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Social Anxiety And Paranoia: A Mixed-Methods Investigation, Sophie Homer

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Social anxiety is highly prevalent and highly debilitating. It is detrimental to educational and occupational progression as well as quality of life for up to 12% of the population. Current research, treatment, and diagnostic criteria maintain that the cause of anxiety in social situations is self-focused fear, usually of personal inadequacy, but social situations invariably involve both the self and other people. This thesis draws upon the paranoia literature to inform arguments about the role of negative perceptions of others in social anxiety. I propound a novel theoretical model of the core fears underlying social anxiety. I argue that anxiety …

A Randomised Controlled Feasibility Trial To Investigate The Effects Of A Functional Standing Frame Programme Versus Usual Physiotherapy To Improve Function And Quality Of Life And Reduce Neuromuscular Impairment In People With Severe Sub-Acute Stroke, Angie Logan

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Background Task-related training can aid functional recovery post-stroke but has not been investigated in people with severe stroke. Orthostatic hypotension (OH) may limit rehabilitation, therefore, the effects of undertaking prolonged standing and sit to stand repetitions (functional standing frame programme) early after severe stroke during inpatient sub-acute rehabilitation is unknown. Methods A systematic review of non-pharmacological interventions to treat OH in people with neurological conditions was undertaken to inform a protocol for the management of OH during the functional standing frame programme. The feasibility of a blinded randomised controlled trial (RCT) investigating the effects of a functional standing frame programme …

Shaping The Perceptual Representation Of Observed Human Action Through Prediction., Katrina Louise Mcdonough

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Understanding the actions of others is crucial for all social interactions. Despite a dynamic and complicated social world, humans can derive the goals, attitudes and beliefs that drive others’ actions, imbuing them with meaning and understanding. While such abilities were traditionally accounted for by a direct matching of observed actions to actions within the observer’s motor system, contemporary theories of social perception explain them within a predictive processing framework. They argue that perception of others’ actions is shaped by prior assumptions about their goals and intentions and the behaviours that these mental states predict. This thesis aimed to resolve whether …

Understanding Student Charters Through Psychological Contracts In Higher Education: A Grounded Theory Approach, Julie Ann Osborn

Other Faculty of Health Theses

The introduction of higher fees and globalisation have created a competitive environment in which UK universities operate. Higher fees and globalisation have placed emphasis on higher education institutions operating as a profit driven sector with feedback sought from consumers in the form of large scale surveys e.g. National Student Survey (NSS). Our understanding of the student experience has been framed within a broadly positivist framework, which arguably limits our understanding. The purpose of this study was to trial a new way of exploring the student experience. This novel approach used the psychological contract as a sensitising concept. It has been …

The Perceived Effectiveness Of Brief Psychological Techniques For Acute Postoperative Pain, Alsanaani Tahani

Other Faculty of Health Theses

Postoperative pain is still a challenge and patients are still suffering from postoperative pain, despite the administration of multiple analgesic methods for treating pain. In a systematic review and meta-analysis I found that brief psychological interventions such as relaxation techniques including simple breathing exercises or guided imagery, and simple distraction techniques such as listening to music, or practicing a script of self-hypnosis may help those patients to cope better with their pain. Although quality of these studies was not always of the highest level, the findings synthesized from 30 randomised controlled trials indicated that brief psychological interventions did reduce postoperative …

Faith-Based Support For Alzheimer's Family Caregivers In Madison County, Alabama, Meredith Lewis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Alzheimer's disease, the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, is incurable. Because of the extensive long-term care required for patients with Alzheimer's, the typical caregiver is often a middle-aged family member with his or her own health problems. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to determine the extent to which there was a difference in the perception of quality of life between Alzheimer's family caregivers who receive tangible faith-based support compared to the Alzheimer's family caregivers who receive no social support. The theoretical basis was social support theory, which suggests that support buffers stress. The …

From Retribution To Restoration: Implementing Nationwide Restorative Justice Initiatives - Lessons From Jamaica, Inga N. Laurent

Fordham International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Do Part-Time Employees Matter In The Restaurant Industry?, Jangwoo Jo, Hyun-Woo Joung

ICHRIE Research Reports

There has been a substantial increase of non-standard work arrangements such as part-time, contingent, and temporary work in the restaurant industry. According to the National Restaurant Association, the overall turnover rate in the restaurant industry was 72.9% in 2016 and this rate has been increasing since 2010. The findings clearly indicated that part-time employees were less satisfied with their current job situations as compared to their counterparts. This study also found that none of the predictors of employee turnover intention in the part-time employee group had any impact on lowering turnover intention, implying that the high turnover intention of part-time …

Comparing Generation Y Hotel Employees In The United States And China, Bonnie Knutson, Miran Kim

ICHRIE Research Reports

Millennials will represent 75% of the global workforce by 2025. They were born and raised in an era of rapid technological development, better access to education, and growing globalization. They are often characterized as protected by Baby Boomer parents and society. They are technologically-savvy, achievement-oriented, team-oriented, job-hoppers, and focused on life-balance. It is essential to understand their values in term of work attitudes and behaviors. Employees’ commitment to customer service is particularly important in the hotel sector as it results in greater customer satisfaction and loyalty as well as better service quality. We surveyed hotel employees in the United States …

Effective Hotel Brand Management - Don’T Forget The Role Of Your Employees!, Yao-Chin Wang, Ceridwyn King

ICHRIE Research Reports

Employees are a vital element of a customer’s hotel experience. Responsible for delivering the differentiated experience reflected in the hotel’s brand, employees are an important brand resource, necessitating brand management adopt an external and internal perspective. This report explains internal brand management and the favorable brand outcomes that result.

Promoting Learner Engagement Through Interactive Digital Tools, Xianquan Liu, Aleidine J. Moeller

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Interactive digital tools and virtual learning spaces can be effective in engaging learners with language, content, and culture that promote language proficiency. However, the mere utilization of technology tools does not guarantee learner growth in language proficiency without careful attention to research-informed learning strategies and standards-based instructional design. Learning objectives and language functions drive instruction, and digital learning tools can provide differentiated learning opportunities and learner support that scaffold the learning process. The authors provide a review of the literature on technology integration in world language education as well as examples of popular digital tools designed to facilitate meaningful, interactive …

Factors That Influence Physical Activity Among African American Mothers At Recreation Centers, Nichole Leigh Glover

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Physical activity is a critical factor in preventing obesity and other chronic illnesses. African American women experience higher rates of physical inactivity than the general population. As a key figure in the family, African American mothers should model healthy behaviors to the family, especially their children. This qualitative study explored the physical activity attitudes of African American mothers who frequently visit a recreation center in the Columbus, Ohio, area. The research questions focused on the possible barriers and motivators for physical activity engagement. The theory of planned behavior, which emphasizes behaviors, intentions, and attitudes when exploring health behaviors, guided the …

Motivation To Teach: The Differences Between Faculty In Schools Of Education And K-12 Teachers, Nancy L. Leech, Kara Mitchell Viesca, Carolyn A. Haug

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate higher education faculty’s motivation to teach and to validate the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) survey with this population.

Design/methodology/approach – Confirmatory factor analysis and t-tests on data from 101 higher education faculty and data from K-12 teachers show that the two samples fit the model similarly.

Findings – Results show that the similarities between the two groups are important to note as it suggests both the value of the FIT-Choice instrument as a research tool in higher education as well as the similarities in motivating factors between higher …

Recidivism Differences And Measures Of Predictability For Federally Convicted Child Pornographers, Ricardo J. Rodriguez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a gap in research on the effectiveness of mandatory-€minimum sentences on the recidivism rates of federal child pornography offenders, resulting in policy that may be ineffective and costly. Relevant research can further understanding of criminogenic behavior that results in the exploitation of children and aid future policy making decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between federal sentencing and federal child pornographer recidivism. Central to this study is the research question of whether there exists a statistically significant difference between the likelihood of recidivism in 2 child pornographer cohorts that receive different …

Exploring How Emdr Social Workers In Eastern Canada Experience Vicarious Trauma, Ashley Amara Spinney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social workers are increasingly using eye movement, desensitization, and reprocessing (EMDR) to help clients recover from trauma. Little is known about how social workers who work with traumatic client material while using EMDR as their main psychotherapeutic modality experience vicarious trauma. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experience of vicarious trauma among social workers in Eastern Canada who used EMDR in their practice with clients. Constructivist self-development theory was the framework that informed this study. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with 7 EMDR social work participants who were selected using purposive sampling. Participants were required …

Influence Of Police Officer Fear And Use-Of-Force Outcomes, Michele D. Stafford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Police officer and community relations tensions have heightened with increases in publicized deadly use-of-force incidents on social media platforms. Though some deadly force encounters have been justified because officers stated they feared for their lives, little is known about the impact fear has on police officers' actions. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the impact fear plays when officers implement use-of-force continuum practices during encounters with civilians. Schacter and Singers' two-factor theory of emotion was used as the conceptual framework for this study. The key research question examined the influence of police officer fear as a factor …

Trauma-€Informed Care For Persons With Opioid Use Disorder In Ohio, Kimberly Toler

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prevention, social work, and community awareness programs have not led to the successful reduction of opioid overdose deaths nationwide, and particularly in Ohio. This study explored social work perspectives about trauma-€informed care (TIC) for persons with opioid use disorder in Ohio. The research questions for this study examined how social workers in Ohio implemented TIC when providing outpatient treatment to opioid users and what challenges they faced when providing TIC. Using an action research methodology, data were collected through individual semistructured interviews with 5 social work professionals, selected through purposive sampling based on experience in the field of substance use …

The Moderating Influence Of Social Media On The Relationship Between Perceptions Of Police And Community Violence Among African American Men, Herman Charles Tucker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American males experience homicides significantly higher than other groups throughout the United States. More African Americans are victims of violence, especially deadly violence, compared to any other racial or ethnic group. While research has been conducted on the association between perceptions of police and violence among African American men ages 18 to 44, no research exists on whether social media use moderates this association among African American men ages 18 to 44. This quantitative, cross-sectional study included 45 African American men. The Past Feelings and Act of Violence (PFAV) instrument, the Perceptions of Police (POP), and the Social Media …

Mental Health Courts: Mental Illness, Diversion Programs And Recidivism, Michelle Blount

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many large urban juvenile probation departments have begun to utilize mental health courts to meet the demands of the increasing number of individuals who have mental health issues that end up in the juvenile justice system. Diversion programs are designed to keep youth in the community and out of the juvenile justice system, but it is not clear whether these programs keep individuals from re-offending. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine whether diversion programs used in the mental health courts are helping to decrease recidivism for juveniles identified with mental illness. This study was also aimed at identifying how …

Teacher Biases As An Influence On Early Childhood Assessments, Crystal Mason

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teacher perspectives and judgments of students' race and gender are known to influence their assessment of primary and secondary students' academic achievements. However, little is known about the effect on children's academic achievement of preschool teacher perspectives and judgments of students' race and gender, which forms the basis for this study. The purpose of this study was to analyze teacher assessment of preschool children's mathematics and science skills on the Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) and Teacher Strategies GOLD (TSG), along with teacher comments written in preparation for each child's parent-teacher conference, to determine if there was a relationship between …

Stakeholder Perspectives On Teacher Attrition In Private Early Childhood Schools In India, Swathi Sandesh Menon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teacher attrition is a problem that has consequences for children and schools in many countries; children are affected negatively both emotionally and intellectually, while schools suffer setbacks, such as financial stress and disruption of the learning environment. This multiple case study explored the perspectives of stakeholders in India regarding how teacher attrition in private early childhood schools influenced students, teachers, parents, school leaders, and schools, as well as the factors that stakeholders identified as important for teacher retention in private early childhood education. The conceptual framework was Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Data were collected through interviews with teachers and school …

Abstract Hiv Testing And Multiple Sexual Partnerships Among Men In Nigeria, Kelvin Meyeyin-Bala

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low Human Immunodeficiency Virus [HIV] test uptake and multiple partnerships among men in Nigeria are contributing factors to HIV transmission. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between HIV test uptake, sociodemographic characteristics, HIV knowledge, attitude, and multiple sexual partnerships. The health belief model provided the framework for the study. Data were collected from the 2013 Nigerian National Demographic Health Survey, which surveyed 17,359 Nigerian men ages 15-49 years. Chi-square and binary logistic regression analysis showed that sociodemographic variables (age, residence, marital status, religion, wealth status, ethnicity, and educational level), HIV test uptake, HIV knowledge, …

Predictors Of Poor Pregnancy Outcomes Among Pregnant Women In Island Maternity, Nigeria, Letam Nwi-Ue

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Pregnancy outcomes have improved tremendously in developed countries. Notwithstanding, it is still a huge challenge in developing countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015 in Nigeria, about 145 women died daily from pregnancy-related causes. Similarly, nearly 2,300 children under 5 years were lost in the same year. Nigeria consistently underperformed in some of the critical pregnancy indicators such as maternal and neonatal mortality, second worst only to India in the world. Studies on poor pregnancy outcomes are scarce in Nigeria. The purpose of this quantitative, retrospective cross-sectional study was to use local evidence to ascertain the risk factors that predict poor …

Improving Compassion Fatigue And Vicarious Trauma Knowledge For Psychiatric Nurses, Natalie P. Rebelo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nurses are exposed to traumatic patients and high stress regularly; this repeated exposure can increase rates of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. When nurses are not properly educated about compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma, it can impact their ability to provide effective patient care and result in harmful effects including insecurity, altered cognitive functioning, loss of empathy and diminished self-esteem. This project focused on educating psychiatric nurses regarding compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. The theory guiding the project was the Neuman's system model. Fifty-six psychiatric nurses were administered a pretest consisting of 10 multiple choice test questions. They were educated …

Understanding Nonoffending Caregiver Protection In Child Sexual Abuse, Christina Lynn Sally

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Child sexual abuse is a global issue that has affected children, families, and communities for centuries regardless of socioeconomic, religious, ethnic, race, or multicultural factors and distinctions. Sexually abused children may be reluctant to disclose sexual abuse due to perceptions or realities that their nonoffending caregiver (NOC) will not believe their reports and may fail to provide adequate protection. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess if child demographics (i.e., age, sex, and race/ethnicity); type of sexual offense (i.e., contact or noncontact); and perpetrator relationship to the child (i.e., familial or extrafamilial) predict a NOC's response (i.e., protection …

Success And Failure Of Drug Rehabilitation: Pets Accompanying Clients To Treatment, Rikki Schwab

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research addresses the use of canine animals in substance abuse treatment. There is research that addresses the importance of animals regarding therapy and mental illness, as well as research on the comorbidity of severe mental illness and substance abuse disorder. However, there is no research that looks at utilizing canines in substance abuse therapy. The purpose of this research was to examine the utilization of canine animals in rehab for those with substance abuse issues. The theoretical foundation for this study is the theory of contextualism. This theory focuses on humans with animals. To address the gap in research, …

Comparison Of Army Veterans' And Nonveterans' Individual Work Performance, Petrina Veola Stack

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business managers lack knowledge and understanding of the transferability of Army veterans' individual work performance (IWP) in the private sector, which results in organizations' failure to hire Army veterans who possess strong IWPs. The purpose of this nonexperimental, cross-sectional study was to compare Army veterans' and nonveterans' transferable IWP as defined by task performance (TP), contextual performance (CP), and counter-productive work behavior (CWB). The IWP framework provided the theoretical foundation for this study. The research question examined how veterans' IWPs compared to those of nonveterans. The sample frame included U.S. Army civilian veterans and nonveterans at a large military installation …

A Study Of Rural Nonprofit Board Communication And Collaboration, Angela-Janine C. Crawford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This case study explored the perceptions, experiences, and significant internal communication and collaboration problem(s) faced by a rural nonprofit board of directors experiencing a growth transition. Specifically, this study addressed (a) how a rural nonprofit's board members perceived their communication and collaboration skills and practices, and (b) the training needed to improve board communication and collaboration policies and practices. Ten rural area study participants shared their experiences and made recommendations for board communication and collaboration training. Exploring the perceptions, understandings, and capacities of the rural nonprofit board members revealed how specific communication and collaboration policies and practices affected their organization's …

Coping Methods Of Caregivers Dealing With Patients Suffering From Geriatric Dementia, Blessing Baridakara Deemua

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Dementia is a neurological disorder primarily diagnosed in the geriatric population. A problem for paid caregivers of patients diagnosed with stage-4 dementia is that they may experience caregiving stress while rendering care. However, there was no research that described the lived experiences of paid caregivers. Caregiving stress can be accompanied by behaviors or comorbid conditions and specific symptoms of stress can have a differential wellness impact. This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of paid caregivers of patients with dementia through Vroom's expectancy theory. Data were gathered through interpretative interviews from a sample of 10 to 15 purposefully selected nursing …

Partner-Objectification And Relationship Satisfaction In Gay Male Relationships, Kerry Sue Donaldson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Objectification theory explains how media-driven ideals can be internalized and lead to the development of eating disorders, poor body image, depression, anxiety, a desire to achieve a thin ideal, and lowered rates of relationship satisfaction. Research on objectification theory, until recently, has focused primarily on a female population and heterosexual couples. As nontraditional sexual identities have become more accepted in society, media influences have begun to impact other populations, including the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of these media-driven ideals on a gay male population and determine how objectification may …