Psychology Commons^™

An Item-Response Theory Approach To Safety Climate Measurement: The Liberty Mutual Safety Climate Short Scales, Yueng-Hsiang Huanga, Jin Lee, Zhuo Chen, Mackenna Laine Perry, Janelle H. Chung, Mo Wang

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Zohar and Luria’s (2005) safety climate (SC) scale, measuring organization- and group- level SC each with 16 items, is widely used in research and practice. To improve the utility of the SC scale, we shortened the original full-length SC scales. Item response theory (IRT) analysis was conducted using a sample of 29,179 frontline workers from various industries. Based on graded response models, we shortened the original scales in two ways: (1) selecting items with above-average discriminating ability (i.e. offering more than 6.25% of the original total scale information), resulting in 8-item organization-level and 11-item group-level SC scales; and (2) selecting …

Cancer Center Regional Benchmarks For Psychosocial Care, Desiree R. Azizoddin

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The American College of Surgeons (ACoS) Commissions on Cancer (CoC) formulated and implemented standard 3.2 for Psychosocial Distress Screening. This standard requires that all accredited cancer centers evaluate psychosocial distress and provide appropriate triage and intervention for all cancer patients. Over the past decade, Loma Linda University Medical Oncology Center (LLUMOC) administration, physicians, nurses, psychosocial care staff, and chaplaincy collaborated to implement a psychosocial screening and referral program throughout cancer patient services. This current research includes qualitative analysis assessing strengths and barriers of the psychosocial program at LLUMOC from the perspective of LLUMOC providers and two directors of Supportive Care …

A Descriptive Study Of The Elderly In California Substance Abuse Treatment Programs, David Berenschot

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

As gerontologists may know, there are a great deal of studies and a variety of academic literature on the misuse of alcohol and prescription medication amongst the elderly population. While there is a plethora of information on alcohol and prescription misuse, there is little reported data about the prevalence of other substance misuse experienced by this population. This study aims to help to fill that gap in the data by using quantitative methods to describe the scope of substance abuse of individuals 55-years or older. This study utilizes data from the Treatment Data Set Admission (TEDS-A). The TEDS-A is a …

Community Living Integration Club For Women In Recovery From Sex Trafficking, Toni Thompson

Occupational Therapy Program Student Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Sex trafficking is one form of human trafficking, a heinous human rights violation that transcends international borders. People who have been trafficked often present with complex neurobehavioral, psychological, emotional, physiological, sensory, and developmental difficulties. The United Nations developed the international 3 p protocol to guide governmental agencies, non-governmental groups, and individuals in developing programs and legal actions of trafficking prevention, protection, and prosecution. Protection encompasses the recovery of trafficking survivors and community integration has been identified as an essential foundation for successful recovery. Measurable components of community integration include safe housing, stable employment, and vocation-focused education. This Capstone describes the …

Serious Mental Illness Among Young Adult Women Who Use Drugs In The Club Scene: Co-Occurring Biopsychosocial Factors, Maayan Lawental, Hilary L. Surratt, Mance E. Buttram, Steven P. Kurtz

Center for Health Services Research Faculty Publications

Young women who regularly attend nightclubs are at risk for numerous health and social consequences, including mental distress, sexual and physical victimization and substance dependence. This paper uses a biopsychosocial framework to examine co-occurring mental health problems, victimization, substance dependence, sexual risk and physical pain among a sample of young women who use drugs (N = 222) in Miami’s club scene. The majority of women were under 24 years old, Hispanic, and identified as heterosexual. Almost all the women reported past 90-day use of alcohol, ecstasy/MDMA, marijuana, cocaine and prescription opioids and benzodiazepines; 32% of women reported being in a …

Relationships Of Weight-Related Dissatisfaction, Body Image Flexibility, And Coping In Women, Pooja Shah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The present study examined the relationships between body image flexibility, body image dissatisfaction, body image evaluation, and specific coping factors based on the WEIGHTCOPE measure. Body image flexibility was also examined as a mediator of the relationship between body image dissatisfaction and weight-related coping factors in women. Methods: An online link of the survey (Qualtrics Research Software Program) was distributed through social media and word of mouth to women of all body shapes and sizes (N= 267). The survey included the BICS as a measure of body image dissatisfaction, the MBSR (AE) as a measure of body …

The Role Of Simulation In Mixed-Methods Research: A Framework & Application To Patient Safety, Jeanne-Marie Guise, Matthew Hansen, William E. Lambert, Kerth O'Brien

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Research in patient safety is an important area of health services research and is a national priority. It is challenging to investigate rare occurrences, explore potential causes, and account for the complex, dynamic context of healthcare - yet all are required in patient safety research. Simulation technologies have become widely accepted as education and clinical tools, but have yet to become a standard tool for research.

Methods: We developed a framework for research that integrates accepted patient safety models with mixed- methods research approaches and describe the performance of the framework in a working example of a large …

Smoking, Depression, And Hospital Costs Of Respiratory Cancers: Examining Race And Sex Variation, Baqar A. Husaini, Robert S. Levine, Phillip Lammers, Pam Hull, Meggan Novotny, Majaz Moonis

Center for Prevention Research Publications

Objective To investigate the effect of smoking and depression on hospital costs for lung cancer (LC).

Methods We extracted data on depression, smoking history, demographics, and hospital charges for patients with respiratory cancers (ICD-9 codes 161–163, 165) from the 2008 Tennessee Hospital Discharge Data System. The sample (n=6665) was mostly white (86%) and male (57%). Age-adjusted rates were developed in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention methods, and hospital costs were compared for patients with LC with versus without depression and a smoking history.

Results Three findings (P<0.001) emerged: (1) the LC rate was higher among blacks than among whites, and higher among men than among women; (2) while 66% of LC patients smoked (more men than women without racial variation), 24% had depression (more females and whites were depressed); (3) the LC hospital cost was 54% higher than the non-LC hospital cost, and this cost doubled for patients with LC with depression and smoking versus those without such characteristics.

Conclusion While LC is more prevalent among …

Humor In Medicine: A Literature Review Of Humor’S Potential Therapeutic Value In Health Care, Weston Michael Grant

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Using humor and laughter within the health care field has the potential to be relevant to patients during treatment, to the patient-caregiver relationship, to the subjective well-being of health care providers, and to the environments’ (e.g., work settings) impact on group relationships (e.g., colleagues). A review of the literature examines how the psychological and physiological effects of laughter and humor within the human body impact health and well-being, how humor and laughter improve the patient-practitioner relationship, and if humor and laughter can potentially impact physician burnout. Several possible implications for these findings are discussed, such as professional medical comedians, improvements …

Reconnecting The Mind And Body: A Pilot Study Of Developing Compassion For Persistent Pain, Sarah L. Parry Dr, Zoey Malpus Dr

Patient Experience Journal

As an alternative to the more typical cognitive behavioural approach to pain management, a novel pain management group based on the principles of compassionate mind training was developed for a particular sub-group of patients. Participants were patients of a community pain clinic, who were invited to participate in this alternative approach to pain management. The eight-week Compassion in Pain Groups included psychoeducation around persistent pain, the underlying principles of compassionate mind training, practical exercises such as diaphragmatic breathing, followed by a series of compassionate imagery exercises and group discussions. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were undertaken to gain further insights …

Leadership Development Practices And Patient Satisfaction: An Exploratory Study Of Select U.S. Academic Medical Centers, Chien-Ching Li, Peter Barth, Andrew N. Garman, Matthew M. Anderson, Peter W. Butler

Patient Experience Journal

Interest has been growing among academic medical centers (AMCs) in organization-wide strategies that may improve patient satisfaction. Although leadership development programs have been cited as a potentially useful approach, thus far almost all evidence has come from single-organization case studies. The present study sought to examine potential relationships between leadership development and patient experience across organizations. Data for leadership development practices were obtained from a survey conducted by the National Center for Healthcare Leadership. Patient experience data were obtained from the U.S. Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). Multivariate analyses (general linear regressions) were performed to examine …

Water, Sanitation And Hygiene In Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, Katelyn Bergl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Culture On The Use Of Healthcare Services By Refugees In Southcentral Kentucky: A Mixed Study, Chika N. Ejike

Dissertations

The world as a global village has become a ubiquitous trope in the popular discourse, and Bowling Green, Kentucky, with its substantial immigrant population, may be considered an exemplar of this idealized community. It has become an ideal location for research regarding the challenges faced by immigrants. Due to the diverse cultural identities of the refugee/immigrant population, it is particularly well suited for studies into complex culturally dependent healthcare utilization patterns.

The central research question for the study was as follows: What are the healthcare-seeking behavioral patterns (as influenced by culture) among refugees at their nearest healthcare facilities? This mixed …

Attachment As Affirmation To Inhibit Health Risk Information Avoidance, Elizabeth C. Mccrary

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Previous research on information avoidance has revealed that people choose to avoid negative health information, but that this effect is interrupted by self-affirmation (Howell & Shepperd, 2013). The current study aimed to contribute to the field’s understanding of the conditions under which self-affirmation reduces information avoidance by using a unique affirmation: secure attachment figures. I hypothesized that activating a secure attachment would serve as the affirmation necessary for participants to choose to view their risk information for a fictitious enzyme deficiency. However, when given a choice, participants in both the experimental and control conditions chose to view this information. At …

Sleep Quality And Its Health Correlates Among Egyptian Secondary School Students, Dalia M. Ismail, Dalia G. Mahran, Ali H. Zarzour, Ghaydaa A. Sheahata

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The objective of the recent study was to determine the prevalence of poor sleep quality and to assess its psychological and general health correlates among secondary school students in the city of Assiut, Egypt. A cross sectional study was conducted among 829 secondary school students (selected by multistage stratified random sampling) aged 15–19 years in Assiut. Students filled in a self-administered questionnaire that included demographic data, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale, general perception of health, and the short form of Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. The prevalence of poor sleep quality (PSQI >5) was 72.5%. The mean …

P34. The Effects Of Standing Desks On Classroom Performance Of University Students, Siobhan Smith

Western Research Forum

Background:

It is well established that there are many health risks associated with prolonged sedentary time.¹ Unfortunately, research conducted on university students is limited but yet they experience excessive periods of sitting time during class and while studying.

Methods:

Recently, we investigated the effect of sitting, dynamic sitting, and standing desks on classroom performance of university students.² Participants performed three 3-minute classroom simulations, one for each of the three desks. The order of the desks and simulations were randomized. Each of the simulations included a different typing and memory task.

Results:

Results showed no significant difference in the …

Communicative Behaviors Elicited By Leisure Activities In Memory Care Units, Tarynn Clune

Honors Projects

A wide variety of leisure activities used in reminiscence care have been studied for their merits in terms of preventing cognitive decline, and increasing quality of life; however, little is known about what different types have to offer in terms of communicative opportunities. Communication with peers is imperative for quality of life, and is crucial for maintenance of relationships between the person with dementia (PWD) and their loved ones. As a result of this importance, an exploration of communication elicited by different activities facilitated in a unit was conducted. The communication explored in this study was solely vocal, and included …

Expanding Intersectionality Praxis: Informing Culturally-Responsive Programming For Black And Latino Gay And Bisexual Young Men, Justin T. Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Black/Latino gay/bisexual young men face a multitude of health disparities caused by various determinants of health. However, despite the awareness of the gaps, health intervention research rarely explores the impact of current health intervention strategies on Black/Latino gay/bisexual young men’s overall health and well-being. Traditional health interventions are deficit-based, health condition-specific, and often limited in their cultural-specificity. As health-related fields move toward holistic, evidence-based practices, new primary prevention approaches need to emerge. Using qualitative investigation strategies, this study included primary analysis of participatory workshop artifacts, and secondary analysis of survey and focus group data. This study identified critical factors necessary …

Sociocultural Risk Factors For Elevated Perceived Stress Among African American Smokers, Monica Webb Hooper, Noella A. Dietz, Joseph C. Wilson

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Introduction: African Americans experience unique stressors that may inhibit smoking cessation and enhance relapse rates. Few studies, however, have focused on risk factors for perceived stress among treatment seekers. Because African Americans are less likely to quit compared to the larger community, understanding factors associated with perceived stress among smokers has the potential to improve intervention outcomes. This study examined psychosocial and cultural correlates of stress in a sample of African American participants in a randomized controlled trial.

Methods: At baseline, participants reported demographic factors and completed assessments of smoking history, alcohol use, friend and household smoking, weight concerns, acculturation, …

Research Methods In Occupational Health Psychology, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Chu-Hsiang Chang

Publications and Research

http://www.springerpub.com/occupational-health-psychology.html

Occupational Health Psychology (OHP) is a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field that focuses on the science and practice of psychology in promoting and developing workplace health- and safety-related initiatives. This comprehensive text for undergraduate and graduate survey courses is the first to encompass a wide range of key issues in OHP. It draws from the domains of psychology, public health, preventive medicine,nursing, industrial engineering, law, and epidemiology to focus on the theory and practice of protecting and promoting the health, well-being, and safety of individuals in the workplace and improving the quality of work life.

The text addresses key psychosocial …

Burnout-Depression Overlap: A Study Of New Zealand Schoolteachers, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Mayor, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

We examined the overlap of burnout with depression in a sample of 184 New Zealand schoolteachers. Burnout and depressive symptoms were strongly correlated with each other (r = .73; disattenuated correlation: .82) and moderately correlated with dysfunctional attitudes, ruminative responses, and pessimistic attributions. All the participants with high frequencies of burnout symptoms were identified as clinically depressed. Suicidal ideation was reported by 36% of those participants. Three groups of teachers emerged from a two-step cluster analysis: “low burnout-depression,” “medium burnout-depression,” and “high burnout-depression.” The correlation between the affective-cognitive and somatic symptoms of depression was similar in strength to the burnout-depression …

Burnout Or Depression: Both Individual And Social Issue, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Éric Laurent

Publications and Research

In view of the profound problems attached to the construct of burnout, we recommended in our that occupational health specialists focus on (job-related) depression rather than burnout to help workers more effectively. The phenomena of interest (burnout or depression) should not be confused with the perspectives (individual or social) adopted to elucidate those phenomena. Both burnout and depression are best explained through the interaction of social or external conditions with individual or internal dispositions.

Exploring Job Satisfaction And Preceptorship Capacity Among Applied Epidemiologists, Jessica C. Arrazola

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Job satisfaction is important to consider when developing strategies for recruitment and retention. The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) conducted in 2014 was the first nationally representative assessment of the state public health workforce. Prior to this assessment, the job satisfaction of state agency public health workers and preceptor capacity had not been measured. This study fills the current research gaps by studying the job satisfaction among the applied epidemiology workforce, identifying factors influencing job satisfaction, and the describing the preceptorship capacity among epidemiologists. This research is based on the 2014 PH WINS data. The analysis …

Examining Preference Of Home-Based Telemental Health Among Rural Veterans, Paige Dixon

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Rural veterans face significant disparities to health care that have resulted in lower physical and mental health related quality of life when compared to their urban counterparts (Weeks et al., 2006). Such disparities are further complicated by the six-fold increase in prevalence of mental health diagnoses among Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans (Seal et al., 2009). These rising rates are particularly relevant to rural veterans as they represent 41% of the overall Veteran Health Administration enrollees, but only 19% of the general population (U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs, 2012; U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). Rural veterans face three …

Cumulative Risk And Chinese Adolescent Problematic Internet Use : The Mediating Role Of Self-Esteem, Xian Li

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A decade of research has documented the adverse effect of multiple ecological risks on adolescent problematic Internet use (PIU), yet existing research provides rather segmental explanations, and few studies offer a comprehensive and integrated account. A better theoretical and empirical understanding of the associations of multiple ecological risks and PIU, as well as the underlying mechanisms, could help inform intervention practices and policies to mitigate adolescent PIU.

Narratives Of Men Living With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Kimberly Vandermark Lynch

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

While systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been traditionally viewed as a woman's disease, SLE impacts men as well. Although most research on SLE has concentrated on how it affected women, little is known about how it impacts men. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine how men who live with SLE perceive its psychological impact. Using the lens of the biopsychological theory, common themes were examined pertaining to how men with SLE perceive the impact that SLE has on their cognitive and emotional functioning. Data were collected via interviews with 9 men with SLE, and the data were …

The Effect Of Two Modes Of Aerobic Assessment On Fifth Grade Students' Self Efficacy, Debra Roth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Declining youth physical activity levels and lack of aerobic fitness have been well documented with a corresponding rise in obesity levels and health issues. Based on Bandura's social cognitive theory, healthy physical activity levels and aerobic fitness are strongly connected to positive physical activity self-efficacy beliefs. This study examined whether student physical activity self-efficacy, motivation, and effort were different for the FitnessGram-® (FG) 1-Mile Run when compared to the 15-minute Aerobic Assessment Based on Improvement (AABI). A concurrent mixed method quasi-experimental approach measured 5th grade students' physical activity self-efficacy beliefs through a pretest and posttest survey while aerobic assessment scores …

Urine Cotinine In Children And Parental Behavior Modification: A Pilot Study, Teresa Lachance

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

“Urine Cotinine in Children and Parental Behavior Modification” was designed by Dr. Deirdre Burns, a pediatrician at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (BBCH). It was implemented as a pilot study to determine whether urine cotinine testing in children who are admitted to the hospital for respiratory illness and tracking parental smoking behaviors over time was feasible. Parents were given a brief survey to assess their current smoking behaviors and to understand their readiness to quit smoking. They received smoking cessation materials provided by the Breathe Easy Coalition of Maine. These materials outline information about second-hand and third-hand smoke, and encourage …

Socioeconomic Challenges In The Household And The Prevalence Of Comorbidity Among Children With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Randy Lee Perrin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the most commonly diagnosed childhood neurobehavioral disorder, is increasing annually at about 5% per year. ADHD has been diagnosed in approximately 6.4 billion children in the U.S., and it is estimated that 66% of those afflicted have 1 or more comorbid conditions. Children with ADHD are often from socioeconomically challenged households. What is unclear from the literature is the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), defined as education, employment, and income and the reporting of comorbidities with ADHD. The problem is that children with ADHD from low SES households may be reporting a higher prevalence of comorbid …

"You're Doing Fine, Right?": Adolescent Siblings Of Substance Abusers, Cynthia E. Clarfield

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There has been a rising interest in addiction medicine and addiction treatment in both the medical and behavioral health science fields. Research suggests having a family member with a substance abuse problem has negative impacts on both physical and mental health (Orford, Copello, Velleman, & Templeton, 2010a). Despite advances toward understanding the experiences of family members affected by a loved one's addiction, the siblings of substance abusers have been largely excluded from scientific research and literature. As a result, little is known about how siblings experience the impacts of a brother or sister's addiction; even less is known about the …