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School-Based Dbt Skills Groups For Adolescent Eating Disorders And Body Image Concerns: A Pilot Study, Jordan Fiorillo Scotti

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Child and adolescent mental health concerns are increasingly being addressed in school settings. However, little research exists to evaluate how use of evidence-based interventions in an educational setting impacts treatment efficacy. Common concerns facing female adolescents in the U.S. are eating disorders (ED) and body image disturbances. To date, no studies of ED treatment in a school setting have been published, although several prevention interventions have some empirical support. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a comprehensive treatment approach with a growing evidence base for a variety of populations, including adolescents and patients with ED. This pilot study was designed to …

Effect Of An Intensive Intervention On The Early Literacy Skills Of Kindergarten Students Identified As Most At Risk For Future Reading Difficulties, Craig S. Buscher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is limited research investigating the individualized effects of early literacy interventions on kindergarten students who are most at risk for reading failure at school entry. In this study, a multiple baseline design was used to measure the effect of an early literacy intervention on the alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness of kindergarten students identified as most at risk. First, a two-stage screening process consisting of measures of alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and rapid automatic naming was employed to identify those students with the lowest overall skill level from the entire at-risk kindergarten population from one school building. The nine …

The Validity Of Self- Versus Other Reports Of Adhd Symptoms In College Students: Cognitive And Academic Achievement Outcomes, Eric Aune

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Despite the abundance of studies investigating Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children and adults, little research has focused on ADHD and comorbid learning disabilities (LD) in college students. The dearth of research in this population is becoming increasingly important given that ADHD and LD are the two most commonly reported and diagnosed disabilities in higher academic institutions (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). As a result, clinicians' are continually faced with the difficult task of determining sensitive and valid assessment measures to use with this population. While some overlap exists between college students and younger and older counterparts, research has shown …

Stigma Perceptions Of Adolescents With Emotional And/Or Behavioral Difficulties, Camille Barraclough

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The current study sought to better understand how adolescents with serious mental health problems participating in inpatient psychiatric treatment experience self- and perceived public stigma, using demographic and clinical factors to help further explain adolescents' experience of self- and perceived public stigma. Participants reported moderate levels of both self- and perceived public stigma, though these adolescents did not report significantly higher levels of self- or perceived public stigma than community/outpatient based samples. Although neither the three demographic nor three clinical factors were able to account for a significant amount of reported self- or perceived public stigma, the current research examined …

Understanding And Encouraging Climate Friendly Action: A Study Of Individuals' Personal Energy And Transportation Decisions And Beliefs About Climate Change, Alison Dimond

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is a strong scientific consensus that climate change is happening, is caused by human activities, and will have significant negative consequences. Avoiding the most severe consequences will require significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, including changes in individuals' personal energy and transportation choices, which can contribute significantly to climate change. Past research has identified a wide range of factors that may influence perceptions of climate change and willingness to act to reduce it. However, there are still considerable gaps in our knowledge. There is limited understanding of how different factors interact in people's decisions about personal energy and transportation. …

The Identity Of Upholding Indigenous Lifeways, Sean Falcon Chandler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This qualitative study examined the role of Native Lifeways in tribal colleges as perceived by their presidents and other influential leaders on the campuses of three tribal colleges. Tribal colleges were founded in part to support and promote Native Lifeways, as demonstrated within their respective mission statements. Given the fact that TCUs are at the forefront of the defense of Native Lifeways, they continue to be in a state of endangerment as a result of the history of U.S. Indian Policy.

Data was acquired from the face-to-face interviews of 15 leaders within the three tribal colleges located in northwest United …

Consequences Of Color Vision Variation On Performance And Fitness In Capuchin Monkeys, Andrea Theresa Green

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The origin and maintenance of variation in natural populations are central to the study of evolution. When alternative alleles have obvious effects on phenotype and are common in a population, the maintenance of these alleles requires some form of balancing selection. Understanding how selection maintains multiple phenotypes in a population requires integration of genetic analyses of phenotypic differences with field studies on the performance consequences of these differences within an ecological context.

The color vision polymorphism characterizing most diurnal platyrrhine and strepsirrhine primates provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the maintenance of variation in natural populations. The polymorphism leads to …

Virtual Collaboration: A Phenomenological Study Of Remote Online Adjuncts Virtual Collaboration Lived Experiences, Lori Schieffer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Online education is rapidly growing in higher education. To stay competitive, many colleges and universities have begun to offer online classes. Some institutions even offer complete degree programs online. This has left colleges needing to hire more part-time remote adjuncts to fill the fluctuating number of available courses. Because remote online adjuncts are susceptible to isolation, the need has arisen to study the benefits and barriers of virtual collaboration. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine the virtual collaboration lived experiences of remote online adjuncts. The study helped unveil the motives and lived experiences of virtual collaboration …

Language Socialization, Revitalization And Ideologies In The Salish-Pend D'Oreille Community, Rebecca Jo Wood

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The goal of this thesis is to examine the language socialization practices and ideologies of the Salish-Pend d’Oreille community in order to understand language and cultural change in this community. This cultural group has become predominately monolingual in the non-traditional language, English; yet as my research demonstrates, the traditional language, Salish, continues to convey important epistemological perspectives valued in traditional society. By analyzing instances of Salish language use and non-use, I define some of the social factors that influence language use, as well as how children are socialized to use the language in culturally significant ways. When Salish is used, …

The Relationship Between Intergenerational Educational Experiences, School Culture/Climate, And Racial Identity Among American Indian High School Students, Sandra Lee Boham

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research focused on the whether or not there was a relationship between (a) school culture and climate, (b) racial identity, and (c) inter-generational educational experiences of American Indian students in urban/off-reservation AA high schools in Montana as perceived by American Indian students, American Indian parents, administrators, teachers, and staff. Data were collected at four schools located in two school districts in different geographical locations in Montana. The data were collected using the (a) School as a Caring Community Profile (SCCP-II) survey, (b) People of Color Racial Identity Attitude Scale (PRIAS) survey, (c) demographic survey data, (d) academic achievement data, …

Cardiac Rehabilitation Enrollment Rates And Different Referral Strategies, Whitney Tameler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States. Although cardiac rehabilitation is recognized as a standard element of continuum of cardiac care only 10-60% of eligible patients participate. Various barriers exist preventing cardiac patients to enroll in cardiac rehabilitation. These barriers are categorized into three different levels: 1) patient barriers, 2) physician barriers and 3) healthcare system barriers. Patient barriers can include lack of insurance, transportation, need to return to work, family issues and the perception cardiac rehabilitation is not needed but lack of physician referral is the leading deterrent for patients not enrolling …

An Anxious State: The Search For Identity And The Struggle For Peace In Irish And Palestinian Literature, Benjamin Patrick Sweeney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis works to connect the literature of two geographically and historically disparate people – the Irish and the Palestinians. One can observe patterns of disjuncture, identity crisis, and identity formation in the history of one people; one can then apply the principles learned to analogous historical situations. I argue that the Irish and the Palestinians share a kind of communal psychological trauma brought about by the experience of imperial/colonial domination, violence, and especially diaspora. Because of this shared trauma, Ireland’s historical experience can offer insight into that of Palestine. The situations are unique, but at certain human levels they …

Right Of Possession: A Comparative Legal Analysis Of Nagpra, Jaclyn Lee Schmidt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Repatriation attempts to reconcile opposing values regarding human skeletal remains. Repatriation has sometimes been contentious because it raises the question of which aspect of human remains is more important, cultural or scientific values. Repatriation is also an issue of power. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) provides a procedural framework with which to negotiate power relationships between scholars, tribes, and the U.S. government. Property rights are integral to power, as the holder controls the use of and access to and interpretation of indigenous skeletal remains. Property rights concerning Native American human remains are an integral part of …

The Causes And Consequences Of Migration: How Displacement And Change Affect The Well-Being Of Humli Tibetans In Katmandu, Ruth Ann Guthrie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Humla, one of the most remote regions in the Himalayan nation of Nepal, has undergone tremendous upheaval due to the Maoist insurgency of 1996-2006. As a result, numerous groups from rural Nepal such as those from Humla, have been displaced or chosen to migrate to urban areas, seeking to improve their lives or simply to survive. Pressure from Maoists has caused the displacement of many individuals who make up the community of Humlis now living in Kathmandu. This study aims to understand these causes of displacement and migration, as well as its consequences for Humlis. As a consequence of displacement …

A Multiple-Case Study On How Fifth Grade Students Experience Reading, Tiffany Tate

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The research from this study provides information for teachers, leaders, and administrators to review and analyze how fifth grade students experience reading. It will be important to adjust or change the strategies to promote reading and / or the curriculum for fifth grade students. Fullan (2011), a noted change theorist, identified five characteristics of effective leadership for change: (a) moral purpose, (b) understanding the change process, (c) strong relationships, (d) knowledge sharing, and (e) coherence, or connecting new knowledge with existing knowledge that served as the theoretical framework from which the data was viewed. The information from this study is …

"What Is Peoria For?": Reading As Spiritual Practice In David Foster Wallace's The Pale King, Jeremy Reed

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Since its publication in 2011, critics have written about David Foster Wallace’s final, unfinished novel, The Pale King, by looking for resonances with his career-long interests of irony, alienation, and the text’s relation to the reader, but few have written of his final fiction as exhibiting a new approach to these topics. To further such criticism, I argue that in The Pale King Wallace uses new means – religious, and specifically mystic, vocabularies of experience – to seek ethical practices for living in a period heavily influenced by Postmodern irony. In the process, Wallace’s characters end up advocating a mystical …

Pet Advocate Program For The Homeless In Missoula, Mt, Lisa Jane Bruce

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Studies have shown the importance of the relationship that homeless individuals, including victims of domestic violence, have with their pets. This relationship can often create a barrier to accessing emergency shelters since not many shelters accept pets. This paper examines the need to create a community-wide program in Missoula, MT which provides a way to house pets while their owners access emergency shelters. The final section of this paper proposes a “Pet Advocate Program” that could be adopted by the Humane Society of Western Montana.

Relactation: A Phenomenological Study, Amy Nicole Lommen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of women in Montana who chose to attempt relactation. A phenomenological approach was utilized to understand the lived experiences of the 10 participants. In depth interviews were conducted and a 21 item, categorical and open-ended survey was administered seeking demographic and experiential data. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to organize and analyze the data. Most participants reported having good support from family, friends, lactation specialists, and/or physicians. Despite this support, the participants experienced breastfeeding difficulty. An overarching theme was having a difficult baby; whether it was colic, latching difficulties, …

Impacts Of Montana Public Wolf Hunting And Trapping On Tolerance And Acceptance Of Gray Wolves Among Rural Resident Ranchers, Trappers, And Big Game Hunters, Alia Winn Mulder

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Public Trust Doctrine placed wildlife in trust, via state control and regulation, for the benefit of the people. Managing agencies that lose sight of the importance of public acceptance of predator policies and management actions may find themselves legislatively or judicially subverted. This study examines how the Montana public wolf hunting and trapping seasons have affected tolerance and acceptance of gray wolves (Canis lupus) among rural resident ranchers, hunters, and trappers. Twenty residents from the Blackfoot, Bitterroot, and Ninemile Valleys were qualitatively interviewed over the summer and fall of 2013. Potential participants were initially identified using purposive sampling, with …

Ecology And Engagement: The Importance Of Direct Experience Of Nature In Culture And Scholarship, Chris Baldwin Humm

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Our culture is becoming increasingly detached from nature. We spend more of our time indoors than ever. While the indoors may offer certain benefits, it’s becoming increasingly clear that our alienation from nature has serious downsides. We depend upon nature for our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being and without it. The opposite of detachment is engagement. Engagement involves direct experience of nature, whether in national parks, wilderness, backyard woods, or unkempt vacant lots. If we want to reverse the problems associated with detachment, we need to encourage engaged alternatives. Only through a culture of engagement, one that recognizes and values …

Prophylactic-Dysphagia Intervention For Patients With Head And Neck Cancer Receiving Chemoradiation Therapy, Shanna Lee Stack

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Many patients with head and neck cancer suffer from dysphagia caused by organ preserving regimens of chemoradiation therapy. However, intervention for this population varies in terms of timing, intensity, and types of treatments prescribed. This prospective study investigated swallowing-related quality of life, functional oral intake, and swallowing-related pain for patients who received two different types of preventative swallowing intervention before and during chemoradiation therapy. A total of eight participants who had undergone chemoradiation therapy participated in the study. Four participants completed direct swallowing exercises (exercises that require swallowing). The remaining four completed indirect swallowing exercises (exercises that do not require …

Childhood Trauma-Related Nightmares: The Impact Of Exposure, Relaxation, And Rescripting Therapy On Cognitive Functioning, Susan E. Ocean

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Trauma experiences are, unfortunately, a common part of childhood in the United States and are connected to serious health-related concerns throughout childhood and adulthood. A primary symptom of trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress is re-experiencing, which often occurs in the form of nightmares. Though cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) is currently the most well supported treatment model for trauma-exposure, it does not specifically address nightmares. Left untreated, trauma-related nightmares may become chronic, impairing quality and quantity of sleep, and exacerbating and perpetuating trauma symptoms. Quality sleep is a necessary element of healthy child development. Trauma experiences and inadequate sleep have been …

Assessing The Determinants Facilitating Local Vulnerabilities And Adaptive Capacities To Climate Change Impacts In High Mountain Areas: A Case Study Of Northern Ladakh, India, Kimiko Nygaard Barrett

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate change is increasingly redefining the dialectic exchange between human systems and ecological processes. While the rhetoric of climate change is articulated within broad arenas of governance and policy, the realities of climate change are experienced at the local scale. Effective adaptation measures must therefore be commensurate with local resources, needs and objectives while remaining aligned with larger decision-making efforts. The impacts of climate change are heterogeneous and vary with geographic context. Biophysical parameters interface with socioeconomic and political forces to greatly influence the outcome of climate-related risks at the local level. In the high mountains of the western Himalayas …

A Treatise On The Assault On Language Sovereignty In The United States: History, Education, And Implications For Policy, Annie Thornburg Oakes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This dissertation examines the revitalization of endangered Indigenous languages in the United States in relation to the concept of sovereignty. I investigate historical reasons for language destruction in the United States as a means of understanding the mechanism used in conquest and the long-range effects on the educational system. I use the term "language sovereignty" to reflect the right of tribal organizations in the US to assert the use of traditional languages as a means of self-identifying as distinct sovereign nations. I draw from initiatives in Hawaii and Europe to demonstrate how regional and linguistic minority languages have been revitalized …

Psychological Abuse As A Predictor Of Trauma In Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence, Marie Baca Villa

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a long-standing issue that has recently been investigated as a significant social and interpersonal problem. Research has suggested that psychological abuse is both more prevalent and more devastating to victims, as compared to physical violence. While there remains no true consensus as to the definition of “psychological abuse”, a current conceptualization typifies psychological abuse into four groups of acts that are meant to (a)denigrate and damage a partner’s self-esteem, (b) withhold nurturing and support, (c) both explicitly and implicitly threaten, and (d) restrict personal freedom. It is hypothesized that an analysis of existing measures of …

Importance Of Leadership Competencies In College And University Staff Athletic Trainers: Perceptions Of Head Athletic Trainers, Janelle Lynn Handlos

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Importance of Leadership Competencies in College and University Staff Athletic Trainers: Perceptions of Head Athletic Trainers This quantitative study utilized a survey design to determine the level of importance head athletic trainers at the college and university level place on their staff athletic trainers displaying previously identified leadership competencies. Data were collected using a web-based questionnaire designed for the study. Participants were 326 college and university head athletic trainers closely resembling the characteristics of the population. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics to determine the level of importance assigned to each competency and the demographic responses of participants. Inferential statistics …

Currents Of Time And Universe, Carmen Malsch

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Malsch, Carmen, M.F.A., Summer 2014. Fine Art Currents of Time and Universe Chairperson: Professor James Bailey Abstract Currents of Time and Universe explores personal awareness and connection to the universe. Large woodcut and intaglio prints describe a visual vocabulary for universal themes. In this vocabulary, a current is the image for awareness, connection, and motion in space and time. Bird forms frequenting the images represent the habitation of both earth and sky. Less grounded and more of the air than the human, the bird image identifies with the inner life of a person more than with the physical body. However, …

Neuroplasticity, Dosage, And Repetition Priming Effects In Individuals With Stroke-Induced Aphasia, Jenna Ray Griffin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Intensity significantly impacts aphasia treatment efficacy, yet research protocols have not answered questions about optimal intensity and/or dosage. A single-subject ABA design investigated the influence of repetition priming on naming performance for four individuals with stroke-induced aphasia. The participants completed an intensive training protocol with repeated attempts to name pictures. Independent variables included training status and stimulus dosage. The dependent variable was response accuracy. Response accuracy increased for all participants during the training phase, and training effects persisted through the maintenance phase for all participants. Stimulus dosage did not consistently influence response accuracy for the participants.

An Assessment Of The Health Needs Of The Transgender Community In Montana, Anna Grace Von Gohren

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The transgender community has been identified as a group at high risk for HIV transmission and increased possibility for poor quality of life. This paper represents the results of a qualitative research study using interviews and Photovoice as methodologies to explore the contextual factors that define and shape the lives of people in Montana who identify as transgender, and specifically to explore factors that influence their risk of infection with HIV/AIDS. Ten major themes emerged from the interviews as well as the discussions surrounding the photographs. Sense of self was identified as a core category related to the overall health …

Just Leftovers, Sarah Elizabeth Tancred

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Just Leftovers is intended to offer an understanding of the woman’s role within the domestic realm and its evolution over time in American society. My ultimate goal is to create an awareness of women’s inequality historically, but also to expose the inequality, biases, and double standards that continue to exist in our contemporary society. I choose to create this awareness through visual art with the manipulation of recognizable objects that the general public, stereotypically speaking, would associate with femininity and domesticity. I am fascinated by how these “feminine” objects and their historical content [e.g. bread pan] have been socially constructed …