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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Psychology

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Health and environmental sciences

Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Assessment And Treatment Of Elopement In Young Children With Autism, Ivette Andrade Dec 2014

Assessment And Treatment Of Elopement In Young Children With Autism, Ivette Andrade

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Elopement, leaving a caregivers side without permission or supervision, is a behavior that is more prevalent among children with autism as compared to their typically developing peers. With potentially fatal consequences (e.g., drowning, being run over, abducted), it is reported to cause high levels of stress for caregivers. In the present study, we evaluate the assessment and treatment of elopement using a multicomponent treatment package to address the multiple functions of elopement. The treatment consisted of an antecedent treatment procedure, blocking and differential reinforcement of other behaviors with extinction (DRO w/ EXT). An ABAB reversal design was utilized to assess …


Sex As A Moderator Of The Association Between Childhood Trauma, Impulsivity, And Primary Psychopathy In A Hispanic Undergraduate Sample, Judy D. Sifonte Aug 2013

Sex As A Moderator Of The Association Between Childhood Trauma, Impulsivity, And Primary Psychopathy In A Hispanic Undergraduate Sample, Judy D. Sifonte

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The current study investigates the effect that sex as a moderator has on the association between childhood trauma and impulsivity on primary psychopathy in a Hispanic college sample. The online survey obtained 443 responses from undergraduates; however after incomplete responses were removed and the data was cleaned, a sample size of 367 remained for use in primary analysis. The study utilized a hierarchical moderation regression analysis to determine the effect of sex on the association of predictor variables—childhood trauma and impulsivity, to the dependent variable, primary psychopathy. Researchers hypothesized that sex will enhance the association between childhood trauma and psychopathy, …


Examining The Association Between Personality And Alcohol Use Among Mexican Americans: Acculturation And Gender As Moderators, Miguel A. Reyes Aug 2013

Examining The Association Between Personality And Alcohol Use Among Mexican Americans: Acculturation And Gender As Moderators, Miguel A. Reyes

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In this study the moderating effects of gender and acculturation on the association between personality traits and alcohol use among Mexican American adults were examined. Participants for this study were undergraduate students from a university in the southwestern USA (N=572, 94.5% Hispanic, 72.6% female). The sample completed self-report measures of personality, alcohol use, and acculturation. When using, regression analyses, alcohol use was found to be weakly yet negatively associated with Conscientiousness, weakly yet positively with Neuroticism, and statistically unrelated to Extroversion. The moderation hypotheses were not supported when utilizing a multiple regression analyses. However, a post-hoc analysis of variance involving …


Analyzing The Effects Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder On Marital Satisfaction Among The Veteran Latino Population Of South Texas, Iris J. Segundo Aug 2013

Analyzing The Effects Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder On Marital Satisfaction Among The Veteran Latino Population Of South Texas, Iris J. Segundo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The current study examined the relation between combat exposure and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), PTSD and marital satisfaction and the influence of religion/spirituality as a moderator. Study consisted of 31 participants; male veterans (n=19) and female spouses (n=12), of which 11 were couples (n=22). Participants were recruited from the University of Texas Pan-American (UTPA), local veteran organization and networking. The sample completed self-report measures for combat exposure, PTSD, marital satisfaction, and religiosity/spirituality. When using a correlation analyses to examine the relation between combat exposure and PTSD and PTSD and marital satisfaction, results showed a negative relation for both; thus, supporting …


Mental Health Factors That May Contribute To Sexual Functioning, Monique Tenay Cano Aug 2012

Mental Health Factors That May Contribute To Sexual Functioning, Monique Tenay Cano

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The present study investigated the relationship between mental health factors— depression, dysfunctional eating habits, and sexual abuse trauma—and sexual dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction was measured with The Sexual History Form (Nowinski & LoPiccolo, 1979 as cited in Davis, Yarber, Bauserman, Schreer, & Davis, 1998), a self report questionnaire. Depression was measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D Scale) (Radloff, 1977). Dysfunctional eating habits were measured by the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q 6.0) (Fairburn & Beglin, 2008). Sexual abuse trauma was measured by a subtest—the Sexual Experiences Short Form Version Victimization—of the Sexual Experiences Survey (Koss et al., …


Awareness Of Individual Daily Caloric Requirements And Food Energy Content And Its Relation To Calorie Intake: A Multiple Baseline Design, Frances Rachel Morales May 2012

Awareness Of Individual Daily Caloric Requirements And Food Energy Content And Its Relation To Calorie Intake: A Multiple Baseline Design, Frances Rachel Morales

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The terms overweight and obesity are used to identify ranges of body weight that are linked to an increased risk for certain diseases and health problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, certain cancers, and others. Current estimates indicate that over two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese while one-third of American children are overweight or obese. Therefore, this has become a significant public health issue. One strategy for combating overweight and obesity is to educate people about nutrition and the nutritional content of the food they consume. Nutrition labeling of prepackaged foods and calorie posting in restaurants …


The Effects Of Physical Activity On Self-Injurious Behavior, Lynnette D. Aguilar Dec 2011

The Effects Of Physical Activity On Self-Injurious Behavior, Lynnette D. Aguilar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Auto-mutilation is a maladaptive coping mechanism and a major problem confronting behavioral medicine with no known treatment to date to place the behavior on complete extinction. The purpose of this experiment is to examine the possible beneficial effects of running relative to caffeine-induced SIB. Female Sprague Dawley rats (n = 4) served as subjects with each having a different extended baseline and treatment condition. Visual analysis of a multiple baseline graph did not support the hypothesis that as treatment (physical activity) was implemented SIB would decrease. It was found that subjects who drank more caffeinated water had higher amounts of …


Enriched Vs Impoverished Housing: Food Choice And Consumption, Berenice Martinez Dec 2011

Enriched Vs Impoverished Housing: Food Choice And Consumption, Berenice Martinez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study focused on the relationship between environmental setting, eating choices and food intake. Ten Swiss Webster female subjects were socially housed under impoverished environmental conditions and ten under enriched housing conditions. Subjects were exposed to a nutritious food and sweet fat-laden food diet together with ad lib access to regular tap water on a 12 h light and dark cycle for four weeks. Results showed that an impoverished environment does not lead to an increase in body weight (t(6)= 0.293, p > .05) and environmental manipulations do not delineate a preference for diet type (t(6)= .877, p >.05). Further research …


Reel Talk: Deconstructing Communication Disorders In A Sampling Of Modern Films, Lisa M. Beccera May 2010

Reel Talk: Deconstructing Communication Disorders In A Sampling Of Modern Films, Lisa M. Beccera

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study focused on films that depicted characters that had a communication disorder or characters that have a disability which resulted in a communication disorder. This study examined types of communication disorders depicted in films and the accuracy to which communication disorders are portrayed in films. Thirty films were used in this study and 32 characters were found to have communication disorders. The author used qualitative methods and quantitative methods to examine and deconstruct the depiction of communication disorders in modern films. This paper also illustrates the effective and efficient manner films can be used to educate society and college …


Predictors Of Pap Smear Utilization Among Female Mexican American College Students, Sylvia M. Morales May 2010

Predictors Of Pap Smear Utilization Among Female Mexican American College Students, Sylvia M. Morales

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Pap smear is a diagnostic screening test that detects abnormal cell growth, which may lead to cervical cancer. Pap smears are performed at a consistently lower frequency among Hispanic than non-Hispanic American White women, potentially contributing to a 70% higher rate of cervical cancer in Hispanic Americans. This study examined possible predictors of Pap smear utilization among 165 Mexican American female college students aged 18 to 30 attending the University of Texas-Pan American situated near Texas’s United States – Mexico border. Significant predictors were: recommendation by a health care professional; sexual activity; mother’s educational level; and external locus of …


Prayer As A Treatment Modality In Patient Healthcare: Physicians' Spiritual Beliefs And Religious Practices And Their Relationship To Patient Health, D. Ronald Rickerhauser Dec 2004

Prayer As A Treatment Modality In Patient Healthcare: Physicians' Spiritual Beliefs And Religious Practices And Their Relationship To Patient Health, D. Ronald Rickerhauser

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The intention of this study was to determine whether physicians' spiritual beliefs and the integration of prayer in medical practice are associated with patient health. In this study, 546 physicians from 40 different family practice residency programs in the contiguous United States completed and returned surveys. Regression analyses using these data and patient statistics provided by the clinics were performed. Patient's length of hospital stay and a ratio of clinic patients to hospital patients were used as dependent measures. The results did not show a relationship between physician beliefs, prayer, and patient health. However, there was a significant relationship between …