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Experiences Of White Women Graduate Students In A Diversity And Inclusion Badge Program At A Predominantly White Institution In A Time Of Whitestream Racial Reckoning, Stefanie Argus

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how white women engaged with interrogating whiteness, race, and racism after completing a multi-session diversity program designed for graduate students. This qualitative research project tends to the following research question: What are the lived experiences of white women who complete a diversity and inclusion program for graduate students?

For this research project, white women who are graduate students participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Using critical whiteness theory, a feminist research framework, and interpretive phenomenological analysis, this study identified commonalities in experiences among participants (Creswell & Poth, 2018; van Manen, 2014). As is …

The Immigrant Experience Of Latina Mothers From A Strengths Perspective: A Focused Ethnography, Esperanza Gutierrez

Open Access Dissertations

Latina mothers are part of a rapidly growing ethnic minority group in the United States (U.S.). Researchers have largely illuminated their challenges and problems in their immigration process. A problem-oriented approach leads to labeling of the individual based on vulnerabilities, pathologies, and deficits. Nursing needs a greater emphasis on the strengths perspective, empirical studies, and a broader culturally based conception of strengths, including Latina mothers who immigrate to the U.S. A strengths perspective would be beneficial in encompassing Latina mothers’ capabilities and potentialities.

Focused ethnography was used to identify and describe the strengths of Latina mothers who immigrated to the …

Hypoglycemia Screening In Term Normal Birth Weight Newborns: A Retrospective Electronic Health Record Review, Michelle G. Palmer

Open Access Dissertations

A gap in the evidence exists regarding screening of term normal birth weight newborns without identified risk factors for the presence of hypoglycemia. The purpose of this retrospective electronic health record review was to examine factors leading to and results associated with blood glucose screening of term normal birth weight newborns without previously identified risk factors for hypoglycemia.

The specific aims of this study were to: (a) determine if there were statistically significant differences between screened and unscreened full term, normal birth weight newborns without pre-existing identified risk factors for hypoglycemia by: gender, race, delayed cord clamping, skin-to-skin initiation and …

How Does Practicing Mindfulness Relate To Consumer Willingness To Attend Events Post-Pandemic?, Gillian N. Palmer

Open Access Dissertations

A TWO ESSAY DISSERTATION EXAMINING MINDFULNESS IN THE EVENTS INDUSTRY

The restrictions and social concerns that limited social interaction during the first eighteen months of the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the multi-trillion-dollar event industry, which includes large hallmark events like festivals and concerts and business events like trade shows. In addition to the impact made to the events industry, there was a social and mental wellness impact on consumers as they learned how to live a "new norm" lifestyle. As vaccines and reductions in social distancing guidelines opened a path to return to physical, in-person events, event …

Diagnostic Brains, Experiential Minds And Metamodernism: Mcewan, Self, And Mccarthy As Case Studies, Mohamed Anis Ferchichi

Open Access Dissertations

In the wake of critical stances encompassing both modernism and postmodernism, we witness a theoretical preoccupation with how recent literary innovations position today's British fiction within the legacy of the novel form. On the one hand, postmodernism disrupted modernism's experiential phenomenology of interiority, subject, and character (what I call an experiential inflexion in critical comprehension of the form). On the other hand, what was declared "the decade of the brain" shifted some narrativization to exteriority, syndromic specifics, and reductive somaticism (what I see as a diagnostic inflexion in critical comprehension of the form). In considering today's British fiction within the …

A Group Respite Intervention For Family Caregivers Of Children Living With Special Needs, Christine Mcgrane

Open Access Dissertations

Family caregiver stress is a growing healthcare concern as more and more families are providing a large portion of care at home. As a family caregiver, parents of children living with special needs are taking on this role as a lifelong journey with their child. Due to the provision of continuous caregiving, these parents are at higher risk for exhaustion, stress, and social isolation, and the challenges can impact both the child and family’s physical and emotional well-being. The demands of caregiving can impact their physical, mental, social, and financial health. As a society, the importance of caring for the …

Sickle Cell Disease Self-Management Among Late Adolescents And Their Families In Saudi Arabia: A Mixed-Method Study, Ebtesam Mohd Abdulshakoor

Open Access Dissertations

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hereditary blood disorder that affects millions globally. In Saudi Arabia, it manifests in severe or moderate forms, affecting 24 of 10,000 children and adolescents. This places a substantial burden on families, necessitating intricate care. While existing literature has primarily focused on medical management and quality of life, there is a gap in understanding Saudi adolescents’ experiences living with SCD and their self-management behaviors. Given the cultural emphasis on family in Saudi Arabia, this study was guided by the Individual and Family Self-management Theory (IFSMT), emphasizing collaborative efforts involving individuals and their families. …

Associations Between Stress, Intuitive Eating, And Adiposity In A Cohort Of Midlife Women, Bridget A. Owens

Open Access Dissertations

Stress and eating behaviors can influence the health of midlife women, a population at risk for weight gain and redistribution of fat to the abdominal area related to shifts in reproductive hormones and aging. Higher stress is associated with negative health outcomes such as increased abdominal adiposity, depression, and chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. Women report higher stress and more emotional and physical side effects from stress than men and are more likely than men to engage in emotional eating in response to stress. Further, the desire to lose weight and the prevalence of body dissatisfaction is high among …

Examining Bidirectional Relations Between Interpersonal Trauma And Substance Use Among Army Soldiers, Shannon Forkus

Open Access Dissertations

Introduction. Interpersonal trauma (IPT) and substance use are particularly prevalent and problematic concerns among military personnel. Theoretical and empirical findings suggest that IPT and substance use are highly interconnected. Elucidating the developmental trajectory between IPT and substance use is necessary for identifying prominent pathways for intervention. Purpose. The current study examined IPT and substance use longitudinally, from pre- to post-deployment, among a large military sample. Method. This study utilized a sample of 4,645 military service members who were administered self-report questionnaires at four separate timepoints (one pre-deployment and three post-deployment). Results. Cross-lagged panel models were estimated …

Dyadic Experience Of Emotion Regulation For Families With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Coral L. Shuster

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation was constructed to better understand the role that emotion regulation(ER) difficulties have in the lives of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Three research methods were utilized and are presented in this order: secondary data analysis, systematic literature review, and a cross-sectional observational study. The secondary data analysis (chapter one) aimed to understand the association between family conflict, child ER, parent perceived stress, and ASD-related social responsiveness in a sample of 2,229 children included in a nationwide longitudinal study. Findings suggest that higher social responsiveness scores predict more ER difficulties as reported by a parent. Parent perceived …

Do Good To Feel Good? Investigating Civic Engagement Among Non-College Young Adults, Natalie Fenn

Open Access Dissertations

Young adulthood is a period of transition during which individuals could greatly benefit from health promotion tools. Civic engagement has been touted as one potential form of health promotion given its association with positive well-being. However, researchers have primarily examined civic engagement as a health promotion tool among older adults and adolescents, and less is known about its mental health implications for young adults. Additionally, findings are more mixed among women and those from lower-socioeconomic populations perhaps because civic engagement is conceived as an extra burden. Less-educated individuals are less likely to civically engage and more likely to demonstrate mental …

Using Constructivist Grounded Theory To Unpack How White Women In Stem Become Committed To Racial Justice, Desiree Forsythe

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation presents findings from a constructivist grounded theory study on the process in which white women in STEM commit to racial justice. The research here captures not only the complexity of racial justice activism in white women, both the participants and my own, but is also grounded in the current events of the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted during a particularly brutal string of murders on Black people by law enforcement in the United States. This dissertation serves to unpack how white supremacy is both rejected and embodied by those attempting to commit to racial justice and to …

Risk And Protective Factors Associated With Opioid Use After In-Patient Detoxification, Megan M. Drohan

Open Access Dissertations

Objective: To identify risk and protective factors for return to opioid use post inpatient detoxification in a sample of persons with opioid use disorder (OUD).

Design and Methods: This study used data from a larger randomized controlled study following 206 eligible individuals who entered in-patient detoxification for OUD. Participants entered the study as part of the observation arm and were assessed for six months following in-patient detoxification. Timeline follow-back assessment was used to identify if and when participants returned to opioid use post-detoxification. A series of bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify risk and protective …

Environmental Context And Expectancy Of Alcohol Use On Changes In Reflection-Impulsivity And Craving, Christina T. Schulz

Open Access Dissertations

The present study primarily aimed to (a) determine the effects of environmental context and the expectancy of alcohol consumption on changes in reflection-impulsivity (R-I), a state behavioral aspect of impulsivity and (b) test R-I as a mediator of the association between environment, expectancy of alcohol consumption, and subjective craving for alcohol in a sample of college-aged heavy drinkers. Participants were 81 (76.5% female) college students between the ages of 21 and 29 (M = 21.86, SD = 1.87) who were classified as heavy drinkers. Participants first completed measures of alcohol use, trait impulsivity, behavioral R-I, and subjective craving for …

Black Feminist Autoethnography: How Identity Can Affect Peer Review Practices In The College Writing Classroom, Eileen M. James

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation explores the importance of embodied teaching pedagogy as it relates to peer review practices in the college writing classroom. This work uses autoethnography as a research method, exploring issues of (dis)embodiment and experiences with collaborative learning in classrooms. In addition to a review of applicable literature focused on peer review practices, writing pedagogy, and Black Feminist Autoethnography, this dissertation contains narrative sections from the viewpoint of the subject--a Black woman--as a student, an instructor, and a researcher working to examine her experiences and how they demonstrate the need for embodied approaches in the classroom. The purpose of this …

A Qualitative Exploration Of Alcohol And Other Drug Use Among Multiracial Young Adults, Tessa Nalven

Open Access Dissertations

The United States' Multiracial population (i.e., two or more races) increased by 276% between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, making it one of the fastest growing racial/ethnic demographic groups in the country. Research suggests that Multiracial young adults (i.e., 18-25 years old) report higher alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and are at a higher risk for AOD-related consequences than nearly all their monoracial counterparts. The present study conducted focus groups and utilized descriptive qualitative methodology to uncover factors associated with AOD use in Multiracial young adults. 22 participants (77.3% women, Mage = 20.8 years, SD = 2.6) were included …

Concept Maps For Middle School Computer Science Assessment, Gabriel De Pace

Open Access Dissertations

Concept Mapping has long been used in academic settings for various pur- poses but has been underutilized for assessment. Creating the concept map task and scoring the maps have been barriers to their widespread acceptance, but these difficulties are mitigated with automation and simple tools for the teacher to use. The aim of this work is to show that concept maps can be used effectively as computer science assessments in secondary schools. Ultimately, they can be used to measure student knowledge and to complement other forms of classroom assessments. We used the Code.org CS Discoveries Units 1-3 Curriculum taught in …

Longitudinal Clustering Of Health Behaviors Within The Framingham Heart Study, Nathan L. Baumann

Open Access Dissertations

Health risk behaviors (HRB) have been shown to impact non-communicable chronic disease (NCI) over the lifespan, which are among the leading causes of mortality within the United States. Treatment of NCI includes both pharmacological and behavior change intervention. Though behavior change recommendations are common in the treatment of NCI, our understanding of the long-term trajectory of HRB and how they cluster are not yet fully understood. The current study seeks to elucidate the clustering of specific health behavior changes over the lifespan, bolstering the potential for taking preventative measures as well as fostering positive health behavior change more broadly in …

Analyzing Factors That Contribute To Attrition Of Underrepresented Undergraduate Students In Computer Science, Noura Albarakati

Open Access Dissertations

In recent years, women and underrepresented minority students have made significant advances in traditionally White male-dominated majors. Nevertheless, they are still underrepresented in most STEM majors. Consequently, many institutions in Higher Education are exploring ways to deliver environments that support those underrepresented students’ retention in science and engineering. This study sheds some light on women and minority students’ underrepresentation in computer science by exploring factors associated with their retention in the field.

This dissertation starts with an exploratory analysis that examines the attrition rate of underrepresented students who switched to other majors compared to their majority peers and investigates any …

The Experiences Of Nurses As Double Duty Caregivers For A Family Member At The End Of Life: Interpretive Description, Sandra A. Basley

Open Access Dissertations

This study explored the experiences of nurses providing end-of-life care for family members while continuing to work as a nurse. As the delivery of healthcare changes in our country, we are seeing a transition to community-based client care. As a result, there are more people with complex, advanced illnesses being cared for in the home by family members and friends. Family caregivers are the primary source of support for older adults with chronic illness and disability. These family caregivers take on many responsibilities, and often experience physical, emotional, psychological, and social distress because of the demands placed on them. A …

The Development Of An Inclusive Three-Item Gender Instrument, Angela Astorini

Open Access Dissertations

Existing gender instruments are not inclusive and sensitive to all persons of transgender and/or gender diverse experience (TGDE), individuals whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth according to the heteronormative sociocultural construct of gender (Flores et al. 2016; Meerwijk & Sevelius, 2017). The goal of this study was to use a mixed methods approach to develop a new three-item gender instrument that collects information from participants on their sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and the gender they live as in their day-to-day life (lived gender). This gender instrument would aid researchers and health professionals …

The Bolstering Effects Of Psychological Capital On Community College Students, Kyle Normand Gamache

Open Access Dissertations

Community colleges have an important, civic mission to serve the educational needs of the public. Often, community colleges will serve a disproportionate number of students belonging to ethnic minority groups and students of lower socioeconomic status (Cross & Atinde, 2015). Unfortunately, community college students experience lower levels of academic success, often displaying lower academic achievement and degree completion (Dougherty et al., 2017; Rosenbaum et al., 2017). Many studies have sought to understand college student success and investigate ways to bolster student attainment. Research in the field of organizational psychology has developed theories related to psychological capital (PsyCap), psychological constructs that …

Chronicling A Pandemic: Understanding The Experiences Of Secondary School Teachers During The March 2020 Shutdown, Timothy Kenney

Open Access Dissertations

The COVID-19 shutdown in March of 2020 moved teachers into emergency remote teaching. Emergency remote teaching (ERT), which is a temporary shift of instructional to an alternative delivery mode due to crisis (Hodges et al., 2020, p. 6), caused teachers to deal with a pedagogy they had never anticipated (Yildirim, K., & Elverici, S. E., 2021), often done with little guidance from administration (Trikolis & Papanastasiou, 2020). ERT also isolated teachers from their students and colleagues (Green et al., 2020; Hart & Nash, 2020) all of which led to a decreased sense of professionalism and efficacy (Reich et al., 2020). …

An Interpretative Phenomenological Study Of Undergraduate Student Wellness: Exploring Generation Z Student Wellness Experiences During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kristen Pepin

Open Access Dissertations

Qualitative research exploring undergraduate student wellness during a pandemic was scarce prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 and is still lacking. Studies investigating student wellness during pandemics often fracture the concept by quantitatively researching specific wellness dimensions (Cao et al., 2020; Galea et al., 2020; Tang et al., 2020) as opposed to exploring the construct from a holistic perspective. Additionally, few studies aim to understand how undergraduate students make meaning of wellness and their lived wellness experiences, specifically during a pandemic. Furthermore, emerging research (Huckins et al., 2020) corroborates the extant literature that posit student health behaviors were declining in …

Longitudinal Investigation Of Childhood Trauma And Emotiondriven Impulsivity, Svetlana Goncharenko

Open Access Dissertations

Exposure to childhood trauma is associated with numerous adverse psychological, physical, and behavioral health consequences. This highlight childhood trauma as a major public health problem. Addressing important gaps in the existing research, the proposed study clarifies the bidirectional and unique prospective associations between childhood trauma and both negative and positive emotion-driven impulsivity. This study utilized a sample of 11,872 participants from the ABCD study and conducted Cross Lagged Panel Models to evaluate the bisectional associations between childhood trauma and positive and negative emotion-driven impulsivity. Findings showed that earlier childhood trauma was associated with higher levels of later negative and positive …

The Text(Tiles) Of Adinkra Symbols: West African Art, Gender, & Poetic Translations, Rachel A. Ansong

Open Access Dissertations

The Text(tiles) of Adinkra Symbols: West African Art, Gender, & Poetic Translations is a critical and creative dissertation that interrogates Adinkra symbols from West Africa. These symbols, rediscovered in the nineteenth century, serve as codes, communicating warnings and meanings of proverbs to recipients. Many individual Adinkra symbols are abstract ideographs of the philosophical ideas they represent. My work expands on existing scholarship and further elaborates how Adinkra symbols moved from Ghana to the United States (U.S). Specifically, I trace how these creative-pictorial-philosophical symbols evolved in use as artistic mediums of expression of African/Black tradition and identity for the migrant African/Black …

Cognitive Reappraisal Vs. Acceptance: A Comparison Of Emotion Regulation Strategies To Reduce Anxiety, Ciara James

Open Access Dissertations

Emotion regulation consists of the skills and cognitive strategies used to alter different aspects of emotion, including the subjective and temporal experience of emotion, outward expression of emotion, the ways in which an emotional experience is interpreted, or the emotion-eliciting stimuli itself. Previous research has identified reappraisal, reframing the perception of an emotion-eliciting event to change the emotional experience, and acceptance, allowing the presence of thoughts following an emotional experience to pass through the mind in a nonjudgmental fashion, as adaptive strategies to use when managing negative emotions. The present study compared the efficacy of reappraisal and acceptance in reducing …

Simultaneous Alcohol And Marijuana Use: Associations With Alcohol Consequences Among At-Risk Youth, Daniel Delaney

Open Access Dissertations

Emerging research has examined simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM). SAM use has been found to be associated with heavier substance use and adverse consequences. However, research so far has not focused on younger at-risk youth, or accounted for race and ethnicity as influencing SAM use or associated consequences. This study examined SAM use and alcohol-related consequences and risky behaviors in a diverse (N=576; 54% White, 24.7% Hispanic, 12.7% Black) sample of at-risk youth (9-18 years old) recruited from juvenile detention and community mental health centers. SAM use was more prevalent than alcohol or marijuana use alone in these settings. Analyses …

Broken Dozer, Haunted Vale: The Ecopoetics Of Ambient Language, Andrew Merecicky

Open Access Dissertations

Broken Dozer, Haunted Vale is a collection of poetry that explores the principles of ambient language poetics as articulated in its critical introduction. Rather than a poetic focused on a set of thematic concerns, ambient language poetics is an ecopoetic that addresses the writing process itself and proposes an alternative to the internal/external spatial metaphor that inspires creative writing pedagogy premised on the urgency of self-expression. The poems within the collection are an experimental inquiry into what might be possible in making poems if the activity of reading/writing is not motivated primarily by representational and mimetic aims that are described …

Feasibility And Acceptability Of The Ebb And Flow Parenting Program, Maria Catherine Difonte

Open Access Dissertations

It is well-documented that parenting impacts childhood outcomes, and research has found specific positive parenting strategies that are associated with increased child resilience, well-being, and functioning (Williams et al., 2009). In-person and online programs aim to increase use of these strategies and have led to significant improvements in child outcomes and parental self-efficacy and adjustment (Webster-Stratton, 1981; Sanders, 1999; Morgan et al., 2018; Khanna et al., 2017). While findings are promising, work is needed to assess the preventative roles of single-session psychoeducational parent training programs in reducing the emergence of diagnosable concerns in children, yet research in this area is …