Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Understanding Relationships Between Early Life Toxic Stress, Childhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage, And Allostatic Load In Adolescence, Amanda King

Dissertations (1934 -)

Chronic disease prevalence among children and adolescents is rising, which is thought to result in part from elevations in allostatic load (AL). AL is the cumulative physiological dysregulation that results from exposure to biological, social and environmental stressors over time. Socioeconomic disparities in chronic disease and AL have been well-documented in adult populations, including links between childhood socioeconomic disadvantage (CSD) and AL, yet little is known as to whether CSD may begin to impact AL earlier in life. Differential exposure and vulnerability to stress among racial/ethnic minorities may increase risk for elevated AL among those experiencing CSD. Framed by the …

The Mediating Effects Of Positive Thinking And Social Support On Suicide Resilience Among Undergraduate Students, Denise Marie Matel-Anderson

Dissertations (1934 -)

Suicide has been the 2nd leading cause of death for 18-24-year-olds in the US since 2011. The stress experienced by undergraduate college students has the potential to increase ones’ risk for suicide. Resilience theory was used as a theoretical framework to examine the interplay between risk and protective factors. A cross-sectional and correlational design was used to assess the mediating effects of positive thinking and/or social support on suicide resilience in 131 college students 18-24 years old who completed an online survey. An indirect effect of self-esteem on suicide resilience was found through positive thinking and social support indicating that …

Examining The Durability Of Peers For Adolescents With Asd: Maintenance Of Neurological And Behavioral Effects, Bridget Kathleen Dolan

Dissertations (1934 -)

To date, there are no known published studies that have assessed the maintenance of treatment effects in the context of neurological changes and their relationship to behavioral outcomes following a social skills intervention for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The few studies that have incorporated long-term assessment into their design have focused exclusively on sustained behavioral responses to treatment. Individuals with ASD across the lifespan exhibit aberrant neural activity, which is thought to underlie social skill deficits noted in persons on the spectrum. Thus, this study sought to examine the impact of a social skills intervention, the Program for …

Aging, Executive Function, Fronto-Parietal Network Cortical Thickness: Insights From Cognitive Reserve, Katherine Reiter

Dissertations (1934 -)

Cognitive reserve (CR) indexes the nonlinear relationship between neurological insult and behavioral change. CR is manifested in both static factors (e.g., childhood environment, education) and modifiable lifestyle factors, (e.g., leisure activities). Detailed investigation of the influence of CR on cortical thickness, which indexes neuropathology, and cognitive functioning could be particularly important in understanding the heterogeneity of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While memory decline is the hallmark of AD, executive functioning (EF) decline often predates memory changes, making EF an important target for investigating CR influences. The current study examines the relationship of CR and genetic risk for AD (ε4) on EF …

Pediatric Oncology Nurses' Experiences With Prognosis-Related Communication, Amy Rose Newman

Dissertations (1934 -)

Health care providers (HCPs) in pediatric oncology are faced with the challenge of communicating the devastating news of a cancer diagnosis and prognosis. This type of communication can be referred to as prognosis-related communication (PRC). While the initial conversation with the patient and family regarding prognosis is generally considered the responsibility of the physician, patients and family members will subsequently turn to nurses for clarification of the information presented. If nurses are excluded from initial conversations, they may feel as though they are “working in the dark,” trying to answer questions while not contradicting what the physician said. This strained …

The Cry Of The Poor: Anthropology Of Suffering And Justice In Health Care From A Latin American Liberation Approach, Alexandre Andrade Martins

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation examines the connection between poverty and health inequalities from a liberation theological ethics perspective. It uses Simone Weil’s and Latin American liberation theology’s approaches to suffering and social justice as theoretical sources to address health inequalities and the suffering of the poor because of social injustice, vulnerability to diseases, and lack of healthcare assistance. First of all, these approaches are examined from how they shape an anthropology of suffering that enable us to understand the suffering of the poor and, at the same time, to recognize them as agents of their own liberation and struggle for justice in …

Finding Meaning And Sensemaking In Hospital Nursing Teams: The Promise Of Narrative Medicine, Shelley Bobb

Dissertations (1934 -)

Purpose. Narrative medicine is an innovative field that has provided meaning and increased communication between health care providers and their patients. This study explored the significance and nature of the practice of Narrative Medicine and what impact this had with NICU nurses on their team interaction with respect to team functioning, sense-making, and vocational understanding. This study seeks to provide nursing teams another tool to find meaning in their work and strengthen their teamwork. Using Narrative Medicine and the theory of phenomenology, this is a new approach that may bring nurses to draw on fresh ways to engage their work …

Reinforcement Learning, Error-Related Negativity, And Genetic Risk For Alzheimer's Disease, Christina Marie Figueroa

Dissertations (1934 -)

Reinforcement learning (RL) has been widely used as a model of animal and human learning and decision-making. The neural networks underlying RL involve many of the same structures primarily affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) such as the hippocampus. Yet, RL and non-invasive evaluation of its neural underpinnings have been underutilized as a framework for understanding disease pathology and its pre-clinical states. This study aimed to provide a novel approach for assessing subtle changes in asymptomatic apolipoprotein-E (APOE) carriers and non-carriers. Electroencephalography was collected from forty APOE genotyped older adults (Male n = 11; Mage = 79.30; Meducation = 14.88 years) …

A Mobile Health Approach To Assist Veterans Reintegrating Into Civilian Life, Rizwana Rizia

Dissertations (1934 -)

Civilian reintegration is the process of transitioning from military service to civilian life. For any active or reserve member of armed force, reintegration into civilian life can be very challenging. The reintegration phase has far larger impact than just a change in profession. It is actually a change in every aspect of life, which includes changes in lifestyles, responsibilities, home life, communities and much more. If a veteran is unable to survive the challenges of civilian reintegration it can adversely impact his or her personal and social life. Furthermore, in the long run it may even result in serious psychological …

A Neurobiological Pathway That Mediates Stress-Induced Drug Use, Oliver Vranjkovic

Dissertations (1934 -)

Cocaine addiction represents a tremendous health and financial burden on our society and the high rate of relapse to cocaine use in abstinent addicts represents a major barrier to effective therapy. Thus, understanding the factors that contribute to relapse and the underlying neurobiological processes is important for guiding the development of treatment for addiction. Stressful life events often trigger drug use in recovering addicts. The contribution of stress to drug use is problematic due to the unpredictable and often uncontrollable nature of stress. A growing literature indicates that norepinephrine and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) in the brain play key roles …

Neural Plasticity In Response To Intervention In Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Sheryl Jayne Stevens

Dissertations (1934 -)

Current theories of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) suggest that they may develop from the transactional interaction between biological risk factors and environmental processes (Dawson et al., 2009). Due to the brain’s experience-expectant nature, one’s degree of social exposure may have a significant impact on their brain development and behavioral presentation. In addition to the primary critical neurodevelopmental period identified in early childhood, recent research has demonstrated a second period of substantial neurodevelopment during the adolescent period (Sisk & Foster, 2004). This study investigated the neural and behavioral impact of participation in an empirically validated behavioral intervention (The Program for the …

Stay-At-Home-Fathers Navigating Depression: A Consensual Qualitative Research Study, William Douglas Meyers Caperton

Dissertations (1934 -)

Evidence suggests that the practices through which men are socialized to become masculine may serve both to restrict their potential in ways that lead to psychological distress, and also to restrict the ways in which they respond to such distress (Addis & Mahalik, 2003; Mahalik, Good, Tager, Levant, & Mackowiak, 2012; O’Neil, 2008). While we are beginning to understand masculine depression (Cochran & Rabinowitz, 2000; Magovcevic & Addis, 2008) and paternal depression (Paulson & Bazemore, 2010; Ramachandani & Psychogiou, 2009), almost nothing is known about how SAHFs experience depression, nor their experiences and beliefs regarding help-seeking and psychotherapy. The trend …

Role Of Shared Care In The Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms And Self-Care In Patients With Heart Failure, Susan Cole

Dissertations (1934 -)

Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition affecting over 5 million Americans. Heart failure accounts for over 32 billion dollars in total cost each year, and is the most common cause of hospitalization for persons 65 years of age or older. Patients with HF experience poor self-care, are at risk for depressive symptoms, and have high rates of 30-day hospital readmissions. Social support influences depressive symptoms, self-care, and hospital readmissions. Shared care was used to operationalize social support. Shared care is a system of three relationship processes communication, decision making, and reciprocity, used to exchange social support. The purpose of …

Interpersonal Communication In The Context Of Dementia: Examining Family Caregivers' Appraisals And Burden, Stacy Lynn Barnes

Dissertations (1934 -)

Purpose and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore dementia family caregivers' appraisals of communication behaviors and strategies, and their relationships to caregiver burden. Study objectives were to investigate: 1) the relationship between frequency of dementia-related communication behaviors and caregivers' appraisals of frustration; 2) the relationship between caregivers' use of communication strategies and appraisals of helpfulness; 3) the structural relationships between communication behavior appraisal, communication strategy appraisal, problem behaviors, and caregiver burden; and 4) caregiver education level as a moderating variable of the final structural model. Methods: A written, mailed questionnaire was developed to capture dementia family caregivers' …

Hispanic Mothers' Normative Beliefs And Intentions About The Discussion Of Sex-Related Topics With Their Adolescent Daughters, Dana M. Rodriguez

Dissertations (1934 -)

Hispanic adolescent females continue to have rates of pregnancy and STIs, which exceed those of white non-Hispanic peers. When mothers engage in the discussion of sex-related topics (DSRTs) with their adolescent daughters, it has been shown to delay or decrease sexual intercourse. However, it has been found that Hispanic parents talk less with their daughters about sex-related topics (SRTs) when compared to other ethnic groups. Understanding why Hispanic mothers may or may not intend to engage in DSRTs is important in order to design culturally appropriate programs aimed at increasing their DSRTs. A sequential mixed-methods predictive correlational design framed by …

Parent Attributional Style And Early Termination From Child And Parent Therapy, Ryan James Mattek

Dissertations (1934 -)

ABSTRACT

PARENT ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLE AND EARLY TERMINATION

FROM CHILD AND PARENT THERAPY

Ryan J. Mattek, M.A.

Marquette University, 2013

Behavior problems are prevalent in young children and represent a threat to a child's typical development. These early behavior problems are even more common in children from low-income, urban settings. If left untreated, such challenging behaviors may become ingrained and lead to later more severe behaviors including aggression, violence, and anti-social behaviors. Research has demonstrated that participation in child and parent therapy (CPT) programs significantly reduces problematic child behaviors while increasing positive behaviors in both the child and the parent. However, …

Supervisees' Experiences Of Ruptures In Multicultural Supervision: A Qualitative Study, Laura Lubbers

Dissertations (1934 -)

As the paradigmatic shift of multiculturalism emerges in counseling, the constructs of culture and context warrant examination in the supervision process. With an understanding that conflict is inevitable in supervision relationships particularly when cultural topics are being discussed, investigation into the process of ruptures and rupture repair as they take place within multicultural supervision is warranted. Despite the attention paid to addressing culture in supervision, surprisingly little empirical attention has focused on supervisee experiences of ruptures in multicultural supervision. This study sought to provide a deeper understanding of supervisees' experiences of ruptures in multicultural supervision. Twelve participants were interviewed regarding …

Muscle Fatigue And Motor Output Variability With Acute Stress In Healthy Young Adults And Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Manda Linea Keller

Dissertations (1934 -)

Acute stress can alter motor performance differently for men and women. The first aim of this dissertation addresses possible causes for the sex difference in the motor response of a low-intensity fatiguing contraction of the elbow flexor muscles to an acute stressor (difficult mental math) in young, healthy adults. Muscle fatigue increased for men and women when exposed to the stressor, but impairment was more prominent for the women. This work showed that fatigue in the central nervous system, specifically in cortical motor and premotor areas, as well as relaxation rates of the muscle (quantified with cortical stimulation) were not …

Pretreatment Client Characteristics And Treatment Retention In An Intensive Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Program, Shauna Elizabeth Fuller

Dissertations (1934 -)

The effectiveness and efficacy of substance abuse treatment is well established. At the same time, clients often prematurely drop out of substance abuse treatment, negatively impacting their chances of achieving favorable outcomes. Investigating variables associated with treatment retention has become increasingly important considering one of the most robust findings in substance abuse treatment outcome research is the positive relationship between the amount of time spent in treatment and post-treatment outcomes (e.g., decreased drug/alcohol use, decreased criminal activity, improved social functioning). This study examined the relationship between pre-treatment client characteristics and treatment drop-out among 273 adults who were admitted to intensive …