Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Essays On The Economics Of Hurricanes, Haishan Yang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This dissertation explores how Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected the economy in New Orleans and nearby areas in Louisiana. Using a variety of econometric techniques, my dissertation aims to understand the effects of these storms on employment, wages, and housing prices.

In the first essay, I focus on employment in New Orleans. I find that Katrina led to significant and lasting job losses in nearly every sector, while the construction sector stood as an exception, recovering within just three months. Interestingly, wages increased in most sectors. This suggests that with fewer workers available, those who remained became more valuable, leading …

Exploring Social Hierarchy Computationally To Further Our Understanding Of Social Organizations Within Their Environments, Stanley L. Rhodes Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Hierarchy is ever-present across countless human societies, a seemingly inescapable reality of small organizations and national governments. However, there is a lot about hierarchy we don’t understand, and if we want to make better organizations and better society, it is crucial we learn more about it. This dissertation investigates three questions: 1) “What is hierarchy?” 2) “How is hierarchy useful?” 3) “How does hierarchy vary?” I find that social scientists do not all mean the same thing by hierarchy, even within the same fields; yet, they do consistently write of hierarchy as control (like boss-employee relations), hierarchy as rank (like …

Did Arroyo Formation Impact The Occupation Of Snake Rock Village, A Fremont Dryland Agricultural Community In Central Utah, Ca. Ad 1000–1200?, Alexandra Wolberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Fremont farmers of the northern Colorado Plateau grew maize at the limits for cultivation in western North America between AD 300–1300. Like other Indigenous farmers throughout the American Southwest, Fremont farmers used bundled agricultural niches where alluvial floodplains were the largest available site for cultivation. But dryland floodplains are a risk to the persistence of farming communities because the development of steep-sided arroyos lowers floodplain surfaces and water tables, rendering them unusable for growing maize. This study tests the relationship between the occupational timing of Snake Rock Village between AD 970–1240 and the formation of a 4.5m deep arroyo on …

Idiographic Coping Outcomes In Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Co-Occurring Anxiety: Results From The Taasd Study, Lesley A Norris, Jonathan C Rabner, Eric A Storch, Jeffrey J Wood, Connor Kerns, Adam B Lewin, Brent J Small, Philip C Kendall

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Versions of cognitive behavioral therapy (Coping Cat, CC; Behavioral Interventions for Anxiety in Children with Autism, BIACA) have shown efficacy in treating anxiety among youth with autism spectrum disorder. Measures of efficacy have been primarily nomothetic symptom severity assessments. The current study examined idiographic coping outcomes in the Treatment of Anxiety in Autism Spectrum Disorder study (N = 167). Longitudinal changes in coping with situations individualized to youth fears (Coping Questionnaire) were examined across CC, BIACA and treatment as usual (TAU) in a series of multilevel models. CC and BIACA produced significantly greater improvements than TAU in caregiver-reported coping. Youth …

Competencies Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Agents Need To Manage Conflict In Master Gardener Programs, Jayla Brook Fry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension agents manage volunteer programs with vast efforts in public education. Volunteer programs such as the Texas Master Gardener program are significant to the public because they provide a service by educating people in horticulture and related topics. Extension agents oversee volunteer programs such as the Master Gardener program. The Texas Master Gardener program is comprised of more than 9,000 volunteers who give over 500,000 hours of service to their communities. When there are misaligned goals or personality conflicts, it may impact the program’s mission and educational efforts. Extension agents must manage those situations to retain the …

Intergenerational Factors That Contribute To Millennial Church Engagement, Parker Sanderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Millennial church attendance has declined since the beginning of the new millennium. Intergenerational ambivalence has been known to contribute to this phenomenon. Through this action research, the researcher sought to determine what intergenerational factors have led to millennials’ continued or discontinued attendance within churches. A phenomenological qualitative approach centered around interviews for this study was used to determine these intergenerational factors. The sample was taken from a 1,100-member church in a major Texas metropolitan area. The goal was to help church leaders decrease relational distancing and reduce ambivalent factors to increase millennial engagement in this local congregation.

Alumni Giving From Online Learners: A Logistic Regression Study, Jaqlyne S. Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alumni giving is increasingly important to the vitality of institutions of higher education. With governmental financial support of public institutions steadily declining, understanding philanthropic giving is more important than ever. Advancement offices that serve alumni populations benefit from analyzing predictors of the behavioral phenomenon of charitable giving. It is also known that enrollment in distance education programs is on the rise in the United States. For university administrators and advancement professionals to be proactive in cultivating relationships with alumni that attended through an online modality, more research was needed to understand what motivates philanthropic giving from this alumni constituency. Using …

Serum Biomarkers Of Nociceptive And Neuropathic Pain In Chronic Pancreatitis, Jami L Saloman, Yan Li, Kimberly Stello, Wenhao Li, Shuang Li, Anna Evans Phillips, Kristen Hall, Evan L Fogel, Santhi Swaroop Vege, Liang Li, Dana K Andersen, William E Fisher, Christopher E Forsmark, Phil A Hart, Stephen J Pandol, Walter G Park, Mark D Topazian, Stephen K Van Den Eeden, Jose Serrano, Darwin L Conwell, Dhiraj Yadav, Consortium For The Study Of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes, And Pancreatic Cancer (Cpdpc)

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Debilitating abdominal pain is a common symptom affecting most patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP). There are multiple underlying mechanisms that contribute to CP-related pain, which makes successful treatment difficult. The identification of biomarkers for subtypes of pain could provide viable targets for nonopioid interventions and the development of mechanistic approaches to pain management in CP. Nineteen inflammation- and nociception-associated proteins were measured in serum collected from 358 subjects with definite CP enrolled in PROspective Evaluation of Chronic Pancreatitis for EpidEmiologic and Translational StuDies, a prospective observational study of pancreatitis in US adult subjects. First, serum levels of putative biomarkers were …

Low-Dose Aspirin For Primary Prevention Of Cardiovascular Events Comparing East Asians With Westerners: A Meta-Analysis, Rock Bum Kim, Ang Li, Ki-Soo Park, Yune-Sik Kang, Jang-Rak Kim, Eliano P Navarese, Diana A Gorog, Udaya S Tantry, Paul A Gurbel, Jin Yong Hwang, Oh-Young Kwon, Young-Hoon Jeong

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: East Asians have shown different risk profiles for both thrombophilia and bleeding than Western counterparts.

OBJECTIVES: The authors sought to evaluate the effect of low-dose aspirin for primary prevention between these populations.

METHODS: We searched randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for intervention with low-dose aspirin (≤100 mg once daily) in participants without symptomatic cardiovascular disease until December 31, 2021. The number of events between the arms was extracted for analysis. Pooled risk ratios (RRs) and risk differences (RDs) were analyzed in each population. Outcomes included a major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE), cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and major bleeding (intracranial …

Critical Care Delivery Across Health Care Systems In Low-Income And Low-Middle-Income Country Settings: A Systematic Review, Emily S Bartlett, Andrew Lim, Sean Kivlehan, Lia I Losonczy, Srinivas Murthy, Richard Lowsby, Alfred Papali, Madiha Raees, Bhavna Seth, Natalie Cobb, Jason Brotherton, Enrico Dippenaar, Gaurav Nepal, Gentle S Shrestha, Shih-Chiang E Kuo, J Ryan Skrabal, Margaret Davis, Cappi Lay, Sojung Yi, Michael Jaung, Brandon Chaffay, Nana Sefa, Marc Lc Yang, P Andrew Stephens, Amir Rashed, Nicole Benzoni, Bernadett Velasco, Neill Kj Adhikari, Teri Reynolds

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Prior research has demonstrated that low- and low-middle-income countries (LLMICs) bear a higher burden of critical illness and have a higher rate of mortality from critical illness than high-income countries (HICs). There is a pressing need for improved critical care delivery in LLMICs to reduce this inequity. This systematic review aimed to characterise the range of critical care interventions and services delivered within LLMIC health care systems as reported in the literature.

METHODS: A search strategy using terms related to critical care in LLMICs was implemented in multiple databases. We included English language articles with human subjects describing at …

Projecting, Persuading, & Protecting: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Adult Children’S Predictions Of Parents’ Quality-Of-Life Valuations In Serious Illness States, Jessica Hahne

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Older adults often face complex serious illness decisions and involve their adult children as shared or surrogate decision makers. However, previous research asking family members to predict older adults’ treatment preferences in serious illness situations typically shows poor concordance with older adults’ actual preferences. In the current mixed methods analysis, we surveyed older adults (n = 38) on their health state valuations in five serious illness scenarios. Two of their adult children (n = 76) predicted their parent’s preferences. Families also participated in a semi-structured conversation to discuss their preferences and predictions. Quantitative analyses showed that parents’ average valuations were …

At The Cultural Interface: A Systematic Review Of Study Characteristics And Cultural Integrity From Twenty Years Of Randomised Controlled Trials With Indigenous Participants, Tuguy Esgin, Rona Macniven, Alan Crouch, Alexandra Martiniuk

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose and aim: To identify and describe characteristics of Randomised Control Trial (RCT) design, implementation, and interpretation with a view tostrengtheningen the cultural integrity and scientific quality of this genre of research when used with, for and by Indigenous peoples. Issue: RCTs are widely regarded as the ‘gold standard’ method for evaluating the efficacy of an intervention. However, issues of cultural acceptability and higher attrition rates among RCT participants from diverse populations, including Indigenous participants, have been reported. A better understanding of cultural acceptability and attrition rates of RCTs has the potential to impact the translation of findings into effective …

Consumer Perspectives Of Quality Care: Exploring Patient Journeys From Remote Primary Healthcare Clinics To Alice Springs Hospital, Emslie Lankin, Amanda Graf, Rebecca Schultz, Richard Johnson, Kylie Mccullough

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Problem or background: Residents of Australia's remote regions have lower life expectancies and poorer health outcomes than other Australians. Access to hospital and specialist care frequently requires transport via road or air and time spent away from family and community. Question, hypothesis or aim: To explore consumer perspectives of the journey from remote communities to regional health services and identify areas for improvement. Methods: Individual interviews (n = 16) and yarning circles were used to collect and interpret stories of patient's journeys. Findings: Travel for medical care was common and often required multiple journeys. Complex social and financial barriers to …

Consideration Of First Nations’ Cultural Values In Mine Site Rehabilitation By Environmental Professionals, Will Kemp, Sean M. Bellairs, Janine Joyce, Jane Henderson

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Rehabilitation of mined land on First Nations’ country after mine closure must achieve particular criteria to be considered successful. Generally, these conditions are based on achieving a habitable condition that is more or less similar to analogue sites or to the pre–mining state. Rehabilitating a site to a habitable condition requires the restoration of cultural values, as well as environmental and economic values. This study investigates the extent to which First Nations’ cultural values are considered in mine rehabilitation in northern Australia. Interviews were conducted with environment professionals who had experience rehabilitating mine sites on First Nations’ land in the …

Responsibility Gaps And Black Box Healthcare Ai: Shared Responsibilization As A Solution, Benjamin H Lang, Sven Nyholm, Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

As sophisticated artificial intelligence software becomes more ubiquitously and more intimately integrated within domains of traditionally human endeavor, many are raising questions over how responsibility (be it moral, legal, or causal) can be understood for an AI’s actions or influence on an outcome. So called “responsibility gaps” occur whenever there exists an apparent chasm in the ordinary attribution of moral blame or responsibility when an AI automates physical or cognitive labor otherwise performed by human beings and commits an error. Healthcare administration is an industry ripe for responsibility gaps produced by these kinds of AI. The moral stakes of healthcare …

How Should Technology-Dependent Patients' Care Be Managed Collaboratively To Avoid Turfing?, Emma Cooke, Holland Kaplan

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Technology-dependent patients require interventions (eg, tracheostomies, gastrostomy tubes, or total parenteral nutrition) to survive. Such patients are commonly "turfed" between general services or from subspecialty to general services within the hospital. This case commentary proposes several explanations for why technology-dependent patients are particularly susceptible to turfing, including clinicians' lack of familiarity with managing patients' technology, bias and ableism, and quality-of-life quandaries. It also addresses ways to combat turfing of technology-dependent patients and proposes educational strategies for managing common problems in the care of technology-dependent patients.

Big Advocacy, Little Recognition: The Hidden Work Of Black Patients In Precision Medicine, Lynette Hammond Gerido, Kenneth Resnicow, Elena M Stoffel, Tiah Tomlin, Robert Cook-Deegan, Melissa Cline, Amy Coffin, Jill Holdren, Mary Anderlik Majumder, Zhe He

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

As cost-effective next-generation genome sequencing rapidly develops, calls for greater inclusion of Black people in genomic research, policy, and practice are necessary for effective translation of genomic science into precision population health and medicine. Employing a community-based participatory mixed methods research design, we developed a semi-structured survey that was disseminated to three cancer advocacy organizations. Of the 81 survey respondents 49 (60%) self-identified as Black, and 26 (32%) indicated a prior breast cancer diagnosis. Black participants' expressed concerns about genetic testing were evenly distributed between concerns that could be addressed through genetic counseling (24%) and concerns about subsequent use of …

Depressive Symptoms In Autistic Youth With Anxiety Disorders, Rebecca L Greenberg, Andrew G Guzick, Sophie C Schneider, Saira A Weinzimmer, Minjee Kook, Amanda B Perozo Garcia, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Objective: Anxiety and depression often coexist in youth and share overlapping symptomatology; however, little is known about the comorbidity of anxiety and depression in autistic youth. This study explores (1) the frequency of depressive symptoms among autistic children with clinically significant anxiety, (2) clinical variables that may be associated with elevated depressive symptoms, and (3) whether pretreatment depressive symptoms predict cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) outcomes for anxiety.

Method: Children aged 7 to 13 years (N = 87) and their parents participated in a randomized controlled trial comparing 2 versions of a parent-led, telehealth-delivered CBT program. Parents and children completed a …

Will You Go The Distance? A Satisfaction Survey Of Telemedicine In Sexual Medicine, Gal Saffati, Taher Naeem, Jordan Kassab, Daniela Orozco Rendon, Charles Green, Larry I Liphsultz, Mohit Khera

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The success of telemedicine depends on patient satisfaction with the care that they receive, which is impacted by the ease of use of the technology, quality of the connection, and perceived effectiveness of care.

AIM: The study sought to evaluate patient satisfaction with telemedicine services in a high-volume andrology clinic.

METHODS: We included all patients who had a telemedicine appointment between January 1, 2020, and August 22, 2022. Demographic information was gathered, and a satisfaction survey was conducted using REDCap software. Data were grouped into 2 age categories, with ≥50 years as the cutoff (19-50 years; >50 years). The …

Unmasking And Addressing Burnout In The Mental Health Profession, Sara Edwards

University Honors Theses

Burnout poses a significant challenge among mental health workers, impacting both the well-being of practitioners and the outcomes for their patients. The key inquiries guiding this literature review are: what factors contribute to burnout, and what interventions are essential for treating and preventing burnout in mental health professionals? The findings reveal that factors such as level of experience, lack of quality supervision, vicarious trauma, working conditions, and personal beliefs significantly contribute to burnout. Effective prevention and treatment measures for mental health workers vulnerable to burnout encompass self-monitoring, participation in support groups, additional training, and organizational interventions. These insights could serve …

Crossover Youth: The Relationship Between Juvenile Dependency And Delinquency, Victoria Davenport

University Honors Theses

This literature review looks at the relationship between juvenile delinquency and juvenile dependency. Specifically, it evaluates the existence of "crossover youth", minors who have been involved with both systems in their lifetime. The review considers thirteen different studies, literature reviews, and databases to determine risk factors in maltreated youth that cause them to offend. The review also looks at the impact that second-generation parents have on likelihood of offending as juveniles, as well as the importance of welfare worker perception on parental involvement with dependency agencies. Finally, the review considers potential interventions to crossover youth, determining how to assist maltreated …

Critical Consciousness & The Rural-Urban Divide, Kendall O'Rorke

University Honors Theses

This study investigated the relationship between conceptions of Critical Consciousness (CC) and urban vs. rural geographic location type. Participants (N = 31) completed the Short Critical Consciousness Scale (CCS-S), and 25 additional questions regarding potential location-based idealogical differences. No measurable differences were found regarding differences in conceptions of critical consciousness (using CCS-S scores) based on rural-urban location, however, other responses supported some current research regarding political typology. Additional research is needed to fully understand this topic.

What Is The Prevalence Of General Anxiety Disorder And Depression Symptoms In Semi-Elite Australian Football Players: A Cross-Sectional Study, Anthony Henderson, Sarah A. Harris, Troy Kirkham, Jonathon Charlesworth, Myles C. Murphy

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: The prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms in semi-elite Australian footballers is unknown. The primary objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and depressive symptoms in semi-elite Australian Football players. Our secondary objective was to explore the association between demographic and football-specific factors with GAD and depressive symptoms. A cross-sectional epidemiological study including 369 semi-elite Western Australian Football League (WAFL) players from the Men and Women’s 2022 season (n = 337 men, 91%) was conducted. Symptoms of depression were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 scale (PHQ-9) and symptoms of GAD with …

“And I’M Going To Destroy You.”: Persona And Gender Performativity In Ernest Hemingway’S The Garden Of Eden, Nicole Minton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While debate of Ernest Hemingway’s authorial masculine persona in connection to The Garden of Eden has been a point of interest in literary scholarship, no single work has tied together theory of gender performativity to persona. A borderline parodic display of masculine adventure has encouraged a one-dimensional view of Hemingway, who is viewed by audiences as the pinnacle of masculinity. However, this image is complicated by the publication of Eden, which reveals an author interested in gender and sexual identity fluidity. Rarely has a single text called into question so controversially an author’s public image. Eden showcases an empathetic …

Spartan Daily, November 30, 2023, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2023

Volume 161, Issue 42

Demographics And Risk Of Isolation Due To Sea Level Rise In The United States, Kelsea Best, Qian He, Allison C. Reilly, Deb A. Niemeier, Mitchell Anderson, Tom Logan

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

Within coastal communities, sea level rise (SLR) will result in widespread intermittent flooding and long-term inundation. Inundation effects will be evident, but isolation that arises from the loss of accessibility to critical services due to inundation of transportation networks may be less obvious. We examine who is most at risk of isolation due to SLR, which can inform community adaptation plans and help ensure that existing social vulnerabilities are not exacerbated. Combining socio-demographic data with an isolation metric, we identify social and economic disparities in risk of isolation under different SLR scenarios (1-10 ft) for the coastal U.S. We show …

What’S In A Word? A Study Of Emotional Valence, Trisha Patel, Cameron Smith, Olivia Williams, Raul Rodriguez-Calva

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Cognitive stress affects humans mentally and physically, and specifically may impact emotional recognition. Previous studies have focused on the perceived emotional valence of nouns vs. adjectives and the emotional recognition of photographs. While this has led to the creation of an emotional valence database, there has yet to be a study to explore how stress can change perceived emotional valence. Using data from the Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW), the Portland Arithmetic Stress Test (PAST), and the Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST), a study was created to explore how participants emotional valence of words would change after being placed …

Blind Mind? How Visual Imagery Affects Visual Processes, Katja Gehr, Molly Georgas

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Visual imagery exists on a spectrum: some individuals have very vivid and clear images, and others have very little to no visual imagery, which is the case in a condition called aphantasia. There is a current void in the literature relating to mental imagery when identifying or generating emotions and how attentional bias could impact emotional processing. We intend to investigate the effects of visual imagery on emotion processing using a dot-probe with emotional facial and word stimuli and an emotional priming task developed by Bulter and colleagues (2008). We hypothesize that: (1) high imagers will show a higher negative …

Psychology: A Newly Developed Scale On Introversion, Emily Cloud, Niya Mckinley, Jenna Jemtrud, Mackenzie Cosgriff

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Introversion, the “preoccupation with inner ideas and emotions” (Henjum, 1982, pp. 39-40), is underrepresented in research. It has been considered in research and media to be a less desirable trait and failed achievement of extraversion (Noya & Vernon, 2019). Additionally, many measures fail to accurately present introversion as its own construct, but rather as merely a lack of extraversion. The current study aimed to develop and validate a measure on introversion in relation to extraversion, social involvement, social anxiety, and academic achievement. Belmont University Introductory Psychology students were asked to complete questionnaires on Qualtrics that measured demographics, introversion, extraversion, social …

Psychology: Religious Conflicts Amongst A Christian Campus, Cole Peterson, Alyssa Shearing, Sydney Willis, Melody Alvarez

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

The current study seeks to develop and validate a quantitative measure of religion on a Christian campus. As the influence of religion in multiple aspects of the world continues to evolve, it becomes increasingly important to gain an understanding of the experiences of college students within a Christian campus. It has been found that “exposure to new ideas that college provides were thought to lead students to question and ultimately abandon their traditional religious beliefs” (Maryl & Oeur, 2009). More research regarding the effect of religion specifically on a Christian campus is needed; therefore, a reliable and valid psychometric scale …