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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Force Production Asymmetry In Males And Females During Three Variations Of A Countermovement Push-Up, Taylor Walston Jan 2023

Force Production Asymmetry In Males And Females During Three Variations Of A Countermovement Push-Up, Taylor Walston

WWU Graduate School Collection

Kinetic asymmetry analysis is a prevailing topic within human performance and rehabilitative science. So far focused on lower extremity functional tasks, these pioneering research methodologies remain unapplied to the upper extremity. Relative to its popularity, research on push-up asymmetry is limited, with sub-maximal variation and sex-based comparisons few. A paucity of research exists utilizing innovative asymmetry analysis strategies in the upper extremities. Study objectives were three-fold: (1) evaluate vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) asymmetry across push-up variations stratified by force demand, (2) compare asymmetry across sexes, (3) and contribute novel, normative asymmetry data to the existing pool of research findings. …


Seeing Environmental Injustice Through Moss-Colored Glasses: Neighborhood Monitoring Of Toxic Metal Air Pollution Disparities With Orthotrichum Lyellii, Allison Hayes Jan 2023

Seeing Environmental Injustice Through Moss-Colored Glasses: Neighborhood Monitoring Of Toxic Metal Air Pollution Disparities With Orthotrichum Lyellii, Allison Hayes

WWU Graduate School Collection

Toxic air pollution in the United States has been regulated through the Clean Air Act (CAA) since the 1970’s. Yet, a growing body of research suggests that the CAA’s air pollution management system has several blind spots. The CAA’s inability to identify and remedy pollution hot spots across the country. These hot spots are areas where air pollution exists but are often entirely overlooked because of the extreme hyperlocal scale and the current methods for identifying areas of concern outlined in the CAA for the Environmental Protection Agency. Researchers find that these hot spots are more prevalent in minority and …


Cannabidiol Administered Via Vapor Inhalation Restores Social Interaction Deficits In A Mouse Model Of Social Anxiety, Brennen Risch Jan 2023

Cannabidiol Administered Via Vapor Inhalation Restores Social Interaction Deficits In A Mouse Model Of Social Anxiety, Brennen Risch

WWU Graduate School Collection

Cannabidiol (CBD), the main non-intoxicating component of the plant cannabis, has shown various promising therapeutic effects in treatment of anxiety and depression in both humans and animals. One potential beneficial effect of CBD is restoration of social interaction deficits following chronic stress. Here I investigate the potential for CBD to be used as a treatment in animal models of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), as well as potential mechanisms of action by which CBD may produce these effects. Mice exposed to 10 days of chronic social-defeat stress were administered vaporized CBD in a single 30 minute session before being tested behaviorally. …


Real Men Go Green: Environmentalism, Threatened Masculinity, And Identity Recovery, Gabrielle H. Wilson Jan 2023

Real Men Go Green: Environmentalism, Threatened Masculinity, And Identity Recovery, Gabrielle H. Wilson

WWU Graduate School Collection

Masculinity is a precarious and highly valued social identity. Threatening masculinity leads to a range of compensatory responses to recover manhood, which may also impact men’s engagement in sustainable behaviors. Men might embrace or avoid pro-environmentalism when a masculine or feminine gender identity is signaled. The current research applied processes of gender socialization and identity maintenance to the context of environmentalism across two studies. Overall findings showed that masculinity threats can have varied consequences in sustainable contexts, moderated by men’s level of identification with their gender. Study 1 (N = 208) examined if pro-environmental behaviors acted as a threat …


Strengthening Mindfulness And Social Support As Psychosocial Skills; Improving First-Year Student’S Adjustment Into College, Raumilya Smith Jan 2023

Strengthening Mindfulness And Social Support As Psychosocial Skills; Improving First-Year Student’S Adjustment Into College, Raumilya Smith

WWU Graduate School Collection

Extensive research exists regarding the challenges and risk of negative outcomes first-year students face while transitioning into college. Given that psychosocial factors predict adaptive coping and adjustment in the presence of transition stressors, this study examined the efficacy of mindfulness and social support trainings in fostering psychosocial skills and adjustment among college freshmen. Fifty Western Washington University first-year students (75.7% white, 13.5% Hispanic or Latinx, 12.2% Asian, 4.1% Black, 1.4% Native American or Alaska Native, and 9.5% multiracial) participated. Students were randomly assigned to one of the two trainings and were measured pre- and post- training on psychosocial skills (mindfulness, …


How Etiology And Diagnostic Label Are Stigmatized: The Impacts Of Childhood Trauma And “Sluggish Cognitive Tempo” On Recovery Optimism And Blame, Aubrie Patterson Jan 2023

How Etiology And Diagnostic Label Are Stigmatized: The Impacts Of Childhood Trauma And “Sluggish Cognitive Tempo” On Recovery Optimism And Blame, Aubrie Patterson

WWU Graduate School Collection

Complex childhood trauma survivors often have global functioning and psychosocial issues and may be diagnosed with multiple disorders, a reality which can preclude trauma-informed treatment and lead to additional stigma. The disorder labeled “sluggish cognitive tempo” (SCT) is strongly correlated with childhood trauma and the symptoms match commonly resulting dissociative patterns. However, those with SCT may face label-based stigma that could limit opportunities for trauma-informed care. Also, they may face stigma that they are unable to recover if their disorder is stigmatized in a similar way to many mental illnesses. In a 3x3 vignette-based study featuring a story of a …


Dendrohydrological Reconstruction Of North Fork Nooksack River August Streamflow From Subannual Mountain Hemlock Ring-Widths, Cascade Mountains, Washington State, Hannah Lagassey Jan 2023

Dendrohydrological Reconstruction Of North Fork Nooksack River August Streamflow From Subannual Mountain Hemlock Ring-Widths, Cascade Mountains, Washington State, Hannah Lagassey

WWU Graduate School Collection

Climate warming is driving changes to snowpack and streamflows in snow and ice-driven systems throughout the world. To better understand present and future conditions, we need to examine conditions prior to the onset of climate warming. Tree ring records are used widely to reconstruct pre-instrumental climate and hydrological records. Some locations are more conducive to this methodology than others, however, and moisture-rich environments such as the west slopes of the Cascade mountains continue to present challenges to effective hydrological record reconstruction. Previous researchers working in this environment have employed several techniques in response to this problem, which require integrated dendrochronological …


Weaving Fragmented Lands Together: Perspectives On A National Framework For Landscape Conservation, Jaimie Baxter Jan 2023

Weaving Fragmented Lands Together: Perspectives On A National Framework For Landscape Conservation, Jaimie Baxter

WWU Graduate School Collection

Conservation goals that transcend political boundaries and integrate social-ecological systems are foundational to an emerging field of research and practice called landscape conservation. A nationwide example of a landscape conservation strategy is the Biden administration’s “30 by 30” goal and related “America the Beautiful (ATB) initiative.” The national 30 by 30 goal aims to protect 30 percent of the United States’ (U.S.) terrestrial lands, fresh waters, and ocean waters by 2030. To accomplish the objectives outlined in the ATB initiative and 30 by 30 goal, practitioners and scholars put forth recommendations to design a durable and effective national framework for …


Against The Grain: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of The Effects Of Climatic And Cultural Changes On Grain Agriculture In Northwest Washington, Natalie Furness Jan 2023

Against The Grain: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of The Effects Of Climatic And Cultural Changes On Grain Agriculture In Northwest Washington, Natalie Furness

WWU Graduate School Collection

Local food movements are growing in popularity across the United States. Communities are interested in gaining more control over their food choices and food sources. Northwest Washington is one area where multiple communities are concerned with their food choices. Over the last 10 years, communities have invested increasing amounts of resources and energy in growing grains in San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom counties rather than importing all their grain from Eastern Washington. This study examines how grain agriculture has changed both climatically and culturally in Northwest Washington since the late 19th century. To address this knowledge gap, climatic factors, …


Culturally Modified Trees In Western Washington: Impact And Perspective From The Stillaguamish Cultural Resources Department, Kelsey Maloy Jan 2023

Culturally Modified Trees In Western Washington: Impact And Perspective From The Stillaguamish Cultural Resources Department, Kelsey Maloy

WWU Graduate School Collection

This study braids qualitative and quantitative views of CMT studies to explore meanings and relationships with Culturally Modified Trees (CMT) with a concern for the ethnographic perspective currently absent in dominant structures. This research showcases community value when combining different CMT ontologies (Stillaguamish and Western Academic Definitions). Ethnohistorical methods and grounded theory help organize semi-structured interviews at five previously recorded archaeological CMT sites. There is a lack of feedback concerning Indigenous philosophy about classifying eco-facts or vivio-facts, specifically CMT. This study comprises an interdisciplinary team within the Stillaguamish Cultural Resources Department to reassess five previously documented cedar use sites in …


Was The Grass Always Greener? Mapping The Historical Extent Of Grassland Ecosystems In The San Juan Islands, Kailey Schillinger-Brokaw Jan 2023

Was The Grass Always Greener? Mapping The Historical Extent Of Grassland Ecosystems In The San Juan Islands, Kailey Schillinger-Brokaw

WWU Graduate School Collection

The San Juan Islands, an archipelago in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the Washington coast, are one of the few places native temperate grasslands are found in western Washington State. These ecosystems are important sources of biodiversity and support many rare and endemic species. In addition to their ecological importance, native temperate grasslands have profound cultural significance to the Coast Salish peoples who historically stewarded these landscapes using traditional land management practices-particularly fire-for the production of bulb crops such as common camas (Camassia quamash). Unfortunately, these ecologically and culturally valuable ecosystems have become rare, greatly impacted by the …


Body By Colonialism: The Importance Of Including Sexual Minorities In Forensic And Medical Lexicons., Mia Price Jan 2023

Body By Colonialism: The Importance Of Including Sexual Minorities In Forensic And Medical Lexicons., Mia Price

WWU Graduate School Collection

The purpose of this study is to investigate the implications of excluding the skeletal morphology of sexual minorities such as intersex and trans individuals in forensic and medical context. This study took place over a span of 16 months from 2021-2023. Anthropologists' reliance on binaries to categorize humans and as a result, the skeletal morphology of sexual minorities is not considered in forensic and medical contexts. Forensic anthropologists rely on sex estimation methodology to identify skeletal remains. Sex estimation methodology as developed with skeletal data from cisgender males and females without considering morphology of sexual minorities such as intersex individuals. …


Investigating Perennial & Annual Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) In Padilla Bay As Potential Donor Sources For Seed-Based Restoration, Yuki Wilmerding Jan 2023

Investigating Perennial & Annual Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) In Padilla Bay As Potential Donor Sources For Seed-Based Restoration, Yuki Wilmerding

WWU Graduate School Collection

This paper explores recovery of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) meadows through seed-based restoration to address declines from natural and anthropogenic disturbances. The study focuses on the Joe Leary meadow site in Padilla Bay, Washington, aiming to (1) determine the spatial distribution of perennial and annual Z. marina, (2) understand variation in flowering shoot density and potential seed production, and (3) compare the phenology of flowering shoots. These objectives were investigated using field-based methods to collect presence/absence transect data for delineation, quadrat-based count data, and monitor seed development. Data collection occurred in the summer throughout the flowering life stage …


Embodied Narratives: An Exploration Of Dance Through Identity, Community, And Wellbeing, Elizabeth Smyth Jan 2023

Embodied Narratives: An Exploration Of Dance Through Identity, Community, And Wellbeing, Elizabeth Smyth

WWU Graduate School Collection

This ethnographic study of a dance collective in Bellingham, Washington, took place between December 2022 and March 2023. Methods included participant observation, interviews, and analysis. I interviewed dancers about their personal dance histories, their participation in the collective, and their reflections on the ways dancing and the collective shapes their lives. Interviewees reflected on the individual embodied experience associated with movement and dance, a collection of bodies dancing together, becoming the dance, something more than the individual self, a collective. The theoretical frameworks guiding this research are intersectional feminism and phenomenological. In data analysis, common themes of personal practice, wellbeing, …


Motivations For And Barriers To Forest Certification Of Washington State Trust Lands, Tracy Petroske Jan 2023

Motivations For And Barriers To Forest Certification Of Washington State Trust Lands, Tracy Petroske

WWU Graduate School Collection

Forest management certification is a system to assess whether forests are grown in a manner that complies to a pre-determined set of requirements. Certification programs (called “Standards”) are designed to indicate that compliance to those conditions demonstrate the forest is managed in a way that is environmentally responsible, economically viable, and socially beneficial. In the United States, there are two recognized forest certification programs: the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®). The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) certifies 100% of their forested trust lands to the SFI Standard. …


Who’S Nature? Ontological Narrative Dissonance Among Skagit River Fishery Coalitions, Jann Eberharter Jan 2023

Who’S Nature? Ontological Narrative Dissonance Among Skagit River Fishery Coalitions, Jann Eberharter

WWU Graduate School Collection

My research investigates narratives within fisheries management for Washington state’s Skagit River, focusing on ecological restoration and diminishing salmon runs. I ask, how might differing narratives affect progress and reflect the ontological orientations of the fishery’s co-stewards? Asked with a twist, Who is Nature? (abbreviated Who’s Nature?), I aim to critique the classic Euro-American paradigm of nature and examine the connections between us, the who, and natural world? I hope my research illuminates these important questions. I selected three entities with varying Euro-American and Indigenous affiliations—the Skagit Watershed Council (SWC), Skagit River System Cooperative (SRSC), and Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission …


Social Justice Through Beach Access And Community-Based Placemaking In Puna, Hawai'i, Yumi-Shika Shridhar Jan 2023

Social Justice Through Beach Access And Community-Based Placemaking In Puna, Hawai'i, Yumi-Shika Shridhar

WWU Graduate School Collection

This project investigates how tourist-dependent regions can implement community-based placemaking to create an inclusive outdoor space and experience for both tourists and locals. My area of focus is on Puna District, located on the southeast side of Hawai'i’s Big Island; their community was damaged by a volcanic eruption from Mount Kīlauea in 2018. The county, economic development organizations and community members are working to rebuild the region and infrastructure and reopen parts of the land covered by the lava. The research is conducted through a case study methodology of the Puna District and how the area is revitalizing their region, …


Moral Injury In Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Camille A. Fogel Jan 2023

Moral Injury In Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Camille A. Fogel

WWU Graduate School Collection

Many survivors of domestic violence experience persistent but invisible psychological wounds that cannot be photographed for evidentiary purposes. Coercive control refers to the network of subtle, structural, and culturally sanctioned tactics that subjugate victims and cause them existential and identity-based harm. In this paper I propose that moral injury, a trauma construct not yet applied to this context, provides an important and nuanced framework for understanding the impact of coercive control and the invisible aftermath of partner abuse. In a cross-sectional survey-based study (N = 292), I tested a novel path analysis in which physical violence and coercive control differentially …


Adoption Of Agroforestry Practices In Northwest Washington State: An Ex-Ante Case-Study, Ava Stone Jan 2023

Adoption Of Agroforestry Practices In Northwest Washington State: An Ex-Ante Case-Study, Ava Stone

WWU Graduate School Collection

Agroforestry (AF) practices mitigate climate change, provide ecosystem services, benefit communities, and create long-term economic opportunities for farmers and land managers worldwide. Despite these well-documented benefits, however, the adoption of agroforestry practices remains low. This study aimed to understand the barriers and incentives to adoption by applying the stated choice method to a case study of direct-to-market farmers in the four counties of northwest Washington State: Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan, and Island. Our results indicate that the scale of initial implementation and the upfront costs of seedlings had the largest relative impact on respondent decision making. Similarly, one early adopter …


The Effect Of Long-Haul Covid-19 On Balance Confidence In Older Adults, Mariel Relyea Jan 2023

The Effect Of Long-Haul Covid-19 On Balance Confidence In Older Adults, Mariel Relyea

WWU Graduate School Collection

The effects of long COVID 19 on balance and fall risk in older adults are unknown. This study assessed balance confidence and fear of falling in older adults (≥ 60 years) with long COVID (long-haulers, n = 30) compared to older adults who experienced COVID but not long COVID (non-long-haulers, n = 60) and older controls who never had COVID (n = 52). Participants completed the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale and the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I). Mean total ABC Scale scores indicated lesser balance confidence in older long-haulers compared to non-long-haulers (p < .001) and controls (p = .011); mean …