Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Impact Of Traditional (Non-Affirming) Black Church Affiliation On Exploration Of Sexual Identity For Black Assigned Female At Birth Lgbq+ Individuals And The Associated Mental Health Risk, Aurielle J. Sutton

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explored the impact of Black traditional church upbringing on the sexual and religious identity development, including the subsequent mental health risk, for Black assigned female at birth (AFAB) LGBQ+ individuals. Studies conducted on Black AFAB LGBQ+ individuals are limited, especially in terms of  assessing their experiences in sexual identity development based on religious upbringings. Studies have overlooked the experience of LGBQ+ Black AFAB individuals navigating sexual orientation development and religious and racial identities. Studies have greatly favored Black gay men and supported health risks such as HIV. In the present study, twelve Black AFAB Queer individuals participated in …

Sanctuary: Counter-Oppressive Relationships With Farmed Animals As An Ecopsychological Imperative, Kelsey Bomboy

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

Consumers are intentionally shielded from and often misled about the process of breeding, raising, and slaughtering animals for consumption. By confining most farmed animals to warehouses in rural areas while the majority of humans are sequestered in urban areas, we have effectively created a world where humans do not have to contend with the sense of interconnectedness that arises when witnessing and being witnessed by a farmed animal. Within industrial slaughterhouses, the physical act of killing is minimized to just a fraction of the workers, so that even those who are responsible for rendering a once living being will never …

Shadow Garments: Costume Creation For Integrating Alienated Parts Of The Self, Mega M. Galvin

Art Therapy | Master's Theses

This study explores costume creation as a narrative-based intervention for integrating "shadow" parts, or aspects of the self that are repressed or alienated due to shame, trauma, or social pressure. Grounded in Jungian analytic psychology, narrative therapy, and expressive arts theory, the research addresses the limitations of traditional talk therapy in accessing somatic memory and proposes costume making as a pathway for externalization and re-authorship. Using a qualitative, participatory study inspired by Pat B. Allen’s Open Studio Process, four adult participants engaged in a three-session workshop to design, construct, and wear costumes representing their identified shadow aspects. Data was collected …

Exploring Burnout Among Ncaa Collegiate Athletes: The Impact Of Gender, Sport, Seasonal Demands, And Other Contributing Factors, Anneliese Wong

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine burnout among NCAA Division I student-athletes at one mid-sized University in the Rocky Mountains region of the United States and determine whether differences existed based on gender, sport type, competitive season stage, and burnout dimension. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was used and data was collected from 76 student-athletes across 11 varsity sports. Burnout was assessed using items adapted from the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ; Raedeke & Smith, 2001), along with additional items assessing fatigue and seasonal experiences.

Descriptive results showed the student-athletes reported the highest mean level of physical burnout, followed …

Correctional Officer Suicide: A Theory-Driven Investigation Of Acquired Capability And Suicide Behavior, Abigail R. Andersen

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of research suggests that correctional officers (COs) die by suicide at a significantly higher rate compared to the general population and some other public safety personnel. Despite what is known about this phenomenon, an understanding of the risk factors driving the high rate of suicide among this population remains unclear. Specifically, little attention has been paid to specific risk factors for suicide among this population and there is an overall absence of theory-driven research investigating CO suicide. The present study sought to address the gap in this area of research by investigating potential risk factors for suicide …

Evaluating The Pulse Of Exercise Programs: Developing And Validating The Intervention Usability Scale For Exercise (Iuse) To Enhance Implementation And Adherence, Anne Inger Mørtvedt, Eva Ageberg, Steven Elmer, Kevin Trewartha, Erich Petushek

Michigan Tech Publications

Background: Adherence to exercise interventions is often suboptimal, despite numerous studies documenting barriers and facilitators. Usability may be a critical yet underexplored determinant of adherence. This study aimed to develop and assess the psychometric properties of the Intervention Usability Scale for Exercise (IUSE). Methods: Item generation and content validation involved cognitive interviews and feedback from eight exercise intervention stakeholders and ten target users from the general public. Subsequently, 526 target users from University, Qualtrics and Prolific participant panels assessed exercise programs through an online survey. Dimensionality was assessed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and bifactor models. …

Beyond Symptoms: Examining Perinatal Mental Health Care Among Black, Indigenous And People Of Color With Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, Vinaya Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are as a public health concern in the United States. Individuals from minoritized racial/ethnic groups face a significantly elevated risk of maternal morbidity, mortality, mental health disorders, and associated adverse outcomes. Emerging studies also reveal a higher likelihood of experiencing perinatal mental health concerns in individuals with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), currently known as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). People who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC) face unique healthcare challenges given the added structural and social burdens. This online survey study aimed to 1) understand the relationship between PMOS …

Stress In Educational Context, Sarah Matthews

Spark! Innovations in Early Childhood Education: A Research-to-Practice Journal for Educators

This paper examines stress within educational contexts as a complex, relational, and systemic experience rather than solely a negative condition. Drawing on research related to stress perception, coping, leadership, trauma, and resource access, the paper highlights how stress affects educators, students, and families across early childhood and special education settings. Key themes include the role of perception in shaping stress responses, the impact of resource availability and socioeconomic factors, the transfer of stress within classroom environments, and the influence of leadership and organizational stability on teacher and student well-being. Using an ecological framework, the paper emphasizes that stress operates across …

How Should Sincerity Be Measured? A Rasch-Based Validation Of The Adolescent Sincerity Scale, Cicca Kusumawardani, Wahyu Nanda Eka Saputra, Rohmatus Naini, Agus Ria Kumara, Agus Supriyanto

Buletin Konseling Inovatif

Although various instruments for measuring sincerity have been developed, limitations remain regarding comprehensive construct validity, sample diversity, and the application of Rasch analysis in psychometric evaluation among student populations in Indonesia. Sincerity is a multidimensional spiritual value that contributes to personal integrity, psychological well-being, and positive social relationships. This study aims to develop a sincerity instrument with adequate psychometric characteristics using the Rasch Analysis approach. The study employed an instrument development method involving 759 high school and vocational high school students in Yogyakarta, selected through stratified random sampling. The analysis results showed a person measure of 1.18 logits, indicating that …

A Correlational Study Of Work Stress And Marital Stability Among Married Female Police Personnel In Kwara State, Nigeria, Haruna Ibrahim

Buletin Konseling Inovatif

This study investigated the relationship between job stress and marital stability among married female police personnel in Kwara State, Nigeria. A Descriptive Research Design of correlational type was adopted. The sample size (Target Population) of the study comprised all the 112 married female police personnel in Kwara State, Nigeria. Based on the relatively small sample size, population census (Total enumeration) was adopted for this study, where all the married female police personnel were sampled. The Operational Police Stress Questionnaire and Dyadic Adjustment Scale were used for data collection. Findings revealed a significant correlation between the independent variables and the dependent …

The Influence Of Childhood Experiential History On Elon Musk’S Personality, Amelia Brower, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of a developmental causal analysis of the adult personality of innovative entrepreneur and business leader Elon Musk, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data relating to Musk’s personality were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5-TR.

The findings of the personality assessment were previously reported in a separate paper. Musk’s primary personality patterns were found to be Ambitious/self-serving and Dominant/controlling, …

A Heuristic Tool To Enable Root Cause Analysis Of Safety Events, William D. Porter, Kianca Joseph, Demitria Stafford, Kurt Larson, John Mier, Michelle Butler-Jackson, Musaddiq Waheed

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

Hospitals routinely collect wide-ranging data related to quality, efficiency, and clinical practice. As part of these efforts, patient safety event data are collected, compiled, and analyzed to drive process improvement.

Methods

We present a novel adaptation and application of the Department of Defense Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) as a heuristic tool to improve the conduct of root cause analysis (RCA) sessions that follow serious patient safety events. To assess individual knowledge improvement after reviewing the heuristic tool, a 1-page summary (including a graphical image of the tool) was developed and provided to a convenience sample of …

Best Integrated Writing Fall 2026 - Complete Edition, Wright State University School Of Humanities And Cultural Studies, Kristie Mckiernan

Best Integrated Writing

Best Integrated Writing includes excellent student writing from Integrated Writing courses taught at Wright State University.

The Whole Patient: What Fascia Reveals About Pain, Adaptation, And The Case For Treating Together, Kelly Davis Pt, Dpt, Faaompt, Mt

New Orleans Dental Association News

The final piece in this series looks at fascia and the autonomic nervous system — the connective tissue and nerve pathways linking the jaw, neck, and airway into one continuous system — and why both matter to dentistry. Dr. Davis draws on current fascia and pain science research, including work from the 2025 International Fascia Research Congress in New Orleans, to explain how a misaligned bite can travel through this tissue and surface as headaches, how tongue posture and breathwork affect jaw stability, and why complex, chronic cases so often need more than one discipline to make headway. Told partly …

Interpretative Repertoires Of Resilience Among Beginning Teachers In Chile, Paula Villalobos-Vergara, Diego Palacios, Joel Alvarez Ruf, Rodrigo Vergara Ortuzar

The Qualitative Report

In this study, we analyze how beginning teachers in Chile construct meanings around resilience during their first year of professional induction, within a context of intensified teachers’ work and limited institutional support. Drawing on a socioecological perspective and Critical Discursive Psychology, we developed a qualitative design focused on interpretative repertoires. Ten beginning teachers from various subject areas, educational levels, and regions participated, with each being interviewed at two time points, six months apart. Through an abductive analysis, we identified three affective–discursive repertoires. The first construct enters the profession as a generational tension, in which innovation is associated with youth, while, …

Calm, Connection, Or Just Compensation: A Qualitative Investigation Of Subjective Adolescent Experiences With Behavioral Health Interventions Within A Clinical Trial, Talia Thompson, Katherine Thompson, Sarah Perzow, Holly Spinner, Bentley Porterfield-Finn, Lauren D. Gulley, Rachel G. Lucas-Thompson, Isabel Thorstad, Laura Pyle, Molly Basch, Megan J. Moran, Marian Tanofsky-Kraff, Megan M. Kelsey, Eleanor R. Mackey, Lauren B. Shomaker

The Qualitative Report

Adolescent mental health and cardiometabolic concerns are at an all-time high, necessitating the development of acceptable, feasible, and effective interventions. Investigations of behavioral health interventions with teenagers must incorporate a means of understanding how adolescents perceive and engage with an intervention, and the relevance and meaning they ascribe to its therapeutic goals, as these potentially modifiable factors may ultimately influence future uptake, sustainability, and effectiveness of the interventions. Qualitative research methods provide well-established, rigorous frameworks for addressing these questions, but are underutilized in pediatric research. This qualitative study is part of a multisite, pilot, and feasibility randomized controlled trial of …

From Burnout To Belonging: A Faculty Well-Being Director's Perspective On Leadership, Workplace Culture, Organizational Efficiency, And The Broader Role Of Physician Well-Being, Ajit K. Bisen

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Burnout remains a major challenge in health care, despite increasing investments in physician well-being initiatives. As the faculty well-being director for my department, my perspective on physician well-being has shifted from focusing primarily on individual resilience, mindfulness, and wellness initiatives to recognizing the important roles of leadership, workplace culture, and organizational efficiency. Physician well-being is an essential foundation for high-quality patient care, stronger teams, patient safety, quality improvement, and healthier organizations. Here, I discuss the 3 key shifts in thinking that have influenced my approach as faculty well-being director.

Feasibility And Pilot Study Of Implementing Mindfulness-Based Attention Training In A Pediatric Health Care Setting, Thomas B. Ayres, Seth Sonnevile, Angela Myers

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

We present herein our preliminary evidence from a pilot study of the feasibility of implementing Mindfulness-Based Attention Training (MBAT) in a pediatric health care institution. MBAT has been implemented primarily in military settings, representing another high-stress work environment. Furthermore, MBAT has had favorable evaluations from being implemented with medical students. Mindfulness-based interventions have received increasing attention in health care environments. This interest from health care institutions and the focus on developing attention-based resources through MBAT created a use case for implementing MBAT. We had 5 health care workers with a variety of job roles in our institution complete a train-the-trainer …

Creating A Culture Of Well-Being By Removing Barriers To Participation In A Multi-Campus Cancer Center, Adam Siegman, Miranda M. Phillips, Jennifer Bickel

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Background: Healthcare professionals in geographically distributed cancer care settings may face barriers to accessing workforce well-being resources due to geographic distance, staffing constraints, and operational demands. Disconnect & Refresh was developed to improve access to restorative wellness opportunities across community-based cancer care sites.

Methods: Disconnect & Refresh was implemented at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center across 4 Houston area locations. The initiative included BeWell Paws, virtual reality meditation, chair yoga, and creative wellness activities delivered during the workday. Participation was voluntary and tracked through employee badge scans. Participants were invited to complete an anonymous post-event survey, and …

Actualizing Leaders To Inspire A Group Network (Align): Feasibility And Pilot Of Implementing A Commensality Group Program For Leaders In A Pediatric Healthcare Setting, Thomas B. Ayres, Kristin Ray, Angela Myers

Advances in Cancer Education and Quality Improvement

Background: Leadership behaviors in pediatric health care settings are strongly linked to leader burnout, professional fulfillment, and self-care in addition to influencing their teams. Despite their pivotal role, leaders often face substantial emotional burdens associated with their roles. Commensality groups, defined as small, recurring gatherings centered around shared meals and structured discussions, have emerged as a promising approach to enhancing connection, community, and resilience among health care professionals. A gap in the literature regarding commensality groups is understanding the mechanism of this well-being intervention. Our hypothesis is that commensality groups act as resource caravans and provide psychosocial resources to health …

Factors Contributing To Executive Function In Young Adults, Lindy Janae Stevenson

McNair Scholars Research

Executive functions (EF) are skills used to complete desired behaviors and inhibit undesired ones. These skills are necessary for everyday life, and even more so in higher education and the workplace. This study examined the combined impact of sleep and exercise on five facets of EF in young adults enrolled in undergraduate or graduate courses. It also examined how perceived effort and performance in college classes interact with EF. The first five hypotheses studying sleep and exercise were analyzed using a 2x2 between-groups ANOVA. The data divided participants into those averaging fewer than 7 hours of sleep a night and …

The Human Side Of Healing: A Qualitative Study Of The Holistic Benefits When Integrating Dog Training Into Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Recovery, Michelle J. Nordstrom

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Introduction: Posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are highly prevalent among Servicemembers and veterans. Many of those with PTSD also struggle with moral injury and co-occurring health complications. This combination results in poor outcomes with current evidence-based practices. However, a series of recent studies examined the efficacy of a service dog training program (SDTP) which demonstrated improvements in symptoms.

Methods: A privatized archival dataset of redacted transcripts was used. The interviews were collected during a broader mixed methods study and maintained for a phenomenological, thematic analysis. There were 119 transcripts from 84 of the original 117 participants who engaged …

Beyond Screening In Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Domain-Standardized, Measure-Flexible Framework For Comprehensive Neuropsychological Assessment, Etiane Navarro

Archives of Assessment Psychology

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a multisystem neurodegenerative disorder in which cognitive, behavioral, language, and social-cognitive changes may occur across clinical phenotypes, including the ALS-frontotemporal spectrum. Neuropsychological assessment is important for characterizing nonmotor manifestations and identifying changes relevant to autonomy, everyday functioning, and clinical management. This systematic review examined literature identified through APA PsycINFO, PubMed, Google Scholar, and supplementary searching to characterize neuropsychological domains, measures, phenotype-related findings, and disease-specific limitations relevant to comprehensive assessment. Two hundred records underwent title and abstract screening, 150 reports were reviewed in full text, and 61 resources were retained for synthesis. ALS-specific screening instruments, including …

Multiple Insights Into Affective Sentience, Jon Mallatt, Todd E. Feinberg

Animal Sentience

We discuss some of the many valuable insights into affective sentience from Birch’s The Edge of Sentience, such as its eight criteria for determining which entities have sentience (e.g., emotions) and its insights into the difficulty of testing whether an Artificial Intelligence system has attained sentience. We add our own perspectives on why the eight criteria are valid, on the difficulty of using behavioral trade-offs to determine whether an animal has sentience, and why evolutionary theory says consciousness is not an epiphenomenon.

The End Of Unmeasured Exploitation: How A.S.M., C.A.S., And S.I.A. Challenge Digital Attention Capitalism, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

Digital attention capitalism generates value through the capture and monetization of human attention, yet it has historically lacked standardized mechanisms for measuring attention-related harm. This paper argues that the Attention Safeguard Models (A.S.M.), Cognitive Attentional Standards (C.A.S.), and Sociological Impact Assessment (S.I.A.) collectively challenge this system by introducing an integrated framework for classifying, measuring, and evaluating digital attention harm and its societal consequences. C.A.S. provides standardized measurement of digital attention harm, A.S.M. identifies and classifies patterns of attentional disruption and manipulation, and S.I.A. evaluates broader impacts on institutions, communities, civic engagement, education, social cohesion, and inequality. Together, these systems transform …

Beyond Screening In Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Domain-Standardized, Measure-Flexible Framework For Comprehensive Neuropsychological Assessment, Etiane Navarro

Archives of Assessment Psychology

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a multisystem neurodegenerative disorder in which cognitive, behavioral, language, and social-cognitive changes may occur across clinical phenotypes, including the ALS-frontotemporal spectrum. Neuropsychological assessment is important for characterizing nonmotor manifestations and identifying changes relevant to autonomy, everyday functioning, and clinical management. This systematic review examined literature identified through APA PsycINFO, PubMed, Google Scholar, and supplementary searching to characterize neuropsychological domains, measures, phenotype-related findings, and disease-specific limitations relevant to comprehensive assessment. Two hundred records underwent title and abstract screening, 150 reports were reviewed in full text, and 61 resources were retained for synthesis. ALS-specific screening instruments, including …

Differences In Mental Toughness Among Mixed Martial Artists And Physically Active Individuals, Savannah M. Calleja, Soleil Ramos, Victoria Potvin, Anthony A. Ricci, Gabriel J. Sanders, Corey A. Peacock

Journal for Sports Neuroscience

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a physiological and psychological demanding sport. While the majority of the literature conducted in MMA regards physiological health and risk of injury, researchers are beginning to assess the psychological profiles of MMA athletes. Previous studies have evaluated mental toughness (MT) within MMA; however, no study has examined MT in MMA athletes at the professional division. Therefore, the primary purpose of this research was to evaluate the difference in mental toughness between professional MMA athletes and physically active individuals. Secondary aims are to evaluate potential variations in mental toughness within the professional level between champion and …

“I Was Not Wonder Woman And Required Help”: Black, Latina, And White Women’S Recovery From The Covid-19 Pandemic, J. Mitchell Vaterlaus, Colton Pierce, Harry Foster, Alison Brennan, Nicole Wanago

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected women, particularly women of color, yet less is known about their recovery experiences following the end of the public health emergency. This exploratory mixed-methods study examined recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic among Black, Latina, and White women in the United States. Participants (N = 133) completed a survey that included a self-reported recovery measure and open-ended questions regarding their recovery experiences. A chi-square analysis indicated a significant association between race/ethnicity and recovery status, with Latina women more likely to report ongoing recovery than Black and White women. Codebook thematic analysis identified four themes: (1) …

The Anxious Patient: How Breathing, Presence, And Calming Cues Transform What Happens In The Dental Chair, Kelly Davis Pt, Dpt, Faaompt, Mt

New Orleans Dental Association News

In part two of her three-part series for NODA News, Dr. Kelly Davis, PT, DPT, FAAOMPT, MTC, explains why a dentist's own regulation is one of the most powerful tools in the operatory. Dental anxiety triggers a genuine sympathetic nervous system response — elevated heart rate, muscle guarding in the jaw and neck, and a body primed for threat — that makes procedures harder for patient and clinician. Dr. Davis introduces co-regulation, the neuroscience-backed principle that a calm, grounded provider can help settle an anxious patient's nervous system through presence alone. She offers concrete, simple techniques dentists can use before, …

Trauma Work With Horses: Compassion And Connection, Olivia Sagan Prof

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

New ways of working with trauma survivors are being sought with the case being made that dominant trauma therapies have relied too heavily on verbal narration and cognitive processing.  Evidence suggests that traumatic experiences are often encoded in sensory, emotional, physiological, and relational systems that may be difficult to access through language alone. This has led to interest in the potential of body-oriented, movement-based, and experiential interventions alongside traditional talk therapies. There are also calls for exploring nature-based therapies as these have shown that engagement with natural environments may help aid the process of healing. Within this context, equine-assisted therapies …