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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

How To Survive College As An Acoa: The Effectiveness Of University Resources On Helping Acoas Socially And Psychologically Succeed During Their Academic Career, Kelly Buchan Oct 2022

How To Survive College As An Acoa: The Effectiveness Of University Resources On Helping Acoas Socially And Psychologically Succeed During Their Academic Career, Kelly Buchan

Senior Theses

In 2019, 14.5 million people ages 12 and older had Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), but only 10% received treatment (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 2022). Parental drinking problems can directly affect children, or “Adult Children of Alcoholics.” Of the few studies targeting ACoAs, results show that ACoAs not only have higher risks of mental illness, but they also have lower GPAs and social health (Schroeder & Kelley, 2008). Thus, this study assessed the extent to which perceptions of the college drinking environment are related to higher depression rates in ACoAs, certain drinking motivations, and reluctance to use …


“The Worst Part About My Pregnancy Was Stuff That Didn’T Have To Do With My Pregnancy”: Medicaid Beneficiaries’ Pregnancy Intentions & Experiences In South Carolina, Andrew Michael Chen Jul 2022

“The Worst Part About My Pregnancy Was Stuff That Didn’T Have To Do With My Pregnancy”: Medicaid Beneficiaries’ Pregnancy Intentions & Experiences In South Carolina, Andrew Michael Chen

Senior Theses

Low-income women and women of color experience adverse birth outcomes at disproportionately higher rates in the United States than most people who give birth. This thesis examines individual interviews conducted with 30 low-income women whose most recent birth was covered by Medicaid, the United States’ largest means-tested public health insurance program. The aim of this thesis is to examine how the women in the study thought about pregnancy, and how they described their intentions to become or avoid becoming pregnant at various times in their life. While public health researchers often frame pregnancy as an event that is either intended …


Covid-19 & Mental Health: The Impact On The Future Of Younger Generations, Greyson A. Fox Tran Apr 2022

Covid-19 & Mental Health: The Impact On The Future Of Younger Generations, Greyson A. Fox Tran

Senior Theses

The aim of this research is to identify any existing correlations between the COVID-19 pandemic and negative mental health outcomes in younger populations. This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of those younger than 25 years of age, specifically focusing on students. It will investigate how various factors of the pandemic have affected people and how they have coped with psychological distress induced by the pandemic. Through a review of scientific data and scholarly literature, the impacts of the pandemic on mental health will be assessed. Coping mechanisms and the effects of physical activity …


Superfund And Society Benumbed: An In-Depth Look At Environmental Justice In South Carolina, Sydney A. Hampton Apr 2022

Superfund And Society Benumbed: An In-Depth Look At Environmental Justice In South Carolina, Sydney A. Hampton

Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the relationship between superfund sites in minority communities and their public health through the lens of social vulnerability. Various demographic parameters were used to assess the risk associated with minority communities and exposure to hazardous waste. After investigating the history of the Environmental Justice movement, three superfund sites of interest in South Carolina, and demographic and public health data; each community was analyzed to determine association between exposure to hazardous waste and minority status. Each examined community exhibited characteristics contributing to heightened social vulnerability, potentially causing increased susceptibility to negative health outcomes from exposure to hazardous waste.


Testing Models Of Context-Dependent Outcome Encoding In Reinforcement Learning, William M. Hayes Iv Apr 2022

Testing Models Of Context-Dependent Outcome Encoding In Reinforcement Learning, William M. Hayes Iv

Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies of reinforcement learning (RL) have established that choice outcomes are encoded in a context-dependent fashion. Several computational models have been proposed to explain context-dependent encoding, including reference point centering and range adaptation models. The former assumes that outcomes are centered around a running estimate of the average reward in each choice context, while the latter assumes that outcomes are compared to the minimum reward and then scaled by an estimate of the range of outcomes in each choice context. However, there are other computational mechanisms that can explain context dependence in RL. In the present study, a frequency …


Mindfulness, Psychological Distress, And Somatic Symptoms Among Women Engaged In Sex Work In China, Cheuk Chi Tam, Yuejiao Zhou, Shan Qiao, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Zhiyong Shen Mar 2022

Mindfulness, Psychological Distress, And Somatic Symptoms Among Women Engaged In Sex Work In China, Cheuk Chi Tam, Yuejiao Zhou, Shan Qiao, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Zhiyong Shen

Faculty Publications

Women engaged in sex work (WSW) in China encounter numerous disadvantages (e.g., exposure to violence) and have substantial risk for psychological distress and somatic symptoms. Intervention literature has attended to mindfulness, which is a protective factor for psychological outcomes, and its influences can further improve physical health. However, mindfulness has not been well studied in WSW. We aimed to examine the association among mindfulness, psychological distress, and somatic symptoms among Chinese WSW. Data were collected from 410 WSW in Guangxi, China, using an anonymous, self-administered survey evaluating demographics, mindfulness, psychological distress (i.e., depression, loneliness, and perceived stress), and somatic symptoms …