Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Grief And Loss Training For Student Counselors On Grief Counseling Comfort Level In Two Educational Settings, Selin Sertgoz

Wayne State University Dissertations

Loss, whether death or non-death related, is a life-changing experience. When people grieve over their significant loss, they go through a multitude of emotional, behavioral, physiological, and cognitive changes that can be disruptive at times. Counselors report encountering various loss-related issues with their clients, yet novice counselors in particular do not feel comfortable dealing with these issues. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a grief and loss training program from a Rational Emotive Behavioral Theory perspective for counselors to improve their comfort level in grief counseling.

The literature highlights the increasing trend of online training in higher …

Robustness Of The Achievable Benchmark Of Care Method, Jeff Arthur Capobianco

Wayne State University Dissertations

The Achievable Benchmark of Care Method is a process of care performance improvement measurement approach for identifying top performing healthcare providers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the robustness of the method. This was achieved by comparing the robustness of the standard ABC method, which uses the mean to calculate the benchmark, to versions of the ABC method where the mean was replaced with either a 5%, 10%, or 20% trimmed mean, a 15% Winsorized mean or the one-step Huber ø1.28 calculation. Monte Carlo simulations where conducted using publically available, Medicare process of care data. The mean was …

Can Goal Specific Self-Efficacy Measures Predict Goal Choice: Understanding The 2x2 Achievement Goal Framework Through Self-Efficacy Theory, Richard James Lucido

Wayne State University Dissertations

The achievement goals that one adopts in an academic context have been shown to be associated with, as well as causally related to, important outcomes. Currently, the most widely accepted theory holds that achievement goals are the result of one's implicit

theory of intelligence. However, there is a lack of empirical support for this assertion. The current study tested the hypothesis that goal specific self-efficacy (self-efficacy measured separately for a mastery or performance outcome) is the primary driver of achievement goals. Two studies were conducted among a combined sample of 274

community college students. As was the case with most …

The Effects Of Two Group Counseling Interventions On Arab-American High School Students' Perceptions Of Their Primary Relationships (Parent, Teacher, Peer), Nuzmeya Bader Elder

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study specifically investigated the effects of two group counseling interventions on Arab-American high school students' perceptions of the strength of their primary relationships (parent, teachers, and peers). It was designed to help high school students increase their acceptance of the culture of their host society and develop a sense of comfort so they can retain some of their own culture and Arab identity without feeling they will totally lose them. One approach was Choice group theory grounded in the reality of making choices concerning thoughts and behaviors. Choice Theory is described as the idea that people have mental images …

An Examination Of The Role Of School Climate In Adolescent Test Anxiety, Lea Ann Imasa

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine intrapersonal and contextual variables in relation to test anxiety among adolescents. Participants (n=298) were students in grades seven and eight from a middle school in a suburb in southeastern Michigan. Academic self-concept was found to fully mediate the relation between academic performance (as measured by GPA) and test anxiety. The intrapersonal variables of perceived threat of tests, effortful control, and academic self-concept significantly predicted test anxiety. The contextual variables were unrealistic parental expectations and school climate. Unrealistic parental expectations was a predictor of test anxiety in a regression model including only those …

The Development And Validation Of A Conditional Reasoning Test Of Withdrawal, Levi Ryan Gust Nieminen

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study developed and evaluated a measure of implicit dispositional tendencies associated with lateness, absenteeism, and permanent withdrawal behaviors. The conditional reasoning framework developed by Lawrence James and colleagues was adopted. Novel cognitive biases or justification mechanisms associated with withdrawal were proposed, drawing on research and theory from the attribution (marginalization of withdrawal), commitment (revocable commitment), and fairness/equity (social injustice bias) domains. As part of the empirical validation design, college students enrolled in an Introductory Psychology course completed the conditional reasoning measure, and corresponding behavioral withdrawal criteria were collected unobtrusively throughout the 16-week course. Results of scale development analyses pointed …

A Model Of Student Engagement And Academic Achievement: The Role Of Teacher-Student Relationships And Teacher Expectations, Aja C. Temple

Wayne State University Dissertations

A MODEL OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: THE ROLE OF TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS AND TEACHER EXPECTATIONS

by

AJA C. TEMPLE

MAY 2012

Advisor: Dr. Jina Yoon

Major: Educational Psychology

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of academic achievement among minority students and investigate teacher-student relationships, teachers' classroom and future educational expectations for students, and students' levels of classroom engagement in order to better understand their patterns of academic achievement. Participants (n=522) were students in grades four through six from a suburban district in Michigan. Student achievement varied according to both gender and ethnicity …

Faith And (Un)Certainty In The Writing Of Stowe, Hawthorne, And Dickinson: The Intersecting Language Of Theology And Feminism, Denise Yezbick

Wayne State University Dissertations

This research considers how Hawthorne's, Dickinson's, and Stowe's writing express the prevailing culture's attitudes toward the operation of meaning in religion. It poses the question: Is a crisis of meaning threatening to the religious sensibility? Looking at Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and specific poems of Dickinson, I show how their writing gestures to a kind of religious sensibility that is not threatened by such a crisis, but suggests, rather, that it is essential to a genuine openness to otherness, and ultimately to the Divine. The fiction and poetry of these two authors express this both negatively, as an attack on …

Predictors Of Help-Seeking Behavior In Emerging Adults, Aleda Franz

Wayne State University Dissertations

Many people with psychological difficulties do not seek help for these problems, especially in the emerging adult population. While research has been done on the effect of individual variables (e.g., attachment style) on help-seeking, there is no published research that attempts to create a larger, overarching model to predict help-seeking. In this study, multiple factors were examined to predict help-seeking intent and behavior. Psychological distress was expected to be related to increased help-seeking. As well, anxious attachment, perceived need for treatment, resource awareness, belief in treatment efficacy, life events, and intent to seek help if necessary were also expected to …

Antecedents And Outcomes Of Workplace Engagement, Ariel Maya Lelchook

Wayne State University Dissertations

There has been a recent interest in positive organizational scholarship. Leadership stemming from a positive framework and employee engagement in the workplace have become of increasing interest to researchers and practitioners. Antecedents and outcomes of employee engagement were examined using a sample of 327 employees from retail organizations in the Midwest United States. The leadership styles of authentic, transformational, and transactional leadership were examined as antecedents of employee job engagement, beyond employees' psychological meaningfulness, safety, and availability. Engagement was examined as a mediator between the leadership constructs and employees' extra-role behaviors and work withdrawal behaviors. The results suggest employee job …

Accessibility For Aggression And Negative Self-Views Following Ostracism, David Eric Oberleitner

Wayne State University Dissertations

Previous research has found that ostracism (being excluded or ignored by others) can cause deleterious effects to one's sense of belonging, control, meaningfulness of life and self-esteem, as well as increasing negative moods. Exclusion has been studied using several methodologies including Cyberball and the Life-Alone task. Additionally, research has demonstrated that individuals react more aggressively following an ostracism event as compared to an inclusion event. Other research finds that ostracized individuals have greater accessibility for aggressive words, and negative self-descriptive words as compared to individuals who are included. These domains have not, however, been explored together to examine how these …

Perceived And Functional Disability In Adults With Chronic Pain: What Accounts For Discrepancies?, Dana Catharine Nevedal

Wayne State University Dissertations

Disability among patients with chronic pain can be assessed functionally (behaviorally) or subjectively (self-report). However, discrepancies--including low or zero correlations--between these methods are commonly reported. Research suggests that subjective disability may be more influenced by psychosocial factors than disability measured during functional tasks, leading to under/over reporting, but further investigation is needed. This study sought to identify correlates of discrepancies between subjective and functional disability in two samples of patients with chronic pain.

Retrospective data was compiled from clinical records of 389 patients evaluated at a university multidisciplinary chronic spinal pain treatment program (52.7% men; 88.9% White, 9.8% Black; spinal …

The Dependent Samples T And Wilcoxon Sign Rank Maximum Test, Saverpierre Maggio

Wayne State University Dissertations

A maximum test using the parametric dependent samples t-test and the non-parametric Wilcoxon sign rank test was created using a FORTRAN program and various subroutines of the International Mathematical and Statistical Libraries (IMSL, 1980). Two tailed critical values were derived from a mixed normal distribution. Critical values obtained were at the 0.05, 0.025, 0.01 and 0.005 alpha levels via sample sizes (n) 8 through 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120. Critical values were compared to values obtained through the application of the Bonferroni correction method. It was concluded that the Bonferroni is an unnecessary method. Findings of the study are …

Investigating A Leadership Fix For A Suboptimal Mix: A Transformational Leadership Intervention For Teams With Incompatible Personalities, Marcus Daniel Weller

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study uses experimental methodology to examine transformational leadership as a buffering mechanism for problematic personality combinations. 118 German university students comprising 59 dyadic teams participated in a lab-based investigation to examine matched high levels of extraversion within dyadic teams. The presence of transformational leadership (TL) as opposed to a non-leadership intervention was investigated to examine the effects of TL on group members' task performance on both conjunctive and disjunctive tasks. To assess conjunctive task performance, participants performed an employee selection task, and to assess disjunctive task performance participants performed a NASA survival ranking task. Performance was measured against expert …

Development And Initial Psychometric Evaluation Of A Culturally- Sensitive Beliefs About Personal Weight Survey, Stephanie Pickett

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL PSYCHOMETRIC EVALUATION OF

A CULTURALLY-SENSITIVE BELIEFS ABOUT PERSONAL WEIGHT SURVEY

by

STEPHANIE PICKETT

December 2012

Advisor: Dr. Rosalind Peters

Major: Nursing

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to develop and perform initial psychometric evaluation of an instrument that measures beliefs about personal weight in young African American women. Beliefs about personal weight were defined as a multidimensional concept consisting of the convictions regarding the descriptive characteristics, causal attributions, and consequences of one's personal weight. The theory of self-care (Orem, 2001) was used to conceptualize concepts and conceptual relationships.

The Beliefs about Personal …

Using The Protection Motivation Theory To Examine The Effects Of Obesity Fear Arousal On The Physical Activity Of Young Adult Female College Students, Bibia Renee Redd

Wayne State University Dissertations

The national rate of physical activity has been consistently declining while obesity and obesity-related illnesses are on the rise (French, Story, & Jeffrey, 2001; James, Leach, Kalamara, & Shayeghi, 2001; Malnick & Knobler, 2006). The current study employed a 2 (severity) x 2 (susceptibility) x 2 (intention implementation plan) x 3 (time) longitudinal within subject design examining the effects of the Protection Motivation Theory (Rogers, 1975, 1983) on the physical activity among 87 overweight young adult college females. A main effect was hypothesized for short-term severity, personal susceptibility, and the development of an intention implementation plan messages and an interaction …

Influences Of Early Child Characteristics And Health On Later Parent And Parent-Child Relationship Factors, Jennifer Degroot Hanawalt

Wayne State University Dissertations

The aim of this study was to evaluate ways in which infant temperament and health difficulties influence maternal characteristics over the first three years as well as the mother child relationship. We used longitudinal data from 1364 families, collected as part of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD). Longitudinal growth curve models were employed to evaluate influences of infant temperament and health at 6 months on maternal depression, employment, role satisfaction, parenting stress and marital satisfaction when the child was 6, 15, 24 and 36 months of age as well as mother child interactions …

Generational Differences In Evaluation And Expression Of Leadership Style, Abigail E.B. Reiss

Wayne State University Dissertations

Generational differences in the workplace have received a great deal of attention in the

past few years. The present study used 360° data to examine the agreement of Generation Y, Generation X, and Baby Boomers target leaders with other raters. Archival data generated by the TalentSage leadership assessment was used. Both self-reported leadership style and perceived leadership style was considered. Significant differences were observed between Generation X and Generation Y for self-reported leadership style, however no significant increase in agreement between targets and raters was observed for generation matched versus generation mismatched pairs.

Consumer Xenocentrism And Consumer Cosmopolitanism: The De-Velopment And Validation Of Scales Of Constructs Influencing Attitudes Towards Foreign Product Consumption, Steven James Lawrence

Wayne State University Dissertations

Like many other attributes, consumers exhibit varying degrees of preference with regard to foreign and domestic products. Some consumers have preferences for domestic products while other, seemingly similar, consumers prefer the foreign counterpart. Product quality differences aside, we aim to investigate the attitudinal constructs behind the varying preferences among consumers as they relate to foreign and domestic products.

The author created two new scales for the measurement of the consumer xenocentrism and consumer cosmopolitanism constructs. The consumer xenocentrism scale is intended to measure consumers' favorable orientations to products from outside their membership group. The consumer cosmopolitanism scale is designed to …

Pathways From Child Sexual Abuse To Adolescent Sexual Problems: The Roles Of Sex-Specific Abuse Reactions And Externalizing Behaviors, Sarah Shair

Wayne State University Theses

Potential pathways from child sexual abuse (CSA) to later sexual problems were examined in a prospective longitudinal study of 121 ethnically diverse adolescents with confirmed cases of CSA. Participants were assessed at abuse discovery, when they were 7 to 15 years old, and again one and six years later. Initial sexually anxious abuse reactions predicted lower levels of subsequent sexual problems, while the persistence of eroticized reactions predicted higher levels. Externalizing behaviors immediately following abuse discovery were marginally significant predictors of later sexual problems. Abuse severity was not predictive of sexual problems. Overall, results from this study highlight the importance …

Moderators Of The Effects Of Anger Awareness And Expression Training And Relaxation Training To Improve Chronic Headache Symptoms, Elyse R. Sklar

Wayne State University Theses

Chronic headache (HA), a common condition among young adults, is exacerbated by stress. Arousal reducing techniques, such as relaxation training (RT), are moderately effective as stress-management techniques. Suppression of negative emotions, such as anger, has also been shown to worsen stress and pain. Previously, our laboratory found that an innovative 3-session, group-based anger awareness and expression training (AAET) intervention was comparable to group relaxation training (RT) in improving outcomes in HA, and both treatments were more beneficial than no intervention. However, it is likely that individuals respond differently to these interventions. A person's baseline emotion regulation abilities, assertiveness, and ambivalence …

Profiling Leaders: Using A Profiling Approach To Examine The Effects Of Multifactor Leadership On Follower Deviance, Kevin Thomas Wynne

Wayne State University Theses

Researchers are only beginning to understand how leadership types affect important organizational outcomes at the individual level. Specifically, as a leading theoretical model, multifactor leadership theory has been used as a framework to study various organizational phenomena. However, researchers have largely examined leadership types in isolation, failing to explicitly acknowledge that leaders can and often do enact varying levels of multiple leadership types. The current thesis suggests that leaders demonstrate a profile made up of different types of leadership and proposes four specific leader profiles. This thesis also aimed to determine the conditions under which leadership profile types affect follower …

A Warm Watchful Eye: Parental Emotional Support And Monitoring In Multisystem Therapy For Youth With Diabetes, Dana K. May

Wayne State University Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which changes in parenting behaviors, in particular monitoring diabetes care completion and providing emotional support to the youth, improve health care status within participants in a Multisystemic psychotherapeutic intervention (MST). RM-ANOVAs were used to determine the relationship of parental involvement in the treatment and telephone support group over time. Change score correlations were used to examine changes in parental involvement relationship to changes in diabetes care behaviors. All participants in the study increased in parental monitoring over time, with no differences between the MST group and the telephone support …

Father Involvement As A Predictor Of Preschool Children's Academic Readiness And Socioemotional Competence, Travis Alexzander Goldwire

Wayne State University Theses

Predictors of father involvement (FI) were examined. Associations between learning encouragement (LE) and socioemotional support (SS) in relation to later school readiness outcomes were examined. A subsample of residential fathers (n = 6150) from the ECLS-B was used. Hierarchical linear regressions and conceptual path analysis were used to conduct statistical analyses. Child sex, paternal employment, and the mother-father relationship were significant predictors of LE at 9 months. The mother-father relationship predicted LE at 2 years and SS at 9 months. LE at 9 months was a significant predictor of academic readiness indicators at preschool. LE at 2 years significantly predicted …

Functional Correlates Of Verbal Working Memory In Healthy Aging And Early Alzheimer's Disease, Michael Adam Sugarman

Wayne State University Theses

Deficits in the working memory system are common in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, little is known regarding the neurobiological basis of this impairment. The current study examined the neurobiological functional correlates of the working memory system in early AD patients and cognitively intact control participants using a word list repetition task performed during positron emission tomography (PET). Compared to a reading control task, both the AD and control groups utilized a network of parietal, frontal, and cerebellar regions while completing the word rehearsal task. However, control participants displayed greater activation in all regions, especially in the parietal …

Concept Mapping As A Buffer Against Evaluative Flexibility, Keith Welker

Wayne State University Theses

Attitude relevant knowledge is a central component to evaluative consistency and attitude representation. One way to assess the degree to which individuals deliberate and represent their knowledge is through concept mapping. Therefore, the present research investigated whether concept map deliberation moderated attitude consistency in a two-part experiment. Participants (N = 172) completed an online survey assessing personality, attitudes, and attitude strength toward physician assisted suicide (PAS). In a second onsite sessions participants were randomly assigned create an attitude-relevant or attitude-irrelevant concept map, and were randomly assigned to work with a fictitious partner who had a positive, negative, or unknown attitude …

Adolescent Characteristics And Peer Influence As Predictors Of Antisocial Behavior In Males, Benjamin D. Goodlett

Wayne State University Theses

Deviant peer influence during adolescence has been found to predict substance use, delinquency, and aggression. This study examined youth characteristics (prosociality, daring, and verbal ability) along with peer influence (deviant talk) as predictors of antisocial behavior. Peer influence, in the form of deviant talk, was also examined as a potential mediator between youth characteristics and antisocial behavior. The current study added to the literature by examining a slope measure of deviant talk as an organizing feature of peer discussions. Data were collected prospectively from a subsample of 178 youths participating in the Pitt Mother and Child Project. Findings supported daring, …

The Impact Of Spirituality On The Self-Reported Recovery Of Adults Who Experienced Childhood Trauma, Chijioke Alphonsus Chigbo

Wayne State University Dissertations

Objective: To examine whether adults who had experienced childhood trauma, and who had a higher sense of personal meaning or spirituality, would have improved mental health and lower trauma symptoms such as depression, lower self-esteem, anxiety, dissociative disabilities, PTSD, and the like.

Method: 115 participants were randomly selected from five mental health centers in the southeast of the State of Michigan of the United States. Each participant had an experience of one or multiple childhood abuses, namely: physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal/emotional abuse, child neglect or cumulative trauma. They had also been to treatment, and were between 18 and 60 …

Sex Differences In Marital Satisfaction And Happiness: The Contribrution Of Children, Attractiveness, And Financial Status, Lisa Marie Dillon

Wayne State University Dissertations

Though numerous studies in the evolutionary psychology literature have investigated how humans select mates in order to successfully reproduce and raise progeny to reproductive maturity, few have examined if factors involved in mate selection matter in marital satisfaction and individual happiness. Being youthful and attractive are indices of reproductive viability and are traits preferred by men universally while women are most known to prefer a mate of high financial status (Buss, 1989), thus underscoring the importance of a male's ability to offer financial investment to potential mates. In addition, women are more likely to evaluate the parental ability of potential …

Effects Of Sex, Free Testosterone, And Androgen Receptor Cag Repeat Number On Spatial Cognition And Virtual Navigation Performance, Nicole Therese Nowak

Wayne State University Dissertations

The male advantage typically found on some measures of spatial cognition (e.g., mental rotations) has been approached for three decades from the perspective that androgens contribute to this sex difference. To date, evidence to support the notion that androgens affect spatial cognition in healthy young individuals is balanced by evidence to the contrary. The present study sought to clarify the association between androgens and spatial performance by extending our measurements of androgenicity to include both a measure of circulating testosterone as well as a receptor-specific marker.

The aims of this dissertation were to assess the effects of sex, testosterone, and …