Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Hidden Cost: Vicarious Trauma And Burnout In Professional Sex Offender Treatment Providers, Diazia Hughes

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Professionals who provide treatment to individuals who have commuted sexual offenses are routine exposed to traumatic material, placing them at increased risk for both vicarious trauma (VT) and burnout. Despite growing recognition of these occupational hazards, limited research has examined the relationship between VT and burnout within this specialized population. The present study investigated the association between VT and the three dimensions of burnout (i.e. Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and personal Accomplishment (PA)) among licensed treatment providers working directly with individuals who have commuted sexual offenses. A cross-sectional correlational design was employed with a sample of 107 licensed providers …

Predicting Burnout Among Graduate Healthcare Students In Clinical Placements, Meghan E. Visek

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Healthcare systems increasingly recognized provider burnout as an essential target for improving population health. Burnout, characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment, has been linked to impaired clinical practice and poorer patient outcomes. Although burnout among healthcare professionals is well-studied, far less attention has been given to understand how burnout develops earlier in training among graduate healthcare students in clinical placements. Research has identified year of graduate study, self-care practice, social problem-solving ability, team resilience, and attitudes toward interprofessional collaborative practice as potential burnout predictors. This study examined these factors among graduate healthcare students in clinical placements. Findings …

Understanding Depression And Adl Decline In Dementia: The Impact Of Subtype And Social Frailty, Melanie C. Ventura

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The interplay of depression and dementia alters the ability to complete activities of daily living (ADLs). When depression occurs concurrently with or because of dementia, it has a more significant link to disability than the impairment of depression or dementia. This occurrence often increases older adults’ risks and a faster progression of the disease. Patients with different types of dementia have varying experiences in the interplay among dementia, depression, and ADL impairment. Moreover, the dementia type can cause variations in awareness and symptoms, influencing different levels of ADL impairment, relative preservation of awareness, and depression levels.

The present study examined …

Neuropsychological Prediction Of Alzheimer’S Disease And Functional Abilities Using Brief Screeners, Ashley Bennett

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that is primarily characterized by memory impairment and decline in function. Patients often undergo lengthy neuropsychological evaluations that create testing fatigue and, ultimately, affect their validity. There are brief assessment options to assess probable AD that are not commonly explored in research and clinical settings. This study investigated the predictive ability of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) with the addition of a semantic fluency measure compared to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-13-Item Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog-13) in diagnosing AD. Additionally, this study examined the potential use of the …

Aging With Mercy, Thriving In Place, Emma Layne Katzman, Karen Weis, Jennifer Rugletic Washko

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2026

Occupational engagement, spirituality, and quality of life are recognized as important dimensions of aging, however, these factors remain underexplored among older adults residing within faith-based communal living environments. This doctoral capstone experience, Aging with Mercy, Thriving in Place, consisted of two distinct but complementary components: an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved mixed methods research study and a quality improvement initiative. The purpose of the research study was to explore occupational engagement, occupational role transitions, spirituality, identity, and perceived quality of life among older adults residing within a faith-based communal living environment. Quantitative data were collected using the World Health Organization Quality …

Transformative Paths: Advancing Inclusive Healthcare Education, Morgan Young

Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2026

Transgender individuals continue to experience significant healthcare disparities, provider bias, discrimination, and barriers to accessing affirming healthcare services (White Hughto et al., 2015; World Professional Association for Transgender Health [WPATH], 2022). Despite increasing awareness of these disparities, healthcare education often lacks comprehensive training related to gender-affirming care (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2021; Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion [ODPHP], n.d.; White Hughto et al., 2015). A concurrent scoping review was conducted to answer the research question: Among healthcare providers, how do educational strategies grounded in transgender perspectives and lived experiences affect provider competence in transgender healthcare? The review …

The Evolution Of The Whittier State School From Reform To Control, Manuella Zammit

Whittier City & College Historical Research

This paper examines the transformation of the Whittier State School from its founding in 1891 as a Quaker inspired reform institution into a punitive juvenile detention facility under the California Youth Authority. Through analysis of primary sources including The Sentinel student newspaper, The Journal of Delinquency, psychological studies, and modern reports, this study traces how the school's philosophy shifted across three distinct eras. The first era (1890s to 1912) emphasized moral rescue through vocational training, academic instruction, and structured communal life rooted in Quaker ideals of rehabilitation over punishment. The second era (1912 to 1927) witnessed the rise of …

Blue Spring (2001):, George Dibble

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

“Congratulations on your graduation,” broadcasts on the upper secondary school’s PA system—the first sound in the film Blue Spring (2001), directed by Toshiaki Toyoda—yet none of the students we follow for the next 83 minutes have anything to graduate for. Like a chick denied egg-shell breakage, stuck in its hard world, the film-focused boys are told to live. But where, and how? Blue Spring exists between the graffiti laden walls of high school where classes are secondary to student politics and fights are as common as words.

Annoyances lead to murders. Money is extorted. Teachers are harassed. The first image …

Constructing The 'Other': A Cda Of Social Actor Representation And Agency Attribution In The New York Times Reporting On Palestine And Israel (2023–2025), Faithlyn H. Graham

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Media organizations play a central role in shaping public understanding of international conflict. Following the publication of a leaked internal editorial memorandum from The New York Times in 2024 advising reporters to avoid terms such as "genocide," "ethnic cleansing," and "occupied territory," questions emerged regarding institutional influence and ideological framing in coverage of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. This study examined how The New York Times discursively constructed the conflict between October 7, 2023, and October 10, 2025, using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) informed by KhosraviNik's (2010) three-level analytical framework. A purposive sample of 119 hard-news articles was analyzed using …

January 2026 Library & Learning Newsletter, Minnesota State University, Mankato. Library & Learning Dean’S Office Communications Team

Library & Learning Newsletters

PDF version of the January (Volume 4, Issue 6) Library & Learning Newsletter.

Conspiracy And Social Movements, Steffen Seitz

Michigan Law Review

Conspiracy prosecutions of social movements are on the rise. From anti-“Cop City” protesters in Atlanta to pro-Palestinian protesters in California, prosecutors are increasingly wielding conspiracy law to suppress social movements. This development is troubling. Social movements have long served as vital engines of democratic self-governance; they crystallize issues, foster public discourse, and mobilize citizens. Yet conspiracy law endangers these movements— and thus democracy—by targeting what makes them work: public expression and social ties between activists.

This Article makes three significant contributions to our understanding of this threat. First, it demonstrates that a charge of conspiracy requires remarkably little—just the appearance …

Social Media Appearance Pressures And Body Dissatisfaction In Collegiate Athletes: Model Refinement, Group Differences, And Exploratory Insights, Hannah Hunter Miller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In considering athletes’ body image, it is necessary to examine the psychosocial factors, and related psychological processes, that influence it. The body-related pressures athletes experience while navigating social media represent a relatively new and increasingly influential factor that warrants further investigation. The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to replicate and refine Miller and colleagues’ (in press) model; (2) to examine differences in model variables and relationships across demographic and contextual groups; and (3) to explore aspects of social media perceived as contributing to appearance pressures, as well as strategies athletes may use to mitigate these pressures and their …

"It's Dangerous To Go Alone": Examining Npcs As Influential Social Agents In An Original Single-Player Rpg, Chloe Bella Whitfield

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Parasocial Interactions (PSI) and Parasocial Relationships (PSR) may have the capacity to act as an extension of and supplement for healthy social interaction (Elvery, 2021). In some instances, PSI and PSR may even be used as a means to improve unfulfilled social needs and decrease feelings of loneliness (Jarzyna, 2021). It has been noted that digital media such as video games may produce parasocial encounters that are particularly unique, as they often simulate realistic, back-and-forth social interactions between users and a virtual agent (Elvery, 2022; Hartmann, 2008). The present study observed PSR formation between players and a non-player character (NPC) …

Attention Or Affect? Evaluating The Discriminant Validity Of Cpt-3 Performance, Gavin F. Price

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The Conner Continuous Performance Test Third Edition (CPT-3) is a behavior-based measure of attention-related problems commonly used to assess Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Research into the discriminant validity of the CPT-3 remains limited, particularly regarding the influence of internalizing symptoms such as anxiety and depression on performance. The current study examined whether CPT-3 performance was more strongly associated with cognitive indicators of inattention or internalizing symptoms, such as depressive or anxious symptoms. Archival data from 105 adult clients at Murray State University Psychological Center was analyzed. Cognitive inattention was measured using Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) – Working Memory Index (WMI) discrepancy …

Effect Of Delay On Reinforcer Preference And Efficacy, Ciara Jasmine Rodriguez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Behavior intervention plans are used to increase desired behavior and decrease problem behavior, and these plans require the use of effective reinforcers. High-quality reinforcers that are delivered immediately tend to be the most effective, but optimal reinforcement parameters are not always feasible or appropriate in applied settings. Some reinforcers may be disruptive, teachers’ competing responsibilities may introduce delays to reinforcer delivery, and reinforcers may not be immediately accessible. Stimuli may lose their reinforcing value with delay to their receipt, and this is referred to as delay discounting. Thus, there is likely a point where a less preferred but immediately delivered …

Three Essays In Health Economics, Caroline Andressa Welter

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Health outcomes and access to care are shaped by the interaction between public institutions, administrative rules, and responses to health risk. This dissertation investigates how barriers to access, changes in perceived risk, and policy design influence participation in public programs, preventive health behavior, and  treatment continuation. Across three essays in health economics, I examine how individuals respond to disruptions in service delivery, epidemic exposure, and administrative burden, with a focus on vulnerable populations that depend on public systems of care.
The first essay analyzes the impact of Social Security Administration field office closures on participation in federal disability programs during …

Psychometric Assessment Of The Ambivalent Ageism Scale: Investigating Measurement Invariance And Stability Across Groups And Time, Carly Pullen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The goal of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Ambivalent Ageism Scale (Cary et al., 2017) and to provide an understanding of how ageist attitudes might change or remain the same in response to a cultural and societal event. Measurement invariance is the assessment of the psychometric equivalence of a construct (e.g., ageism) across groups or waves of measurement (Putnick & Bornstein, 2016). The first step in measurement invariance analyses is configural measurement invariance, which is the evaluation of the factor structure, with the goal of producing the same number of factors and the same …

Difficult Tasks And Strained Ties: Irritation As A Mediator For Relationship Quality And Caregiver Distress, Payton Elisabeth Radcliffe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Caregiving, defined as providing regular unpaid assistance to individuals with chronic illness or disability, is a widespread role associated with both societal benefit and psychological strain (Berg et al., 2021; Schulz et al., 2020). Prior research indicates that perceived caregiving difficulty is a key predictor of caregiver distress, though the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear (Blom et al., 2024; Gérain & Zech, 2022). Drawing on the Stress Process Model (Pearlin et al., 1990), the present study examined irritation as a mediator linking perceived caregiving difficulty to relationship quality and caregiver distress, while also testing whether caregiver relationship type moderates …

Juegos De Rol Para Colaboraciones De Investigación Interdisciplinar, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Josefin Westborg, Cristo Leon, Antonio Luis Casado Da Rocha, Esteban Etxeberria

STEM for Success Resources

Juegos de rol para colaboraciones de investigación interdisciplinar presenta los juegos de rol como una herramienta formativa para fortalecer la colaboración en equipos de investigación interdisciplinaria. La obra explica cómo el role-playing puede ayudar a desarrollar competencias comunicativas, reflexivas y organizativas necesarias para trabajar entre disciplinas, especialmente en contextos académicos donde los problemas complejos requieren coordinación, negociación de saberes y construcción compartida de conocimiento. Esta traducción al español amplía el acceso a un enfoque innovador para universidades, centros de investigación, facilitadores, docentes y equipos interesados en mejorar sus prácticas colaborativas mediante metodologías participativas, experienciales y orientadas a la investigación. Libro …

Akron Police Department Non-Fatal Shootings, Sarah B. Baumer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will study the variables that impact disposition status of non-fatal shooting cases in the city of Akron. This research project will be conducted through temporal and spatial analysis of the information gathered from the Akron Police Department. This analysis will identify common factors and patterns throughout the non-fatal shooting cases. This will then follow with in depth research of intelligence led policing articles that provide relevant solutions. The final steps will be identifying and adapting solutions to fit the needs of the Akron Police Department. The final product will include maps, police products and data visualization through Excel.

Women's Work And Wealth: Measuring The Impact Of Incremental Liberations, 1850-1870, Hannah Kelly

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Using a two-way fixed effects difference-in-difference model, this project analyzes data from the IPUMS Full Count census for 1850, 1860, and 1870 at a state level for 48 states. Four models assess the impact of property laws on women's real property holdings, labor force participation, household types, and real property values.

By quantifying the impact of various legal reforms on women's economic empowerment, this project fills a gap in the understanding of the intersection between law, society, and women's economic agency during a transformative period in pre-industrial American history. These impacts can implicate the effectiveness of legislative measures in advancing …

Supporting Mothers Within The Criminal Legal System: Programs In Akron And Perceptions Of “Good Motherhood”, Brynn R. Lewis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper examines the programs and support systems available in Akron, Ohio, for mothers involved in the criminal legal system, including defendants, survivors, and other justice-involved individuals. Using qualitative interviews (n = 6) with professionals across courts, legal defense, community corrections, and advocacy organizations, this study examines how local institutions provide resources and support to mothers. Findings indicate that while programs aim to promote stability and rehabilitation, mothers face persistent barriers such as limited access to transportation, childcare, and communication, as well as heightened stigma tied to societal expectations of caregiving. These findings reveal that institutional support both reflects and …

Immigration As A Catalyst To The Far-Right: The Case Of Vox And Spain, Evelyn R. White

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Over the last decade or two, the world has witnessed a global rise in the popularity and success of far-right wing parties. This new era of the radical right raises questions of what is causing and fueling these political movements. Political Scientists have identified several contributing factors from the global economic crisis of 2008, the migrant crisis of 2015 and the global pandemic in 2020. This research paper aims to demonstrate how immigration acts as a catalyst to the far-right by intersecting with political science ideologies and other variables. The focus of this paper is how the Vox Party found …

Designing Crime Prevention And Crowd Management Plans For The New Berea Campus Expansion Project For The Cleveland Browns, Elleana G. Grant

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Cleveland Browns are expanding their CrossCountry Mortgage Campus by 16 acres. This research seeks to answer a core question: How can the design of the new expansion support both crime prevention and effective crowd management for events drawing up to 6,000 guests? Additional research questions include identifying the safety risks associated and determining which evidence-based strategies are most appropriate. The main goal of this research is to ensure that the expanded campus is safe for all visitors. This work is motivated by the significant increase in daily activity that the expansion will bring, not only during major events, but …

Expanding State Tax Authority: Public And Private Sector Impacts Of Wayfair, Maxwell Pastoria

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The 2018 Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. (Wayfair) overturned the longstanding physical presence rule for state sales tax collection, enabling states to enforce tax obligations on remote sellers through marketplace facilitator and economic nexus laws (Oyez, 2018). This study investigates the effects of these two post-Wayfair tax laws on state sales tax revenues, entrepreneurship, and public expenditures across all 50 states. Using a two-way fixed effects difference-in-differences (TWFE DID) framework, this research analyzes how policy adoption influenced per-capita outcomes in tax revenue, firm formation, and government spending in social services, education, infrastructure, and …

Locked In: The High Price Of Overcrowding And The Strain Of America's Growing Prison System, Kaitlyn N. Timmerman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Over the past several decades, the number of people incarcerated in the United States has increased substantially, placing a significant strain on correctional systems. This project examines long-term trends in incarceration to better understand how population growth may relate to concerns about overcrowding. Specifically, it asks: How has the total incarcerated population in the United States changed from 1925 to 2022? Which type of correctional system (state prisons, federal prisons, or local jails) has experienced the most growth? And to what extent can changes in incarceration counts and facility distribution be used as indicators of overcrowding?

Using historical data and …

Brains Under Pressure: The Role Of Media, Ai, And Technology In Toxic Student Stress, Ella C. Granat

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This Honors Research Project examines the relationship between toxic stress and everyday technology use among college students aged 18 and older. The study explores how media consumption, reliance on digital tools, and the use of artificial intelligence in academic work may contribute to stress and influence brain functioning. Using a quantitative, survey-based design, data will be collected through self-administered questionnaires distributed both in print and online. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) will be used to measure stress levels, alongside a supplemental questionnaire assessing patterns of technology use and related life factors. Recruitment will occur through flyers, email, and snowball sampling …

Advancing The Iot4ag Agbridge Program Through Continuous Improvement Practices, Yury A. Kuleshov, Yaguang Zhang

Indiana STEM Education Conference

The authors are implementing improvements to the pilot AgBridge program. The AgBridge program is a mentorship program that brings together graduate students in engineering and/or engineering technology and education and matches them with educators in agriculture-related fields with support from faculty members and volunteers. Each team creates an educational product for use in a K-12 classroom, such as school curriculum focused on a research project. The program approach differs from a conventional post-secondary classroom, where students of different majors have minimal interaction with one another and have limited input from practitioners and/or industry professionals. The authors used feedback data to …

Proceedings Of The Eleventh Annual Indiana Stem Education Conference: Stem Journeys, William S. Walker Iii, S. Selcen Guzey

Indiana STEM Education Conference

The Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Indiana STEM Education Conference are edited by the Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM (CATALYST, https://www.education.purdue.edu/catalyst/) at Purdue University. The theme for the 2026 conference is STEM Journeys, celebrating the multiple pathways and experiences that advance student learning in STEM education.

Renewable Energy Innovation: A Mathematics-Driven Integrated Stem Approach For K-12 Classrooms, Humphrey Chinenye Ochulor, Dayat Hidayat

Indiana STEM Education Conference

This research brief presents Renewable Energy Innovation (REI) as a mathematics-driven Integrated STEM (iSTEM) approach for engaging upper elementary and middle school students to design, analyze, test, and refine solar cars and wind turbines through mathematical modeling (MM) and problem solving (PS). Research suggests that renewable energy activities support students’ abilities to design systems, quantify variables, construct multiple representations, and refine mathematical models to clarify relationships between energy output and design features. Positioning mathematics as the driver in REI iSTEM engineering design contexts aligns with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and foregrounds mathematics as a primary organizing discipline …