Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Addressing Common Mental Health Issues Prevalent Among Honors College Students, Steven Pham

Honors Theses

The prevalence and severity of mental health disorders on college campuses has been increasing nationwide. This review aims to address some of the prevalent mental health issues that continuously plague college students today. Recent trends in college student mental health are analyzed as well as literature regarding common disorders including depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. A comparison of honors and non-honors students is provided to contribute to an otherwise lacking area of research surrounding honors student populations. Effective practices and policies for colleges and universities to incorporate into their counseling services are also considered, with viable goals centering on the …

Using Focus Groups To Identify Ways To Reduce Infant Mortality In Kalamazoo, Leah Dries

Honors Theses

Study goals were to explore maternal perceptions of possible ways to reduce infant mortality in Kalamazoo County, with specific regards to the infant mortality rates of non-Hispanic African American babies versus non-Hispanic Caucasian babies. Two focus groups were conducted of voluntary, anonymous, participants from the YWCA domestic violence shelter and clients of home visiting services provided by the Kalamazoo County Department of Health and Community Services. The focus groups were guided allowing women to voice their opinions about ways to prevent infant mortality in Kalamazoo. Women were also asked to respond to the goals created by a community planning committee …

Characteristics Of Patients Who Experience Fear During Hospitalization, Marlena Vande Streek

Honors Theses

Purpose/Background The purpose of this study is to describe individuals likely to experience fear, apprehension, or anxiety during hospitalization. Supporting literature has much to say about intervening once these feelings occur, but little on the description or characteristics of patients exhibiting these feelings during hospitalization. The intent of this exploration is to allow nurses to identify these patients sooner and prevent unnecessary stress and delays in care.

Theoretical Framework When a patient experiences fear, they respond through the stress response cycle commonly observed as delays in wound healing and immunosuppression when feelings are prolonged. Identifying individuals likely to experience fear …

Quality Of Life In Adolescents With Cancer, Molly Ryan

Honors Theses

There is no current universally accepted definition for quality of life (QOL). One source defined the concept of QOL as how an individual measures the goodness of different aspects of their life. These assessments include one’s emotional reactions to life events, disposition, sense of fulfillment, and satisfaction with personal relationships and work (Theofilou, 2013). Another definition encompasses the person’s level of functioning and overall satisfaction and well-being of their life (Lavdaniti & Tsitsis, 2015). QOL can be influenced by many factors, including physical health and certain disease processes. One disease in particular that can significantly affect one’s QOL is cancer. …

An Investigation Of The Role Of Experiential Avoidance In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Meaghan M. Lewis

Honors Theses

Experiential avoidance is a construct that researchers have proposed as a possible mediating factor between psychopathology and a prior history of traumatic events. Among the traumatic events investigated in the research literature, experiential avoidance has demonstrated correlations with prior experiences of sexual victimization. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and PTSD symptoms have also been linked with incidence of sexual victimization and engaging in experiential avoidance. Another variable commonly associated with this construct is problematic alcohol consumption. The present study presumed that women with a history of sexual victimization would report high PTSD symptoms, a stronger likelihood of partaking in problem drinking, …

Activity Choice And Extinction Intervention For Escape Maintained Behavior, Ali M. Markowitz

Honors Theses

Tantrums and non-compliant problem behaviors challenge children diagnosed with autism’s progress in early childhood special education classrooms by interfering with the child’s learning opportunities. Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder causing abnormal or impaired development in social interactions and communication (DSM-IV, 1994). This paper looks at a single case on a preschool aged child diagnosed with autism exhibiting tantrums and problem behaviors. These tantrums and non-compliant problem behaviors included kicking, scratching, screaming, hitting, flopping on to the floor or eloping (leaving the table, chair or work area). One study conducted showed that activity choice intervention decreases the occurrence of problem …

Using Tag To Increase Play Skills, Melissa A. Boggs

Honors Theses

TAG (Teaching with Acoustical Guidance) involves using auditory stimuli as a reinforcer for correct behavior or correct components of a behavior chain. Theoretically, TAG is an effective reinforcer because a click (the auditory stimuli) is paired with back up reinforcers (tangible reinforcers and social praise) and consequently becomes a conditioned reinforcer. The current study assesses the effectiveness of TAG in structured playtime activities in a child diagnosed with autism. The behaviors measured include a receptive identification procedure, an imitative drawing procedure and a paperclip drop procedure. Each of these responses required multiple behaviors to be completed with the paperclip drop …

Using Led Lights As Prompts To Teach Receptive Identification To Preschool Children With Autism, Allison Pavlicek

Honors Theses

The purpose of the study "Using LED Lights as Prompts to Teach Receptive Identification to Preschool Children with Autism" is to implement a different prompting procedure than traditional least-to-most prompting procedures in teaching. One prompting procedure commonly used in discrete trial training classrooms involves least-to-most prompting in the form of gestural and physical prompts to guide children to make correct responses during teaching procedures. To specifically teach receptive identification skills, an apparatus with LED lights was used as a prompting device to vary light intensities on stimuli that the child will choose from. This alternate method of prompting may enable …

Proposing Research: An Undergraduate Learning Experience (Using Led Lights As Prompts To Teach Receptive Identification Of Preschool Children With Autism), Allison L. Pavlicek

Honors Theses

The purpose of the study “Using LED Lights as Prompts to Teach Receptive Identification to Preschool Children with Autism” is to implement a different prompting procedure than traditional least-to-most prompting procedures in teaching. One prompting procedure commonly used in discrete trial training classrooms involves least-to-most prompting in the form of gestural and physical prompts to guide children to make correct responses during teaching procedures. To specifically teach receptive identification skills, an apparatus with LED lights will be used as a prompting device to vary light intensities on stimuli that the child will choose from. This alternate method of prompting may …