Psychology Commons^™

Understanding Neighborhood Satisfaction For Individuals With Psychiatric Disabilities: A Mixed Methods Study, Amy Leigh Shearer

Dissertations and Theses

Physical and social characteristics of neighborhoods are important to resident satisfaction for clinical and nonclinical populations. This study draws upon data collected from a sample of 172 individuals with psychiatric disabilities living in 16 supportive housing sites in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. Research questions explore the extent to which subjective and objective measures of neighborhood physical and social environments contribute to neighborhood satisfaction for this population. Mixed methods were employed to construct a detailed understanding of the factors that influence satisfaction with one's neighborhood of residence. Predictor variables were neighborhood social climate, neighborhood physical quality, perceptions of safety, crime …

Filling The Holes: Work Schedulers As Job Crafters Of Employment Practice In Long-Term Health Care, Ellen Ernst Kossek, Matthew M. Piszczek, Kristie L. Mcalpine, Leslie B. Hammer, Lisa Burke

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although work schedulers serve an organizational role influencing decisions about balancing conflicting stakeholder interests over schedules and staffing, scheduling has primarily been described as an objective activity or individual job characteristic. The authors use the lens of job crafting to examine how schedulers in 26 health care facilities enact their roles as they “fill holes” to schedule workers. Qualitative analysis of interview data suggests that schedulers expand their formal scope and influence to meet their interpretations of how to manage stakeholders (employers, workers, and patients). The authors analyze variations in the extent of job crafting (cognitive, physical, relational) to broaden …

Teacher Mindfulness In The Middle School Classroom: Reliability And Validity Of A New Scale, Nicolette Paige Rickert

Dissertations and Theses

Despite significant growth in research examining the effects of mindfulness interventions on teachers (Roeser, 2014), studies have mainly relied on self-reports of teacher mindfulness and have not examined observable behavioral manifestations of teacher mindfulness in the classroom. Due to possible biases in self-report measures (Dotterer & Lowe, 2011), as well as the need for a greater range of assessments of the effects of mindfulness trainings on teachers, the current study sought to create a new measure of teacher mindfulness in the classroom from three sources of information: teacher self-reports of their own behavior in the classroom, student perceptions of their …

The Mediating Effects Of Lmx On The Relationship Between Supervisor And Employee Age Differences, Satisfaction, And Retirement Intentions, Amy Christine Pytlovany

Dissertations and Theses

Increasing age heterogeneity within organizations is pressing researchers to better understand the effects of a multigenerational workforce, teams, and dyads. In response to this, the present research aimed to investigate the effect of employee and supervisor age (in)congruence in relation to job and life satisfaction, as well as retirement intentions, all mediated by leader-member exchange (LMX), using a time-lagged design. Two different theoretical foundations were investigated. Based on the relational demography literature, better outcomes were expected to be associated with age similarity. Theories about implicit expectations relating age and social role guided hypotheses suggesting that beyond just similarity or difference, …

Social Support And Depression Symptomatology Post Injury In Division 1 Athletes, Alyssa Catherine Tiedens

Dissertations and Theses

The way in which an athlete responds to the injury--emotionally, behaviorally, and cognitively--can significantly affect the athlete's mental health in a negative way if not handled appropriately. There are different forms of social support that are known to be helpful with coping during specific stages of injury. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived levels of social support and depression symptomatology post injury in Division 1 collegiate athletes at Portland State University (PSU).

Participants were PSU student athletes (n=115). Variables: social support amount (SSQN), social support satisfaction (SSQS), and depression symptomatology (CESD-R) score. Selected injured …

Characteristics Of Cannabis-Only And Other Drug Users Who Visit The Emergency Department, Susan I. Woodruff, Cameron T. Mccabe, Melinda Hohman, John D. Clapp, Audrey M. Shillington, Kimberly Eisenberg, C. Beth Sise, Edward M. Castillo, Theodore C. Chan, Michael J. Sise

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Emergency department (ED) settings have gained interest as venues for illegal drug misuse prevention and intervention, with researchers and practitioners attempting to capitalize on the intersection of need and opportunity within these settings. This study of 686 adult patients visiting two EDs for various reasons who admitted drug use compared daily cannabis-only users, nondaily cannabis-only users, and other drug users on sociodemographic and drug-related severity outcomes. The three drug use groups did not differ on most sociodemographic factors or medical problem severity scores. Forty-five percent of the sample was identified as having a drug use problem. ED patients who used …

The Impacts Of Microaggressions On The Performance Of Multiracial And Monoracial College Students, Jasmine S. Keith

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

This study attempts to contribute to the research on how microaggressions affect performance of multiracial and monoracial college students in both social and academic realms. Microaggressions were explored through online surveys distributed via email to several hundred students. Participants consisted of students over the age of 18 at an urban institution in the Pacific Northwest. Bivariate logistical regression and axial coding were used to analyze participant responses. The first hypothesis for this study is that multiracial college students experience more microaggressions in social settings, while monoracial students experience more microaggressions in academic settings. The second hypothesis is that multiracial students …

Navigating Academia: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Sense Of Community, Student-Faculty Relationships, And Student Success, Camilla Cummings

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

College enrollment in the United States is higher than it has ever been before. However, there is a strong delineation between students who feel supported and able to use education as a tool and students who do not. The present study aims to understand the impact of sense of community and faculty-student relationships on student success and engagement. This cross-sectional study used quantitative and qualitative methodologies to examine sense of community and engagement in 210 undergraduate students. Sense of community, mentorship, university experiences, social intelligence, and demographic variables were analyzed using bivariate correlations, multiple linear regression, t-tests, and thematic content …

Combat Experiences, Personality, Iso-Strain, And Sleep Quality Affect Posttraumatic Stress Among Working Post-9/11 Veterans, Gilbert Patrick Brady Jr., Leslie B. Hammer, Olivia C. Preston, Anna K. Nishen

Student Research Symposium

We investigated the effects of combat experiences (CES), personality traits, sleep quality and iso-strain on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among a sample (N=382) of working, post-9/11 Veterans. As prior occupational stress research has neglected the role of personality traits, we sought to examine how two of the Big Five traits (i.e., Neuroticism and Conscientiousness) affected PTSS. Greater scientific understanding of how personality contributes to the post-deployment etiology of PTSD may help customize interventions aimed at reintegrating Veterans. Baseline data were drawn from the five-year, randomized control, Department of Defense-funded “Study for Employment Retention of Veterans” (SERVe). After controlling …

Analytic Thinking Predicts Vaccine Endorsement: Cognitive Style As An Antecedent Of Vaccine Attitudes, Daniel A. Anderson

Student Research Symposium

Relationships between cognitive style (CS) and affective orientation toward childhood vaccines (AO) were tested in a sample of US adults, controlling for known covariates. Findings suggest an analytic cognitive style predicts greater likelihood of endorsing childhood vaccination (higher AO). Results highlight relationships between individual cognition and cultural influences upon vaccine-beliefs.

Divergent Interpersonal Paths To Well-Being For Insecurely Attached Emerging Adults, Joel A. Lane

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

The present study explored attachment, social support, and well-being among a sample of emerging adults. The model predicted that social support would:1) mediate the relationship between attachment anxiety and well-being, and 2) moderate the relationship between attachment avoidance and well-being. All hypotheses were supported. Implications for counselors are discussed.

Finding The Missing Links: A Comparison Of Social Network Analysis Methods, Shawn James Mehess

Dissertations and Theses

Too many students leave school without even the essential skills (ACT, 2011), and many others are so drained by the experience they lack a desire to continue on to a post-secondary education. Academic engagement has emerged as a construct representing students’ personal investment in school (Greenwood, Delquadri, & Hall, 1984), and may be a psychological variable which can be intervened on. However, interventions must occur as quickly as possible to maximize their efficiency (Heckman, 2007). Students’ peer groups may be a particularly potent venue of intervention, however several options exist for how to go about measuring their social networks.

In …

A Systems Approach To Stress And Resilience In Humans: Mindfulness Meditation, Aging, And Cognitive Function, Barry S. Oken

Dissertations and Theses

Psychological stress is common and contributes to many physical and mental health problems. Its effects are mediated by a complex neurobiological system centering in the brain with effectors including autonomic nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, inflammatory system, and gene expression. A stressor pushes the human physiological system away from its baseline state towards a lower utility state. The physiological system may return towards the original state but may be shifted to a lower utility state. While some physiological changes induced by stressors may benefit health, chronic stressors usually have negative effects on health. In contrast to this stressor effect is the …

Psychosocial Adaptation To Disability Within The Context Of Positive Psychology: Philosophical Aspects And Historical Roots, Hanoch Livneh, Erin Martz

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to review the conceptual and clinical similarities that exist between the principles of positive psychology and those underlying rehabilitation counseling and psychology, occupational rehabilitation, and those espoused by the field of psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability (CID). Methods: Three themes were selected for review. These included the historical contributions of early scholars in the area of psychosocial adaptation to CID that later were indirectly infused into mainstream positive psychology; state and trait constructs that constitute much of the infrastructure of positive psychology and psychosocial adaptation to CID; and, finally, the …

When Do High And Low Status Group Members Support Confrontation? The Role Of Perceived Pervasiveness Of Prejudice, Kimberly Barsamian Kahn, Manuela Barreto, Cheryl R. Kaiser, Marco Silva Rego

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper examines how perceived pervasiveness of prejudice differentially affects high and low status group members’ support for a low status group member who confronts. In Experiment 1 (N = 228), men and women read a text describing sexism as rare or as pervasive and subsequently indicated their support for a woman who confronted or did not confront a sexist remark. Experiment 2 (N = 324) specified the underlying process using a self-affirmation manipulation. Results show that men were more supportive of confrontation when sexism was perceived to be rare than when it was pervasive. By contrast, women tended to …

Introduction To The Special Issue Of New Methods In Work And Organizational Health, Liu-Qin Yang, Chu-Hsiang (Daisy) Chang, Vivien K.G. Lim

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Collectively, the eight articles included in this special issue examine some of the important methodological issues that affect the future progress and developments of WOHP research. Two papers review methods on research design (Ilies, Aw & Lim; O’Shea, O’Connell, & Gallagher), three advance methods in data collection including measurement (Eatough, Shockley, & Yu; McGonagle, Huang, & Walsh; Sonnentag & Pundt), and three describe important data analytical methods (Ilies et al.; Liu, Mo, Song, & Wang; Wang, Hernandez, Newman, He, & Bian). The last paper by Spector and Pindek discusses the common research methodologies used in WOHP and provided some ideas …

The Peer Network As A Context For The Socialization Of Academic Engagement, Linda Mary Newton-Curtis

Dissertations and Theses

The school environment is one of the primary contexts for children's social, emotional and cognitive development. While teachers are likely to be primarily focused on students' motivation and learning, for adolescents, one of the most enjoyable and important aspects of school life is likely to be centered around the time spent interacting with peers. It is well recognized that peers socialize one another but although many studies have examined the influence of peers on adolescents' risky behaviors far fewer have focused on the influence peers may have on individuals' positive behaviors. As a result this study focuses on academic development …

Potentially Traumatic Experiences And Sexual Health Among Orphaned And Separated Adolescents In Five Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Christine L. Gray, Kathryn Whetten, Lynne C. Messer, Rachel A. Whetten, Jan Ostermann, Karen O'Donnell, Nathan M. Thielman, Brian W. Pence

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Orphans and separated children (OSC) are a vulnerable population whose numbers are increasing, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Over 153 million children worldwide have lost one or both parents, including 17 million orphaned by AIDS, and millions more have been separated from their parents. As younger orphans enter adolescence, their sexual health and HIV-related risk behaviors become key considerations for their overall health. Importantly, their high prevalence of exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) may put OSC at additional risk for adverse sexual health outcomes. The Positive Outcomes for Orphans study followed OSC randomly sampled from institution-based care and …

To Branch Out Or Stay Focused?: Affective Shifts Differentially Predict Organizational Citizenship Behavior And Task Performance, Liu-Qin Yang, Lauren S. Simon, Lei Wang, Xiaoming Zheng

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We draw from personality systems interaction theory (PSI; Kuhl, 2000) and regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997) to examine how dynamic positive and negative affective processes interact to predict both task and contextual performance. Using a twice-daily diary design over the course of a three-week period, results from multi-level regression analysis revealed that distinct patterns of change in positive and negative affect optimally predicted contextual and task performance among a sample of 71 individuals employed at a medium-sized technology company. Specifically, within persons, increases (upshifts) in positive affect over the course of a work day better predicted the subsequent day’s organizational …

Brief Gatekeeper Training For Suicide Prevention In An Ethnic Minority Population: A Controlled Intervention, Alan R. Teo, Sarah B. Andrea, Rae Sakakibara, Satoko Motohara, Monica M. Matthieu, Michael D. Fetters

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Suicide is a critical public health problem around the globe. Asian populations are characterized by elevated suicide rates and a tendency to seek social support from family and friends over mental health professionals. Gatekeeper training programs have been developed to train frontline individuals in behaviors that assist at-risk individuals in obtaining mental health treatment. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of a brief, multi-component gatekeeper intervention in promoting suicide prevention in a high-risk Asian community in the United States.

Methods: We adapted an evidence-based gatekeeper training into a two-hour, multi-modal and interactive event for Japanese-Americans …

Coyotes On The Web: Understanding Human-Coyote Interaction And Online Education Using Citizen Science, Zuriel Anne Rasmussen

Dissertations and Theses

Coyote (Canis latrans) numbers are increasing in urban areas, leading to more frequent human-coyote interactions. Rarely, and particularly when coyotes have become habituated to humans, conflicts occur. Effective education about urban coyotes and how to prevent habituation reduces conflict. Citizen science, in the form of online education, can be used to engage and educate city dwellers about urban coyotes. In this research, I explore Portland Metropolitan Area (PMA) residents' baseline experiences with, and attitudes toward, urban coyotes. Next, I investigate citizen science as a tool for education. Using the Portland Urban Coyote Project (PUCP), a citizen science project, as a …

The Development Of Personal Resources In The Academic Domain: Age Differences In The Evolution Of Coping And Perceived Control And The Process Structures That Facilitate Academic Engagement, Teresa Marie Greene

Dissertations and Theses

Studies investigating the development of perceived control and coping in the academic domain generally adopt an individual differences approach, reporting mean-level changes in these and associated constructs. Very few studies attempt to chart the process by which these personal resources exert individual and combined influences on academic outcomes, such as motivation and achievement, in light of normative developmental changes. Further, a consideration of reciprocal influences of these constructs on developmental changes and the contribution of social partners to these processes is not common.

Conceptualized from a systems perspective, this study integrates these different approaches in a longitudinal inquiry into the …

Thinking About Work At Home: Implications For Safety At Work, Frankie Guros

Dissertations and Theses

Safety at work is of the utmost importance to employees and the organizations they work for, and as such, it is a central issue for occupational health psychology. Although dramatic decreases in the number of worker injuries and fatalities have been observed over the last several decades, safety remains a principal concern for organizations. This is especially true in occupations in which employees face serious threats to their personal safety, such as correctional officers (COs). While a number of studies have identified workplace factors that contribute to worker safety, few have attempted to draw a link between employee nonwork experiences …

Psychometric Properties Of The Centrality Of Pain Scale, Benjamin J. Morasco, Dennis C. Turk, Christina Nicolaidis

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

The Centrality of Pain Scale (COPS) is a recently developed patient-centered, 10-item self-report measure designed to assess how central, or dominating, in their lives individuals with chronic pain perceive pain to be. The COPS underwent initial development and validation previously; preliminary results suggested that the measure had excellent psychometric properties and that COPS scores were associated with important clinical factors. The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the COPS in a sample of individuals with mixed chronic pain diagnoses (N = 178) being treated at a U.S. Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Principal components analysis …

Beyond Fruit: Examining Community In A Community Orchard, Emily Jane Becker

Dissertations and Theses

The Fruits of Diversity Community Orchard, located in Portland, Oregon in an affordable housing neighborhood, is a site of alternative food provisioning in which a group of people, organized by two nonprofits, work together to manage fruit and nut producing plants. Through conversations with volunteers who participate regularly and participant observation, this study explores the questions: What does community mean in the context of a community orchard? In what ways does partnering with a nonprofit from outside the neighborhood influence community and the way the project is operationalized?

This thesis situates community orchards within the literature on alternative food networks …

“Respect The Way I Need To Communicate With You”: Healthcare Experiences Of Adults On The Autism Spectrum, Christina Nicolaidis, Dora Raymaker, Katherine E. Mcdonald, Amelia E.V. Baggs, Sebastian Dern, Steven K. Kapp, Michael Weiner, Cody Boisclair, Elesia Ashkenazy

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Our objective was to obtain an in-depth understanding of autistic adults’ experiences with healthcare and their recommendations for improving care. Our academic-community partnership used a community based participatory research (CBPR) approach to conduct semi-structured, open-ended interviews with 39 autistic adults and 16 people who had experience supporting autistic adults in healthcare settings. Participants identified patient-level, autism-related factors that impact healthcare interactions, including verbal communication skills, sensory sensitivities, challenges with body awareness, slow processing speed, atypical non-verbal communication, and challenges with organization. However, the success of healthcare interactions largely depended on the interplay between patient- and provider-level factors, as well as …

Intervention Effects On Safety Compliance And Citizenship Behaviors: Evidence From The Work, Family, And Health Study, Leslie B. Hammer, Ryan C. Johnson, Tori Laurelle Crain, Todd Bodner, Ellen Ernst Kossek, Kelly Davis, Erin L. Kelly, Orfeu M. Buxton, Georgia Karuntzos, L. Casey Chosewood, Lisa Berkman

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We tested the effects of a work-family intervention on employee reports of safety compliance and organizational citizenship behaviors in 30 health care facilities using a group-randomized trial. Based on conservation of resources theory and the work-home resources model, we hypothesized that implementing a work-family intervention aimed at increasing contextual resources via supervisor support for work and family, and employee control over work time, would lead to improved personal resources and increased employee performance on the job in the form of self-reported safety compliance and organizational citizenship behaviors. Multilevel analyses used survey data from 1,524 employees at baseline and at 6-month …

Supervisor-Specific Outcomes Of A Work-Family Intervention: Evidence From The Work, Family, & Health Study, Mackenna Laine Perry

Dissertations and Theses

Workplace interventions provide a practical and important means of providing support for employees' work-family needs. However, work-family interventions are rare and are generally not thoroughly evaluated. The current study seeks to better understand the impacts of STAR ("Support. Transform. Achieve. Results."), the large-scale work-family intervention developed and implemented by the Work, Family, & Health Network (see Bray et al., 2013). Drawing on Conservation of Resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989), this study examines supervisors' participation in STAR through assessment of three primary supervisor-specific outcomes: training-related views and behaviors, well-being, and the work-family interface. The sample, consisting of 184 supervisors from 30 extended-care …

Locke, Judgment, And Figure: A Consistent Answer To The Molyneux Problem, Jamale Nagi

Anthós

John Locke has been famously credited with resurrecting the distinction between common and proper sensibles, better known in the Essay as primary and secondary qualities. Although some argue that Locke’s adherence to the doctrine of the common sensibles is in conflict with his empiricist sensibilities, I will show this is not likely to be the case. In order to achieve this I will argue that Locke held there to be cross-modal connections in the mind for the representational content of ideas of primary quality, through the relation of resemblance, but that these representations need to be empirically verified to …

Training "In A Good Way": Evaluating The Effect Of A Culturally Responsive Pre-Training Intervention On Learning And Motivation, Adam Thomas Murry

Dissertations and Theses

Employee Training and Development (T&D) is a crucial component to an organization’s success and its ability to remain competitive. Although researchers in the field have discovered ways to enhance the effectiveness of training programs through the design, delivery, and evaluation process, research has not provided empirically-based recommendations for how to best train individuals whose cultural backgrounds may influence receptiveness of training curriculum. This is particularly relevant for employees whose cultural groups have been historically discriminated against, where cultural norms implicit in the training design may be met with resistance on behalf of the trainees. In the field of multicultural education, …