Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of Awareness Training And Competing Response Training In The Treatment Of Muscle Tics And Nervous Habits, Gregory A. Wright

Masters Theses

This study examines two components of Azrin and Nunn's (1973) habit reversal procedure in an attempt to separate the effects of awareness training from the effects of competing response training. Research (Miltenberger, Fuqua, & McKinley, 1985) has indicated that an intervention combining awareness training and competing response practice is as effective as the entire habit reversal package in suppressing muscle tics. However, because the competing response component is always administered in conjunction with awareness training, the effects of each component are obscured. Four subjects, two with muscle tics and two with nervous habits, received an intervention of either awareness training …

The Effects Of Activity Group Structure On Cohesion, Engagement, And Affective Meanings In Acute-Care Psychiatric Patients, Hope L. Brucki

Masters Theses

Through activity analysis, occupational therapists identify various components of group structure and group processes for use in therapeutic activities. This study compared the effects of individual activity group structure (members engage in individual projects) and common activity group structure (members share a common project) in a sample of 38 acute-care psychiatric patients. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of eight theme-oriented poster-making groups, four for each experimental condition. Cohesion among group members was measured by the Group Environment Scale (GES), engagement was assessed by the Group Climate Questionnaire-Short Form (GCQ-S), and affective meanings were evaluated by Osgood's short-form semantic differential …

The Evaluation Of Factors Affecting Adherence To An Exercise Program Among College Students, Mark Robert Dean

Dissertations

Though investigative studies have identified the many benefits of aerobic exercise for both biological and behavioral health, only a small percentage of individuals maintain regular exercise. Team or group exercise programs report higher participation rates, but studies of individually prescribed exercise programs typically report problems of compliance and attrition. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various interventions--including the provision of course bonus points, cash lottery, and partner assignment--designed to increase exercise compliance among college students. Thirty-two student volunteers reporting "no current exercise" were randomly assigned to either the "partner" or the "individual" exercise group. …

The Effects Of Rational Emotive Education On The Rationality, Neuroticism And Defense Mechanisms Of Adolescents, Daniel John Kachman

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of Rational Emotive Education (REE) as a mental health prevention program for adolescents. The subjects included 109 eleventh and twelfth grade students who were enrolled in four introductory psychology courses. A nonequivalent control group design was used with experimental subjects receiving 12 biweekly sessions of REE. Subjects were pre and posttested on three measures of psychosocial adaptation: the Rational Behavior Inventory (RBI), the Defense Mechanism Inventory (DMI), and the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI). The effects of REE upon behavior were also examined by comparing academic effort grades, number of detentions …

Effects Of Assertiveness Training And Cue Controlled Relaxation Training On Cardiovascular Reactivity To Social Stressors, Bernardine M. Pinto

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of two interventions (assertiveness training and cue controlled relaxation training) on cardiovascular reactivity to role play simulations of social stressors. For this purpose, a single subject multiple-baseline experimental design was employed. Four subjects (three female and one male) received assertiveness training (which focused on behavioral components of assertiveness) and cue controlled relaxation training. Following assertiveness training, subjects responded assertively to the role plays but their blood pressure reactivity was not reduced. Cue controlled relaxation appeared to reduce blood pressure reactivity to a limited extent. Factors associated with the effects of …

The Mexican American Elderly And Barriers To The Utilization Of Health Care Services, Kathleen Anne Hoekstra

Masters Theses

The utilization of health care services by the Mexican American elderly is low compared to the severity of their health problems. This thesis examines the sociocultural factors which affect the interaction of the Mexican American elderly and mainstream health professionals. Included is a brief history detailing discriminatory practices, a description of traditional Mexican cultural practices and attitudes, and an exploration of the cultural barriers which limit access to health care.

Ideal And Real Performance Expectations Of Baccalaureate Nursing Graduates As Perceived By Graduates, Nurse Educators, And Nurse Administrators, Maureen Martin Fochtman

Dissertations

Nurse educators and nursing service administrators have different expectations for the baccalaureate graduate nurse. The difference in expectations has made the transition from student to practitioner difficult for the new graduate.

The purpose of this study was to identify the ideal and real expectations regarding entry level performance as perceived by nurses who graduated in 1985 from 17 of 31 baccalaureate programs represented in the Consensus on Entry project. The ideal and real expectations of the graduates were compared to the nurse educators' and the nursing service administrators' results from the consensus on Entry project.

One hundred fifty-four baccalaureate graduates …

An Experimental Study Of The Effects Of A Prescriptive Mental Health Consultation Approach On The Adjustment Of Children Enrolled In The Blue Water Head Start Program St. Clair County, Michigan, Michael J. Duffy Jr.

Dissertations

Head Start mental health services have the goal of primary prevention. The principal vehicles for achieving primary prevention are education and consultation. In St. Clair County, Michigan, the Blue Water Clinic's Early Intervention Program provides Blue Water Head Start participants with mental health services.

This study was concerned with mental health consultation as a service delivery vehicle for achieving the goal of primary prevention. More precisely, aspects of primary prevention were investigated particularly as they relate to the Blue Water Clinic's Early Intervention Program and the Blue Water Head Start Program and specifically, to two mental health consultation approaches used …

Guilt, Ego Development, And Christian Faith, Dane Ver Merris

Dissertations

This research addressed the problem of whether a relationship exists between a particular level of ego development and guilt engendered by a rigid conscience based upon orthodox Christian beliefs. It was anticipated that forty-five graduate students at a conservative midwestern seminary who experienced higher levels of guilt and demonstrated a more rigid conscience/superego would score at the Conscientious stage of ego development measured by the Washington University Sentence Completion Test. Guilt and rigidity of conscience were measured by the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire.

Object relations theories of the origins of guilt were examined along with the relationship between object relations …

An Otopathological Assessment Of Dogs Exposed To Excessive Dietary Fluoride And/Or Suspected Water Borne Toxins, Barbara Ann Hannah

Masters Theses

In 1970, a once very productive Allegan, Michigan dog kennel began experiencing a rash o£ unexplained perinatal deaths and reproductive anomalies in Shetland pups. Anomalies including cleft palate and lip, kinked tails, twisted feet and convulsions immediately before death plagued the neonates. The adult dogs were reported to have tooth mottling, exostoses and auditory and vestibular problems.

Because the dogs had been on high fluoride diets and because the kennel well water was suspected of harboring toxins, a group of 20 Shetland dogs was used to try to find if there was any correlation between the reproductive problems and the …

The Effect Of Assertiveness Training On Assertive Behavior And Corresponding Self-Descriptive Statements, James Scott Boland

Masters Theses

This study examines the changes in subjects' assertive behavior and corresponding changes in self-perceptions/-cognitions after assertiveness training. Based on the findings from cognitive dissonance studies, it is suggested that nonassertive subjects would begin to evidence assertive self-perceptions/cognitions if they learned to behave assertively via behavioral skill training methods. Three males and five females volunteered to undergo one session of baseline measures and four training sessions. Pre-treatment RAS, EIBS, and Baseline measures of behavior and cognitions as measured by changes in behavioral ratings and post-trial form responses. Post-training RAS and EIBS responses were similar to those found in assertive subjects. Results …

Stress Of The Caregiver: Effective Management Of Dementia Patients In Hospital And Community Settings, Ruth E. Dunkle, Michael Nevin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study explores the management problems among elders with dementia and their medical and family caregivers. Twenty-five patients were interviewed as well as professional health care personnel and a family member. Findings indicated that professional assessment facilitates home caregiving but has little bearing on successful coping by the caregiver. Variability of coping relates to the strategy employed.

Professional Autonomy In Community Mental Health Centers, William E. Buffum

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Professional community mental health workers want considerable autonomy in doing their work, but too much autonomy can lead to frustration and less satisfaction with work. This finding of a study of 93 mental health professionals in three community mental health centers is in sharp contrast with a comparison group of 60 professionals in a chemical plant. The article cautions against the direct translation of research on all professionals to community mental health professionals.

The Effect Of Feedback Given To Nurse Aides On Response Latency To Patient Call Lights In A Geriatric Nursing Home, Patricia L. Matuszak

Masters Theses

Feedback has been used in staff performance and management systems in various human service settings. It was applied to four female nurse aides in a geriatric nursing home to decrease response latency to patient call lights. A multiple-baseline-across-subjects design was used with each aide receiving feedback on her mean response time to assigned patients' call lights. Two of the four subjects demonstrated a decrease in mean response times, while two showed little effect after feedback.

Assessing The Needs Of Mothers With Mentally Retarded Offspring: An Empirical Approach, Jonathan Rabinowitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This exploratory study assesses the needs of mothers with retarded offspring living at home. Previous studies have focused on meeting those parental needs which would benefit their retarded offspring. This study does not limit parental needs to those needs, which if met would benefit the retarded child, and defines parents as an independent group with special needs.

Measuring Domestic Violence In An Alcoholic Population, Larry R. Livingston

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A survey of 107 adults receiving residential treatment for substance abuse was conducted, to determine characteristics of domestic violence in relationships. The survey incorporated instruments to measure the degree of substance abuse (the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test or MAST) as well as types and frequencies of domestic violence (the Conflict Tactics Scale or CTS-N). Findings are then compared to a national study of 2143 normals (Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980) to ascertain differences in domestic violence.

Findings indicate that 83% of alcoholic subjects behaved violently in past relationships, compared to 28% of the normal population. Fifty-five percent of the alcoholics …

Holidays As Multiple Realities: Experiencing Good Times And Bad Times After A Disabling Injury, Mary Jo Deegan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Holidays are idealized as times of celebration. They are embedded in cultural symbols, family patterns, and lived experience. Because all holidays are not good times, however, the lived experience of holidays is considerably more complex than its symbolization. This ambivalence is dramatically deepened for recently disabled adults who view holidays as a specially strained time of remembrance. Past holidays are often idealized in a new way as one's biography is placed into a new embodied reality. Simultaneously, holidays remain days when one is supposed to celebrate, and often denote some celebration for the injured. The resulting experience is a melange …

A Perspective On Differential Services In Counseling: Altruism And Likeness, James Latimore

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this exploratory study using a small sample, an attempt is made to understand the differential services provided by vocational counselors in a non-profit agency, a setting in which a strong identification with clients is encouraged. The services are measured and the unequal measures of service are related to the degree to which the client is seen as an image of the counselor in certain respects. Counseling is viewed as an altruistic occupation and the differential services are analyzed in this context. In general, it is suggested that the differential counseling and psycho-therapeutic services noted by other writers all reflect …

The Sociology Of Alcoholism Counseling: A Social Worker's Perspective, Katherine Van Wormer

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An occupation - alcoholism counseling - strives to gain professional status. Still a field largely dominated by counselors who derive their status more from personal attributes - the fact of being recovering alcoholics - rather than from achievement of impersonally applied standards, chemical dependency counseling is in a state of flux. This sociological analysis examines recent developments in the field. Special emphasis is on roles for social workers.

Effects Of Seating Arrangement On Affective Meanings And Group Interaction In Healthy Senior Citizens, Judith Ann Boughton

Masters Theses

Occupational therapists state that environmental factors (seating arrangements) influence behavior. This ex post facto study examined the effect of peripheral versus central seating arrangement on interaction (verbalizing and looking), affect, and group climate in 41 healthy senior citizens. Nine men and 32 women aged 62 to 83 participated in two collage activities (creative and imitative) in either a parallel/nonsharing group or a project/ sharing group. Seating arrangement was added to an earlier study's independent variables (creative and imitative activities, and sharing and nonsharing groups). Dependent variables consisted of three factors of affective meaning from the Osgood Semantic Differential, evaluation, power, …

Performance Of Brain Dysfunctional And Non-Dysfunctional Subjects On The Bip And A Multiple-Choice Bip With Varying Degrees Of Background Interference, Michael Joseph Ezzo

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the visual and motor behavior of brain dysfunctional patients and the effects of varying the line density on the Background Interference Procedure for the Bender-Gestalt (BIP). Various claims have been made for the increased diagnostic accuracy of the BIP over the regular Bender-Gestalt, yet few investigations have been conducted to explore the BIP phenomenon. A model for the process of drawing geometrical figures was proposed in hopes of clarifying how this procedure and others intervene in the graphomotor task.

The original BIP paper was considered to have lines of single-density. A transparency …

The Post-Exercise Cardiovascular Response Of Post Myocardial Infarction Males To Varying Water Temperatures In A Hot Tub, Janeen S. Docsa

Masters Theses

This study compared heart rate, blood pressure, and electrocardiographic response of post myocardial infarction males taking either vasodilator and beta blocker or just beta blocker medications, and a control, to different water temperatures in a hot tub. Twentysix adult males were observed. Each subject engaged in exercise, then sat in a hot tub for 12 minutes. Each subject repeated this procedure three times, once at each water temperature (36.6°, 38.3°, and 40°C).

The data during immersion indicated: (a) heart rate was affected by increased temperature and duration of exposure; (b) blood pressure was affected by length of exposure; (c) frequency …

The Effects Of Methylphenidate On The Learning And Performance Of A Child Diagnosed Addh, Kendra Leigh Heath

Masters Theses

The effects of methylphenidate (Ritalin) on the learning and performance of a child diagnosed Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADDH) was evaluated using a repeated acquisition apparatus. A placebo and three dosages of methylphenidate were evaluated in both the learning and performance components of the experiment. Dosages tested included the subject's therapeutic dosage, a dosage 5 mg higher, and a dosage 5 mg lower. Methylphenidate produced no effect of consequence on the number of errors per session, suggesting that the medication neither impaired nor facilitated learning or performance at the range of dosages investigated. Data were also collected on social …

Relationship Of Admission Variables To Success For Licensed Practical Nurses In Associate Degree In Nursing Ladder Program, Sally Kathryn Johnson

Dissertations

The problem and challenge for nurse educators in Practical Nursing/Associate Degree Nursing (PN/ADN) ladder programs is to identify admission criteria for Licensed Practical Nurse (PN) applicants entering the advanced standing level. The selected admission criteria should include those which are most likely to indicate success in the program and on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nursing (NCLEX-RN). Identifying such criteria would promote the most efficient use of scarce educational resources and help avoid loss of time, energy and financial resources for potential nursing students.

The records of 79 LPNs who entered a PN/ADN ladder program at the advanced …

Auditory Temporal Processing Abilities Of Autistic Children, Theresa L. Bender

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Two Contracting Methods On Altering The Eating And Exercise Behavior Of Seven Obese Adolescents: An In-Home Weight Treatment Study, Donald Edward Montgomery

Masters Theses

Seven obese males and females, ages ranging 12-15 years, served as participants in an eight-week in-home treatment program. The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of two contracting methods to influence eating and exercise patterns. Individualized exercise and nutrition programs were designed for each participant based on their health and behavior patterns at the time of the study. Four subjects were assigned to Group A (Self-Management) where contracting was established with each adolescent and based their compliance with the program. In Group B (Parental Modeling) contracting was established with the mothers of three subjects who participated along …

Physiological Differentiation And Cognitive Discrimination Of An Olfactory Stimulus Produced Under Stress, Robert Gray Perra

Dissertations

Humans may have ability to transmit, receive, and react to biological information from other humans through olfactory chemosensory communication. Two studies examined human (1) ability to differentiate physiologically, via olfaction, fresh stress produced sweat and (2) cognitive discrimination, through smell, of "aged" stress produced sweat. Four stress conditions were employed; (1) exercise, (2) relaxation, (3) sexual arousal, and (4) repulsion.

Experiment I. A male dyad participated--donor and recipient. Donor was prepared to collect his axillary secretion on gauze; following preparation donor was stressed. After stressing, the gauze which was presumed to contain a fresh non-odoriferous sweat, was removed, sandwiched between …

The Effects Of Strain Differences On The Binding Of Concavalian A To Mouse Sperm, Lisa A. Mckay

Honors Theses

The current study, lectins were used as genetic probes to determine the phenotype of the sperm from different strains of mice. Lectins are proteins of non-immune origin, which bind to specific carbohydrates (McCoy, 1986). Being that virtually all cell membranes contain carbohydrate components, lectins have been used to identify all types of cells. In this study, a biotinylated lectin Concavalian A (Con A) derived from Canavalia ensiformis, was used and binding was detected using an avidin-biotin peroxidase (ABP) complex technique. The object of the current research was to 1) determine if mouse strain differences have an effect on lectin binding, …

Dual-Purpose Activity Versus Single-Purpose Activity In An Institutionalized Geriatric Population, Rita M. Yoder

Masters Theses

The use of purposeful, goal-directed activity has traditionally been a central theme for occupational therapy. In dual-purpose activity the participant has two goals: successful task completion and the making of adaptive responses in the activity process. This study compares the extent to which a dual-purpose activity (stirring for the purpose of exercise and baking cookies) enhances performance in contrast to a single-purpose activity (stirring for the purpose of exercise alone) in an institutionalized geriatric population.

Thirty women between 70 and 92 years of age were randomly assigned to either the single- or dual-purpose activity. Duration, exertion, and discontinuities were measured …

The Role Of Trainer Contact In The Treatment Of Enuresis Using A Conditioning Device, Elaine Lee Phillips

Dissertations

This study examined if regular planned contact compared to no contact with a trainer made a difference in terms of dropout rate and success rate in the treatment of enuresis using a conditioning device. The study additionally attempted to determine if the frequency of contact had an impact on success and dropout rates. Twelve boys and six girls were assigned to one of three groups, a high contact group, medium contact group, and no contact group. Other than matching for age, subjects were randomly assigned. All subjects received the same training on the use of the conditioning device. Subjects in …