Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Food Insecurity And Child Health On Educational Achievement In Virginia Counties, Peyton T. Randall

Honors Projects

This study examines the relationship between county-level socioeconomic and demographic factors and student performance on Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) math and reading assessments in 2023. Using data from 127 of Virginia’s 133 independent counties and cities, this study conducts an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The analysis shows a strong negative association between food insecurity, measured by the Identified Student Percentage eligible for free school lunch (ISP), and chronic absenteeism with SOL pass rates. These findings show food insecurity and absenteeism as key drivers for achievement disparities, suggesting a need for further interventions and broader research using school-level and …

Overweight And Obesity Among Southeastern Nigerian Lecturers And Its Association With Absenteeism And Presenteeism, Ezenwa Victor Ejikem

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Service And Scholarship: Lindenwood Announces 2026 Faculty Awards, Lindenwood University

Archived Lindenwood Press Releases

No abstract provided.

School-Based Teen Dating Violence Prevention Programs: A Systematized Review, Chloe L. Marsh

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Teen Dating Violence (TDV) is a prevalent issue for many adolescents and can be defined as physical, sexual, and psychological aggression and harm that can occur in-person, online, or through technology. TDV victimization can have devastating impacts for youth, and school-based TDV prevention efforts have been highlighted as a means of addressing this issue. However, there is limited research on how prevention programming influences student beliefs and behavior. This study sought to reveal how programming influences student outcomes and which elements of highlighted prevention efforts are associated with greater benefits. A systematized review was conducted to address these research questions. …

Lgbtqia+ Inclusion In K-12 Education: A Systematized Review Of U.S. South Atlantic Region Educational Policy, Benjamin Little

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

LGBTQIA+ students experience disproportionate rates of discrimination, bullying, and mental health challenges within their educational settings, while educational policies shaping school climate vary considerably across jurisdictions. The purpose of this systematized review was to identify trends in the structure and implementation of LGBTQIA+ inclusion policies across K-12 state-level public education systems within the U.S. South Atlantic region and to examine how these policies addressed the needs of transgender youth and LGBTQIA+ students of color. This review synthesized publicly available state education documents, legislative materials, and nonprofit policy reports using a systematized review methodology guided by PRISMA principles and qualitative theme …

Building Strength: A Systematized Review Of Resilience Intervention Programs For Students, Rachel Christian

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

School-based resilience programs have emerged as a promising vehicle for promoting social-emotional development and buffering the effects of adversity among students. However, a systematic understanding of common program components, associated student outcomes, and implementation factors remains limited. This systematized review examined peer-reviewed research on resilience-building interventions for students in preschool through 12th-grade school settings. Following a structured search across four databases, nine studies met inclusion criteria and were analyzed using structured narrative synthesis. Findings were organized by four research questions addressing program components, student outcomes, implementation factors, and implementation–outcome relationships. Results indicated that resilience interventions consistently strengthened protective competencies, including …

Barriers And Bridges: Exploring Factors That Shape Mental Health Service Utilization In Rural America, Margaret Wiwuga

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Despite disproportionately higher suicide mortality rates and comparable prevalence of mental illness across urban and rural communities in the United States, rural populations across the nation experience significantly lower access to and utilization of mental health services, naturally leading to worse comprehensive outcomes. This literature review examines multifaceted factors shaping mental health service use in rural America, taking note of both barrier and enabling factors that impede or enable these unique populations’ willingness and ability to access and use mental health services. Ten articles published prior to September 9, 2025, were selected from the James Madison University Libraries’ Psychology and …

Black Maternal Mental Health: Counseling Considerations For Prenatal Depression And Anxiety, Morgan Renee Williams

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

The maternal mortality rate of Black women in the United States is four times higher than white women (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). The CDC defines a maternal death as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy… but not from accidental or incidental causes” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024, para. 1). This statistic is a consequence of the inequality within and outside of the American healthcare system (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2020). For the purposes of this research, Black women are defined as any women …

Neurodiversity In Counseling: Counseling Strategies For Supporting Neurodiverse Clients, Emily R. Plowright

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Neurodiversity recognizes the natural differences in human functioning, including the unique ways that individuals think, learn, and process information. The neurodiversity movement views these differences as valuable, challenging historical beliefs that label them as deficits. Despite growing awareness of neurodiversity, counseling research and practice have largely overlooked the unique needs of neurodiverse clients, resulting in barriers to accessing mental health care. This paper addresses the concept and models of disability to provide context for understanding neurodiversity. Neurodiverse identities, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specific learning disorders (SLDs), and tic disorder, are explored through their diagnostic criteria …

What’S Behind The Mask: The Diagnostic Divide In The Female Autism Phenotype, Shelley Gies Alston

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by differences in social communication and restrictive, repetitive behaviors; however, women are diagnosed at significantly lower rates than men. This study examined whether DSM-5-TR diagnostic practices may contribute to the underdiagnosis and delayed identification of ASD in individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB), with attention to masking behaviors, gendered social expectations, and clinician interpretation of symptoms. Grounded in the Female Autism Phenotype (FAP), a retrospective mixed-methods study surveyed 12 AFAB individuals aged 18–24 who self-identified or were formally diagnosed with ASD. Participants completed a 44-item online survey including Likert-scale and open-ended …

Spectator 2026-05-14, Editors Of The Spectator

The Spectator

No abstract provided.

Improving Education And Awareness Of Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema, Briah Adams

Occupational Therapy Capstones

• My doctoral capstone experience had a dual focus on advanced clinical skills and education with emphasis on improving self-management skills, early intervention and symptom recognition, and quality of life of individuals with or at risk of lymphedema.

• Completed a lymphedema certification course

• Worked alongside a CLT in an outpatient clinic and provided patient-centered, holistic interventions
• Occurred in an outpatient lymphedema clinic in St. George, UT.

• Created an educational resource packet tailored to individuals diagnosed with breast cancer preparing for surgery or recovering from surgery.

• Engaged in professional development opportunities to ensure my ongoing growth and competence in clinical work, leadership, …

Signs Of Belonging: Community Identities Of Deaf Elders In Central And Coastal Massachusetts, Nelia Eaddy

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

This study focuses on shared experiences and themes of community identities within the elder Deaf community of central and coastal Massachusetts. Lived experiences and linguistic journeys shape our overall senses of belonging and identities; subsequently, they profoundly affect our relationship to our communities (Eastaugh, 2019). This research study discusses how concepts of belonging shift as individuals age within their community and how that impacts their sense of belonging and experiences with language. Communities where individuals feel a sense of belonging encourage identity development. The experiences of elders who identify as “Deaf” (due to their language preference and cultural influences) within …

Graduate Commencement Exercises Program, May 14, 2026

Bryant University Commencements

No abstract provided.

Decolonizing The Home: Anti-Racist Parenting In Asian American Families And Its Effects On Children's Mental Health, Danielle Angela R. Soriano

College Honors Program

Few studies in the field of psychology have investigated how anti-racist and anti-colonial parenting styles are practiced, especially within the Asian American community. The current study aims to investigate how anti-colonial and anti-racist parenting practices are explicitly manifested and their relationship with mental health in Asian American communities. This study concludes by proposing new directions in literature and exploring how anti-colonial approaches can support positive mental health outcomes in children and adolescents. By borrowing questions from the California Department of Education Parent Engagement Module Series and developing new items tailored to our participants’ demographics, we found that the majority (n …

Care As Method: Sound, Duration, Relation In Contemporary Art Practice, Violet L. White

MFA in Visual Art

Abstract Care as Method: Sound, Duration, and Multispecies Relation in Contemporary Art Practice

This thesis proposes care as a method of artmaking, not a subject, theme, or aesthetic position, but the actual structural logic through which a body of work is built, sustained, and understood. Working at the intersection of ecological art practice and relational aesthetics, it asks what happens when the encounter at the center of the work is not between two people but between species, infrastructures, and histories of use and what obligations that encounter generates.

The argument is developed through six interconnected works: installations, sound compositions, sculptures, …

Perceived Parental Favoritism And Disfavoritism: Associations With Depression And Entitlement In College Students, Emma S. Hren

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Research consistently shows that children’s perceptions of differential treatment can have negative and lasting impacts on their well-being. Suitor and colleagues (2017) examined perceptions of favoritism among adult children in the form of emotional closeness, disappointment, conflict, and pride. The current study builds upon prior research by adding fathers, entitlement, and dimensions of practical and financial help. At James Madison University, 235 undergraduate students completed an online survey, which measured depression, entitlement, and social comparison in relation to perceptions of parental treatment. Results indicated associations between perceptions of differential parenting across emotional closeness, disappointment, conflict, pride, and financial and practical …

Psychometric Framework For Coexistence With Large Carnivores, Benjamin Ghasemi, Gerard Kyle, Tara Teel, Rebeca Niemiec, Kevin Crooks, Jenny Anne Glikman, Neil H. Carter, John A. Vucetich, Michelle L. Lute, Stewart Breck, Beatrice Frank, Dana Hoag, Jonathan Salerno, Lily M. Van Eeden, Jeremy T. Bruskotter

Michigan Tech Publications

Human–carnivore coexistence is essential for biodiversity conservation, yet measuring the attitudes and behaviors that support it remains methodologically challenging. We developed psychometric scales to assess willingness to coexist with carnivores and the underlying beliefs of this coexistence through an iterative expert elicitation process grounded in risk perception theory and moral psychology to ensure strong content validity. The scales measure willingness to coexist and encompass individual and collective behaviors and their cognitive antecedents: perceived positive consequences, perceived negative consequences, and ethical considerations. We validated the scales based on three representative samples of Colorado residents (n = 434, 442, 433) focused on …

Intern Experience And Support In The Byu-Public School Partnership, Ryan S. Nixon, Rebecca K. Hunter, Paul H. Ricks

Faculty Publications

This study examines the experiences and perceived support of early childhood and elementary education interns in the BYU–Public School Partnership. In June 2025, 137 former interns (54% response rate) completed an anonymous survey with open-ended prompts, and responses were qualitatively analyzed. Most interns characterized the experience as positive or both good and hard (84%), though 16% reported largely negative experiences. Relationships with students were consistently identified as the most meaningful aspect, often providing motivation during difficult periods. Support was most frequently attributed to facilitators, with additional support from grade-level teams and Clinical Faculty Associates (CFAs). While generally helpful, support was …

Psy 1100 Writing Intensive Syllabus, Jos Khan

Open Educational Resources

This is an ZTC/OER syllabus for a PSY 1100 writing intensive course at Kingsborough Community College.

Underlying Mechanisms In The Relationship Between Ptsd And Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Jillian B. Heymann

Dissertations

Current bodies of knowledge support the relationships between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), pain catastrophizing and PTSD, and pain catastrophizing and IBS. However, much less is known regarding how pain catastrophizing influences the relationship between PTSD and IBS. Additionally, while correlations between some demographic and trauma-related symptomatology have been elucidated in the relationship between PTSD and IBS, their impact as potential moderators on the relationship between PTSD and IBS has yet to be fully examined. Examining a student sample from a large midwestern university, the present study aimed to investigate the potential mediating and moderating roles …

California (+6.5) Vs. Sportsbooks: Cooperative Federalism & The Future Of Sports Gambling In California, Kyle Geffon

UC Law Business Journal

No abstract provided.

Talking Climate: Does Peer Anxiety Amplify Or Alleviate Climate Change Worries?, Emma Tupone

Student Theses

As the climate crisis intensifies, climate change anxiety (CCA) has become increasingly common, yet it remains unclear whether discussing climate concerns with peers alleviates or amplifies distress. This study examined how climate conversations related to daily climate change anxiety, optimism, and pro-environmental behavior (PEB), as well as whether the perceived emotional tone of conversation partners shapes these associations. Using an 8-day daily diary design (N = 121), participants reported their daily climate-related emotions, engagement in private and public PEBs, and perceptions of peers’ climate anxiety and optimism following climate-related conversations. Results indicated that engaging in climate conversations was associated with …

The Greater Good?: Tradeoffs Between Social Connection And Status In Decision-Making Scenarios, Jonah M. Dratfield

Student Theses

Strong social relationships have consistently emerged as predictors of well-being in the psychological literature. However, research has not distinguished between the intrinsic social value derived from these relationships and the status derived from them. We constructed the novel Relationship Orientation Scale to explore this gap, utilizing binary decision-making scenarios in which individuals were forced to pit these two goods against one another. Across two studies, we found that individuals displayed a significant, but by no means universal, preference for intrinsically rewarding social relationships. We found, also, that social media use and comparison orientation were negative predictors of relationship orientation, whereas …

Contested Surveillance: Gendered Citizenship And Political Participation In Egypt And Lebanon, Mohamad Zarif

Theses and Dissertations

While the 2011 Arab Uprisings were famously framed by the utopian narrative of a 'Facebook Revolution', this view has given way to a dystopian reality in which digital infrastructures can facilitate authoritarian retrenchment. This thesis interrogates how lowermiddle- and working-class precarious youth navigate and perceive this "Architecture of Control" in Cairo and Beirut. Using a comparative qualitative design with purposive and snowball sampling, this research integrates digital ethnography and fourteen interviews with eighteen participants (nine women, seven men) to capture lived experiences of surveillance rather than the internal logic of state security institutions. The study yields three primary findings. First, …

Treatment Of Different Non-State Actors In Detention: A Legal, Moral, And National Security Analysis, Alison P. Raedel

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

This thesis analyzes state behavior regarding the treatment of non-state actors through three major frameworks: international law, ethical theory, and national security. Two cases are compared: the treatment of al-Qaeda detainees by the United States after the attacks of September 11th, 2001, and the treatment of the Angolan liberation movements by the Portuguese during the Angolan War of Independence. These cases were chosen to assess how the three frameworks apply across different non-state actors, which include terrorist organizations and liberation movements. International law provides a baseline for rights and protections, but it is often selectively interpreted. Just war theory gives …

Effects Of Nurse-Led Standardized Kangaroo Mother Care (Kmc) Protocol On Nicu Length Of Stay, Physiological Stability, And Bonding: Evidence-Based Recommendation For Translation Into Practice, Madison Capul, Maria Bejarano, Tionette Kirk-Banks, Kelly Mcmillin, Onyinyechukwu Ubaezuonu, Amabelle Simsuangco, Charity Msamalia Chimwala-Selico

General Submissions: Clinical Settings Materials

Background: Preterm and low birth weight infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are at high risk for physiological instability, prolonged hospitalization, impaired bonding and breastfeeding, and increased mortality, with costs reaching up to $233,000 per stay (Broughton et al., 2022). The Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) protocol improves thermoregulation, stability, bonding, breastfeeding, and survival; however, its implementation remains inconsistent due to the lack of standardized nurse-led protocols.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether implementation of a standardized nurse-led Kangaroo Mother Care protocol, compared to current inconsistent practice, would improve NICU length of stay, physiological stability, …

Keeping Families Together: Companion Animals As A Public Health Imperative, Lori R. Kogan, Rebecca Niemiec

Journal of One Health Systems

Contemporary US public health frameworks emphasize social, economic, and environmental determinants of health, yet largely overlook the reality that most households include companion animals regarded as family members. This omission has tangible consequences during crises such as housing instability, illness, domestic violence, or disasters, when families are often forced to choose between their own safety and the safety of their animals. We argue that this represents a significant public health failure. Drawing on interdisciplinary evidence, we propose that companion animals function as a social determinant of health, that forced separation constitutes a public health harm, and that Human-Animal Support Services …

Cultivating Trauma Competency: Counselor Development Through Education And Experience, Kayla Bryant

Dissertations, 2020-current

This dissertation explored the development of trauma competency. Considering the prevalence of trauma and the ethical demand for counselors to work within their scope of competence, it is necessary they have skills to work with trauma. The intent of this dissertation was to contribute to the literature by providing strategies for counselor educators aiming to support counselors-in-training in their trauma development. Grounded in attachment theory, these articles acknowledge the personal lived experiences of counselors and their professional needs. The first article, a conceptual manuscript, provides strategies for counselor educators to integrate trauma competencies at the master’s level. Using both experiential …

Exploring Play: Counselor Education Strategies, Online Community Fantasy Play, And Sexuality In The Counseling Space, Nattalie Wolff-Tseng

Dissertations, 2020-current

This dissertation examines the ways that play is constructed and understood in a variety of settings. Using Relational Cultural Theory as a guiding theoretical influence, each portion examines how play influences relationships and how engagement in play and conversations about play can enhance student–teacher relationships, social connection, and the therapeutic relationship. The first section of this dissertation, the conceptual article, explores how play can support counselor education as it encourages creative engagement and discourages perfectionism, which is often noticeable in novice counselors. Play may take many forms in the classroom and offers counselor educators the opportunity to tailor activity to …