Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How And With Whom You Spend Your Time Matters: An Examination Of Familial Relationships, Leisure Activities, And Dementia Development, Erika Cooksey Mcdaniel

Theses and Dissertations

Dementia is an interminable disorder characterized by a decrease in cognitive functioning behavioral and emotional changes, and an overall diminishment in quality of life that usually affects the older population. In the coming decades, scientists estimate that the number of sufferers will reach over 100 million worldwide. Though there is currently no cure for any form of dementia, the theory of cognitive reserve posits certain lifestyle characteristics (i.e., educational attainment, SES, and/or career path) can mitigate the risk of dementia by improving cognitive resilience over an individual’s lifetime. The current study sought to discover what, if any, effects familial relationships, …

Evaluating Math To Mastery Using Brief Experimental Analysis Procedures, Gianna Gambera

Theses and Dissertations

Math to Mastery (MTM) is a multi-component math intervention that has demonstrated effective results in building math fluency and skill acquisition. Few studies have explored the use of brief experimental analysis (BEA) procedures to create an individualized, abbreviated MTM intervention to address skill deficits in basic math. The purpose of this current study is to analyze the utility of randomizing BEA procedures to effectively identify necessary mathematic components to create a more efficient intervention that will yield the highest math gains among participants. Researchers used an alternating treatment design with an extended analysis phase to address basic math skills. Participants …

A Test Of The Interpersonal Theory Of Suicide In Black College Students Using Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Anisha L. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (ITS) has garnered much attention in the literature. Studies that have examined ITS among Black and other racially/ethnically diverse populations continue to be met with inconsistent results. This suggests the need to confirm measurement equivalence across populations to improve accuracy in identifying individuals who are at increased risk for suicide. This study examined measurement invariance of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ) and Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale (ACSS) across White and Black racial groups using two college student samples. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses were conducted from Sample 1, a group of 1,019 (86.8% White) students …

Let’S Talk: The Dual Process Model Of Supportive Communication In Peers, Erica Marie Szkody

Theses and Dissertations

Supportive messages occur within most relationships. Researchers have found strong relationships between social support and various physical and psychological health outcomes, but the specific mechanisms at work have yet to be fully explored. Many factors contribute to whether a supportive interaction is processed as helpful or supportive by the recipient including relational factors, message content, past experiences, etc. For peer dyads, the context and supportive messages individuals provide their peer may inhibit or contribute to their perception of their peer’s supportive behavior. The current study examined the impact of contextual factors (such as family communication patterns and relationship quality) on …

Towards A Model Of Support: Redefining The Focus Of Early Parenting, Keancelar E. Birge

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examines the meanings and perceptions of social support and analyzes support received during and after pregnancy among Black women early parents in Mississippi. Ten online and ten in person, in-depth interviews were conducted with Black early parents in Mississippi who either had support from outside organizations like Baby University or who had not. These interviews questioned the participants' understanding and ideas about support and how they perceived their own support to evaluate how having support impacts the livelihood of Black early mothers in Mississippi and their children. Findings demonstrated that there are not real differences in outcomes …

Jack And Phil: Associations Between Exposure To Television Parents, Parental Stress And Efficacy, Jane Elizabeth Shawcroft

Theses and Dissertations

Although parents in television are often depicted in negative patterns, little to no research has empirically examined the effect of viewing these depictions of parent efficacy and stress. The purpose of this study is to use experimental methods to assess the effect of viewing authoritative, authoritarian, and stereotypical depictions of parents in television on parental efficacy and parent stress. A sample of 122 parents of adolescents were randomly assigned to one of three condition groups: authoritarian, authoritative, and stereotypical. Each group watches a different clip from a television show, and then reported on their comparison of themselves against the parents …

When Helping Hurts: Validating A Measure Of Compulsive Helping And Exploring Potential Predictors, Katey L. Workman

Theses and Dissertations

Helping behavior is generally adaptive. However, optimal usage theory suggests that even helping might be taken to an unhealthy extreme, for example an individual serving someone to the extent that they neglect their own needs. Not a single dedicated measurement tool has been constructed to assess the tendency. Thus, the present study seeks to propose and validate a new measure of compulsive helping by assessing construct, convergent, and divergent validity. Using a sample (N=438) of emerging adults (Mage=20.29, SD=1.04, 51.71% Female) from the Flourishing Families Project, validity evidence supported the proposed measure, as well as convergent validity of the constructs …

Has Covid-19 Affected Patenting In The United States?, Johnny Allen Cope

Theses and Dissertations

Scholars have studied how exogenous shocks affect innovation, yet the effects of COVID-19 on one measure of innovative activity, numbers of patent applications, are not well understood. This study looks at what effect disruptions related to COVID-19 have had on numbers of patent applications submitted by inventors in the United States. Using the Patent Examination Research Dataset from the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, I examine how numbers of patent applications have changed in 2020 and what effect economic disruptions, health disruptions, and nonpharmaceutical interventions related to COVID-19 have had on numbers …

The Acceptability And Feasibility Of Virtual Parent Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Groups: A Feasibility Study, Abigail Elizabeth Moretti

Theses and Dissertations

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience higher rates of anxiety, depression, and poor overall well-being, particularly when their child also engages in challenging behavior (e.g., self-injury, aggression, property destruction). Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which encourages psychological flexibility and attending to the present moment, is particularly suited for this population because parents of children with ASD experience high stress levels and difficulty with adaptive coping. The aim of the current study is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of implementing virtual ACT groups with parents of children with ASD and co-occurring challenging behavior. Participants attended an in-person …

Universal Basic Income And The Alaska Permanent Fund: Impact On Labor Outcomes And Skill Composition, Michele Cafasso

Theses and Dissertations

To analyze the effects of universal basic income on labor supply and human capital, I estimate the effects of Alaska’s Permanent Fund on employment, hours worked, and skills using data from the Current Population Survey and O*NET. My method combines synthetic control and difference-in-differences regressions.

How Federal Pollution Discharge Permits Affect U.S. Water Quality: A Study On Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Cloe C. Mueller

Theses and Dissertations

This paper uses difference-in-difference regression models to examine how state-level pollution discharge permits on concentrated animal feeding operations affect U.S. water quality. I ultimately deem the permitting to be ineffective at improving water quality, calling attention to the need to re-evaluate the ``socially optimal level of pollution."

Individual Adaptation And Structural Change: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In A Tribal College Context, Taylor Topham

Theses and Dissertations

Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) are educational institutions owned by Native American tribes intended to address the failure of the education system to support Indigenous students. Significant research has been done on the value of culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) and on TCUs, but little has been done to examine whether and how TCUs implement CSP. This study aims to fill that gap by examining teaching at Chief Dull Knife College (CDKC), a tribal college on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. Interviews were conducted with eight white faculty members and four Cheyenne administrators at CDKC. Analysis of the interviews revealed that the …

Gendered Differences In The Effects Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On Adolescent Substance Use, Emley A. Holcombe

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is a high-risk period for substance use, and the prevalence of adolescent substance use is a public health concern. Contributing factors for adolescent substance use are adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs are potentially traumatic childhood events that have negative associations with health and risk behaviors. The purpose of this study is to examine how the accumulation, timing, and duration of early ACEs (by age 5) impacts adolescent substance use. In addition, this study examines differences in these relationships by gender. Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW) were used for the logistic regression analyses. The results …

Help-Seeking Experiences As An Individual With Suicide Ideation: A Qualitative Study About Seeking Help For Suicide Ideation, Makaela H. Caldwell

Theses and Dissertations

Suicide ideation and suicide impact a rapidly rising number of individuals each year, however our society has not envisioned a way to increase help-seeking behaviors to decrease these numbers. The literature discusses many barriers and hurdles to help-seeking, but the focus of SI within the context of help-seeking has not been studied in depth. The purpose of this qualitative study was to increase knowledge on the process through which individuals determine how and whom to ask for help when experiencing SI. Two sections of themes were found: things that encourage individuals to seek or continue to seek help, and things …

Getting Back On Track After Challenges: A Qualitative Analysis Of Repair Efforts In Intimate Relationships, Tiffany Reid Lotulelei

Theses and Dissertations

All couples confront conflict in their marriage. Finding ways to navigate couple conflict is a topic that has been explored for several decades among marriage researchers (Rollin & Dowd, 1979). Repair, a strategy to help reconcile a situation or conversation that has gone awry, is important in helping couples overcome conflict. When couples are not able to repair and move forward, resentment arises. Unfortunately, the research on repair and resentment is limited, and the complexity of these variables can make it difficult to conceptualize. The present study utilized a qualitative lens (grounded constructivist theory) to explore relational repair and resentment …

Intrapersonal And Interpersonal Predictors Of Hope In Adolescents, Megan M. B. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Hope is a variable that is defined in research as a positive outlook on one's future and a plan to achieve that future. Hope has been found to be positively correlated with self-esteem, optimism, and life satisfaction, and negatively correlated with suicide ideation and suicidality. However, there is a lack of research on predictors of hope in adolescents. Adolescents compose the age group that could arguably use the goal-oriented and positive outlook that hope provides the most. This study identified predictors of hope (i.e., depression, maternal and paternal support) in adolescents so as to know how society can give adolescents …

How A Racial Minority Status Impacts The Feeling Of Safety In Therapy, Bayleigh Serage

Theses and Dissertations

With the lack of adequate mental health care in racial minority communities (NAMI, 2021), more research is needed for clinicians to understand the racial minority client experience. This study aimed to explore the racial minority client's perception of safety during therapy. The MFT- PRN was utilized in order to assess safety for racial minority clients at the start of therapy and later on as the alliance changes. The study hypothesized that racial minority clients would initially report a lower feeling of safety in therapy and would show lower feelings of safety after four sessions of therapy when compared to demographic …

Verticality Metaphors In Classical Hebrew Revisited: Refining The Analysis Using Primary Metaphor Theory, Andrew Scott Hodge

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis applies a new theory to old data. It reanalyzes VERTICALITY metaphors for distress in Classical Hebrew using Primary Metaphor Theory. Previously, this pattern of metaphors in Hebrew was analyzed by King (2012) within the general framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. This study focuses on the ways that Primary Metaphor Theory radically changes the organization of conceptual structure as dictated by Conceptual Metaphor Theory and as used by King in his analysis of Hebrew VERTICALITY metaphors. The reorganization of conceptual structure following Primary Metaphor Theory hinges on the assumption that conceptual structures with direct, independent experiential motivations also have …

Weaving Ethnic Identity: Discovering The Threads Of Multilingual Diversity In The Fabric Of Group Identity Among Karen Communities Of Denver, Colorado, Charity J. Seidler

Theses and Dissertations

How do Karen immigrants use language within Colorado communities? My thesis answers this question through narrative case studies of six S’gaw Karen women. Many Karen refugees, who flee the decades-long conflict within their homeland in Myanmar (Burma), find themselves navigating life first in Thailand, and eventually in the United States as foreign-language speakers. These refugees encounter numerous linguistic and cultural barriers in their new U.S. homeland, where it is difficult to function in many domains if they do not have the opportunity to learn much English upon arrival.

The six case studies are based on recorded sociolinguistic qualitative open interviews. …

A Phonological Analysis Of Asu, James Passetti

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides an analysis of the phonology of Asu, a small and endangered Nupoid language of Nigeria. The corpus of data used for the analysis comes from more than two hours of recordings of a word list for the language, provided to me by the historian and anthropologist Constanze Weise.

The Asu language recognizes only two syllable structures, CV and CGV. The only syllables without onsets are formed by four noun class prefixes [è-,ē-, à-,ā-], that create Asu nouns without onsets word-initially.

The phonemic inventory of consonants consists of seven pairs of corresponding voiced-voiceless obstruents at the labial, alveolar, …

Intimate Partner Femicide: An Exploratory Study In The Rio Grande Valley, Zoraya Berlanga Aguilar

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore the cases of Intimate Partner Femicide Victims from the Rio Grande Valley. By developing a cohesive understanding and assistance towards fostering knowledge and promoting social justice. Given the close proximity to the border, and hearing of femicide cases from both the Rio Grande Valley and Mexico marked my interest as Intimate Partner Violence is an ongoing Public Health Issue. Intimate Partner Violence is the leading cause of Intimate Partner Femicide. First specific project to contribute to limited research on intimate partner femicide in the Rio Grande Valley. A non-probability purposive sample of …

A Small Wolf Eats A Large Apple: An Experimental Investigation Of The Temporal Processing Of Conceptual Magnitudes, Carolina Alvarez

Theses and Dissertations

When individuals are presented with two options and are asked to select the conceptually larger item, a size congruity effect is usually observed. A size congruity effect is present in comparison tasks when congruent stimuli, whose physical size and conceptual size match, are compared much faster than incongruent stimuli, whose physical size and conceptual size do not match. The current study used images and words as stimuli to investigate the two competing hypotheses for the size congruity effect using delta plots. Positive delta plots were observed when response time for incongruent items was compared to congruent items, providing evidence of …

Getting By (Or Not) With A Little Help From My Friends: Intersections Of Financial Literacy, Race And Gender On Source Of Financial Information, Catherine Wacera Muriuki

Theses and Dissertations

Financial literacy is important to individuals as well as to the economy. It is touted as crucial for individuals because it allows them to make informed decisions on credit and saving products. To the economy, it is the bedrock upon which micro-and macro-policies are embedded. Financial literacy is said to be a springboard to financial capability, enhancing a person’s ability to manage their monies, make informed investment decisions, and take control of their financial advancement. Low financial literacy is often associated with larger unbanked or underbanked populations. According to 2019 NFEC data, after administering a financial literacy test, only 66% …

La Asignación De Género De Los Préstamos En El Sureste De Tejas [The Gender Assignment Of Loans In Southeast Texas], Elsa Guadalupe Magana Orozco

Theses and Dissertations

En esta investigación se examina la asignación de género de préstamos del inglés al español en el Valle del Río Grande de Tejas basándose en 32 entrevistas sociolingüistas del Corpus bilingüe del Valle (Christoffersen y Bessett, 2019). Se han llegado a reconocer tres posibles factores que determinan la asignación de género (masculino o femenino) de los préstamos, tales como el sexo biológico, el género fonológico y el género analógico (Poplack, 1982; DuBord, 2004; Montés-Alcalá y Lapidus Shin, 2011). Los resultados muestran un total de 692 préstamos la mayoría fue asignado el género masculino un 50%, mientras 33% fue asignado el …

The Word-Level Prosodic System Of Mangghuer, Teresa Ellen Arthur

Theses and Dissertations

Mangghuer’s prosodic system has been described as a stress system (Slater 2003), and alternately, because of a few minimal pairs, as a system that is undergoing tonogenesis. (Dwyer 2008). This thesis looks at new data to evaluate both of these claims. I analyze the prosody of native words and confirm that Mangghuer has a stress system. Duration is one of the indicators of stress, which has not been mentioned in previous literature. Potential minimal pairs are considered, including the minimal tone pairs that Dwyer found; her minimal pairs are not minimal pairs in my data. However, one set of nativized …

The Role Of Nest Location On The Reproductive Success Of Piping Plovers Breeding At Rockaway Beach, New York, Clara I.D. Arndtsen

Theses and Dissertations

The study’s goal was to learn what aspects of the piping plover experience affect reproductive outcomes at Rockaway Beach Endangered Species Nesting Area. Nest location was found to help predict reproductive success. Nests further from American oystercatcher nests were likely to fledge more chicks. Reproductive success was low in 2021.

Gaze In Cats And Dogs, Michael Bogese

Theses and Dissertations

Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) developed many behaviors across domestication, one example being gaze behavior. Gaze is the crux of other behaviors that make dogs unique in human-animal dyads, including lookbacks, gaze-following, and participation in an oxytocin feedback loop. Gaze behavior may have been motivated and sustained by evergreen cooperative relationships between dogs and humans (e.g., hunting, service roles). One way to confirm this relationship is to compare dogs to a domesticated species that lacks a protracted history of companionship: the domestic cat (Felis catus). In this study, we compare the gaze duration to owners of …

Problem Solving In Chelonia With Comments On Behavior And Methodological Challenges, Mal Walton

Theses and Dissertations

This study presented, to a variety of Chelonia species, a one-solution puzzle box problem. Of the 15 turtles tested, 11 solved the task at least once. Because studies on problem solving in reptiles, specifically Chelonia, are relatively unprecedented, we provide an examination of our methodology, along with suggestions for improvement.

Is There A Relationship Between Religiosity And Infidelity? A Meta-Analysis, Meghan Maddock

Theses and Dissertations

Infidelity in romantic relationships is common and has been associated with relationship dissolution and strain on individuals. Most religions teach that infidelity is harmful, and some researchers have suggested that, in the aggregate, more religious people might be less likely to report infidelity. However, research has been mixed, with some studies finding that more religious people are less likely to report infidelity, other studies finding that more religious people are more likely to report infidelity, and other studies finding no relationship. To clarify seemingly contradictory findings, I conducted a meta-analysis of the infidelity-religiosity relationship with 38 studies and a total …

Dónde Están Les Latinxs? A Content Analysis Of Latinx Representation Across Three Clinical Disciplines, Haley M. Hinkle

Theses and Dissertations

Latinx, or Hispanic/Latino, minoritized groups experience a broad spectrum of mental health challenges, disparities, and risks at a disproportionate rate compared to both their non-White counterparts and compared to other minorized groups in the U.S. (SAMHSA, 2015). They also experience a number of cultural and individual strengths associated with their values, practices, and resiliencies (Leyva et al, 2022; Gennetian et al, 2021; Calzada et al, 2020). However, given the substantial percentage of Latinxs who live in the United States (18.7%), the mental health needs of this minoritized group are not sufficiently addressed in social science literature, as a number of …