Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Assessing The Power Of Policy: Deconstructing Declines In Child Marriage Around The World, Zackery Butler

Theses and Dissertations

Drawing on research from the fields sociology and demography, this dissertation endeavors to deconstruct the declines in Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) around the world by assessing the power of international institutions to create and enforce global norms across a wide range of nation-states. I conducted three different studies on CEFM at different levels to better understand how international policy, the cultural composition of countries, macro level demographic trends, and the relationships between national leadership and international governance have effected changes over the last few decades beginning in 1980. I used comparative historical methods in conjunction with demographic techniques …

Predictive Validity Of The Classroom Performance Survey, Asia Simone Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

The current study evaluated the concurrent associations between an adapted version of the Classroom Performance Survey (CPS) and academic and behavioral student outcomes. Participants were one cohort of kindergarten through 5th grade children enrolled in a public elementary school. Preliminary results suggested that the CPS was a significant predictor of academic student outcomes similar to previous research. Hierarchal regression analyses indicated that the Academic and Interpersonal Subdomains improved the prediction on students’ GPA, above and beyond MAP scores alone. Finally, descriptive statistics indicate similar student performance across ‘in person’, ’virtual’, and ‘hybrid’ learning settings. Educators using a Multi-Tiered System of …

Characterizing Anxiety And Physiological Correlates In Preschool Children With Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Jordan Ezell

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of two original research manuscripts broadly examining anxiety and potential correlates in young children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. The first manuscript assessed cardiac regulation during an auditory startle paradigm in young children (3-6 years old) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), fragile x syndrome (FXS), and neurotypical peers. The second manuscript utilized a new measure developed to capture anxiety in individuals with ASD in order to assess the rate of typical and atypical anxiety and potential risk factors (ASD severity, sex, cognitive ability) for anxiety in preschool children with ASD contrasted to neurotypical preschool children. Collectively, these two …

Interstate Rivalry, Domestic Politics, And Economic Coercion, Shaoshuang Wen

Theses and Dissertations

As economic sanctions have been increasingly used to advance a range of foreign policy goals, a great deal of research has explored the determinants of sanctions use and sanctions success. Despite the fact that research on economic sanctions has produced significant advancement in our understanding of the causes and efficacy of the usage of these tools, a few important questions remain overlooked or unanswered in the sanctions literature. This dissertation aims to look into some of these overlooked questions by asking three interrelated questions. First, how do third-party rivals of the possible target state affect the onset of economic coercion? …

The Bmslss: Measurement Invariance And Latent Mean Differences Across Black And White Early Adolescents, Kimberly Gibson Sitter

Theses and Dissertations

The Brief Measure of Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS; Seligson, Huebner, & Valois, 2003) is a widely used brief self-report measure of child and adolescent Life Satisfaction (LS). Although acceptable reliability and validity have been demonstrated for the BMSLSS across various youth samples, few cross-cultural comparisons have been performed. Specifically, no studies to date have examined measurement invariance of the BMSLSS across diverse samples of racial groups in the US. The current study explored measurement invariance across Black and White middle school students (N = 1484) from four schools in a southeastern U.S. state through use of multi-group confirmatory factor …

When Being Strong Hurts: Trauma And The Strong Black Woman Stereotype, Cynthia Nicole White

Theses and Dissertations

There are several research studies which suggest that, when confronted with stress or trauma, Black women in the United States seek help less than other populations, particularly White women. Part of the reason for this reluctance towards help-seeking may be explained by the American cultural stereotype of the Strong Black Woman (SBW). The Strong Black Woman is one who overcomes all obstacles, remains strong despite problems, and sacrifices herself for others. Research on the Strong Black Woman stereotype is scarce, but the limited research that exists found that the stereotype consists of 3 factors: Mask of Strength, Self-Reliance/Strength, and Caretaking. …

Effects Of Instructive Feedback On Gustatory Relations, Natàlia Arasa Bonavila

Theses and Dissertations

Differentiating tastes is important for safety reasons; being able to discriminate flavors could prevent an individual from eating unsafe items. The association of taste, color, and texture of different foods is important for safety reasons as it provides a base knowledge of safe foods. As some people with autism have problems communicating what they see, hear, touch, feel, or taste, the association of color, texture, and taste will promote healthy choices. Most of the research on tact acquisition has focused on visual stimuli. However, this study attempted to teach children to tact gustatory stimuli and evaluated the effects of instructive …

Implementation Of Behavior Skills Training Via Telehealth To Teach Pre-Session Pairing To Caregivers Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Le-E Chin

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to extend the literature on training procedures used in telehealth and extend the literature on caregiver training. This study utilized a multiple-baseline design to implement behavior skills training to teach pre-session pairing skills to 2 parents/caregivers in Malaysia via telehealth. This study also examined the cultural social validity of pre-session pairing as a preventative procedure in therapeutic settings outside of the United States. Results demonstrated that behavior skills training with an additional component of specific performance feedback was effective to train participants up to mastery criteria. Social validity results indicated an increase in positive interactions between parent/caregiver …

The Effects Of Training On Parent-Implemented Multiple Stimulus Preference Assessments Without Replacement, Marlene Hernandez Correa

Theses and Dissertations

Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit restricted interests and communication deficits; hence, identifying potential reinforcers can be challenging. Using multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference assessments is a practical way for practitioners working with this population to identify potential reinforcers. Previous research has found that inexperienced staff can learn to implement preference assessments using enhanced instructions only (i.e., detailed written information, diagrams, and pictures) without needing feedback (Graff and Karsten, 2012b). However, researchers have yet to examine whether enhanced instructions alone impact other populations' repertoires, such as parents, similarly, or if this training is effective across cultures. Incorporating …

How Do I Love Thee? A Latent Mixture Model Analysis Of College Dating Relationships, Aeriel Grace Halstead

Theses and Dissertations

Relationship researchers often assume that satisfying relationships are healthy, but is this true? We examined whether different types of college dating relationships exist if we analyze elements of relationship health that included not only global relationship satisfaction, but patterns of communication, intimate partner violence, and positive and negative appraisals of one's partner. To do this, we used latent mixture modeling in a large sample of students in committed relationships (N = 1935). Three distinct types of committed relationships emerged: unhealthy and unsatisfying (N=477), healthy and satisfying (N=703), and a group we termed healthy and satisfying but unimpressed with their partner …

Framing Of Female Leading Roles In Drama Series On Video Streaming Platforms, Manatalah Soliman

Theses and Dissertations

This comparative study examines the female-centered drama series aired on VOD services from three different genres. While several studies have established the stereotypical representation of women in the drama series, most research has focused on individual countries. The significance of this study relies upon the fact that the series is from VOD services, notably Netflix and Shahid VIP. The study bridges a gap in the literature by adopting a comparative perspective to analyze gender portrayals from six drama series, three from each country, from three genres. The contemporary drama genre included Valeria from Spain and Leh Laa?! Why Not?! from …

Normalization Through The Visual: How International Media Depicted The Abraham Accords, Mohamed Salama

Theses and Dissertations

This study is concerned with understanding the political dimensions of the visual coverage of the Abraham Accords and the shift that might have occurred in the visual portrayal of the Arab-Israeli conflict as a result of that agreement. The study offers quantitative and qualitative contributions to examine how international news websites on the Google News platform used photographs to draw on and contribute to the narrative of Arab-Israeli relations in the wake of the Accords. By establishing operational definitions for positive, negative, anti-normalization, and pro-normalization visual frames, and exploring the use of the emphasis framing device, this study content analyzed …

Relations Between Ptsd Symptoms And Pain Interference Among Older Adults, Laura E. Travers

Theses and Dissertations

Both the older adult population and the frequency of natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes) increase in the U.S. each year. Consequently, understanding the health experiences that affect older adults specifically following a natural disaster is important for providing effective healthcare and promoting health expectancy. For example, the extent to which PTSD symptoms following a natural disaster contribute to pain severity (beyond the contributions of other psychosocial experiences such as depression) among older adults is not yet clear, and whether this contribution differs by gender or age has yet to be established. The aims of this study were (1) to determine whether …

Is Egypt On A Sustainable Path Of Debt Repayment: Evidence From Imf Framework And Fiscal Reaction Function, Maha Rashied

Theses and Dissertations

Fiscal policy is the starting point for an economy to achieve solid economic and social objectives through macroeconomic stability. Risks associated with excessive borrowing and the required fiscal adjustments are threatening especially to developing countries whose debt to GDP ratios are on the rise. Those countries’ fiscal policies’ sustainability is questioned; hence this research aims at testing for Egypt public debt sustainability and assessing the method capitalized on by the Egyptian authorities; the IMF Approach. By comparing the IMF Debt Sustainability Analysis Approach to the fiscal reaction function with ARDL and VAR as estimation methods, the results of both methods …

Limbic Morphometry In Individuals With Schizophrenia And Their Nonpsychotic Siblings, Rachael Olivia Slate

Theses and Dissertations

The limbic system is hypothesized to play a critical role in pathophysiology of schizophrenia, with abnormalities thought to contribute to the expression of various aspects of the cognitive deficits and clinical symptoms. Psychosis is understood as highly heritable and family members, specifically non-affected siblings, while not displaying overt signs of the disorder, often exhibit features similar to those observed in patients, though to a lesser degree. The overarching aim of this project was to investigate the integrity of limbic circuitry in a sample of patients with schizophrenia and their non-affected siblings and examine its potential relationship with various clinical features …

Development, Feasibility, And Acceptability Of A Healthy Relationship Intervention Among College Student-Athletes: A Mixed Methods Study, Nicole Cantor

Theses and Dissertations

College student-athletes are one subgroup of college students at risk for unhealthy relationship behaviors. Despite this, research on student-athletes dating behaviors is limited, and what research does exist pertains exclusively to Division I athletes, focusing on male student-athletes as perpetrators. While attempts have been made to mitigate instances of dating violence and promote healthy relationships, these interventions are education-based and not tailored to the specific strengths and challenges of student-athletes. In addition, the efficacy of these preexisting interventions has not yet been evaluated. The current study represents stage 1 of the NIH Stage Model for Behavioral Intervention Development and evaluates …

Quantifying The Impact Of Urbanization On The Fourche Creek Watershed, Little Rock, Arkansas, Zachary Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The Fourche Creek Watershed is an urban watershed in Central Arkansas, serving as the primary drainage basin for most of metropolitan Little Rock. As land surrounding streams is developed, the risk of negatively impacting water quality through the addition of contaminants like metals, sewage, and pesticides increases. The objective of this project is to introduce a novel method of quantifying the impact of urbanization on streams using a multi-pronged approach including mixing and spatial analyses, dissolved loads, and 87Sr/86Sr ratios throughout the Fourche Creek Watershed to discern specific contributions of baseflow and urban materials into the drainage basin. Generally, Coleman …

Mhealth For The Treatment Of Depression In Primary Care: A Feasibility Study, Krista Herbert

Theses and Dissertations

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of implementing three mobile applications (apps) designed to ameliorate depressive symptoms within primary care. The secondary aim was to examine whether participants utilizing a mobile app would experience reductions in depressive symptoms and improvements in quality of life when compared to a waitlist control condition. Participants (n=3) were recruited from two primary care practices and randomized to: (a) a cognitive-behavioral app, (b) a mindfulness app, (c) a social problem-solving app, or (d) the waitlist control condition. Participants completed measures of depressive symptoms and quality of life at …

A Feverish Spring: A Comparative Analysis Of Covid-19 News Framing In Sweden, The Uk, And Egypt, Hend Abdelgaber Ahmed El-Behary

Theses and Dissertations

Based on framing and the social responsibility theoretical frameworks, this comparative study analyzes the dominance of frames in the media coverage of the COVID-19 global pandemic across three countries that have adopted different preventative measures: Sweden (herd immunity) the United Kingdom (full lockdown) and Egypt (partial lockdown ‘curfew’). While several studies have investigated the media’s role during COVID-19, few have analyzed the frames used by the media. The analyses that were made here, for the most part, is on individual countries. The current study bridges a gap by using a comparative approach to interpret the frames discovered in news articles …

Rural Special Educators Teaching Reading: A Case Study, Sheryl Vernon

Theses and Dissertations

Education in rural areas coupled with poverty is shown to be a risk factor for reading failure (Bhattacharya, 2010; Morrison et al., 2005). Students who have severe reading failure are serviced in the realm of special education. To enhance a student's ability to read, special education teachers can use literacy interventions. Targeted reading intervention (TRI) is a literacy intervention that was developed to meet the requirements of rural elementary classroom teachers, who are often unready to provide diagnostic reading instruction for reading difficulty (Vernon-Feagans et al., 2012). Stevenson and Reed (2017) identified eight empirically supported methods for intensifying instruction when …

Inclusive Employment For Persons With Disabilities Post Covid-19 In Egypt: Digitization As The Way Forward, Rana Al Gazzaz

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on businesses and jobs whereas many employees were furloughed and laid off. While the global pandemic had a significant negative impact worldwide, it presented a unique opportunity to revolutionize employment for persons with disabilities. Employers’ willingness to rapidly adapt to the changing work environment by transitioning businesses to remote work and flexible working schedules can facilitate an inclusive work environment for persons with disabilities, especially in communities that also face significant geographical barriers to access employment.

The aim of this study is to understand the underlying challenges facing persons with disabilities in …

Parent Perceptions Of Literacy Development For Females Later Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Christine Marie Yaccarino

Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about the early literacy development of girls later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism traits. In this study, parents of 21 girls later diagnosed with ASD or as having significant ASD traits were each interviewed about their daughter's early literacy development. In general, findings indicated that parents reported their daughters' early success with word level reading. Initially, parents conflated that one area of reading success to also indicate an overall accomplishment in broad reading skills. Findings also indicated that parents simultaneously acknowledged successful word level reading, yet over time noted specific challenges in early literacy …

Is Variability In Inhibition-Related Neural Activation After Sleep Restriction Associated With Eating Behavior In Adolescents?, Kimberly A. Barnett

Theses and Dissertations

The primary aim of the present study was to evaluate whether intra-individual variability in inhibition-related neural activation in response to sleep restriction is associated with eating behavior in adolescents aged 12-18 years. In addition, the potential moderating effects of sex and body mass index on the association between sleep and variability in neural activation were examined. This study employed a within-subjects crossover design that randomized subjects to both a 5 hours per night (sleep restricted) and 9 hours per night (well-rested) sleep condition for 5 nights, with experimental conditions separated by four weeks. On the 6th day of each study …

A Feasibility Study Of A Group-Format, Ecologically Oriented Neurorehabilitation Of Memory (Eon-Mem) Program In Older Adults, Kayla Michelle Frodsham

Theses and Dissertations

Older adults often show declines in subjective and objective memory performance relative to younger adults. One potential path for helping older adults with memory may be compensatory memory training programs. Compensatory memory training programs teach strategies to manage memory impairment. Traditional compensatory memory training programs tend to be highly specific to a task and often do not generalize to other memory tasks. Ecologically Oriented Neurorehabilitation of Memory (EON-Mem) is a method for teaching memory strategies that may generalize for efficient use in everyday contexts. We performed a feasibility study to determine the value of pursuing a group-based version of EON-Mem …

Impact Of Income And Corporate Taxes On Economic Development In Egypt, Khaled Abo-Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine how do corporate and income taxes impact economic development in Egypt. This study uses the analytical quantitative method, and the approach of this study is based on using annual time series data for the period 1980 to 2018 to estimate two models by using Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. First estimation is between direct taxes (corporate and income taxes) and Growth domestic product (GDP) growth as dependent variable, and the second one by using human development index (HDI) instead of GDP growth. The second objective is to investigate the difference, if any, …

Challenges Facing Independent Cultural Actors: The Case Of Egypt, Reem Khedr

Theses and Dissertations

The independent art scene in Egypt flourished following the January 25 revolution in 2011. This study examines the experiences of Egyptian artists and cultural operators through a looking glass into the evolving democratization of arts towards cultural democracy from a global perspective and using the intrinsic and instrumentalist arguments regarding the value of arts. Furthermore, it employs a qualitative analysis of case studies of 18 cultural operators in Cairo and Alexandria, who work in different artistic fields ranging from visual arts to performing arts and academia. The results demonstrate that the cultural policy framework guiding the arts sector in Egypt …

Racist Securitization Of Refugees, Syrian Refugees In Lebanon: A Case Study, Hind Alhelou

Theses and Dissertations

With the growing rates of involuntary (forced) migration and even traditional migration (movement from one country to another in search of work opportunities, better lifestyle, study, etc.); the movement of these bodies raises their vulnerability to be constructed as threats. The same threat they are fleeing from is being attached to them as they attempt to seek security elsewhere. This intersection of migration and securitization studies especially emerged because of the interconnectedness of the world that is majorly facilitated by globalization.

Within this context, this thesis examines how Syrian refugees in Lebanon are racialized because of a securitization process perpetuated …

Living With And Through Artificially Intelligent Virtual Personal Assistants: Subservience, Simultaneity And Surveillance In Late-Capitalist Cairo, Habiba Ahmed Elsayed

Theses and Dissertations

The global technological field has witnessed a computing shift - from focusing on human-device use to focusing on human-device ambient and social interaction. This shift is notably accompanied by a societal one that increases desire and dependency on everyday smart technologies powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning. One of such growing AI-enabled technologies is the virtual personal assistant (VPA). In this project, I draw on my filed-work with my four interlocuters in Cairo with their respective VPAs, Siri and Alexa. In analyzing my experiences and observations, I focus on three main themes: subservience, simultaneity and surveillance. Examining the role …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Incidents That Lead To High Quality Implementation Of Behavior Intervention Plans From The Perspective Of School Psychologists, Leah Hardy

Theses and Dissertations

This study illuminated the perspectives of school psychologists who have developed behavior intervention plans (BIPs) that support successful change in student outcomes. A total of 15 school psychologists from two different school districts were interviewed using the critical incident method; participants shared their perceptions of effectively implemented behavior intervention plans. The participants emphasized the need for consistent communication among the team members, collaboration with key stakeholders, making modifications as needed during the implementation period, and adequate time to for school psychologists to provide training to teachers. The findings of this study emphasized the importance for school teams and other school …

Roles, Rules, And Controls: An Analytical Review Of The Governance Of Social Protection In Egypt, Nada Kassem

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the governance of social protection in Egypt. In light of rising poverty rates and economic and political instability, the government of Egypt has started shifting part of its focus towards reforming the social protection system, especially after the revolution in 2013. Because economic reforms have not translated in household income growth and since the currency devaluation have worsened socio-economic conditions, it is crucial and timely to examine the social protection arena in Egypt, focusing predominantly on the conditions and challenges of the governance of the system. This study adopts a framework that identifies three operational entry points …