlers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The pervasiveness of trauma exposure and potential effects on children’s development and both proximal and future health outcomes are well established in the research literature. Importantly, there is increasing recognition that children with disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), might be at heightened risk for trauma exposure and trauma-related health outcomes. However, there is a paucity of research on trauma-informed practices with children with ASD, specifically the assessment methods used to evaluate for the presence of trauma exposure and trauma-related sequelae. While there are guidelines for the diagnostic assessment of ASD, there are no known established guidelines or research regarding …

Measuring Recidivism Risk Outcomes: A Pilot Project In Collaboration With The Flathead Reservation Reentry Program, Desiree Lacy Fox

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Background: Native Americans have suffered from vast losses of land, traditional ways and practices, language, and ability to pass on traditional knowledge; and those losses have led to current day health and wellness disparities, as well as small but tangibly different tribal populations. While Native Americans make up a disproportionate number of those involved in the criminal justice system, creating an overrepresentation of Native Americans incarcerated in jails and prisons relative to their overall population size, they still tend to be underrepresented in the creation of validated recidivism measures. Risk assessment tools, such as the Level of Service Index-Revised (LSI-R), …

Constructing Distance, Responsibility, And Memory Management Theories: An Anthropological Approach To Death Notification Interactions, Teresa Ann 'Lilly' White

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Following a sudden or unexpected death, coroners often communicate the death to the next-of-kin. Death notifications may occur in hospitals, assisted living or dying facilities, homes, offices or workplaces, correctional facilities, schools, or other locations. A death notification has been perceived by outsiders and many researchers as a one-time, unilateral death-telling event. I argue, instead, death notifications are a series of social interactions and processes necessitating multiple actors and mechanisms. The death notification processes begin for the coroner when they are dispatched to a death scene, while the processes begin for the next-of-kin upon the death-telling event. The end is …

Well-Being, Meaningful Activity, And Social Closeness For Persons With Disabilities: Findings From The American Time Use Survey (Atus), Ari B. Silverman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Persons with disabilities (PWD) constitute close to one fifth of the U.S. population and tend to experience both mental and physical health disparities when compared to the general populace. Improving well-being is paramount to enhancing the health status of these individuals. Two areas that have demonstrated promise in facilitating increases in global well-being in the general population are 1) engagement in meaningful activity and 2) experiences of social closeness. Although previous research has examined the global assessment of meaningful activity and social closeness on well-being over longer time frames, few studies have investigated the direct and short-term influence of these …

The Psychological And Physiological Effect Of Performing The Primal Reflex Release Technique On Female, Division I Collegiate Athletes, Erika K. Vichcales

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Anxiety is a cognitive, behavioral, and physiological reaction to stress, and athletes have an increased risk being in a high-stress environment. One of the effects of increased stress on the body is a condition known as central sensitization (CS) where the central nervous system amplifies sensory input across many organ systems causing a pain response in normally non-painful areas or hypersensitivity to stimuli. The Primal Reflex Release Technique (PRRT) is a manual-therapy approach for evaluating and relieving musculoskeletal pain in patients, and is meant to facilitate a “neural reboot” of a hyper-aroused nervous system. The purpose of this study is …

The Role Of Bipolar Disorder, Stigma, And Hurtful Messages In Romantic Relationships, Callie Parrish

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study explores hurtful messages received by individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder I/II from their romantic partners. Close romantic relationships present opportunities for the utterance of hurtful messages, and the stigmatization that accompanies a mental health diagnosis could affect the attributions made surrounding hurtful messages. By applying attribution theory, the current study increases understanding of how individuals with bipolar disorder experience and attribute hurtful messages. Participants (N = 99) were adults diagnosed with bipolar disorder who had received a hurtful message from their romantic partner. Data was collected via online surveys comprised of Likert scales and short answer questions. …

Investigating The Thru-Hiking Experience: A Study On The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, Taylor Rose Cole

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The phenomena of thru-hiking has been on a dramatic rise, spurring hikers to venture onto increasingly remote and challenging trails over extended periods of time. Despite the recent popularity of thru-hiking, the field remains relatively unstudied. In recreation, the expectations held beforehand have been linked to perceptions after an activity, but this has not been explored in thru-hiking. For example, there is little known on the challenges associated with thru-hiking and how these challenges are navigated. Additionally, the social experience associated with thru-hiking on and off the trail has not been studied. Further, research is lacking on immersive experiences such …

Missed Opportunity: The Strategic And Rhetorical Miscalculations Of Deep Ecology, Taylor C. Hastings

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The first chapter of the project analyzes Deep Ecological philosophy, presented by Arne Naess, and its inability to coalesce as a social movement because of Naess’ strategic belief that an open philosophical template, as well as a rhetorical strategy of being instructive, instead of rhetorically moving Deep Ecologists towards engaging concrete plans towards change to mitigate destructive human environmental practices, as the most effective strategy. The second chapter analyzes the Dark Mountain Project and the ways it has grown out of Deep Ecology, and the ways the Dark Mountain Project is misguided in its interpretation of the works of Robinson …