Digital Commons Network^™

Former Foster Youth Lack The Understanding And Training In How To Access Medical And Preventative Care Benefits, Gloria Harrison

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to explore Dallas, Texas, human services professionals’ perceptions of the services that former foster youth need to ensure that they have access to medical and preventative care benefits when they age out of the system. The conceptual framework of Aday and Andersen’s health behavior model provided a structure for the lack of medical care access, the need for improvement, and the desire to use services for various marginalized at-risk populations. The action research design was chosen to help solve real-life healthcare problems that directly affect participants within their community. A purposeful …

Lived Experiences Of Texas Construction Workers Reporting Near Misses On Their Jobsite, Joaquin Manuel Diaz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Near miss incidents in the construction industry, when reported, serve as critical indicators of safety performance. When reported, organizations can identify hazards early and reduce the incidence of injuries and illnesses. Limited research exists on how construction workers perceive near miss incidents and how they are influenced to report them. Semi-structured audio-recorded interviews with 15 Texas-based construction workers in three cities about their lived experiences with near-miss reporting were conducted between July 18 and August 22, 2025. Data were organized using NVivo software and analyzed according to the phenomenological procedures outlined by Burns et al. and the qualitative analysis guidance …

Underexplored Maternal Microbiomes: Immune, Metabolic, And Microbial Pathways Shaping Pregnancy Outcomes, Rafael Tomoya Michita, Nicole Jimenez, Melissa M Herbst-Kralovetz, Indira U Mysorekar

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Maternal microbial ecosystems play critical roles in shaping reproductive physiology and pregnancy outcomes. During the pre-conception and prenatal periods, these communities modulate maternal physiology by regulating immune tolerance, nutrient metabolism, and susceptibility to pregnancy complications such as preterm birth, hypertensive disorders, and gestational diabetes. While the gut microbiota has been extensively studied, the roles of cervicovaginal, urinary, respiratory, oral, and upper reproductive tract microbiomes remain less clear. In this minireview, we synthesize current knowledge on these underexplored maternal microbiomes, with an emphasis on the cervicovaginal and urinary microbiota and their interactions with the placenta and fetus. We discuss cross-niche microbial …

Incarcerated Geriatric Patients’ Experiences Of Aging And Healthcare, Michelle I Suh, Stephen Chen, Megan Benavides, Sumin Yoon, Nia Lucas, Josiah D Rich, Marc David Robinson, Anita N Chary

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Older adults comprise the fastest growing demographic in correctional facilities in the United States. Studies have shown older adults in prison report difficulty accessing healthcare and navigating the prison environment. Little is known about how older adults navigate aging and access healthcare in the jail setting. We sought to explore experiences of older adults incarcerated in a county jail. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 older adults (> 50 years old) who were incarcerated at a local county jail and were referred to the emergency department for acute care needs. Interviews focused on experiences of aging while incarcerated and …

Addressing Failing Water Systems: A Qualitative Protocol For Intervention Research On Water Insecurity, Patrick Thomson, Melissa Beresford, Jobayer Hossain, Cara Jacob, Carolina Jordão, Oswaldo Medina-Ramírez, Sophie Neems, Daniel Salcedo Serrano, Dave White, Amber Wutich

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

It is increasingly acknowledged that high income countries do not enjoy universal drinking water coverage, with pockets of water insecurity persisting close to areas that have had high-quality, centralized water provision for half a century or more. The reasons behind this are complex, and effective ways to improve water security in these areas defy simple prescriptions. Nuanced measures that disaggregate the different facets of water insecurity are especially important as we attempt to understand and, crucially, improve water security in high-income countries.In this paper, we describe a qualitative protocol for assessing water insecurity at the household level in a study …

Why Text Prevails: Vision May Undermine Multimodal Medical Decision Making, Siyuan Dai, Lunxiao Li, Kun Zhao, Eardi Lila, Paul K. Crane, Heng Huang, Dongkuan Xu, Haoteng Tang

Computer Science Faculty Publications

With the rapid progress of large language models (LLMs), advanced multimodal large language models (MLLMs) have demonstrated impressive zero-shot capabilities on vision–language tasks. In the biomedical domain, however, even state-of-the-art MLLMs struggle with basic Medical Decision Making (MDM) tasks. We investigate this limitation using two challenging datasets: (1) three-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD) classification (normal, mild cognitive impairment, dementia), where category differences are visually subtle, and (2) MIMICCXR chest radiograph classification with 14 non–mutually exclusive conditions. Our empirical study shows that text-only reasoning consistently outperforms vision-only or vision–text settings, with multimodal inputs often performing worse than text alone. To mitigate this, …

The Evolving Landscape Of Social Education In The Uk: The Legacy Of Neoliberalism Affecting Uk Children And Those Who Support Them, And The Considerable Value Of Its Potential Counterbalance — Social Pedagogy, Robyn Kemp

Journal of Social Care

This paper examines the erosion of concern for the social and relational in the United Kingdom through four decades of neoliberal policy, and argues for social pedagogy as a principled and urgently needed counterbalance. Drawing on a career spanning public, charitable, and academic practice primarily with children in and on the edges of care, it traces how the introduction of neoliberalism under Thatcher in the 1980s — and its institutionalisation through New Public Management in the 1990s — systematically dismantled the relational, ethical, and communal foundations of work with children. The consequences are documented in stark statistical terms: rising school …

The Role Of Personality In Collegiate Athletes’ Indicators Of Performance And Injury Experiences – A Mixed Methods Study, Allison Traub

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This mixed methods study explores the impact of collegiate athletes' indicators of personality traits as attributed to athletic performance, injury experiences, and sport identity. Sports often emphasize physical abilities, yet the role of personality is equally significant—though it has received comparatively little attention in psychological research. This research addresses such a gap through examining how personality traits shape athletes’ competitive behavior along with coping strategies. The traits are defined within the 16 Personalities framework using Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and how it influences just how athletes recover. This research will explore research questions such as how personality affects college athletes' …

Self-Efficacy Traits Of First Year Corequisite Math Students: A Phenomenological Study, Johnny Reed Fleming

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand better the self-efficacy traits of first-year corequisite mathematics students at a regional, private, liberal arts university located in central Appalachia. The theory guiding this study is Bandura’s social cognitive theory as it pertains to participants’ beliefs in their ability to succeed in a college-level mathematics course and their perceived self-efficacy and reciprocal determinism regarding that success. The research questions in this study were designed to examine the perceived self-efficacy, factors of reciprocal determinism, and attitudes of students who experienced success in a credit-bearing mathematics course in college while subsequently enrolled in …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Black Male Students’ Use Of Integrated Educational Technologies In Stem Fields At Predominately White Institutions: A Phenomenological Study, Devon Morgan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to understand the lived experiences of Black male students' use of integrated educational technologies in STEM fields at predominately White institutions of higher education in East Tennessee. The theory guiding this study is Piaget's (1950) theory on constructivism, as it is the framework through which active learning, prior knowledge, and social influences shape students' learning. The central research question addressed in the study is how Black male students experience the use of integrated educational technologies in STEM fields at PWIs of higher education in East Tennessee. The transcendental phenomenological approach is used …

Exploring The Relationships Between Differentiation Of Self, Family Unit Functioning, And Posttraumatic Growth In Adult Female Survivors Of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, Samantha Stokesberry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the relationships between differentiation of self (DoS), family unit functioning (FUF), and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in adult female domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) survivors in the United States. A Bowen Family Systems Theory framework was used for the theoretical foundation of this study and the research was explored from a Christian worldview. A sample of 30 adult female DMST survivors between the ages of 25-55 completed an anonymous online survey that included four measures: a demographics form, The Differentiation of Self Inventory – Revised (DSI-R), the Family Unit Functioning Questionnaire (FUF-Q), and …

Exploring The Perceived Influence Of Exposure To Secondary Trauma On Educators: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Katina M. Perry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the influence of secondary trauma on educators who work with students residing in low-income urban communities. Secondary trauma was generally defined as the emotional response that occurs when individuals are indirectly exposed to the traumatic experiences of others. The theory that guided this study was Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model of stress and coping, as its emphasis on the interplay between an individual’s perceived psychological stress, coping, and cognitive appraisals was resourceful for educators exposed to student trauma. The central research question that guided this study was “How does secondary …

Navigating Fear: Exploring The Influence Of Media And Other Factors On Perceptions Of Terrorism, Malachi-Chaim A. Robinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examined factors influencing the fear of terrorism among U.S. adults in the post-9/11 context, where frequent media coverage impacts public perception. The central research question asked: To what extent is the fear of terrorism influenced by news consumption, ethnic intolerance, religion, gender, education, race and ethnicity, political affiliation, age, previous victimization of violent crime, and trust in government institutions? A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2025 using Zoho Survey, collecting 408 responses through stratified random sampling to approximate national representation. Chi-square tests revealed significant bivariate relationships for nine predictors: perceived credibility of terrorism-related news, perceived risk of …

The Influence Of Epistemological Beliefs, Research Self-Efficacy, And Affective States On Doctoral Students’ Research Methodological Selections, Caroline Suzanne Vaile

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational study examines the extent to which epistemological beliefs predict research methodology choice and whether this relationship is mediated by mentorship experiences or research self-efficacy and moderated by statistics anxiety. The study is grounded in Hofer and Pintrich’s Epistemological Beliefs Theory, Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory, and Kram’s Mentor Role Theory. Data were collected using self-report measures via an online survey hosted by Qualtrics. Participants included current CES doctoral students and graduates within the past five years (N=47). The study utilized binary logistic regression and PROCESS mediation and moderated mediation analyses, indicating that epistemological beliefs did not significantly influence …

Potency-Related Effects Of Smoked Cannabis On Simulated Driving Performance: A Randomized, Controlled Crossover Trial, Bruna Brands, Adam Zaweel, Madison Wright, Patricia Di Ciano, Christine M. Wickens, Justin Matheson, Andrew Fares, Omer S. M. Hasan, Marcos Sanches, Beth Sproule, Marilyn A. Huestis, Timothy L. Brown, Bernard Le Foll

Institute of Emerging Health Professions Faculty Papers

Given the increasing availability of high-potency Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) products, understanding potency-related effects of Δ9-THC on driving performance is an important public safety issue. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects trial examined the effects of smoked cannabis with varying Δ9-THC concentrations on simulated driving. Adults aged 19–45 who regularly used cannabis and held valid driver’s licenses completed simulated driving tasks after smoking placebo, or cannabis containing low (6.25%/47 mg Δ9-THC), medium (12.5%/94 mg Δ9-THC), or high (22%/165 mg Δ9-THC) Δ9-THC levels. The primary outcome was mean speed (km/h); secondary measures included maximum speed, standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP), reaction time (RT), …

Lightweight And Resilient Cryptographic Protocols For Next-Generation Networking Systems, Saif Eddine Nouma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The security of our increasingly interconnected world is strongly dependent on the strength and practicality of the cryptographic tools we deploy. As billions of embedded devices join the Internet of Things (IoT) and interact with remote cloud infrastructures for data processing, analysis, and actuation, they evolve into so-called digital twins. This rapid expansion introduces numerous attack vectors, particularly targeting constrained IoT devices, which greatly increase the attack surface and often become the root cause of large-scale infrastructure compromises. At the same time, the rise of quantum computing threatens the hardness of today’s intractability assumptions that underpin cryptographic primitives currently deployed. …

Framing The Pressure: Mental Health Representation In Olympic Athletes Through The Weight Of Gold, Daniel B. Gearin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how the HBO documentary The Weight of Gold constructs meaning around athlete mental health through narrative and visual framing. Grounded in framing theory, the purpose of this research is to identify the key themes presented in the film and analyze how cinematic techniques shape audience understanding of mental health in Olympic athletes. The rationale for this study stems from a gap in existing research, as most scholarship focuses on psychological outcomes rather than how media representations construct those meanings. Using a qualitative approach, the study applies thematic analysis to 17 scenes of the documentary, supported by a …

Comfort Beyond Grief: The Influence Of Brazilian Spiritism On Grief, Maria Luiza D. Reynaud

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the transformative influence of Brazilian Spiritism on the experience of grief, utilizing a qualitative framework of autoethnography and ethnography. The research begins with the author’s personal account of transitioning from paralyzing existential anxiety and a childhood fear of hell and death to a state of spiritual peace fostered by the study of the Spiritist Doctrine. Historically perceived as an unbearable mystery, Spiritism posits life as a continuous continuum where the immortal soul merely sheds the physical body like a cocoon to return to its true home.

Rooted in the 19th-century codification by Allan Kardec, the doctrine is …

Manufacturing Main Street: How Historic Plant City Main Street Revitalizes Its Community And Simulates The Commons, Emily Burke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Community has remained a central concern to sociology since its founding, even as industrialization, globalization, and digital media have transformed how social ties are formed and maintained. Small American downtowns once anchored civic and social life, but have faced destabilizing events like globalization, the rise of e-commerce, and the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, many small cities have turned to the national nonprofit Main Street AmericaTM to help them revitalize their downtowns. Although research on small cities is limited compared to large urban centers, emerging literature highlights post-COVID opportunities to renew physical and local shopping on main street (small city downtowns). …

Understanding How Single Mothers In Southwest Nigeria Navigate Mental Health Challenges And Financial Hardships: A Culture-Centered Approach, Zulykha B. Akinjobi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Single motherhood is a growing yet stigmatized family structure in Southwest Nigeria, where patriarchal norms, cultural expectations, and structural inequalities converge to produce unique mental health and financial challenges for women. This qualitative study examines how single mothers in Southwest Nigeria navigate mental health challenges and financial hardships through the lens of the Culture-Centered Approach (CCA). Drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 single mothers residing in the Yoruba-speaking region of Southwest Nigeria, this study foregrounds locally situated narratives to understand how these women construct and reconstruct meanings of single motherhood within their cultural and structural contexts. Findings reveal that …

International Consensus-Driven Recommendations For Patient-Reported Outcome Research Objectives In Early Phase Dose-Finding Oncology Trials: Optimise-Ror, Emily Alger, Olalekan Lee Aiyegbusi, Amylou C Dueck, Anna Minchom, Madeline Pe, John D Peipert, Claire Snyder, Stefan N Symeonides, Roger Wilson, Ethan Basch, Yu Qiao, Susan E Bates, Helen Bulbeck, Lizzie Dean, Massimo Di Maio, Aaron R Hansen, Olga Kholmanskikh, Ken Kobayashi, Dónal Landers, Christophe Le Tourneau, J Jack Lee, Brigette B Y Ma, Lynley V Marshall, Sheetal Patel, Joan Petrie, Gregory R Pond, Kieran Prior, Khadija R Rantell, John F Reeve, Olga Solovyeva, Nolan A Wages, Harald A Weber, Melanie J Calvert, Christina Yap

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: There is growing scientific interest in incorporating patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in early phase dose-finding oncology trials (DFOTs) to assess tolerability, inform dose selection, and guide later stage trial design. However, research indicates that PRO objectives in DFOTs are often unclear. The Incorporating Patient-Reported Outcomes in Dose-Finding Trials-Research Objectives Recommendations (OPTIMISE-ROR) project was established to support trialists to effectively incorporate PROs into DFOTs.

Methods: Using the Enhancing Quality and Transparency of Health Research (EQUATOR) Network's methodological framework, guideline development included the following: (1) a methodological review of published DFOTs incorporating PROs; (2) candidate item generation, refined through expert consultation; (3) …

Endometriosis Knowledge Among Emergency Medicine Providers: Diagnostic Skills And Symptom Recognition, Caidon Iwuagwu, Laurel X. Chen, Ellen Slattery, Pranjal Srivastava, Hamsitha Karra, Sheyenne Tung, Adrienne Burton, Camila Bomtempo, Jamie Aranda

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

Objective: Endometriosis is associated with significant diagnostic delays, averaging 6.7 years, largely due to nonspecific symptoms and inadequate diagnostic approaches. Over 15,000 emergency department (ED) visits in the United States annually involve patients with endometriosis, highlighting the need for knowledge of endometriosis. This study surveys emergency medicine (EM) attendings, residents, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and fellows to assess knowledge and practice in managing endometriosis-related ED complaints. Methods: A questionnaire from a prior endometriosis survey was modified for EM providers and administered anonymously via email (Qualtrics, Provo, UT) in monthly newsletters to providers at an academic and six associated community EDs. …

Mission Maple Passport 2026, Alison Coleman

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Teachers' Lived Experiences Addressing The Benefits And Challenges Of Screen Based Technology Use In The Classroom: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Amanda M. Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The researcher explored Title I elementary school teachers’ lived experiences in addressing the challenges and benefits of screen based technology (SBT) use in classroom spaces. Guided by Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural learning theory, a transcendental phenomenological approach was utilized by the researcher to explore the unique nuances of different learning spaces, buildings, and educational contexts. As SBT has become indispensable to modern education practitioners, teachers must balance the benefits to student learning with screen fatigue, reduced interpersonal interaction, and access disparities. The central research question states: How do Title I elementary school teachers describe their lived experiences in addressing SBT use …

Rivalry, Risk, And Ruin: The Economic Politics Of Antebellum Florida, Tyler Mudd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation investigates the interplay of land speculation, legal authority, and political governance in the Florida Territory from 1821 to 1845. Centered around the extensive Forbes and Innerarity land claims carried over from the Spanish period, the litigation and politics are demonstrative of the territorial administration and was profoundly shaped by a concentrated cohort. This faction of legally trained officeholders and investors, figures such as Joseph M. White, Richard K. Call, James, Gadsden, and William P. DuVal, operated as governing nucleus. Their ability and command of statutes, access to federal patronage, and strategic involvement allowed them to use land speculation, …

The Intervention Effects Of Self-Leadership And Motivation On The Second Language Motivation Mechanism In Tanzanian Form 5 Students: A Static-Group Study Using Structural Equation Modeling, Euna Kim Park

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, static-group study was to determine the effect of the intervention among high school newcomers in the English-medium instruction (EMI) context in Tanzania. Tanzanian adolescents have difficulty adapting to the transition to secondary school, as the language of instruction is not their native language. Four high schools in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania participated in the study, with 381 participants in the intervention group and 373 in the control group. The intervention group attended self-leadership training and second-language (L2) motivation workshops, while the control group did not. After the intervention, the two groups completed surveys using …

The Impact Of Transformational Leadership Theory On Leadership Opportunities For Black Women In Black Protestant Churches, Jasmine Y. Lafayette

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Due to changes within society and theological leanings, more Christian leadership opportunities are available for leaders within predominantly Black churches. Campbell-Reed (2018) found that women make up 50 to 75% of the membership in these congregations yet assumed less than 10% of church leadership and perhaps 1% of pastors (p. 2). With such a robust representation of Black women, are they equally represented in leadership roles and opportunities? While there is ample space for speculation about these low percentages, there is also space for exploring the experiences of women regarding leadership opportunities. Transformational leadership theory assumes that the relationship between …

Sacred Space, Divine Presence, And Covenant: A Theological Trajectory From Eden To The Indwelling Spirit Across The Pentateuch And The Book Of Joshua, William C. Merry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation thesis is that sacred space, divine presence, and covenant are a theological triad that gives form to the canonical progression from Eden through the Pentateuch into Joshua and finds its eschatological orientation in the indwelling Spirit. The project as a whole, and its treatment of Genesis–Deuteronomy and Joshua in particular, maintains that the presence of God is never conceived independently of a covenantal relationship and is thereby always concretized, i.e., spatialized in and through the site or locale of the sacred space: Eden, the tabernacle, the land, and the sanctuary at Shiloh. Each of these stages in the …

The Genuine Nature Of Worship In The Scriptures: Bowing Before God As An Act Of Submission, Michael Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The various translations of the Scriptures use the word worship over 250 times in both the Old and New Testaments. Unfortunately, many Christians and even scholars do not understand the meaning of worship and the purpose for doing it. It is pivotal, however, for Christians to understand the meaning and purpose for worship when directed toward God so they may live in obedience to him. The thesis of this dissertation will be that although Christians presume that worship means to praise God, the Scriptures teach that worship means to bow before God as an act of submission as he establishes …

The Exploration Of Parental Involvement On Student Academic Achievement From The Perspective Of The Educator: A Phenomenological Study, Kwame Vladamir Hennagan

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of educators regarding parental involvement in a rural South Carolina school district. Guided by Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory and Epstein's Parental Involvement Theory frameworks, the study examined how teachers perceive, promote, and experience parental engagement, and what barriers influence effective collaboration between school and home. The Central Research Question answered in the study is: What are the lived experiences of educators with students with low parental involvement at a local school district in South Carolina? The methodology of this manuscript begins with the phenomenological research design.The sample size included …