Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Children’S Disclosure Of School Bullying: The Relation Between Peer Victimization, Internalizing Symptoms, Negative Affect, And Gender, Julia L. Kiefer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children who are bullied by their peers are at risk for several negative developmental outcomes and are therefore advised to tell an adult when they are. However, victims of school bullying are often reluctant to disclose to adults that they are being bullied. Some bullied children also experience symptoms of anxiety or depression, which could further reduce their likelihood of telling an adult. In this study, I tested the degree to which children’s internalizing symptoms predicted their likelihood of telling adults about being bullied at school, and if this relation was exacerbated by children’s negative feelings associated with telling an …

The Impact Of Video-Taped Social Modeling On Alcohol Outcome Expectancies Of Young Adults And The Role Of Social Anxiety, Kyle Kevin Jackson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs) represent people’s ideas about the effects of alcohol (Fromme, 1993). Positive AOEs particularly have been identified as a potential risk factor for hazardous drinking (e.g., Brown et al., 1985). The exact mechanisms that modify AOEs are not fully understood. Further, people higher in social anxiety may be especially receptive to social modeling due to attentional bias shift towards others in social contexts (Rapee & Heimberg, 1997). The current study examined how social anxiety and social modeling associate with AOEs. It was hypothesized that 1) those in the social modeling treatment condition would have higher social anxiety-adjacent …

The Effects Of Consumer Loan Application Formats And Advertised Terms On Consumer Borrowing Decisions, Alicia M. Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Consumers continue to demonstrate a willingness to accrue more debt. They are also more accepting of increased repayment risk via the acceptance of longer loan terms. Extant research on consumer borrowing consists primarily of experiments designed to assess consumer choices and understand how consumers evaluate loan attributes in relation to one another within consumer borrowing contexts (Kamleitner, Hoelzl, and Kirchler 2012; Ranyard et al., 2006). Thus, prior research examines consumer responses to loan information rather than the generation of loan parameters at the time of financing. With important implications for consumers, marketers of financial products, academic researchers, and federal regulators, …

An Evaluation Of The Convergent Construct Validity Of The Boldness Inventory Of Psychopathy Using A Five-Minute, 10% Carbon-Dioxide-Enriched Air Challenge, Morgan Alexandra Hill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Psychopathy is a constellation of maladaptive interpersonal, affective, and behavioral features, including grandiosity, manipulativeness, emotional detachment, and impulsivity (Hare, 2003). Fearlessness, immunity to stress, self-assurance, and social dominance are considered to be adaptive features of psychopathy. Patrick and colleagues (2009) sought to reconcile differences between opposing conceptualizations of psychopathy by formulating a triarchic model of the condition. One core construct in this model, boldness, captures an ability to remain calm in the face of threat, an appetite for dangerous or risky activities, and an increased tolerance for uncertainty and danger. Boldness is believed to originate from differences in the brain’s …

An Innocent Bystander Walks Into A Bar: The Influence Of Temporal Proximity And Familiarity On Unconscious Transference, Nia Gipson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

According to The Innocence Project, 69% of DNA exonerations in the United States involved mistaken eyewitness identification as a contributing factor to these errant convictions. Psychologists have contributed towards minimizing mistaken identifications by proposing best practices that law enforcement still follow today. One understudied cause of mistaken eyewitness identification is unconscious transference (UT). UT is a memory error in which a person encountered in an innocent context becomes confused with a person seen in a guilty context (Loftus, 1976). Past research has established some boundary conditions for when UT can occur; however, the limited methodology has resulted in narrow conclusions …

Mentors In Violence Prevention: Differential Impacts On Adolescent Bystander Intentions About Bullying, Dating Violence, And Sexual Harassment, Ayla Mapes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bystander approaches are promising interventions that can engage bystanders as prosocial allies to intervene in interpersonal violence situations among youth within school settings. The Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) bystander intervention program targets interpersonal violence using a peer-to-peer mentoring model to engage students in a discussion about violence prevention. Research on the MVP program is promising but limited. The current study examined the specificity of MVP intervention effects in two high school samples. The first was a pre/post-test design that included a smaller sample of high school students who participated in the MVP program in the 2013-2014 academic year. The …

Church, Country, Culture: How Three Aspects Of Authoritarianism Predict Support For Donald Trump, Trenton Leslie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the American bipartisan system, ideologies and beliefs create political views that sort voters between two groups. Political sorting increases polarization based on cultural preferences for an in-group that become ethnocentric views, which develop into ethnocentric cultural politics. I present an augmented concept of authoritarianism in America that encompasses sorting based on aspects of political belief, encapsulating sources of polarization and cultural attachments to political associations.

I develop the argument that authoritarianism is the result of political attachment to identities that feed off one another as individuals identify with an in-group, such as a party platform. My central theory is …

Children’S Positive Peer Relationships And Their Bullying Behaviors: A Latent Profile Analysis, Lauren Mutignani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the current study, I aim to expand upon traditional methods for classifying children based on positive peer nominations and contribute to the field’s understanding of high-status bullies who maintain social resources despite bulling behaviors (e.g., van der Ploeg et al., 2020). Both reciprocated and one-sided (i.e., received and sent) positive peer nominations were used to distinguish socially meaningful subgroups. Participants included 659 children from 34 classrooms (M Age = 9.31 years, SD = .49 years; girls = 50.6%; Hispanic/Latino/a/x = 42.5%, White/European American = 29.9%, Black/African American = 2.3%, Asian/Asian American/Pacific Islander = 11.7%, Native American = 2.3%, Bi/Multiracial …

The Effects Of Physical Function And Genetics On Cognition And Blood Biomarkers In Individuals At-Risk For Alzheimer’S Disease And Related Dementias, Joshua Louis Gills

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) rates are expected to triple by the year 2050. Early detection and specific mitigation efforts are warranted to blunt the alarming rate. Physical function (PF) declines with age, but higher physical function is associated with better cognitive functioning in middle-to- older age individuals. Moreover, greater physical activity (PA) is associated with better global cognition; however, Apoliporotein e4 carriers may not gain the same benefits with exercise. Additionally, plasma phosphorylated tau 217 (p-tau217) has been identified as a novel diagnostic ADRD biomarker which needs further research to examine associations with risk factors. Therefore, the aims …

Discrete Choice Experiments In Agricultural And Food Economics: Two Essays On Information Provision Modalities, Uncertainty Adjustment, And Hypothetical Bias, Monsoïa Arsène Juste Agossadou

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stated discrete choice experiments are extensively used in applied economics to study preferences and valuation for new products, as well as costs and benefits of new policies and programs. Moreover, information provision experiments widely use the method to examine information effects on different outcomes. This thesis explores two methodological issues in discrete choice experiments: (i) information provision modalities and (ii) hypothetical bias. The first study examines the effect of information modality by testing the effect of using combined text script and audio clip (treatment) versus only text script (control) to convey information in discrete choice experiments. Specifically, the study elicits …

A Mixed Methods Approach To Context Specific Curriculum Design For Very Small And Small Strawberry Growers In The Southeastern United States, Thomas A. Yeargin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Outbreaks of foodborne illness due to fresh produce are a continued threat to both the publichealth and the economy in the United States. Though there are many factors which influence the perpetuation of foodborne pathogens, the inability of the food industry to curtail this issue indicates systemic failure of interventions aimed at improving food safety practices. In this dissertation, we detail the efforts made over the past few decades to provide training to food producers and food handlers as well as recommendations that have been made for improvement based on these studies. By borrowing from more advanced fields of study …

Negative Urgency's Influence On State-Level, Emotion-Based Changes In Alcohol-Related Cognitions, Noah Wolkowicz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project expanded on the Acquired Preparedness Model of Risk (APMR) by examining how Negative Urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly in negative emotional states, affects emotion-based changes in alcohol cognitions to produce risk for alcohol use. The APMR prioritizes the role of outcome expectancies as the means through which traits such as NU, convey alcohol use risk. However, this model treats these cognitions as static and often fails to assess their valence; further, alcohol-cognitions fluctuate in response to negative emotions and may become more salient during these states. Therefore, this study examined: 1) how NU impacts negative emotion-based, …

Distress Tolerance As A Potential Target For Change: The Relationship Between Distress Tolerance, Craving, And Alcohol Consumption In A Lab-Based Experiment, Isabel F. Augur

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Distress tolerance (DT) has recently been studied as a potential catalyst for the development ofalcohol use disorder (AUD). Research exploring the relationship between DT and craving is limited and has primarily focused on nicotine craving. Furthermore, there are no current studies examining the relationship between DT and alcohol consumption. This study was designed to fill this gap in the literature, which may shed light on a potentially important target for alcohol use treatment. Additionally, the role of mindfulness was explored in the context of the relationship between DT and alcohol craving and consumption, with the intention of expanding on the …

Rejection Sensitivity And Social Support As Predictors Of Peer Victimization Among Youth With Psychiatric Illness, Katherine C. Hyde

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examined whether rejection sensitivity and perceptions of social support predicted concurrent peer victimization in a sample of adolescents with psychiatric illness. Participants included 43 adolescents, aged 12-18 with diverse psychiatric diagnoses, who were recruited from a summer residential treatment program. Participants completed measures of peer victimization, perceptions of social support, and rejection sensitivity. Participants also completed the global victimization item in the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, which allowed for comparison of rates of peer victimization across studies (Solberg & Olweus, 2003). Results replicate and extend previous research that indicates adolescents with psychiatric illness experience high rates …

Within-Person Variability Of Internal And External Sexual Consent, Malachi Willis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Sexual consent is often conceptualized as an internal willingness to engage in sexual activity, which can be communicated externally to a sexual partner. Preliminary evidence indicates that people’s sexual consent varies from day to day. Study designs that assess sexual consent at multiple time points (e.g., experience sampling methodology [ESM]) are needed to better understand the within-person variability of sexual consent; however, extant validated measures of sexual consent are not appropriate for ESM studies, which require shorter assessments due to the increased burden this methodology has on participants. As such, the goal of this dissertation was to develop valid …

Calling Out The Trolls: Responses To Witnessing Use Of The “Troll” Label As A Defense In An Online Group Context, Dene E. M. Wamsley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although the term “troll” has existed since the 1980s, its meaning has shifted in recent years as social media use has increased. People provide contrasting and imprecise definitions for what constitutes “trolling,” and often apply the term subjectively to describe online discussants who are uncivil, who are deviant, and who and present counter-attitudinal opinions. Exposure to deviance, counter-attitudinal information, and incivility often leads to unwanted psychological effects. In theory, labeling an uncivil, counter-attitudinal deviant as a “troll” proposes that their intention is to disrupt the conversation and upset other discussants, which provides a reason for why incivility is used, and …

An Experimental Test Of The Effects Of Sleep Deprivation On Approach Behavior, Rebecca L. Campbell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Emotion regulation and sleep have been identified as mechanisms that may be involved in the development and maintenance of many mental health disorders. However, there has been little research into the relation between sleep and emotion regulation. To address this gap in knowledge, a novel study was conducted. We hypothesized that sleep deprived individuals would demonstrate less approach behavior toward a negatively valenced stimulus, as well as increased self-reported avoidance, compared to a control group. To test this, a randomized controlled experiment using a behavioral measure of approach and a self-report measure of avoidance was conducted. Fifty-two healthy individuals ages …

Turn That Frown Upside-Down! The Effectiveness Of Opposite Action In Changing Emotion, Kaitlyn Diane Chamberlain

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While research demonstrates that opposite action (OA) impacts emotion (Rizvi & Linehan, 2005), we lack an understanding of the mechanisms by which it produces opposite emotions. The current study dismantled emotion regulation skill components by comparing tasks with different combinations of cognitive, emotive and behavioral components. I predicted that the OA condition would be the most effective in altering negative emotion. University students (n = 194) completed a sadness induction and were randomly assigned to either a (1) control, (2) low arousal positive imagery (3) high arousal positive imagery, or (4) OA plus high arousal positive imagery condition. The control …

Components Of Mindfulness Training: Impacts On Attention And Affect, Maximilian Fey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The literature on mindfulness supports a distinction between two components of non-judgmental acceptance and directed attention. The present research analyzed whether there are distinct differences in attentional capabilities or affect between mindfulness inductions which differed in either including only directed attention or directed attention and non-judgmental acceptance. I hypothesized that the acceptance component of mindfulness would increase participants sustained attentional capabilities relative to a control condition; furthermore, I hypothesized that the non-judgmental acceptance component of mindfulness would lead to significant increases in positive affect and decreases in negative affect relative to control. Lastly, I hypothesized that an individual difference measure …

Social Anxiety Reduction In The Context Of Social Modeling Utilizing A Placebo Alcohol Beverage, Kyle K. Jackson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol misuse and elevated social anxiety are found to be highly comorbid, and being exposed to social models consuming alcohol can increase one’s consumption. Yet no research has thus far examined whether the internal experience of alcohol consumption (e.g., social anxiety reduction) can also be transmitted via social modeling. This bar-lab study examined the impact of social modeling behavioral cues of social anxiety on emerging adult drinkers. It was hypothesized that those exposed to a social model experiencing an apparent social anxiety reduction from drinking would themselves report lessened state social anxiety following a placebo drink, and that this effect …

Dynamics Of Momentary Perceived Self-Regulation Abilities As Novel Predictors Of Overeating In Daily Life, Kayla Dawn Skinner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite an increase of research in the realm of overeating - a well-known contributor to obesity - the psychological mechanisms that maintain overeating behaviors across time and context are still poorly understood. It may be that people’s perceptions of their self-regulation abilities fluctuate over time, and overeating results from momentary increases in negative mood eliciting negative perceptions of their self-efficacy and current willpower, stronger beliefs that cravings can be controlled and a greater ability to tolerate distress. The current study examined the dynamics of and momentary predictors of overeating using a 7-day EMA protocol to study unsuccessful restrained eaters (n …

Tattoo Narratives And Counseling, Danny Lane Mccarty

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Much research has been done on tattoos and on those who acquire them, but most of the research has focused on negative correlations that might exist with people who have tattoos. This current research, however, showed that people’s tattoo narratives can relate to how they view self, others, and the world, and to how they approach life. A narrative approach to qualitative research was used, and ten people participated in the study. Participants’ views of self, others, and the world were discussed as these views emerged from the narratives. Their possible approaches to life were also addressed. Themes that emerged …

How Does Alcohol Intoxication Impair Risk Detection Of Sexual Assault? Testing An Integration Of Alcohol Myopia And Social Information Processing Theories, Alexander James Melkonian

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sexual assault among young adults is a highly prevalent public health concern. Alcohol is often implicated as a risk factor for sexual assault through its impairing effects on an individual’s ability to process and respond to social cues in the environment. The effect of alcohol myopia can result in greater focus of attention on salient environmental cues. The relationship between alcohol intoxication and resulting behavior may depend on what type of information is most salient. The current study examined the effects of alcohol on social information processing as it relates to sexual assault risk detection. Method: Participants were 48 young …

The Effects Of Hand Holding On Cancer Patients Level Of Anxiety: A Single-Case Study, West Loveland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore how the anxiety levels of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients receiving chemotherapy are affected while holding hands with a secure attachment. This study utilized three experimental single-case designs: participant one measured under a B-design, participant two measured under a B-A design, and participant three measured under an A-B design. Each participant’s anxiety was assessed during six chemotherapy treatments and one meeting with their primary oncologist to discuss the prognosis of their cancerous disease. Results visually indicate a greater effect on anxiety reduction during treatment when the intervention is utilized compared to only having a …

Implicit Bias And The Boundaries Of Belief: A Single-Representational Dual-Attitude Account Of Implicit Attitudes, Austin Dakota Synoground

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since their inception, implicit attitudes have been defined as associative mental states, separate from beliefs, which are considered to be propositional in nature. Recently, several philosophers have challenged this distinction, arguing that implicit attitudes are actually unconscious beliefs. In turn, I argue that the attitudes detected by current experimental paradigms are blind to distinctions between implicit attitudes, which I define as the products of an associative learning mechanism, and unconscious beliefs, which are the products of a propositional learning mechanism. Specifically, I argue for a single-representational dual-attitude account of implicit bias.

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Counseling Students In A Co-Facilitated Experiential Group, Alexandra Meyers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research in the fields of experiential learning, group psychotherapy, and neuroscience has supported the inclusion of the experiential group in counseling training programs due to the potential for positive impact on students’ personal and professional development (Badenoch & Cox, 2010; Denninger, 2010). Investigations exploring counseling students’ experiences of the experiential group have been primarily limited to quantitative studies, while in-depth qualitative inquiry has been minimal. Additionally, an extensive review of the literature has found there have been no qualitative studies examining experiential groups co-facilitated by a course instructor and a doctoral student. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to …

Investigating Affective Pathways For The Influence Of Justification On Self-Control, Morgan Hill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

People struggle with temptation in their everyday lives. Research often attributes failures in self-regulation to overwhelming and uncontrollable impulses. However, research also supports the idea that cognitive factors (e.g., justification) can license tempting behavior and allow individuals to behave in ways that run counter to their long-term goals. In addition, it is likely that affect plays a role in justification-based self-control failure. The current set of three studies investigated the role of affect in justification-based self-control failure. Study 1 tested the prediction that recall of past successes would result in increased positive affect. Study 2 assessed whether justification results in …

Values Vs. Self-Interest As Determinants Of Attitudes: Through A Construal Level Theory Lens, (Sometimes) Self-Interest Wins, Austin D. Eubanks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study (n = 335) attempted to conceptually replicate Hunt, Kim, Borgida, and Chaiken (2010) with a high-powered design to investigate whether values and self-interest differentially impact attitudes depending on psychological distance. Participants were assigned to complete a task that made self- or other-focused values more accessible, then indicated their attitudes about a student fee increase at a university to fund scholarships the participants would not be eligible to receive (thus going against their own financial self-interest for the well being of someone else). The memo describing the fee increase was manipulated such that the increase would be occurring …

A Multimodal Assessment Of Disgust In Response To Traumatic Event Reminders Among Adolescents, Teah-Marie R. Bynion

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The majority of youth will report traumatic event exposure by the time they reach adulthood. Research suggests exposure to such events is linked to myriad negative outcomes. Not all traumatic events are alike, however; evidence suggests that, compared to non-interpersonal events, interpersonal events in which another person intentionally perpetrates harm are linked to elevations in the likelihood of negative outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One reason for this discrepancy is that interpersonal traumatic events may elicit greater levels of disgust. However, this is a very under-developed research base, no study has examined this question among youth. The current study …

A Laboratory-Based Experimental Test Of Reasons For Living: Effects On Behavioral Approach Toward A Suicide-Related Stimulus, Sasha Micaella Rojas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are few laboratory-based experiments that examine the effects of suicide-related risk or protective factors on suicide-related outcomes. Consistent with extant evidence-based theoretical models and treatments for suicidal behavior, it appears that increasing awareness of reasons for living may reduce risk for suicidal behavior. Thus, the current study represents an initial effort to experimentally examine the impact of bringing awareness to one’s most important reason for living on behavioral approach towards a suicide-related stimulus. Random assignment was used to assign an unselected undergraduate sample of 78 participants to complete either a script-driven imagery procedure specific to the most important reason …