Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Race, Severe Mental Illness, And Crime: An Intersectional Look Into Stigma And Policy Implications, Elena Therese Vaudreuil

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Criminal behavior has been a long-discussed topic in the United States and often is tied to characteristics such as race and mental illness. The presumed connection between criminal behavior and being a member of a racial minority group or having a mental illness have been researched for years, however few researchers have sought to take an intersectional approach to investigate the unique experiences of people belonging to both groups in the criminal legal system. Using the lenses of attribution and intersectionality theories, the proposed studies sought to understand the effect of race that influences policy support of justice-involved people with …

Exploring The Barriers To Mental Health Treatment Among Justice-Involved Women Living In The U.S.-México Border Region, Rebekah Ruth Adair-Russell

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

For women in the criminal justice system, mental illness is a complicated and prevalent factor, with rates ranging from 49.2% to 67.9% (Bronson & Berzofsky, 2017). To address the mental health care that justice-involved women need, scholars have called for a closer examination of barriers that hinder access to mental health and substance use treatment among this population (Winham et al., 2015; Wilfong et al., 2021). Barriers to treatment can be attitudinal (i.e., stigma and fear) or structural (i.e., transportation, cost of treatment), yet few, if any, studies have examined how these barriers present in a group of justice-involved women …

Examining The Effects Of Acute And Chronic Stress On The Interrogative Suggestibility Of Young Adults, Claudia Cota

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

High-stress situations, like police interrogations, can hinder an individual's decision-making and critical-thinking ability (Liston et al., 2009), making them more susceptible to suggestive or leading messages during questioning. While research on suggestibility mainly focuses on children and adolescents, young adults may also be vulnerable to suggestion because of their sensitivity to social feedback (Blakemore & Mills, 2014; Redlich & Goodman, 2003). Since the legal consequences of suggestibility for young adults are more severe than for children or adolescents, it is essential to examine the role of stress in young adults' suggestibility. The present study used objective and subjective methods to …

Ventral Hippocampus Mediates Inter-Trial Responding In Signaled Active Avoidance, Cecily R. Oleksiak, Samantha L. Plas, Denise Carriaga, Krithika Vasudevan, Stephen Maren, Justin M. Moscarello

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Highlights

• Ventral hippocampus mediates inter-trial responses in signaled active avoidance

• Ventral hippocampus DREADD activation drives inter-trial responding across contexts

• Context fear reduction through extinction does not reduce inter-trial responses

Abstract

The hippocampus has a central role in regulating contextual processes in memory. We have shown that pharmacological inactivation of ventral hippocampus (VH) attenuates the context-dependence of signaled active avoidance (SAA) in rats. Here, we explore whether the VH mediates intertrial responses (ITRs), which are putative unreinforced avoidance responses that occur between trials. First, we examined whether VH inactivation would affect ITRs. Male rats underwent SAA training and subsequently received intra-VH …

Exploring Peer Perspectives On Autistic Students: A Vignette Study, Justin Linville

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A 2x2 design was undertaken to determine the effects of vignette character gender and autism disclosure status on social distance scores, reading comprehension performance, and false memory induction. The introduction focuses on the theoretical threads taken from the autism, false memory, and gender literatures and how they combine to create the underpinning of the current design. A second more controlled study was compelled by initial false impressions of the deleterious effects of fast completion times. This second study resulted in lengthened completion times and improved vignette comprehension. Two-way MANOVAs with gender and autism disclosure serving as independent variables on the …

The Interplay Of Chronic Alcohol Misuse And Facial Recognition Abilities, Morgan Wilson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Both perpetrators and eyewitnesses of a crime have often been found to be under the influence of alcohol. While research has been conducted on the short-term effect of alcohol on eyewitness memory and lineup performance, little research has investigated the long-term effects of chronic alcohol misuse on facial recognition abilities. The current study investigated the effect of alcohol misuse on facial recognition and whether duration of misuse contributed to this effect. Participants (n = 370) completed an online survey which consisted of a well-tested facial recognition paradigm plus several surveys pertaining to individual differences of interest. We found race match …

Understanding Young Adult Consumers’ Attitudes And Intentions Towards Showrooming Behavior, Juliana Marconi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the rapid advancement in information technologies, retailers integrate omnichannel marketing strategies to provide consumers with low prices, good products, and unique shopping experiences. Omnichannel retailing brings changes to consumer decision-making processes. Consumers use all channels (online and offline) simultaneously at the same time during the product search, purchase, and aftersales stages. Some consumers prefer to check out a product in a brick-and-mortar store, but purchase it online. This is referred to as showrooming. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the use of mobile devices and smartphones in shopping, consumers search e-commerce sites using mobile devices while they shop in …

Discerning Moral Injury, Alexandra A. Merletti

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Moral injury is a recently developed psychological construct used to explain trauma that cannot be adequately explained by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It arises from experiences in which sufferers feel that they have violated deeply held moral beliefs and has multiple negative long term health and professional consequences for individuals affected. In order to better understand moral injury, this study seeks to understand how it is identified in individuals by others and utilizes Christie’s (2018) Ideal Victim Theory and Gray and Wegner’s (2009) Moral Typecasting Theory as a theoretical framework. Participants for this study were 374 undergraduate students at the …

Examining Theoretically Derived Mechanisms Underlying The Relationships Between Sexual Arousal, Alcohol Use History, And Sexual Aggression, Kailey Ann Richner

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Various interventions have attempted to reduce the rates of sexual violence perpetrated by college men; however, meta-analyses suggest interventions need to further evaluate theoretically derived mechanisms to improve outcomes (Malamuth et al., 2018; DeGue et al., 2014; Vladutiu, et al., 2011). To address this concern, the present study utilized the Integrated Theory of Sexual Offending (ITSO; Ward et al., 2016; Ward & Beech, 2008; 2006) to explore mechanisms underlying the relationships between sexual arousal, alcohol use history (AUH), and sexual aggression. Working memory, impulsivity, and affective forecasting paradigms were selected to map onto the ITSO’s neuropsychological mechanisms. The interaction between …

Navigating Mental Health During Covid-19: Considerations Of Childhood Adversity, Pandemic Stress, And Loneliness, Linnea Rose Swanson

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The purpose of this dissertation study was twofold. First, to determine if the addition of bullying victimization to the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Questionnaire (Felitti et al., 1998) would result in a stronger measure of childhood adversity; second to examine the interaction between ACEs, pandemic stress, loneliness, and internalizing symptoms in a sample of young adults living in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. ACEs are linked to negative outcomes in adulthood including mental health problems, stress, and loneliness. During the pandemic, increased levels of stress and loneliness were associated with higher rates of internalizing disorders among young adults. …

The Relationship Between Wisdom As Self-Transcendence And Employee Adaptive Performance: The Mediating Role Of Openness, Saeed Andaji Garmaroudi

All Dissertations

This dissertation delves into the exploration of wisdom as self-transcendence within organizational contexts. Self-transcendence is characterized by qualities such as a sense of connectedness with others and the world, moral maturity, the experience of emotions such as peace and awe, and a sense of life's meaningfulness. While self-transcendence is shown to be generally associated with positive outcomes, this dissertation takes a specific focus, aiming to empirically investigate whether these positive consequences of self-transcendence extend to organizational settings to positively impact organizationally-desired outcomes. Specifically, the study seeks to investigate the relationship between employees’ wisdom as self-transcendence and their adaptive performance. Given …

The Moderating Effect Of Socioeconomic Status And Walkability On The Efficacy Of Physical Activity Interventions, Analisa Vavoso, Vincent Berardi, Marc A. Adams

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

To enable physical activity (PA) interventions to better tailor procedures to participant characteristics, we investigated the role of neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and walkability on the differential effectiveness of adaptive versus static activity goals (AG vs. SG) and immediate versus delayed (IR vs. DR) reinforcement in a PA trial.

Data was collected as a part of the WalkIT Arizona study, where healthy, inactive adults (n = 512) were instructed to wear an accelerometer daily for one year and were provided with daily goals for moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). The intersection of goal types (adaptive and static) as well as reinforcement types …

A Content Analysis Of Common Relationship Challenges Among People Who Practice Polyamory, Kalyn Su, Sophie Camilleri

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Approximately 1 out of 9 people in the U.S. have engaged in polyamory (Moors et al., 2021), a relationship type in which all involved agree to have multiple romantic and/or sexual partners. Despite the commonness of polyamory, there are many misconceptions about the polyamorous experience. However, research has yet to examine common challenges that people engaged in polyamory endure. The goal of the present qualitative study was to identify the disadvantages and stressors of polyamory in order to shed light on the unique experiences of people in these relationships. 219 adults who were currently in a polyamorous relationship were asked …

The Impact Of Childhood Trauma On Adult Attachment Style, Luella Rubin-Wylie, Desiree Crevecoeur-Macphail

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Repeated and complex childhood trauma can have devastating effects on individuals and their future relationships. Attachment styles are developed in the early years of an individual's life, and adverse experiences during these early years can negatively affect the attachment style that an individual develops. Various traumatic experiences during childhood, such as abuse/neglect, death/separation of parent, or witnessing domestic violence, may lead individuals to develop insecure attachment styles in their future romantic relationships. In many instances, experiencing childhood trauma can result in the development of aninsecure attachment style of anxious, avoidant, or disorganized. This study aimed to examine the impact of …

The Long-Term Effects Of Family Instability During Childhood, Emily Guillen

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The environment in which children are raised greatly influences the person they will grow up to be. Children who experience dysfunctional family relationships, such as constant changes and disruptions to the family structure, are likely to experience long term effects. The purpose of this study is to understand the link between family instability within relationships and the long-term psychological effects in early adulthood. Through the use of family systems theory, the research examines the family as a whole in which interactions within the family affect each member. This study investigated childhood experiences of unstable family relationships, and their likelihood to …

The Perception Of Children As Reliable Eyewitnesses, Shelby Mcdonald

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Eyewitness accounts have been integral to the criminal justice system. However, given that not every criminal case has forensic evidence that is available or admissible, the reliance on eyewitness accounts conjures questions about believability. This is an important area of research because the over-belief of witnesses may lead to wrongful convictions, yet under-belief may leave the victim without justice. The current study investigated how child-witness age, race, role as a witness (bystander versus victim), and the gender of the juror influenced the perception of child eyewitnesses through the lens of the Witness Credibility Model. Participants were presented with the testimony …

Sufferance For Snuff Puffs: The Acceptability And Behavior Of Smoking Marijuana And Tobacco Inside The House, Eusabeia Silfanus, Oliver Lopez, Vincent Berardi

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Secondhand smoke (SHS) released from indoor smoking contributes to household air pollution, releasing large quantities of fine particulate matter which can pose negative health outcomes, especially for developing children who spend most of their time at home. The increased legalization of marijuana increases its recreational and medicinal use along with its acceptability. With tobacco use remaining prevalent, the use of marijuana and/or tobacco remains common and may occur inside the home. Project Fresh Air conducted in San Diego County studies the air quality in households (n = 298) with at least one adult smoking tobacco and/or marijuana living with at …

The C-Terminal Domain Of Minc Inhibits Assembly Of The Z Ring In Escherichia Coli, Gabriel R Fries, Sarah H Sperry, Tamsyn E Van Rheenen, Emma Morton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Cross-Cohort Replicable Resting-State Functional Connectivity In Predicting Symptoms And Cognition Of Schizophrenia, Chunzhi Zhao, Rongtao Jiang, Juan Bustillo, Peter Kochunov, Jessica A Turner, Chuang Liang, Zening Fu, Daoqiang Zhang, Shile Qi, Vince D Calhoun

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a debilitating mental illness characterized by adolescence or early adulthood onset of psychosis, positive and negative symptoms, as well as cognitive impairments. Despite a plethora of studies leveraging functional connectivity (FC) from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to predict symptoms and cognitive impairments of SZ, the findings have exhibited great heterogeneity. We aimed to identify congruous and replicable connectivity patterns capable of predicting positive and negative symptoms as well as cognitive impairments in SZ. Predictable functional connections (FCs) were identified by employing an individualized prediction model, whose replicability was further evaluated across three independent cohorts (BSNIP, SZ …

Do Executive Functions Buffer Against Covid-19 Fear And Stress? A Latent Variable Approach, Tina Li Yi Ng, Nadyanna M. Majeed, Verity Yu Qing Lua, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Levels of COVID-19 stress have soared worldwide as a result of the pandemic. Given the pernicious psychological and physiological effects of stress, there is an urgent need for us to protect populations against the pandemic’s psychological impact. While there exists literature documenting the prevalence of COVID-19 stress among various populations, insufficient research has investigated psychological factors that might mitigate this worrying trend. To address this gap in the literature, the current study seeks to examine executive functions as a potential cognitive buffer against COVID-19 stress. To do so, the study adopted a latent variable approach to examine three latent factors …

The Role Of Cosmopolitan Orientation In Covid-19-Related Attitudes: Perceived Threats And Opportunities, Vaccination Willingness, And Support For Collective Containment Efforts, Angela K. Y. Leung, Brandon Koh, Verity Yu Qing Lua, James H. Liu, Sarah Y. Choi, I-Ching Lee, Michelle Lee, Mei-Hua Lin, Darrin Hodgetts, Sylvia X. Chen

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Cosmopolitan individuals identify themselves as "citizens of the world." In the present research, we tested the idea that endorsing a cosmopolitan orientation (CO) is adaptive in the COVID-19 crisis. Cosmopolitan individuals more readily transcend national parochialism, show greater concern for all humanity, and prioritize collective interests. In a two-wave multi-region investigation with six samples from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and the U.S., we first established longitudinal and cross-cultural measurement invariance of the CO scale. Next, we found that people with a higher CO tended to perceive over time a greater threat posed by COVID-19, take more safety measures, …

Evaluating Mental Health Outcomes In Covid-19 Icu Survivors: A Scoping Review Of Measurement Tools, Kimberly T'Ng, Justin Kenardy, Andree Hartanto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Objective: The objective of this scoping review was to map the range of measurement tools used to study the prevalence of common mental health conditions in COVID-19 ICU survivors. Introduction: Increased rates of admission to and survivorship from intensive care units (ICUs) have been observed in recent years, particularly during the global pandemic. ICU patients are at a higher risk of developing depressive, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. Due to the high burden of disease, an accurate understanding of long-term mental health challenges for this population is key. Unfortunately, there is significant variability in reported prevalence rates. Heterogeneity in measurement tools …

Evaluating The Association Between Daily Fluctuations In Sleep And Blood Pressure, Mara Egeler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hypertension is a major contributing factor for heart disease, with nearly half of US adults meeting criteria. While studies have begun to examine the relationship between insomnia and blood pressure (BP), little is still known regarding the relationship between daily fluctuations in sleep and BP. This study aimed to provide further clarification on the role insomnia plays in the development of hypertension, including the impact that daily fluctuations in sleep have on fluctuations in BP. Participants included 61 adults from the greater Northwest Arkansas area (63.9% White, 67.2% Female, 30-79 y) who completed 10 consecutive days of sleep and blood …

The Implications, Magnitude, And Development Of Traumatic Brain Injury For Individuals Undergoing Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder, Hannah G. Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is an established bidirectional relation between substance use and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Despite the high rate of prescribing opioids for pain management following a TBI and the epidemic of opioid use disorder (OUD) in the United States, scarce research has specifically analyzed the association between TBI and OUD. In a series of three interrelated manuscripts, the present study will first examine the prevalence and features of TBIs among persons seeking treatment for OUD. Next, the present study will evaluate the association between TBI and indicators of risky health behaviors and OUD severity, including the risk of overdose and …

An Integrated Transformational Teaching Model For Empowering Undergraduate Psychology Students To Cultivate Self-Awareness, Wellness Practices, And Resilient Mindsets During Their Undergraduate Careers, Summerrae L. Arcemont

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This Narrative inquiry explored psychology students’ perceptions of self-awareness interventions and wellness training in undergraduate psychology coursework. Participants included seven undergraduate psychology majors who completed a psychology health and wellness course in the Fall 2023 semester at a regional university in the Southeast. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and examined to identify themes in the students’ stories regarding their journeys through the wellness course. The use of reflexive thematic analysis helped determine the following five overarching themes from the data: Roadmap for Navigating Wellness, Group Experience, Newfound Insight, Personal Growth and Transformations, and Moving Forward. The results of this study highlighted …

The Domain Specificity And Conscious Awareness Of Learned Memory Biases, Gizem Filiz

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The False Positive Feedback (FPF) manipulation encourages certain recognition errors by inducing either liberal (lax) or conservative (strict) recognition memory decision biases. FPF manipulation involves trial-by-trial probabilistic positive feedback for commission or omission errors while the other stimulus class always received fully correct feedback during testing. We investigated whether these learned biases are restricted to the stimulus class triggering FPF, or whether they instead spread to an intermixed class receiving valid feedback, by selectively delivering FPF to words or pictures. A spreading bias would suggest that subjects learn to be liberal or conservative in interpreting recognition evidence in general during …

“It's More Than A Book Club”: Counterspaces And Bibliotherapic Wellness Among Black Undergraduate Women, Khrystal Johnson

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Black students at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI) face heightened vulnerability to general and race-related stressors, necessitating the identification of culturally responsive and alternative care approaches to complement traditional talk therapy and clinical assessment, given the associated adverse academic and psychological outcomes. The current study explores the utility of a Black women-focused book club as an inclusive and identity-affirming space for Black women attending an elite and private PWI. Additionally, we consider how this bibliotherapic and group-based approach offered a critical counterspace for participants. Over the course of a four-month semester, two Black women co-facilitators held a monthly book club series …

Cardiovascular Risk As A Mediator Of Associations Between Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor With Longitudinal Brain And Cognitive Trajectories In Older Adults, Jennifer Shearon

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Prior work has shown that higher levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are associated with better brain health and cognitive function. There is also evidence that BDNF is present in cardiovascular tissue and that it may be beneficial for cardiovascular function. This is evidenced by higher BDNF being associated with lower incidence of coronary heart disease and mortality, and with lower incidence of cardiovascular risk factors. The goal of the current study was to investigate the relationship between BDNF and cardiovascular function, and to assess whether there is a mediating or moderating role of cardiovascular health in the relationship between …

Self-Care Techniques To Decrease Special Education Teacher Burnout, Carrie Frost

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focal topic of my capstone project is special education teacher burnout and how self-care techniques can reduce the likelihood of chronic stress and burnout. The challenges of being a special education teacher include but are not limited to, various disabilities and behaviors, lack of classroom and administration support, and overall management. Research conducted by Emery and Vandenberg (2010) stated that special education teachers often experience burnout, which commonly leads to employee attrition. Burnout and the personal stress that comes with it are the biggest contributors to the shortage of qualified special educators throughout the United States. Their challenges involve …

The Viral Spread Of Xenophobia: Analyzing The Influence Of Far-Right Politics On Anti-Asian Sentiment Expressed On Social Media During Covid-19., Robert F. Arnold Iii

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Throughout history, viral outbreaks have frequently led to the emergence of biased and discriminatory attitudes, often targeting populations that deviate from Western norms. These sentiments commonly manifest as xenophobia and racism (Chen, 2020; Chou, 2021). This report serves as an in-depth analysis of the role far-right political phrasing of Covid-19 as the “Chinese Virus,” played in the proliferation of anti-Asian and xenophobic attitudes, expressed on the social media platform X (Twitter). This study also aims to better understand the various different factors that cause followers of far-right politics to engage and believe in anti-Asian sentiment online. Using Integrated Threat Theory …