Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Opportunities For Autism Information Shared Through Professional Conferences, Amelia Anderson, Selena Layden, Crystal Stang (Ed.), Jennifer L. Branch-Mueller (Ed.)

STEMPS Faculty Publications

With prevalence most recently reported at 1 in 44 (Maenner et al., 2021) children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States, school librarians can and should expect to see these children in their schools and in their libraries. However, previous work indicates that school librarians are not being provided with an adequate education about this in their graduate coursework (Layden, Anderson, & Hayden, 2021). This study expands upon previous work to explore the preparation of school librarians about autism by examining the previous five years of state library conference programs.

Three Method Tsunami Vulnerability Analysis Of The United States East Coast, Joshua Knolla

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

The East Coast of the United States could be susceptible to tsunamis or even mega tsunamis. With this in mind it becomes essential to answer the question: Where is vulnerability to a tsunami greatest along the East Coast of the United States? To answer this question the following parameters have been set. First, the study will include county level subdivisions along the USEC that have coasts along the Atlantic Ocean. The possible source regions of a tsunami or mega tsunami are also noted. This analysis includes both social and physical factors with nine and five of them considered respectively. Three …

Not Ready To Make Nice: A Study Of The Intimate Relationship Of The Chicks' Music And Politics, Danielle Bishop

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

In 2003, Natalie Maines, the lead singer of the band then known as the Dixie Chicks, made a political statement to an all British audience. Her statement was both critical of the Iraq War that America had just entered, and also critical of then-President Bush. The Chicks were immediately blacklisted, with audiences burning the Chicks merchandise and radio stations refusing to play any of the music penned by the Chicks. In this thesis, the causal factors behind this level of backlash will be evaluated. Previous studies have indicated the significant impact of gender and music and how this has an …

Income And Happiness: A Commentary, Edsel L. Beja Jr

Economics Department Faculty Publications

The paper discusses five items pertinent to Palanca-Tan (2021) – namely, Easterlin paradox, Easterlin hypothesis, happiness-income model, happiness survey question, and happy poor. The goal is to offer clarification and to help enrich the understanding of readers of Palanca-Tan.

Word Superiority Effects In Dyslexics, Sarah A. Sinclair-Amend

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Distorting the word superiority effect with intraword spacing was used to investigate the processing difference in single-word reading for dyslexics and controls. Perfetti’s Reading model suggests that dyslexics would have reduced processing capacity with intraword spacing. Results from a Covid-modified experimental protocol generally did not support the hypothesis. There was poor differentiation between groups in the word capacity coefficient. Response time by itself was also not informative. However, dyslexics had reduced accuracy in distractor identification across intraword spacings due to the lack of retention in phonological working memory or attention in central executive deficit (Alt, Fox, Levy, et al., 2022; …

The Association Between Neuroticism, Self-Esteem, And Peer Interactions And Disordered Eating And Body Checking Behavior In Female College Athletes, Alyssa Hertz

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Numerous studies have investigated whether participation in collegiate sports is a risk or protective factor for disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate potential psychosocial factors (neuroticism, peer relations, and self-esteem) that may contribute to increased risk for disordered eating or maladaptive body checking behaviors in female college athletes. This anonymous, cross sectional, online study recruited 206 participants. Participants completed screening questions, a demographic questionnaire in addition to the Eating Attitudes Test-26, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Body Checking and Avoidance Questionnaire, Inventory of Peer Influence, and Ten Item Personality Inventory. There was no significant relationship …

African American Women’S Perspectives On Mental Health, Kristine Smalls

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

African American women endure multiple stressors from such forms of social oppression as racism and sexism that impact their lives in many ways. Despite those stressors, several barriers impede African American women from seeking the professional mental health they need to cope. Instead, they rely on cultural and historical methods for managing stress, such as religious beliefs and the support of the church community, or they create their own. In this study, 25 women were interviewed to explore the barriers interfering with African American women seeking professional mental health treatment. This study specifically identified and examined three potential barriers: the …

Meeting The Psychosocial Needs Of Online Learners In Social Work Programs And Four-Year Universities: What Is Being Addressed And The Many Areas For Improvement, Kathryn Gould

DSW Capstone Projects

Almost half of social work students enter their program with a history of mental health diagnosis and exposure to multiple childhood traumas. Over half of students at four-year institutions are enrolled in one or more courses online, yet retention in online coursework is much lower than in in-person courses. As online programs continue to grow in the field of social work it becomes a vital requirement to address the psychosocial needs of online learners. The call of this capstone is to examine how universities and colleges of social work can meet the increasing need to improve course work and service …

Perinatal Substance Use Disorders And Co-Occurring Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Kaitlyn Dickens

DSW Capstone Projects

Pregnant and postpartum or perinatal women who experience Substance Use Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (SUD/PTSD) co-occurring are an underserved population and a gap can be observed in the research in terms of clinical presentation and treatment of SUD/PTSD among this population. Social work practitioners are at an increased probability of working with individuals who would identify as such. There are many psychosocial and health factors associated with untreated SUD/PTSD among perinatal women for both mother and baby.

Research suggests that the use of client centered approaches and narrative therapy is beneficial in working with those who experience PTSD. The …

Opioid Addiction In Rural America: The Transportation Need For Treatment Adherence, Jennifer Smith

DSW Capstone Projects

The opioid epidemic has continued to soar throughout the United States for over 20 years. While this epidemic knows no boundaries and affects all of America, rural communities have been drastically impacted by the number of persons suffering from this addiction, and the resulting staggering mortality rates. Rural populations face greater treatment barriers preventing patients from obtaining needed services as compared to other geographical locations. Patients face obstacles related to accessibility, availability, and stigmatization, placing them at higher risk for opioid misuse, abuse, and/or death. Even though this targeted population faces multiple complications in seeking treatment, transportation barriers are among …

Teaching Anti-Racism Practices To White Social Work Students And Community Members, Dennis Cornell

DSW Capstone Projects

Racism continues to plague the United States and White people hold a key element to ending racism by adopting anti-racism practices in their professional and personal lives. This capstone on the findings of a comprehensive systematic literature review, examines empirically-based anti-racism interventions and practices that social work teachers and community educators can utilize in anti-racism courses and workshops for White students and community members. The final results yielded 29 peer-reviewed, qualitative/quantitative research studies within the years of 2003-2021 that can be broken down into six anti-racism intervention categories: class/educational groups, teaching methods, Implicit Association Test (IAT) usage, pro-Black stories/perspectives, interracial …

Clinical Interventions For Developmental Trauma Disorder: How Evidence-Based Practice And Attachment Theory Can Inform Therapeutic Approach, Victoria Deveau

DSW Capstone Projects

Approximately two-thirds of U.S. children and adolescents report having experienced a traumatic event. A posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis requires that the youth has directly experienced a traumatic event, witnessed a traumatic event occur to others, or learned that a traumatic event has occurred to someone close. The clinician is in a diagnostic quandary, however, when the youth presents with the PTSD hallmarks of hyperarousal, avoidance, and emotional dysregulation, in absence of such life experiences. The answer to this quandary lies in an understanding of developmental trauma disorder (DTD). Clinical interventions for DTD are the focus of this capstone.

Product …

Autonomous Self-Care: A Means To Mitigate Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Clinical Social Workers, Jessica Byrd

DSW Capstone Projects

Secondary traumatic stress (STS) negatively impacts the health of clinical social workers, thus, impairing their ability to provide quality services. The symptoms and consequences of STS have been discussed for decades and the conversation continues because STS is a prevalent and pervasive problem that effects social workers, clients, and organizations. For as long as STS has been recognized as a problem, self-care has been identified as a solution. Yet, clinical social workers underutilize self-care strategies to safeguard their mental, physical, and emotional well-being.

A systematic review of the literature review was conducted to explore, why self-care is underutilized among clinical …

Medicare Reimagined: Past, Present And Future Envisioned For Aging In Place, Nancy Patterson

DSW Capstone Projects

The older population is persons aged 65 and older. Many older adults live healthy and active lives while others have one or more illnesses or comorbidities that make it difficult for them to live alone. Older adults aged sixty-five and older who have one or more comorbidities often require assistance to remain in their homes for as long as possible. Older adults who do not have this needed assistance often have frequent falls, make frequent trips to the emergency room, have frequent hospital admissions, or end up in a nursing home.

Product one of the Capstone Presentation is the systematic …

Transforming Social Work Practice And Research: Examining Lived Experiences Of Black Male Veteran Students And Mental Health, Tay Robinson

DSW Capstone Projects

Mental health disparities amongst the African American/Black community are well documented in literature. Throughout history the African American/ Black community have dealt with unethical operating procedures and research studies. This capstone project looks at historical facts, the lack of Black male veteran specific research as it relates to mental health, lived experiences of Black male veteran students with mental health/treatment, and developing culturally appropriate approaches to increasing research and effective practices to better serve this community.

The second chapter and first product of this capstone project is a systematic literature review. This literature review focused on finding literature on African …

Transforming Hurt Boys Into Restored Men: The Lack Of Mental Health Treatment For Black Male Trauma Survivors, Shericka Danielle Smith

DSW Capstone Projects

Trauma affects individuals differently, but the prevalence of trauma and its impact on Black males is detrimental. Black males are at higher risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance abuse, and violent crimes when trauma is left untreated by a mental health professional. As the number of traumatic events experienced by Black males continues to rise, the number of these males who seek mental health treatment remains stagnant and painfully low. Many factors play into these behaviors, yet very little data exists on what is being done to change them.

Product one is a systematic literature review in which …

Implementation Of Farmers Markets In Bell County, Kentucky, Rachael Schmetzer

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

This proposal addresses the link between food insecurity and obesity through the implementation of farmers markets in Bell County, Kentucky as a way to increase access and consumption of fruits and vegetables in this rural, low-income community.

Using Concurrent Operant Analyses To Predict Reinforcers To Increase Work Completion In Schools, Amanda Jo Schaefer

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

In this study, a concurrent operant analysis (COA) was conducted for two elementary aged students in a public school to determine if the results yielded a possible reinforcer for work completion. A simultaneous treatments design was used during the COA to evaluate choice making behavior. The results of the COA indicated the student’s choice making behavior was maintained by access to tangibles, access to attention, or escape. The results were then used to create a token economy in which the student could earn their preferred reinforcer for work completion. An alternating treatments design was used to compare work completion during …

An Overview Of Functional Communication Training For Registered Behavior Technicians, Christopher Dollinger

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Functional Communication Training (FCT) is an intervention involving the differential reinforcement of an alternative response (DRA), in which an appropriate communicative response (e.g., asking for a break) is reinforced while the behavior targeted for decrease (e.g., hitting to get out of work) has reinforcement withheld in its presence. Individuals who work as registered behavior technicians (RBT), under the supervision of a board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA), may implement FCT daily. With that being said, many individuals who choose to work as an RBT may not have as deep of an understanding of the concepts and principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) …

Increasing Accuracy In Police Report Writing, Zachary Greene

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The current alternative thesis project consisted of creating an online learning course intended to increase the accuracy with which preservice and in-service police officers write police incident reports. The online course consists of 6 separate modules and utilizes principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) to assist the learner in understanding and applying the content of the modules. Specifically, components of interactive computer training (ICT), consisting of video modeling, voice over narration, interactive activities, and self-pace module design were implemented in the design of the learning course. Opportunities throughout the course allow the learner to self-reflect, self-assess, and receive feedback.

Evaluation Of Preschool Life Skills (Pls) Program To Teach Social Skills In A Preschool Class, Zhenying Jiang

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a Tier 2 PLS program on increasing critical social skills (i.e., requesting for attention, framed requesting for materials and assistant, and delay and denial tolerance) and decreasing problem behaviors for the participants with risk of delay in social domain. A multiple probe across behaviors design replicated across participants was employed. The intervention terminated due to the end of school year before skill 3 could be introduced. Two of three participants met criteria for two taught skills, while one participant did not acquire all skills. Decrease of problem behavior accompanied …

Human Ergonomic Simulation To Support The Design Of An Exoskeleton For Lashing/De-Lashing Operations Of Containers Cargo, Francesco Longo, Antonio Padovano, Vittorio Solina, Virginia D' Augusta, Stefan Venzl, Roberto Calbi, Michele Bartuni, Ornella Anastasi, Rafael Diaz

VMASC Publications

Lashing and de-lashing operations of containers cargo on board containerships are considered as quite strenuous activities in which operators are required to work continuously over a 6 or 8 hours shift with very limited break. This is mostly because containerships need to leave the port as soon as possible and containers loading and unloading operations must be executed with very high productivity (stay moored in a port is a totally unproductive time for a ship and a loss-making business for a shipping company). Operators performing lashing and de-lashing operations are subjected to intense ergonomic stress and uncomfortable working postures. To …

A Simulation-Based Disaster Management Framework To Analyze Housing Recovery: The Case Of Hampton Roads, Usa, Rafael Diaz, Joshua Behr, Beatriz Acero, Bridget D. Giles, Juita-Elena Wie Yusuf

VMASC Publications

In the aftermath of a catastrophic weather event, housing recovery and reconstruction activities are highly complex. Coordinating housing recovery activities is generally challenging because complex supply chains converge simultaneously in a highly uncertain environment. In this environment, anticipating and quantifying the extent of potential damage and determining the actions that must be taken to rebuild the housing stock may assist regions in allocating resources for reconstruction. This paper presents the development of a comprehensive disaster management framework to assist decision-makers in predicting the impact of projected natural disasters on housing. This framework uses a simulation-based approach to quantify likely regional …

Negotiating Islam: Debating Authority And Ethnoreligious Authenticity Among Iranian Americans In The U.S. South, Erfan Saidi Moqadam

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This dissertation examines the flexibility of Quranic exegesis in accommodating self-defined Muslims’ agency in the predominantly Christian society of the United States. This is a project to study Islam not from the perspective of an explicit ideology articulated by clerics, intellectuals, scholars and elites on scriptural texts, but rather one that focuses on Muslims’ readings of scripture and practices of Islam(s), reconstructed in their lived experiences. During fourteen months of ethnographic research in four cities in urban and rural areas in the U.S. South with Iranian Muslims, interlocutors were found to be engaged in a particular kind of relationship with …

Cognitive Distortions, Partisan Strength, And Authoritarianism: Exploring Potential Factors Contributing To The Current Partisan Divide, Brooke C. Singer

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Over the past two decades, the number of Americans on the extremes of the political spectrum has more than doubled, and politically motivated aggression has increased. In addition, an unprecedented division has emerged between the left and right on fundamental political values and animosity continues to rise. The purpose of this study was to explore factors that potentially contribute to political polarization and animosity in the United States, including authoritarianism, strength of partisan commitment, and distorted thinking. The participants for this study comprised 513 individuals from the general population of the United States recruited from online platforms. Participants completed an …

Characterizing The Relationship Between Executive Functioning And Social-Emotional Behaviors Following A Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, Lakia Kearson

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common acquired neurological conditions in children and adolescents. A TBI sustained in childhood can lead to an increased likelihood of executive functioning (EF) problems with possible short-term and long-term effects. Research has suggested that problems in EF can also lead to longstanding impairments in social skills and behavioral regulation. This study examined the relationship between EF and social-emotional functioning in children with TBI based on parent report using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) domain and subdomain scores. Quantitative data was retrieved from the …

Sleep Quality, Weight Status, And Executive Functioning In Patients Presenting For Vocational Rehabilitation Evaluation, Justin D. Misterka

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Poor sleep quality and elevated weight status are associated with poorer executive functioning (EF). The current study investigated the relationship between sleep quality, weight status, and EF in patients presenting for vocational rehabilitation evaluation, as well as whether EF is related to endorsing well-defined vocational interests. This retrospective study evaluated neuropsychological test data collected as part of standard clinical care from October 2018 to February 2021 from an urban outpatient training clinic. Patients seen for neuropsychological evaluation (N = 96) completed the Booklet Category Test, Trails A & B, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Behavior Rating Index of Executive Function (BRIEF), …

Predicting Adhd Symptoms In Adults From Performance On Selected Neuropsychological Measures, Kara Taylor

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Neuropsychological assessment is useful for identifying and predicting symptoms of psychological disorders. Certain tests within a neuropsychological battery can be better predictors of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms than others. The current study aims to contribute to the growing body of literature supporting the use of neuropsychological assessment in identifying adult ADHD symptoms. Data includes 68 deidentified adults with ADHD collected retrospectively from a private neuropsychology practice. A linear regression model (ANOVA) evaluated the relationship between the dependent variable for Hypotheses 1-3 (Attention and Behavior Rating Form, total score) and independent variables of D-KEFS Tower Test first move time and …

The Covid-19 Pandemic: Examining The Effects Of Social Networking Sites On Anxiety And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Tiffany Araujo

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly changing the way people live. Globally, researchers are just beginning to understand the physical and mental health implications. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine how the pandemic may influence social networking sites’ (SNS) use and symptoms of anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study consisted of 397 individuals recruited from researchmatch.org. Participants completed an online questionnaire that included the PTSD Symptom Scale Interview (PSS-I-5), Screen for Adult Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCAARED), Social Networking Scale, and the COVID-19 Scale. Results indicated that the majority of participants endorsed a change in SNS …

Conducting A Formative Evaluation On A Course-Level Learning Analytics Implementation Through The Lens Of Self-Regulated Learning And Higher-Order Thinking, Pauline S. Muljana, Tian Luo, Greg Placencia

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Self-regulated learning (SRL) and higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) are associated with academic achievement, but fostering these skills is not easy. Scholars have suggested an alternative way to scaffold these important skills through learning analytics (LA). This paper presents a formative evaluation of a course-level LA implementation through the lens of self-regulated learning (SRL) and higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). We explored the changes in students’ SRL, HOTS, and perceptions at the end of the course term. Results indicate an increase in some elements of SRL and HOTS, and positive student perceptions. Discussion on implications and opportunities for informing future teaching strategies …