Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Translatina Immigrant Mental Health Wellness: Suggestive Intervention Strategies The City Of San Francisco Should Consider Adopting, Valeria Vera

Master's Theses

Translatina immigrants in the United States often suffer from intersectional traumas due to their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and immigration status — putting them in a vulnerable position socially, psychologically, economically, and medically. Due to their positionality in the intersections of migration, criminalization, cissexism, and mental health, they are often more marginalized and have greater needs than communities with privileged sociocultural identities. As a particularly vulnerable group, they need guaranteed access to gender-affirming healthcare that is inclusive of mental health services. Despite Translatinas’ need for mental health services, there exist many barriers making services inaccessible and insufficient in San …

Industry And Malady: Entanglements Of Power, Culture, And Disease Afflicting Breast Cancer Patients In The Bay Area, Brieann N. Deornellas

Master's Theses

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States and, apart from some forms of skin cancer, is the most common cancer diagnosis for women. In 2021, the U.S Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results reported that approximately 281,550 women were diagnosed with, and 43,600 died of the breast cancer. Despite advancements in testing and treatments, about one in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, and breast cancer has the highest cancer death rate for women, excluding lung cancer.Studies have also shown that breast cancer prognosis and mortality is not uniform, and is statistically …

How Self Relevance And Disclaimers Against Blame Affect Victim Blaming Of Sexual Assault Survivors, Lina Maria Flores Wolf

Master's Theses

Victim blame can have negative impacts on survivors of sexual assault, leading to increased rates of neurological disorders, like PTSD, depression, and anxiety (Orchowski et al., 2013). As such, it is important that psychologists focus on implementing and understanding the effects of interventions that seek to decrease victim blame. This study seeks to explore the effects of a potential intervention aimed at decreasing victim blame by introducing, together with information about an assault, an explicit disclaimer stating that victims are not to blame. I explore the relationship between self-relevance and blame, as well as whether an explicit disclaimer against victim …

Acculturative Stress Trajectories And Mental Health Among Mexican Immigrant Families, Susana Sarai Sosa

Master's Theses

The United States is one of the leading countries with high immigration rates, with Mexican immigrants making up about 25% of all immigrants living in the United States (Budiman et al., 2020). The current study examined the divergent trajectories of acculturative stress, years in the U.S., and parent internalizing symptoms among Mexican-origin immigrant parents. Participants in this study are from a larger study on family coping among Mexican-origin immigrant families. A total of 104 families participated at T1, 99 at T2 (6 months after T1), and 97 at T3 (12 months after T1). Finally, in 2017, a reduced sample of …

Abolition Is Not Abstract: Zines And The Transmission Of Revolutionary Cultural Capital, Austin Wonder

Master's Theses

Abolition as a theory and practice-whether in relation to the institution of the prison, systems of policing, or the carceral state as a whole-has received relatively little attention or serious appreciation within the discipline of Sociology. Calls for the abolition of policing and prisons are often taken for granted as naïve and radical demands, perceived as being disassociated from the material conditions of reality. Nonetheless, abolitionist analyses provide a unique and critical perspective from which to explore alternatives to addressing pervasive police violence and mass incarceration through strategies which do not rely upon, or increase the power of, the criminal …

Growth Of Condition-Related Knowledge Among Youth With Spina Bifida: Associations With Neurocognitive Functioning And Self-Management Skills, Olivia Emery Clark

Master's Theses

Spina bifida (SB) is a congenital birth defect that may involve physical, medical, and neuropsychological complications due to central nervous system malformation (Copp et al., 2015). Ambulation problems, bladder and bowel dysfunction, and hydrocephalus require daily medical management tasks, including catheterization, bowel program management, and skin checks to avoid secondary complications. While self-management skills are typically gained during adolescence, executive dysfunction in SB may complicate gains (Dennis et al., 2006; Greenley, 2010). Indeed, evidence in other chronic conditions suggests that adolescent executive dysfunction is linked to poorer medical self-management. Condition-related knowledge has been identified as an important basis of medical …

The Effect Of Group Identification And Emotion On Participation In Collective Action, Iryna Chaban

Master's Theses

In the last few years, the number of collective actions in the United States started to increase. These events have been ranging from peaceful to violent. The present research aims to understand what is causing groups to participate in collective action and become aggressive. It will expand understanding of group identification, emotion, and participation in collective action. The researcher hypothesizes that individuals who hold higher identification with a group are more likely to experience anger and participate in a protest. Data collection involved an online survey. Introductory psychology students read a passage describing a protest and respond to several short …

A Study In The Effectivenss Of Factual Versus Emotional Interventions In Reducing Ambivalent Sexism In Hiring Decisions, Molly Jane Driscoll

Master's Theses

Ambivalent sexism – divided into the categories of benevolent sexism (BS) and hostile sexism (HS) – is imbedded in many parts of the workplace. This study aims to explore if ambivalent sexism influences hiring decisions and, if so, what can be done about it. After completing a series of surveys, participants were asked to read about an agentic female candidate who applied for a male-dominated position. Afterwards, participants went through either a factual or emotional intervention before reevaluating their decision. Major results showed that only the emotional intervention increased the likelihood of the candidate being hired but it is not …

Examining The Bidirectional Relations Between Psychological Functioning And Academic Outcomes Among College Students, Maya Hareli

Master's Theses

Emerging adulthood is a developmental period associated with a variety of transitions and changes, including rising rates of mental health concerns (Arnett, 2004, 2006; Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2020). The literature has established that both psychological and academic functioning are critical components of students’ lives, as mental health has been shown to interfere with students’ grades, graduation rates, and postgraduate employment (Hartley, 2010; Mojtabai et al., 2015), while poor achievement is associated with mental health challenges in college and beyond (Bruffaerts et al., 2018; Respondek et al., 2017). Additionally, women and men have been shown to experience these areas …

Assessing The Discriminant Validity Between Integrative Complexity And Open-Minded Cognition, Madeleine Louise Kindler

Master's Theses

The objective of this study was to evaluate the discriminant validity between integrative complexity and open-minded cognition (OMC). That is, the aim of this study was to show that integrative complexity and OMC are conceptually distinct constructs. This online study randomly assigned 198 Loyola University Chicago undergraduate psychology students to read either six tenable, homogeneous written communication remarks or six untenable, heterogeneous written communication remarks, made during a hypothetical conversation about the inclusion of prayer/moments of silence in high school curriculums. Participants then listed their cognitive thoughts and responses to the communication in a free response format (integrative complexity measure) …

A Process Evaluation Of Aunt Mary’S Storybook: Seeking To Improve The Relationship Between Incarcerated Parents And Their Children Through Literacy, Scott Charles Mcwilliams

Master's Theses

In response to the rise of incarceration in jails and prisons, and the number of children adversely impacted by their parents’ incarceration, in 1993, a nonprofit organized called Companions Journeying Together (“CJT”), created the Aunt Mary’s Storybook (AMS) program to foster positive connections between incarcerated parents to their children. What began as a Christmastime program for mothers in the Cook County Jail has grown into a year-round program operating in prisons and jails throughout Illinois. AMS provides those incarcerated with an opportunity to record themselves reading a book to their children, and AMS then mails/transmits the recording along with a …

Influences Of Latino Caregivers’ Input And Acculturation On Children’S Bilingual Development: A Speech Sample Analysis, Jordan Sierra Perry

Master's Theses

Interactions with caregivers are important for children’s development. In particular, the language input that young dual language learners (DLLs) receive from their primary caregivers affects their cultural knowledge and their bilingual language outcomes. However, relatively little research has been conducted to investigate the cultural contexts that influence Latino caregivers’ bilingual language use at home, including their acculturation level. Thus, the present study examined the relation between caregivers’ acculturation and their children’s bilingual (Spanish and English) language use, and whether this relation varied as a function of caregivers’ bilingual language use. Parent-report measures of bilingual language use, in addition to video …

Positive Affect Facilitates Reduction In Depression Symptoms During A Mobile Mindfulness-Based Intervention, Andrew Rauch

Master's Theses

Depression negatively impacts the lives of many, and the rates are continuing to rapidly increase. Identifying patterns of modifiable affective psychological mechanisms that contribute to reducing depression symptoms is critical to improve the effectiveness of wellbeing interventions for individuals with depressive disorders. Depression has been characterized by valanced patterns of low positive affect and high negative affect, yet the extent to which these relative patterns of affectivity change in response to intervention remains less clear. The present study evaluated affective patterns in college students (n = 127) with elevated depression symptoms who participated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of …

How Black Are You?: The Influence Of Racial Centrality On Stereotype Threat In The Courtroom, Kendall Cathleen Redwood

Master's Theses

The current study explores whether stereotype threat, or fear of confirming negativestereotypes about one’s in-group, might manifest in the criminal justice system. This study specifically asks whether the threat of confirming stereotypes connecting race and crime manifest, among Black defendants, in nonverbal behaviors that might be perceived by observers as guilt. This research further explores whether racial centrality, the degree to which one identifies with one’s race, moderates effects of stereotype threat. Black female-identifying college students, who rated their degree of racial centrality, were randomly assigned to experience the activation of the race-crime stereotype or to a control condition. They …

The Role Of Identification In Black Individuals' Goals To Challenge Racism Through Confrontation And Collective Action, Efrata Sasahulih

Master's Theses

Anti-Black racism continues to harm Black individuals in the United States and throughout the world (e.g., police brutality, medical racism: Hoffman, Trawalter, Axt, & Oliver, 2016; Smiley & Fakunle, 2016; Stuber, Meyer, & Link, 2008). Psychological research has investigated the roots of prejudice and strategies to mitigate its negative consequences, including confrontation and collective action. However, research in this area has largely focused on ways that these strategies pose additional risk for targets of prejudice. This research determined if Black people who endorse individual-benefiting or group-benefiting goals following an instance of anti-Black racism use confrontation and collective action, respectively, to …

The World Health Organization, The Trump Administration, American Public Opinion, And China: A Principal-Agent Problem, Megan Patrice Larson

Master's Theses

Why did the United States perceive the World Health Organization as ineffective during the COVID-19 pandemic? To answer this question, this research delves into current principal-agent model literature to reproduce mechanisms present by the WHO and the United States. Current research fails to explain the WHO's effectiveness. By borrowing from realist theory and political psychology and analyzing various declarations made by the United States, this analysis found preliminary evidence that the idea of WHO's ineffectiveness was primarily shaped by the Trump Administration and American public opinion. Moreover, because of the disinformation and misinformation spread by the Trump Administration, the WHO …

Modeling The Impact Of Peer Mentorship To Support First-Year Student Well-Being, Sarah Broner

Master's Theses

The transition to college is characterized by instability in a variety of life domains, with some students experiencing sharp declines in well-being across the first year of college (Conley et al., 2014). Well-established in the literature is the link between this life transition and increased rates of mental illness, including depression, anxiety, stress, and relationship problems (Auerbach et al., 2018). The adjustment to higher education can be particularly difficult for underserved students (Carter et al., 2013; Kalsner & Pistole, 2003), who may not have access to the same types of knowledge, resources, and privileges as their White counterparts on campus. …

The Impact Of Perceived Discrimination And Stigma Consciousness On Connectedness, Trust, And Satisfaction In Healthcare Domains During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Devon Richardson

Master's Theses

This study will assess the relations between perceived experiences of discrimination within healthcare settings and connectedness, trust, and satisfaction with services in healthcare domains among African Americans. It will also examine if the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated this relationship. I predict that African Americans in the COVID-19 discrimination condition (versus the control condition) will report lower connectedness and trust with healthcare workers and lower satisfaction with healthcare services. I also predict that stigma consciousness will moderate this effect. For African Americans reporting lower levels of stigma consciousness, I expect there will be a negative relation between perceiving discrimination and connectedness, …

Psychological Symptoms, Visceral Pain Sensitivity, And Observations Of Parent Pain Behavior Are Related To Somatic Symptoms In Premenarchal Adolescents, Genevieve Roth

Master's Theses

Somatic symptoms are a risk factor for the development of chronic pelvic pain in women. The present study characterized somatic symptoms and their relations with psychological, pain sensitivity, and parental factors in a community sample of premenarchal adolescents, which marks an initial step in advancing the identification of potential modifiable factors related to menstrual pain and chronic pain development. Pain sensitivity (visceral and bodily factors) and psychological symptoms (anxiety and stress) were predicted to be related to somatic symptoms (e.g, widespread bodily discomfort) in premenarchal adolescents. Additionally, adolescents’ observation of parent pain behavior was expected to be specifically associated with …

Andrews University’S Thought Leadership Communication On Linkedin: A Textual Analysis, Nana Ama O. Akoto-Boateng

Master's Theses

Thought leadership is fast becoming a powerful communication tool for most industries and sectors including higher education institutions (HEIs). This study employed textual analysis to determine how Andrews University's thought leadership on LinkedIn compares with four other top-ranking Adventist universities, namely Loma Linda University, Pacific Union College, Southern Adventist University and Walla Walla University. The text elements that were analyzed during the study were image posts and video posts on the respective LinkedIn pages of these institutions, spanning from January 2021 to June 2021. Among other findings, the results of the study revealed that Andrews University compares as the least …

The Effect Of Foreign Direct Investment On Colombia’S Economic Growth And The Role Of Human Capital: Does Foreign Direct Investment Foster Growth?, Jean K. Plantin

Master's Theses

Abstract: Since the pioneering work of John H. Dunning on the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the economic growth of the United Kingdom, many experts have debated the growth effect of FDI in an economy. This study investigated the impact of FDI on Colombia’s economic growth from 1990 to 2019. Moreover, it explored whether the Colombian economy has benefited from positive spillover from FDIs. Additionally, the paper examined how the stock level of human capital conditioned the effect of FDI on GDP per capita growth. To this end, the analysis separated tertiary enrollments from the human capital …

Risk Perception And Response Among International Students Of The University Of Southern Mississippi, Elida Lopes Souza Rocha

Master's Theses

Given the exposure of university campuses to hazards, disaster mitigation is a critical element of higher education policy. Although U.S. higher education institutions are leaders in the global education market, emergency warning systems give little consideration to how international students perceive risk, prepare for hazards, or access warning technologies available to them. This poses several questions regarding the suitability of hazards mitigation practices and the welfare of international students.

This thesis investigates the relationship between USM international students and natural hazards. Responses from online surveys and semi-structured interviews data were analyzed through qualitative and quantitative methods to document the extent …

Collateral Damage: How Expanding Public Charge Policy Influences Adult Esl Enrollment, Allison M. Eckert

Master's Theses

This study used statistical analysis of enrollment records for ESL programs at community colleges throughout California from 2015-2019 to determine whether adult immigrants’ participation in public ESL programs was reduced under President Donald Trump. Immigrant families’ lesser use of public education services and means-tested federal benefits has been widely documented in the wake of Trump’s expansion of the public charge rule, which counted immigrants’ use of a wider array of public benefits against their case for residency in the United States than had any previous iteration of the rule. Failing the public charge test can block an immigrant’s entry into …

Get Into It: Unpacking The Relationship Between Hegemonic Norms And The Race And Gender Of Pop Artists, Bailey Shelton

Master's Theses

Many contemporary popular musical artists are victims of media controversy while they simultaneously make musical chat history. As a culture founded and sustained by a white supremacist capitalistic patriarchy, race and sex appear to influence the way hegemonic in-groups treat minorities and the way minorities are perceived and live within the confines of said hegemony. With the context of understanding feminist theories, hegemonic norms, parasocial relationships, celebrity appeal, and norms, the researcher wanted to understand if there are clear relationship among these frameworks in modern society. This study employed a 2x2 2between subjects factorial design method to gather information about …

Media Frames And Abortion Issue Polarization, Shianne Galuska

Master's Theses

The abortion issue is one of the most polarizing topics within the public and media sphere. How the media chooses to frame the abortion debate may influence public opinion and individual reactions. Specifically, articles that use incongruent abortion frames (pro-life/pro-abortion & anti-abortion/pro-choice) may be contributing to an ingroup versus outgroup mentality by highlighting who is the ingroup and who is the outgroup, thus generating moral disgust and polarization (characterized by anger, bias, and activism) amongst those with opposing views. This study sought to answer whether presenting individuals with an incongruent abortion frame increases anger, bias, and activism (polarization), as well …

Invisible Russian Armies: Wagner Group In Ukraine, Syria And The Central African Republic, Ryan Benaso

Master's Theses

This study provides in depth case studies of three distinct theaters of operations that the Wagner Group participated in order to further Russian national interests overseas. The first of theise is a case study just across the Russian border in the Ukraine during the Crimean annexation and the subsequent Donbas War where the Wagner Group was founded. The second case study also signifies the next stage in the Wagner Group’s evolution as it enlarges and is put in the vanguard for major operations in the Syrian Civil War culminating in the infamous encounter with US forces in Khasham. The third …

Racial Bias In Pain Perception And Treatment Among Healthcare Pre-Professionals, Raegan Bishop

Master's Theses

The novel coronavirus has impacted Black Americans who have had higher rates of infection, hospitalization and death compared to White Americans. Although higher rates of obesity and other chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure have been implicated and, likely, play a substantial role in the disparity, racial biases among health care providers that affect the provision of care have yet to be examined. There is some evidence that racial bias among healthcare providers affects pain outcomes among Black American women with healthcare providers prescribing Black women pain medication less often than to White women (Badreldin, et. al., 2019; …

Using Praise To Increase Visual Attending In An Asynchronous Online Learning Environment: An Eye Tracking Study, Andrew J. Rozsa Iii

Master's Theses

With the emergence of online courses in the mid-1990s, the number of students enrolled in online courses has been growing at an exponential rate (Schwirzke, Vashaw, & Watson, 2018). This trend brings with it new problems, such as familiarity with evidence-supported behavioral techniques that will maintain student engagement and improve likelihood of academic success in online learning environments. The purpose of the present study was to examine how the use of praise may affect visual engagement with video lectures with the assistance of commercially available eye tracking technology. A secondary objective of the study was to identify how praise affects …

Subnational Map Of Poverty Generated From Remote-Sensing Data In Africa: Using Machine Learning Models And Advanced Regression Methods For Poverty Estimation, Lionel N. Hanke

Master's Theses

According to the 2020 poverty estimates from the World Bank, it is estimated that 9.1% - 9.4% of the global population lived on less than $1.90 per day. It is estimated that the Covid-19 pandemic further aggravated the issue by pushing more than 1% of the global population below the international poverty line of $1.90 per day (WorldBank, 2020). To provide help and formulate effective measures, poverty needs to be located as exact as possible. For this purpose, it was investigated whether regression methods with aggregated remote-sensing data could be used to estimate poverty in Africa. Therefore, five distinct regression …

Depressive Symptoms And Marijuana Outcomes In College Students: The Mediating Role Of Protective Behavioral Strategies For Marijuana, Nicholas Militello

Master's Theses

The present study evaluated the sequentially mediating role of protective behavioral strategies for marijuana (PBSM) and marijuana use frequency on the relationships depressive symptoms had with hazardous marijuana use and marijuana-related negative consequences in college students Participants were 338 (50.3% male) undergraduate college students age 18 to 25 (M = 22.10; SD = 1.97) who reported marijuana use in the past 30 days. Participants reported their gender and completed measures of depressive symptoms, PBSM use, marijuana use frequency, marijuana-related negative consequences, and hazardous marijuana use through an online survey from a 2018 project. Depressive symptoms were positively associated with …