Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Social Media Use On Physical Isolation In Individuals With Borderline Personality Disorder, Davena Limitless Longshore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) experience extreme interpersonal conflict, crippling their ability to sustain successful relationships. Consequently, clinicians within the psychological field face difficulty in devising treatments plans which can assist these individuals with suffering minimal relationship loss. The purpose of this study was to understand how current technological methods of social interaction affect individuals who suffer from BPD to improve treatment outcomes. This research was guided by the principles of attachment theory and social baseline theory. A quantitative correlational design using social network analysis and multiple regression analysis was used to examine data from surveys. Participants were solicited …

Early Case Closure Of The Intensive In-Home Program In Arkansas, Nicole Lisko Mccauley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Families First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) passed in February of 2018 at the federal level to preserve families and reduce the number of children entering foster care. The State of Arkansas implemented Intensive In-Home Services (IIHS) in 2019 to support the Families First Prevention Services Act. It was observed that more than half of the closed IIHS cases had closed before a family had the opportunity to successfully complete their treatment goals. This study explored reasons Intensive In-Home Service cases are closing early. A basic qualitative design using semistructured interviews was applied through the purposeful sampling of 7 social workers …

Strategies For Establishing A Diverse Workforce Within A University Health System’S Department, Shanee Chantel Morgan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Balanced diversity in health care promotes patient satisfaction and enhances innovation. Obtaining a culturally balanced workplace requires recruitment strategies that encourage inclusiveness among team members from various backgrounds. The purpose of this doctoral study was to explore the issue of lack of diversity in a behavioral health organization’s (BHO’s) student intern program and identify strategies for creating greater diversity in the workplace. The Baldrige excellence framework, the conceptual framework that guided the research, was designed to help BHOs to improve their overall business performance to accomplish goals and increase organizational sustainability. Three themes emerged from the data analysis: diversity training, …

The Role Of Leadership Communication Patterns On Organizational Effectiveness, Nidal Pascoe

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract The communication patterns of leaders in the workplace are vital to ensuring productivity and meeting organizational mission and goals. The quality of workplace communication from the leaders impacts the perceptions of employees about the workplace and their ability to fulfill organizational missions and goals. Communication can be delivered through multiple technological means, in person, and in writing. Message delivery also can convey the tone of the sender. The purpose of this case study was to identify the communication patterns between the executive leaders and six of eight site leaders of a nonprofit counseling center focused on serving children and …

Strategies For Applying Electronic Health Records To Improve Patient Care And Increase Profitability, Fritzgerald Paul

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIneffective strategies to implement electronic health record keeping systems can negatively impact patient care and increase expenses. Hospital administrators and primary care physicians care about this problem because they would be penalized for not meeting meaningful use guidelines. Grounded in the information systems success model, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore electronic health record (EHR) implementation strategies primary care physicians use to improve patient care and increase profitability. The participants comprised five primary care physicians involved in the effective implementation of an EHR application in the central coast region of California. Data were collected from …

Association Between Food Insecurity And Influenza Outcome In The United States., Sabrina Fiona Pink

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe influenza virus is one of the most commonly occurring respiratory viral infections in the world. The outer capsule of the virus contains 18H proteins and 11N proteins, which allows the virus to reform in over 100 different strands and outperform the vaccine. Despite efforts to improve access to care and reduce vaccine inequities; the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 9-45 million documented influenza-related illnesses, 140,000 to 810,000 hospitalization, and 64,000 deaths yearly. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether food insecurity, access to care and other social determinants of health such as age, race, and …

Differentiated Instruction And Flexible Grouping In Elementary Grades, Nancy Nicole Rochester

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At the local site, many students were not achieving necessary learning gains on state assessments. Administrators and teachers were concerned as to why students on the local level were falling short. Current trends emphasized differentiation of instruction in classrooms to meet individual student needs; however, classrooms generally adhere to a more whole group structure. Using flexible grouping to differentiate instruction allows students to be reinforced or challenged at their own skill level. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand if and how research-based data analysis practices are being used by third and fourth grade teachers to form …

Are Black Girls Okay: Microaggressions And Academic Strategy Development For Black Women In Doctoral Programs, Marcella Rolle

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past years, researchers have explored the lived experiences of people of color, namely Black women, in academia. Examiners have learned that Black women often learn how to succeed in academia but at the expense of their mental well-being and even in the midst of oppressive situations. Most of the work previously presented was largely qualitative and has not considered predictive factors or unpacked the strategies Black women used to reach academic success. Therefore, this study used the doubled-edged sword conceptual framework and the Black feminist thought theoretical lens to investigate the relationship between microaggressions, academic strategy development, and …

Understanding The Influence Of Social Integration On The Formerly Homeless, Donna L. Wickes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As the number of homeless people in the United States continues to grow, it is apparent that the current strategies are not meeting expectations and need to be reevaluated. Studies by industry experts highlighted the need to address the impact of social integration on long-term housing sustainability. The purpose of the qualitative study was to understand from the perspective of housed, formerly, homeless individuals, how socially focused interventions could influence their sense of community and increase their social integration. Durkheim’s social theory and McMillan and Chavis’ psychological sense of community (PSOC) framework were used to guide the qualitative, phenomenological approach …

Five Years Of The Ferguson Effect: An Officer Perspective, Darrin Neil Wilcox

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

De-policing or pulling back from proactive policing existed before the shooting death of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9, 2014. Shortly after this incident, de-policing was blamed for alleged increasing national crime rates and this connection came to be called the “Ferguson Effect.” Since then, most Ferguson Effect research has focused mainly on this connection, with little research into officer perceptions. This nonexperimental quantitative study examined officer perceptions of the Ferguson Effect 5 years after the incident and compared it with their views of government oversight of local law enforcement, legal liability, and officer …

Noncompliance With Regulations On The Use Of Safety Helmets By Motorcyclists In Tamale, Ghana, Mohammed Wumbei

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractMotorcyclists’ nonadherence to safety helmet regulations results in an increased risk of accidents, often leading to traumatic injuries or death. This noncompliance is prevalent in the rural and peri-urban areas of the developing world, particularly in Tamale, Ghana. The purpose of this qualitative case study research was to apply the theoretical framework of rational choice theory in the examination of motorcyclists’ considerations in deciding whether to comply with government safety helmet regulations. Motorcyclists in Tamale were convenience sampled for observation and a subset recruited for interview. The study followed the qualitative case study approach by conducting observations and in-depth face-to-face …

Managerial Support Strategies To Minimize Job Insecurity Among Nigerian Private Firms, Dakoru Jethro Atukpa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Studies have shown that job insecurity is one of the factors affecting the performance, productivity, and high turnover of employees in the banking and construction industries in Nigeria. However, there is a gap in knowledge on managerial support strategies implemented by banks and construction firms in Nigeria to minimize job insecurity. The purpose of this qualitative comparative multiple case study was to explore these managerial support strategies as perceived by managers and employees of banking and construction firms in Nigeria. The participatory organization-level intervention concept and perceived-organizational support concept provided the conceptual frameworks for the study. Fifteen participants including operations …

The Use Of Social Media In Moderating Feelings Of Belongingness And Suicidal Ideation Among Women, Latasha Davidson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Suicide among women in the United States increased significantly over the last decade, now accounting for six suicides per 100,000 population. Concurrently, there has been an increase in social media use, with women exhibiting elevated presence on social networking platforms. Grounded in the theoretical framework of the theory of suicide and the interpersonal theory of suicide, the purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental study was to evaluate the association between social media use, feelings of belongingness, and suicidal ideation to address the increased suicide rate among adult women in the United States. One research question focused on how social media use …

An Acceptable Cloud Computing Model For Public Sectors, Eswar Kumar Devarakonda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cloud computing enables information technology (IT) leaders to shift from passive business support to active value creators. However, social economic-communication barriers inhibit individual users from strategic use of the cloud. Grounded in the theory of technology acceptance, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies IT leaders in public sector organizations implement to utilize cloud computing. The participants included nine IT leaders from public sector organizations in Texas, USA. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews, field notes, and publicly available artifacts documents. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis: five themes emerged (a) user-centric and data-driven cloud model; …

Health Care Providers’ Responses To Fibroid Prevalence Among African American Women, Sadio Noni Green

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American women are disproportionately affected by fibroids, and many of them have reported health care experiences of discrimination, biases, and differential care that have affected their overall health significantly. African American women are less likely to receive necessary clinical services and often choose not to seek professional help for psychological symptoms. Discriminating experiences and the suppression of internal struggles has resulted in African American women coping independently with loneliness, anxiety, and depression. There is a need for health care providers to analyze their care management of African American women’s fibroid concerns and to provide interactions and interventions that focus …

The Lived Experiences Of Avoiding Recidivism Among African American Male (First-Time) Former Offenders, Jeff Hines

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe United States has a high recidivism rate within its criminal population, especially among men of African American descent. However, within this population, some first-time former offenders have used successful approaches to avoid re-incarceration. The objective of this study was to investigate how these first-time former offenders desist from crime and avoid recidivism. This was a phenomenological study, utilizing the Desistance Theory as a framework, to explore how these men survived the consequences of post-incarceration and remained crime-free. In-depth, semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with six African American male first-time former offenders (age 25 and older) who were not on …

Retrospective And Forecasting Analysis Of Increased Long Term Care Demand In Niagara, Breanne Alissa Hines

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A problem exists within the Canadian healthcare system as many patients experience longer lengths of stay (LOS) in acute care (AC) and complex care (CC) beds within hospitals because of a lack of long term care (LTC) facilities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extra days patients wait for placement and assess the benefits of increasing the number of LTC beds. The theoretical framework used was the four-level model of the health care system. Research questions involved 2017-2019 data for the number of LTC beds required to eliminate waits and evaluate beds needed in the future. This …

Program Evaluation: Assessing A Housing First Initiative, Caitlin Pennicooke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Housing First is a nationally recognized approach to solving homelessness, but literature does not account for the unique characteristics of geographic locations that are isolated and have high cost of living. This study examined one such city and benchmarked it against another. To protect the identities of these cities, the alias Island City (IC) for the city under examination and Sun City for the benchmark. This research explored IC’s Housing First program related to mitigating homelessness. The purpose of this study was to benchmark IC’s Housing First program against Sun City’s program using the context, input, process, and product (CIPP) …

The Impact Of Financial Education On The Lives Of Cherokee Nation Citizens, Ron Pense

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Financial literacy is something that is important for financial well-being for individuals, but it is lacking, leading to problems such as inadequate saving and poor financial decision making. This research was conducted to examine the impact of financial education for citizens of Cherokee Nation on saving and financial decision making and was grounded in prospect theory and quasi-rational economics. Accordingly, the research questions focused on the extent of differences between individuals with and without financial education for decision making and saving as well as the extent demographic factors play a role. The research design was non-experimental causal comparative with financial …

Resilience As A Mediator Of Perceived Organizational Justice And Turnover Intention For Licensed School Counselors, Autumn Warren Raffety

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

School counselor shortages and high turnover rates have been reported in school districts across the United States. These high turnover rates have led to critical problems for educational institutions as counselors serve a vital role in organizational success and stability. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between organizational justice and turnover intention and whether resilience mediated this relationship for 102 licensed school counselors working in elementary and secondary schools in the United States. Equity theory provided the theoretical foundation for this study, and a nonexperimental correlational research design was used to examine the research questions. …

Counselor Experiences With Clients Who Bring Emotional Support Animals To Sessions, Jennifer Reynolds

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractLimited research on emotional support animals (ESAs) has led to distorted viewpoints of ESAs and how they are used; many individuals are not utilizing ESAs appropriately, and heightened awareness of the negative uses of ESAs in media and other public sources. ESAs can be an effective intervention when working with clients during counseling sessions, but due to the limited research and the negative stigma media this intervention may not be adequately represented. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences of counselors who allow their clients to bring ESAs to counseling session, the goal of reducing …

Strategies For Increasing Information Technology Employee Work-Life Balance, Kimberly D. Seymour

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small to medium enterprise (SME) information technology (IT) managers’ lack of strategic planning initiatives in creating a work life balance environment has created personal and financial concerns for some employees in the United States. Managers must develop and implement strategies that increase profits and productivity as well as create work life balance. Grounded in Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies SME IT business managers used to develop and implement an employee work-life balance environment. The participants were three IT managers and two human resources business managers. Data were collected from semistructured …

Mss0079. John Wilton Collection Finding Aid

Special Collections Finding Aids

Manuscript musical compositions and arrangements of civil engineer, John Wilton, 1847-1922, Memphis, Tennessee.

The Significance Of The Automobile In 20th C. American Short Fiction, Megan M. Flanery

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Midcentury American life featured a post-war economy that established a middle class in which disposable income and time for leisure were commonplace. In this socio-economic environment, consumerism flourished, ushering in the Golden Age of the automobile: from 1950 to 1960, Americans spent more time in their automobiles than ever before, and, by the end of the decade, the number of cars on the road had more than doubled. While much critical attention has been given to the role of the automobile in American novels, less has been given to its role in American short stories. The automobile has been featured …

Firefighters Self-Efficacy Of Injuries And Willingness To Report Injuries Within The Southeast Region Of The United States, Marissa Villafuerte

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

CONTEXT: Firefighting is a dangerous profession often leading to minor and severe injuries. Injuries range from basic first aid to fatalities. Over a third of injuries linked to muscular-skeletal injuries (MSKI). To address MSKI, the fire service has turned to preventative and rehabilitation care such as on-site health care professionals.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was 1) to understand rural firefighters' self-efficacy of injury care and willingness to report MSKIs, 2) compare on-site preventative care fire departments to traditional fire departments and 3) describe the influence of on-site self-efficacy of MSKI care and willingness to report injuries based on …

Design, Synthesis And Applications Of Nanoparticles In Suppression Of Mosquito-Born Flaviviridae Viruses, Maria R. Blahove

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Recently, nanoparticles have become an origin of exploration in the chemistry field due to their unique medical uses. The current drug delivery models of nanoparticles often include a metal base with a drug conjugated to its surface. However this raises concerns regarding toxicity. A novel approach to solving this dilemma is the development of nanosized biocompatible polymer-based micelles, created from PEG-PCL-PEG triblock polymer, and formed around a drug of choice. The goal is to create a drug carrier nanoparticle system that is labile at a specific intracellular pH, without undue toxicity to the cell. This creates a drug-loaded nanoparticle that …

Comparative Conservation Genomics Of A Suite Of Imperiled Freshwater Mussels, Scott C. Meyer

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Maintenance of genetic diversity is a critical component to the management and recovery of imperiled species. By ensuring that a species’ genetic diversity is maintained, issues like inbreeding depression and loss of local adaptation can be prevented. However, the genetic diversity of many species are not well-characterized, and the factors that influence a species’ genetic diversity are often not well understood. In the case of imperiled unionid freshwater mussels, it is important to conduct conservation genetic assessments to aid in their management and preserve genetic diversity. This is the first study to conduct a comparative conservation genomic assessment for eight …

Do The Age And Drama Type Of Individuals Affect Their Perceived Social Status?, Bradly A. Mcginnis

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Drama is a type of performative, interpersonal conflict where traditional victim/aggressor dynamics seen in most types of bullying does not always appear. Different personalities display different types of drama, which may have different levels of usefulness across development. I am interested in discovering whether the level of target social status changes for different drama types across the lifespan. This interaction between target social status and drama type was analyzed by a 2 x 3 design with an expected 2 x 2 interaction. Overall, there were non-significant main effects and a non-significant interaction in the 2 x 3 between subjects ANOVA. …

A Research Assistant's Perceived Skillset When Utilizing Deception, Ahmad Sarris

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The use of deception in research has been a long-debated topic for several decades. Generally, research on deception has concerned its justifications, common methods, controversies, and uses inside and outside the broad field of psychology. Although the bulk of this research is typically concerned with exploring the potential drawbacks and controversies of deception on participants, the potential advantages and disadvantages to those implementing it has not been explored. More specifically, there are unanswered questions about what skills can be gained or perceived to be gained by research assistants utilizing deception. The present study explored whether deception utilization and/or the presence …

The Effects Of Nacl On The Triple Helix Structure Of Collagen And The Reinforcement Of Tung Oil-Based Polymers With Collagen Peptides, Christopher Dzorkpata

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In this research, a collagen-reinforced bio-composite from tung oil was prepared using free radical initiation and thermal polymerization, leading to polyolefinic tung oil-based matrix. Two peptides (long and short) were synthesized and their secondary features were analyzed using circular dichroism spectroscopy. After this analysis, the long peptide exhibited more triple helix characteristics as compared to the short peptide. The full protein will ultimately have a better interaction with the tung oil, was used in the synthesis of the collagen-reinforced bio-composite. The presence of NaCl in the triple helix and its overall effect on the thermal and mechanical properties of the …