Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Advancing Behavioral Health Literacy, James Scollione

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Accessing, comprehending, and using information to make informed decisions and improve one’s overall health or well-being are the foci of health literacy. The concept of behavioral health was introduced in the early 1980s and, since then, it has influenced new ideas (e.g., behavioral health literacy and integrated behavioral health care) and gained research and public attention. My aim is to provide an overview of definitions (i.e., health literacy, mental health literacy, and behavioral health literacy) and their connection to each other. I propose an expanded and honed definition of behavioral health literacy to enhance the behavioral health literacy and well-being …

The Rising Of Systemic Racism And Redlining In The United States Of America, Edward Brian Flournoy

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

Systemic racism and redlining are synonymous with one another. This essay reviews the history of scholarly research and discussion regarding affordable housing and its impact on ethnic groups in the United States, especially Black African Americans. Affordable housing celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2017, yet much still needs to be done. Moreover, the U.S. Shipping Act of 1917 and Moving to Opportunity (MTO) Intervention Demonstration Program (1994–2009) are congruent to this essay.

Action Research: A Culturally Specific Case Study On Organizational Capacity-Building To Battle Addiction In The Oneida Native-American Community, Anita F. Barber, Mark Gordon

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

The Healing Society (coded to mask) is a new and developing organization operated by a volunteer board created by Oneida Nation community members. Leaders were seeking strategic direction to build organizational capacity and sustainability for this new organization. They sought to make positive social change after a well-known community member died from an overdose. The purpose of this post-positivist, constructionist qualitative case study was to gather empirical data from the perspectives of internal and external stakeholders through a SWOT analysis. Their answers addressed: (a) the organizational strengths and weaknesses of The Healing Society to ensure short-term strength and long-term growth, …

Design, Development, Implementation, And Support (Ddis): A Curriculum Supporting Online Doctoral Candidates, Donna Russell

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively describe and justify the case design of an approach for the integration of synchronous virtual meetings to support nontraditional online doctoral candidates. As more nontraditional doctoral students are completing their degree programs virtually through online universities, the nature of their degree progression and the development of critical knowledge and skills differ from traditional on-campus programs.

Method: The case design of an approach to integrating synchronous online interactive meetings to support these learners is identified and justified through references to research in the learning sciences including sociocultural learning, heutagogy, and constructivist instructional …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Teacher–Child Relationships, Student Behavior, And Classroom Management, Szu-Yu Chen, Natalya A. Lindo, Sarah Blalock, Dina Yousef, Latoya Smith, Kara Hurt-Avila

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Children’s relationships with their teachers are a potential resource for enhancing developmental and academic outcomes. The effects of positive or negative teacher–child relationships can be either beneficial or detrimental to students’ academic progress, behaviors, and emotions. In the current study, we utilized a qualitative research design to examine 18 pre-kindergarten to fourth-grade teachers’ perceptions of teacher–child relationships, student behavior, and classroom management. Analysis of in-depth interviews yielded five major themes: (a) beliefs in children, (b) teaching strategies, (c) acknowledging individual differences, (d) challenges, and (e) relationships. Findings of this study have the potential to inform in-service training regarding relationship-building skills …

Inter-Relationships Among Several Person-Related Attributes In Reading And Metacomprehension: Complexity And Educational Implications, Lin-Miao L. Agler, Larisa K. Alfsen

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Reading is one of the most basic academic skills. An accurate monitor of one’s text comprehension (i.e., metacomprehension) is essential for effective reading as it guides learning and choices of appropriate strategy used to maximize overall understanding. The processes of reading comprehension and metacomprehension are affected by text-related, task-related, and reader- /person-related factors. One of the two purposes of this report is to provide a brief review of consistent research findings on the interrelationships among several person-related variables and the complexity of those associations in reading and metacomprehension. The person variables discussed include personality, motivation, goal orientations, self-regulation, reading strategy …

A Qualitative Study Examining Home As Faculty Workplace During Covid-19 Self-Isolation, Lee Stadtlander, Amy Sickel

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: Using the lens of the virtual workplace model, the current basic qualitative study examined how COVID-19 self-isolation affected both online and land-based faculty (working online as an emergency due to COVID-19) workspaces and work processes.

Method: A total of 20 online and six land-based faculty completed e-mail interviews both one month and 3 months post self-isolation.

Results: Online faculty were more satisfied with their home workplace, but both groups felt more negative about their online work, as they felt a loss of freedom and independence due to the isolation.

Conclusions: Findings indicated that both land-based and online faculty showed …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Junior Secondary Education And Student Academic Performance In Central Ethiopia, Mulugeta Haile

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite Ethiopia’s rapid economic growth and its attempts at different educational models, there is a significant problem with junior secondary school education and student academic performance. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of junior secondary school education in central Ethiopia and what innovative academic approaches are necessary to increase student academic performance. The study used self-determination theory as its foundation. The main research question was focused on junior secondary school education, current policies, and students’ academic performance. A nonprobability purposive sampling method was used to select 10 teachers from two schools. The study used semi structured …

College Readiness Of Freshman Students From Inner-City Schools, Shanitra Jones Barnes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A problem that exists in higher education is that many students are not college and career ready. Many students enter college without being academically prepared to succeed. The purpose of this study was to explore the academic college readiness barriers and supports of freshmen college students from a Midwestern inner-city college. The conceptual framework of this study was Bourdieu’s social capital theory. The research questions address what college freshmen who graduated from inner-city public high schools perceive to be the barriers and necessary supports to reaching their academic goals. The basic interpretive research design was used to investigate the problem …

Striving For Homeostasis: Balancing The Inclusion Of Students With An Emotional/Behavioral Disorder, Rob Mcgarva

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social justice advocates have championed inclusive education, leading to its adoption in many jurisdictions. Despite policy changes designed to support learners with disabilities and research on inclusive education, students with an emotional/behavioral disorder (EBD) experience significantly poorer outcomes than their peers. Teachers often describe including this group of students as impossible and attempts to achieve inclusion often result in extreme stress. Research has identified proven inclusion strategies, but there are often problems with implementation in real-world settings. There is a research gap concerning how teachers understand and select interventions. Classic grounded theory methodology was used to identify the primary concern …

Faculty, Clinical Supervisors, And Teacher Candidate Perceptions And Experiences Of Teacher Candidate Feedback, Timothy John Martin Calver

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem at a West Coast university was that the university’s teacher education program lead faculty and teacher candidates stated they were concerned about the quality of feedback provided to teacher candidates who are assessed by clinical supervisors during their field-based experiences. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the perceptions and experiences of teacher candidates, clinical supervisors, and teacher education department (TED) faculty regarding the feedback process. The conceptual framework used for this study was Argyris’ theory of single-loop and double-loop learning to support the research question. The research question was focused on perceptions about the feedback …

Correlation Between Moral Foundations And Students’ Attitudes Toward Concealed Carry Guns On College Campuses, Hengameh Hashemi Toosi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Correlation between Moral Foundations and Students’ Attitudes Toward Concealed Carry Guns on College CampusesAbstract Attitudes towards concealed carry of guns (CCG) on campus are diverse across society and within college and university communities. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate possible predictors of college students’ attitudes toward CCG on college campuses. Using the moral foundations theory, it was hypothesized that students’ types of moral foundations, political affiliations, and demographics would predict four dimensions of attitudes toward CCG at their college campuses. The prediction model included gender, race, political affiliation (PA), as well as scores for harm (H), fairness …

Principals’ Perspectives Regarding Their Leadership Roles In Smart Board Technology Integration, Donna Faith Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractSmart Board Technologies (SBTs) are prevalent in K–6 schools and teachers are expected to use them to enhance student learning. The Smart Board (SB) may not be used effectively in the classroom. The effective use of the SB increases student engagement and performance. To ensure the effective use of the SB, the principal’s role is crucial. While the teachers’ perspectives about SBT use in pedagogy have often been researched, the literature concerning principals’ perspectives in SBT integration is scarce. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand principals’ perspectives regarding their leadership roles in SBT integration. Bass’s theory …

Early Childhood Educators’ Perceptions Of Active Shooter Drills In Early Childhood Classrooms, Melissa Joy Racioppa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The threat of an active shooter is something early childhood educators need to prepare for, but a literature review regarding active shooter drills indicated a gap in the research focused on the perceptions the early childhood educators. Using a conceptual lens based on developmentally appropriate practice and the developmental theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, this qualitative case study aimed to explore the perceptions of early childhood educators on the current model of active shooter drills and the developmental appropriateness of these drills when used with an early childhood population. The participants were early childhood educators familiar with their school’s emergency …

Military Spouses' Lived Experiences During Reintegration After A Noncombat Deployment, Trenye Black

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The reintegration of a military service member into family life after a deployment can beexciting, but the reintegration process can also prove difficult. The difficulties associated with reintegration can be compounded when there is lack of acknowledgment of challenges faced by military spouses. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of military spouses following the reintegration of military personnel returning from noncombat deployment. In-depth face-to-face interviews were completed with 9 military spouses. The resiliency model of stress, adjustment, and adaptation was used as the conceptual framework to provide understanding for factors common in the …

How Women Who Have Recidivated Describe Their Readiness For Employment After Release From Prison, Simba Kathleen Fox

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since the 1980s, the population of women prisoners incarcerated in the state of California had significantly increased by 500% more than that of the male prisoners. The United States had more incarcerated women than any other country. Along with this alarming rise in female incarceration, recidivism rates were also higher among female inmates. This problem has negatively affected women in California; whereas 57% of the women released from prison were rearrested within three to seven years. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research study was to investigate how 18 women who had recidivated with the same or a different criminal …

Self-Efficacy Of College Students With A Learning Disability During Freshman Year, Nicole Renee Adams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe current study sought to understand the phenomena of educational programming and academic self-efficacy. The conceptual framework for this study was based on social cognitive theories of academic self-efficacy and motivation. This qualitative study used interpretive phenomenological analysis to gain a broader understanding of experiences of academic self-efficacy and motivation in college students diagnosed with a specific learning disability. Ten participants were recruited with snowball sampling and semi-structured interviews were conducted to guide this research study. Results of this research support additional analysis as necessary to close the gaps presented in the college transition and campus life of students with …

The Impact Of Family Dynamics And Treatment Times For Adhd Children, Margaret Wilson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a serious mental health condition that affects many of children. Studies show that 42-77% of children with ADHD may not be receiving treatment. Factors such as parent ethnicity, race, preference for treatment, socioeconomics, and child gender have been studied but do not account for the high numbers of untreated children. Differences between parents has been shown to effect ADHD treatment, the potential effects of family dynamics, children living in single or dual parent families, on ADHD treatment has not been studied. This secondary analysis finds there is a relationship between family dynamics, with the …

Development Of A Pilot Training Program For Middle School Students To Reduce End-User Cyber Vulnerabilities, Connie D. Howard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative study contributes to the limited body of knowledge on cybersecurity in middle schools beyond awareness programs. The purpose was to develop a pilot training module for middle school students comprising an analysis of public documents to examine what topics should be included in a pilot training program to reduce problematic cyber practices. Attitude functional theory was used as the conceptual framework to provide insights into the process of persuading a positive behavioral change in a targeted group that is sustainable. A systematic analysis of national, state, and local public documents was conducted to compare practices, including a K–12 …

Data Modeling Of Cognitive Structure In Physiotherapy Students Learning Gross Anatomy, William Allan Besselink

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cognitive structures that promote deep learning of gross anatomy are integral to musculoskeletal physiotherapy practice yet poorly understood. This quantitative, criterion-related validation study addressed two data modeling strategies (multidimensional scaling and Pathfinder networks) as a potential visual and quantitative representation of the cognitive structures of physiotherapy students learning gross anatomy. The study was grounded in the Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational theory of cognition. The research questions addressed the agreement (reliability, accuracy, and association) between student and expert cognitive structures and included the derived quantitative parameters as predictor variables in multiple regression to examine potential relationships with unit grades. An online …

Metacognitive Strategies Used For Reading Comprehension Among Adult Postsecondary Learners, Mary Lukes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractA significant positive correlation between higher metacognitive strategy use and better reading comprehension among native English-speaking children and adult learners of English as an additional language, consistently presented in the literature, has not been consistently or directly found among native English-speaking adult high school graduates who enroll in postsecondary learning programs such as university programs. Consequences for adult learners with lower reading comprehension scores at college entry include significantly lower earnings over their lifespan due in part to greater risk for not completing a postsecondary program. This nonexperimental cross-sectional study was guided by two theoretical frameworks, one for adult reading …

The Implementation Of Universal Basic Education In A School In Nigeria, Romanus A. Igweonu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Nigerian government has been concerned in recent years with students’ achievement gaps in basic science. Currently, there is not enough research on the perspectives of administrators and teachers concerning their practices and experiences of Universal Basic Education (UBE) programs and their influence on students’ science achievements. In this basic qualitative study, the perceptions of three administrators and eight basic science teachers in a selected school were explored regarding their practices and experiences utilizing the UBE program to bridge achievement gaps among ninth grade students in basic science. The conceptual framework was based on the Fullan change theory that assumes …

Hiring Manager Perceptions Of The Emotional Intelligence Skills Of Urban Community College Graduates, Janice Moore English

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractEmotional intelligence (EI) skills are an important factor in the successful entry in the labor market of the fresh graduates of urban community colleges. Even though previous studies provided substantial evidence to the importance of these skills, these studies also recognized a lack of preparedness for the newly community college graduates and add to the voices of local business communities who manifest concern in this regard. The purpose of this basic qualitative research project was to explore local hiring manager perceptions of the EI skills of community college graduates they have hired for knowledge work roles. Goleman’s theory of EI …

The Association Between Teacher Attachment Style And Student Engagement, Susan Bonnell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The teacher-student relationship is an important dynamic in student engagement. Higher education retention strategies include the teacher-student relationship as a focus. The present study focused on the attachment style of the teacher and the impact that it has on student engagement. The theoretical basis for this study was Bowlby’s attachment theory. Student engagement, both behavioral and academic, was measured after 9 weeks of a semester in general education classes. A quantitative design was used to determine the relationship between the teacher’s attachment style and student engagement. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze the results. Significant differences …

Leadership Behavior On Burnout Among African-American Licensed Professional Counselors, Chinedu Augustus Akubudike

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe impact of leadership behavior on burnout among mental health workers has been an area of study among scholars since 2004. For example, poor leadership behavior has been found to impact burnout among licensed professional counselors (LPCs), and leadership strategy has been found to be essential in addressing a clinician's burnout. However, existing literature has indicated that some U.S. behavioral health organizations lack leadership qualities that would facilitate a decrease in burnout among mental health providers. Therefore, I examined the issues associated with the leadership of XYZB behavioral health clinic in northeastern Washington, DC, and its approaches for remediating burnout …

Emotion Regulation, Affective, Continuous, And Normative Commitment For Turnover Intentions Among Degree-Seeking Employees, Danette Colleen Sutter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Multiple researchers have investigated employee turnover related to affective, continuous, and normative commitment, and none reported the predictive power of emotion regulation reappraisal on these components of commitment with turnover intentions among degree-seeking employees. The purpose of this quantitative survey research study was to explore emotion regulation reappraisal and its predictive power for organizational commitment associated with degree-seeking employees' intentions to quit jobs. In this study, a small sample of N = 18 degree-seeking employees took part in survey methodology. Multiple regressions were performed to calculate the variance of independent variables, emotion regulation and affective, continuous, and normative commitment associated …

Novice Secondary Teachers’ Perceived Efficacy And Projected Responses To Bullying Behaviors, Jennifer L. Greineder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was a quantitative exploration of the relationship between novice secondary teachers’ perceived levels of self-efficacy and their projected responses to specific bullying behaviors. The theoretical foundation was Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. The relationship between novice teachers’ perceived levels of self-efficacy, their reported ability to recognize different types of bullying behaviors, their responses to these bullying behaviors, and importance of a mentoring program were explored in this quantitative study. The sample was a convenience sample consisting of 159 teachers in different school settings in Pennsylvania. Vignettes about different types of bullying behaviors were presented to the participants. Likert scale questions …

Comparison Of Course Grades Among Learning Modalities In Historically Black College And Universities, Murdell Walker Mcfarlin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe growth of online courses in higher education, combined with the distinct situational identity of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and their continued emphasis on face-to-face (F2F) instruction, provided an opportunity to learn more about learning modalities and student grades at HBCUs. The problem was previous research findings are contradictory regarding grades among modalities at HBCUs. The purpose of this study was to compare differences in grades among three learning modalities (F2F, hybrid, and online) for three student groups (African American, non-African American, and all students) at three public, 4-year HBCUs in one U.S. state. This cross-sectional, ex post …

Structured Training Programs For Direct Support Professionals On Behavior Intervention Support Plans, Melody Lane Barnes-Meisenhelder

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Direct support professionals work with developmentally disabled individuals and are responsible for implementing behavior intervention support plans (BISPs). Little is known about the efficacy of supplemental BISP training in these professionals. The purpose of this quantitative experimental study was to investigate the efficacy of BISP training to improve knowledge and applied understanding of BISPs in direct support professionals. Social validation, treatment fidelity, and change theories served as the foundations of the study. Seventy-three newly hired direct support professionals were randomized into an experimental group with a 2-day workshop training or a standard training group. BISP knowledge was assessed before and …

Parental Stress Coping And Middle-School Students’ Grades And Behavioral Conduct, Stephanie Buckner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractAccording to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, factors such as parental stress influence family functioning and affect children’s adaptive development. This quantitative study was conducted to better understand the association of parental stress coping skills with two dependent measures: the grades and behavioral conduct of middle-school students. Sixty-six parent/guardians completed the Coping Skills Assessment 2nd Revision (COSA R2), an assessment of parental stress coping skills and a brief questionnaire to collect data on their middle-school-aged children’s grades and conduct, along with demographic variables of race/ethnicity, age, family income level, number of children in the household, and partner status. No significant difference …