Psychology Commons^™

How Personal Names Shape The Way Society Sees People As Individuals In The United States., Rand Gabriel M. Buenaventura

Undergraduate Research Posters

In a world where people are disadvantaged by first impressions and implicit bias, names factor a lot into a person’s successes in life. Whether it be first names, last names, the number of middle initials, the gender and racial implications of a person’s name, and societal standards surrounding names and naming systems, there are multiple ways names shape a person’s identity. Thus, it is important to ask how personal names shape the way people are seen as individuals in the United States and contribute to their identity. Names are a trait that people are born with, usually determined before anything …

From Invisible To Visible: Exploring Invisibility Syndrome And Coping Among African American Men, Jesha Jones, Stacey Lawson

Graduate Research Posters

INTRODUCTION: African American men may experience feelings of invisibility when maneuvering throughout the public education system. Encounters with alienation, discrimination, and prejudice play a major role in influencing one’s decision to remain in school or dropout. Examining the extent to which the invisibility syndrome manifests in African American men during their K-12 experiences can expand knowledge in understanding their feelings of worthlessness and insignificance in the classroom. METHOD: This research investigated the degree to which invisibility syndrome manifested in retrospective accounts in the K-12 experiences of African American collegiate men. Analysis aim to identify how coping mechanisms can …

College Student Alcohol Use And Engagement In Prevention Programming, Alexis H. Branch, Shimona Kumar, Christina Mcgrath

Undergraduate Research Posters

Social problems and adverse consequences have been associated with risky alcohol use (Paschall et al, 2015). Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF) has been utilized to address these problems (White and Hingson, 2014) by comparing students’ alcohol use to campus or national norms (Butler et al, 2009). The current investigation sought to understand differences in alcohol use behaviors in freshmen who did and did not report completion of a personalized feedback intervention (PFI) in a diverse sample of college students from the Spit for Science (S4S) project. S4S is a campus-wide, longitudinal study on the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to …

Investigating Racial Bias In Perceptions Of Free Will, Courtney J. Alderson

Theses and Dissertations

The overarching goal of this study was to examine whether perceptions of others’ free will would differ depending on perceiver race as well as target race. The current study proposed that such a racial bias may be one mechanism by which racial disparities in medical treatment recommendations arise. By bridging findings from four different lines of research (i.e., the literatures on racial health and medical treatment disparities, racial bias, free will beliefs, and social identity), it was hypothesized that: (1) participants would perceive greater amounts of free will for a hypothetical racial ingroup patient than an outgroup patient; (2) such …

Differences In Spatial Visualization Ability And Vividness Of Spatial Imagery Between People With And Without Aphantasia, Anita Crowder

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematics education researchers have examined the relationship between visualization and mathematics for decades (e.g., Arcavi, 2003; Bishop, 1991; Duval, 1999; Fennema & Tartre, 1985; Presmeg, 1986). Studies have linked spatial visualization ability, such as measured in mental rotation tasks, directly to mathematics self-efficacy (Pajares & Kranzler, 1995; Weckbacher & Okamoto, 2014), which in turn influences mathematics achievement (Casey, Nuttall, & Pezaris, 1997). With the important role that spatial visualization plays in learning mathematics, the recent identification of congenital aphantasia (Zeman, Dewar, & Della Sala, 2015), which is the lack of mental imagery ability, has raised new questions for mathematics education …

A Practice Elements-Based Approach To Adherence Measurement, Stephanie Violante

Theses and Dissertations

The measurement of treatment adherence (i.e., the frequency and thoroughness with which a therapist delivers a treatment as designed) is critical to the field of implementation science, as adherence is often considered an indicator of successful implementation. Most existing instruments of treatment adherence are treatment protocol specific; however, this approach is costly, inefficient, and disallows cross-treatment and cross-study comparisons. Thus, there is a need for adherence instruments that can be used across treatment protocols. It has been suggested that an instrument that captures adherence at the practice element level would meet this need, as it would have utility across protocols …

Structured Poetic Expressions For Emerging Adults Experiencing Bereavement, Kelcie D. Willis

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has produced heterogeneous findings regarding the effectiveness of expressive writing in reducing grief symptomatology among the bereaved (e.g., Collison, 2016; Lichtenthal & Cruess, 2010; Stroebe et al., 2006). The purpose of this study was to address these mixed results by exploring the effects and linguistic characteristics of a novel writing task (i.e., the acrostic poem) among bereaved undergraduates, using an innovative data analysis technique (i.e., Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count). The current study recruited 68 undergraduates who had lost a loved one. Participants were randomly assigned to write over multiple days using the acrostic poem, emotional disclosure prompt, …

Critical Consciousness, Racial Identity, And Appropriated Racial Oppression In Black Emerging Adults, Keyona Allen

Theses and Dissertations

The present study explored private regard and public regard, two subcomponents of racial identity, as mediators of the association between critical consciousness and appropriated racial oppression. In a sample of 75 Black emerging adults, ages 18-25, the current study examined (1) the relationships between critical consciousness, racial identity, and appropriated racial oppression and (2) whether racial identity mediates the relationship between critical consciousness and appropriated racial oppression. Relationships in the expected direction were evident between private regard and both critical consciousness and appropriated racial oppression. Relationships in the expected direction were evident between public regard and critical consciousness. Further, mediation …

Relationships Among Parenting Stress, Parenting Practices, And Conduct Problems In African American Mothers Of Children With And Without Adhd, Amanda Parks

Theses and Dissertations

Parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) endorse increased levels of parenting stress and subsequently employ ineffective parenting practices. For children with comorbid conduct problems, mothers report more parenting stress than mothers of children with ADHD alone. I investigated the relationships among child ADHD diagnostic status, parenting stress, parenting behaviors (i.e., involvement and positive parenting) and child conduct problems in 78 African American mothers of children with and without ADHD. Mothers completed a demographic questionnaire, a semi-structured clinical interview, the ADHD Rating scale (also completed by teachers), the Impairment Rating Scale, the Parenting Stress Index – Short Form, and the …

Effects Of A 2-Week Exercise Intervention On Heart Rate Variability In Individuals With Low And High Anxiety Sensitivity, Hannah M. Kotarski

Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety Sensitivity (AS), the belief that anxiety-related sensations may have harmful implications, can alter autonomic nervous system (ANS) function. Exercise has previously been shown to reduce AS; however, the effects of an exercise intervention on heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of ANS function, has not been evaluated in individuals with high AS. This study sought to 1) compare resting HRV in individuals with either low (LAS) or high AS (HAS) and 2) evaluate the effects of a 2-week exercise intervention on HRV and AS. Using the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI-3), participants were identified as LAS (n=9; ASI-3=5.89±1.39) or HAS …

Bed And Breakfast: The Role Of Sleep And Affect In Breakfast Intake, Ashley R. Macpherson

Theses and Dissertations

Breakfast intake is associated with numerous positive physical and mental health outcomes, yet breakfast skipping remains common in adults. Chronotype and sleep show potential as predictors of breakfast intake; however the existing literature has methodological limitations and fails to examine how psychological mechanisms might explain the relation between sleep and breakfast. The current investigation explored the association of means and variability of sleep behaviors (bedtime, midsleep, sleep duration) as predictors of breakfast intake frequency and high-protein breakfast intake frequency. Additionally, the role of positive and negative affect as mediators in the sleep—breakfast association was examined. Hierarchical regressions and PROCESS parallel …

A Stakeholder Examination Of Gestational Weight Gain Guidelines, Melissa Kwitowski

Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is a significant health concern for women of childbearing age. More than 40% of women have a Body Mass Index (BMI) in the overweight or obese ranges at the time they conceive, posing significant health risks for both mother and child. Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is common and associated with numerous deleterious complications. The Institute of Medicine published gestational weight gain (GWG) guidelines based on prepregnancy BMI. However, more than 50% of women gain in excess of these recommendations. Further, many women report receiving minimal guidance from their healthcare providers regarding weight gain, nutrition, and physical activity during …

Longitudinal Relations Between Adhd Symptoms And Substance Use Across The Transition To College And Evaluation Of Promotive And Protective Factors, Melissa R. Dvorsky

Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of substance use and related problems increases during adolescence and peaks in young adulthood with substantial increases during the transition from high school to college (Johnston et al., 2018). However, these increases are not universal for all students (White et al., 2006), and there is substantial variation in rates of substance use during the first year of college (Borasri et al., 2007; Frisher et al., 2007). It is important to identify the individual and environmental factors that serve as risk factors for substance use as well as factors that may promote or protect against use during the high …

Investigating The Presence And Correlates Of Anti-Thin Bias In Adults, Alexandria Davies

Theses and Dissertations

Weight stigma is associated with negative health outcomes across the BMI continuum. However, few studies have examined weight discrimination targeting people with low body weights. This investigation explored the presence of anti-thin bias, defined as the belief that people with low BMIs have undesirable personality characteristics. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of six vignettes about women that differed by race (White and Black) and weight status (slightly underweight, normal weight, and slightly overweight). Negative personality characteristics were more likely to be ascribed to both underweight and overweight women, compared with normal weight women. Furthermore, participants were significantly more …

Does Emotion Regulation Moderate The Association Between Impairment And Depression In Adolescents With Adhd?, Laura D. Eddy

Theses and Dissertations

In comparison with their peers, adolescents with ADHD are at increased risk for developing depression, with prevalence estimates for comorbid depression ranging from 14% to 20%. Youth with comorbid ADHD and depression are at greater risk for multiple negative outcomes compared to youth with ADHD alone, including suspension from school, failing a grade, or difficulties in peer relationships. Identifying risk factors for depression among adolescents with ADHD is important for facilitating early identification and treatment efforts. Research completed to date indicates that interpersonal impairment and emotion regulation may mediate the relationship between ADHD and depression. However, a comprehensive longitudinal model …

Queer Health Equity And Cervical Cancer: Identifying Social Determinants Of Papanicolaou Test Uptake In A Sample Of Sexual Minority Women And Gender Nonbinary Individuals, Ariella R. Tabaac

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual minority women (SMW) demonstrate lower rates of cervical cancer screening than heterosexual women. This is concerning as lesbian and bisexual women tend to engage in higher rates of substance-related cancer risk behaviors, unprotected sex, and tend to have higher body mass indices, all of which are risk factors for cancer development. Another major risk factor, screening avoidance, places SMW at increased risk for the development of high grade cervical lesions in the absence of early detection practices, which is likely to impact overall cervical cancer morbidity in this population. The aim of the present study was to utilize the …

Predictors Of Resilient Outcomes Among Juvenile Offenders, Kristina A. Mcguire

Theses and Dissertations

Research on resilience has almost completely bypassed the juvenile justice literature. Using data on 1,354 youth from the Pathways to Desistance study, the present study examined associations between individual, community, and familial risk and promotive factors and resilient outcomes, specifically gainful activity, in juvenile offenders. Results of both logistic and hierarchical regression models indicated significant associations between resilient outcomes in each domain: specifically individual (age at first arrest, motivation to succeed), community (geographic location, exposure to violence), and family (socioeconomic status, parental monitoring) predictors. Finally, this paper discusses reasons for non-significant findings and directions for future research on resilience among …

A Laboratory Study Of Stress Reactions To Witnessing A Police Killing Of An Unarmed Black Man: Discrimination, Distress Tolerance, Ethnic Identity, And Risk-Taking, Michael A. Trujillo

Theses and Dissertations

Black individuals have been disproportionately targeted by law enforcement, most notably in shooting deaths at the hands of police, and has contributed to a general distrust of law enforcement. A rise in citizen journalism has helped document excessive use of force by police on video; however, little is known how individuals respond to viewing this type of media. A history of race-based stress is likely to contribute to an expectation of racism and may impact how individuals respond to videos of the treatment of unarmed Black men at the hands of police, with some evidence suggesting ethnic identity may moderate …

Influence Of Cultural Strengths On The Relationships Among Acculturative Stress, Racism, And Mental And Physical Health In Latino Immigrants, Annahir N. Cariello

Theses and Dissertations

The Latino immigrant population in the United States has grown rapidly, now standing at over 56 million people. Due to this increase in Latino immigrants, investigation of their mental and physical health is crucial. Few studies have investigated conjointly both physical and mental health in Latino immigrant adults. Daily discrimination and acculturative stress have been found to affect the mental and physical health of Latino immigrants. Cultural strengths including social support, religiosity, and enculturation have been linked to Latino immigrant health. In the minority stress model, cultural strengths have been theorized to moderate relationships between discrimination and health. The purpose …

Abuse Liability Of An Electronic Cigarette In Traditional Cigarette Smokers, Sarah F. Maloney

Theses and Dissertations

Electronic cigarettes have grown in popularity across the U.S. and concerns have been raised about their abuse liability. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate and compare the abuse liability of an electronic cigarette with and without nicotine to a nicotine inhaler (the Nicotrol inhaler) and participants’ own brand of cigarettes. A total of 24 smokers attended four sessions in which the abuse liability of each product was examined using the Multiple-Choice Procedure (MCP), nicotine delivery, nicotine abstinence symptom suppression, and subjective reinforcing effects. Results revealed that the nicotine containing and non-nicotine containing electronic cigarette had a higher …

Understanding Knowledge Sharing Motivation In The Public Sector: Application Of Self-Determination And Person-Environment Fit Theories, Jaeyong Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge has been recognized as an important resource that should be carefully managed in order to enhance organizational competitiveness. Therefore, it is important to manage knowledge resources that have been learned and stored in organizations. Several scholars in the public administration literature have examined whether public service motivation (PSM) can help employees share their knowledge in ways that contribute to the effective functioning of public organizations. However, the mechanisms by which PSM influences individuals’ propensity to share knowledge have not been clarified by past research.

Against this background, at first, this study contributes to understanding the relationship between PSM and …

Consuming Digital Debris In The Plasticene, Stephen R. Parks

Theses and Dissertations

Claims of customization and control by socio-technical industries are altering the role of consumer and producer. These narratives are often misleading attempts to engage consumers with new forms of technology. By addressing capitalist intent, material, and the reproduction limits of 3-D printed objects’, I observe the aspirational promise of becoming a producer of my own belongings through new networks of production. I am interested in gaining a better understanding of the data consumed that perpetuates hyper-consumptive tendencies for new technological apparatuses. My role as a designer focuses on the resolution of not only the surface of the object through 3-D …

Adolescent Emotion Expression, Emotion Regulation, And Decision-Making In Social Context, Tennisha N. Riley

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescents engage in risk behaviors at an alarming rate, and particularly when they are with peers. Despite efforts to develop prevention and intervention programs, rates of risk-taking among adolescents is still relatively high. Adolescents continue to engage in physical fights and aggressive behavior, use substances such as alcohol and illicit drugs, and make decisions that impact driving and motor vehicle incidents. The regulation of emotions plays a significant role in adolescents’ decisions to engage in such risk behaviors.Examining adolescents’ emotion expression and regulation is therefore critical to identifying ways to support positive development.

This dissertation project explored important regulatory mechanisms …

Dynamic Modeling Of Problem Drinkers Undergoing Behavioral Treatment, Rebecca A. Everett

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Rape And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd): Examining The Mediating Role Of Explicit Sex-Power Beliefs For Men Versus Women, Daniel J. Snipes, Jenna M. Calton, Brooke A. Green, Paul B. Perrin, Eric G. Benotsch

Psychology Publications

Many rape survivors exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and recent literature suggests survivors' beliefs about sex and control may affect PTSD symptoms. The present study examined beliefs about sex and power as potential mediators of the relationship between rape and PTSD symptoms for men versus women. Participants (N = 782) reported lifetime history of rape, current PTSD symptoms, and beliefs about sex and power. Women reported higher levels of lifetime history of rape than men (19.7% for women; 9.7% for men). While rape history predicted PTSD symptoms for both genders, beliefs about sex and power were shown to …

Knowledge And Understanding Of Health Insurance: Challenges And Remedies, Andrew J. Barnes, Yaniv Hanoch

Psychology Publications

As coverage is expanded in health systems that rely on consumers to choose health insurance plans that best meet their needs, interest in whether consumers possess sufficient understanding of health insurance to make good coverage decisions is growing. The recent IJHPR article by Green and colleagues—examining understanding of supplementary health insurance (SHI) among Israeli consumers—provides an important and timely answer to the above question. Indeed, their study addresses similar problems to the ones identified in the US health care market, with two notable findings. First, they show that overall—regardless of demographic variables—there are low levels of knowledge about SHI, which …

Women’S Decisions About Mental Health Treatment In The Perinatal Period, Marina G. Green

AUCTUS: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

This study examined a mother’s decision-making process in regards to mental health treatment for emotional difficulties during pregnancy and/or in the postpartum period. The literature shows that different factors influence a woman’s ability and willingness to seek services, including demographic factors, cultural factors, and interactions with healthcare providers and acquaintances. A sample of women who experienced emotional difficulties in the perinatal period was recruited through social media. Participants answered an anonymous electronic survey; the quantitative data was analyzed through SPSS, and the qualitative data was aggregated by themes. Quantitative findings indicate that age might be an influencing factor for women …

Focused Attention Vs. Open Monitoring: An Event-Related Potential Study Of Emotion Regulation By Two Distinct Forms Of Mindfulness Meditation, Tarah L. Raldiris

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of two novel forms of 8-week mindfulness meditation training, focused attention (FA) and open monitoring (OM), relative to an established training, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), on early emotional reactivity to negative emotional images as assessed by electroencephalography (EEG). Data on the late-positive potential (LPP) were analyzed to address whether the three mindfulness interventions attenuated the LPP from pre- to post-intervention, and if significant differences existed between groups in LPP at post-intervention. Rather than an attenuation, results indicated an average increase in LPP amplitude from pre- to post-intervention. No significant differences were found in the LPP …

Effects Of Cumulative Risk On Asthma Outcomes In Urban Children And Adolescents, Samantha A. Miadich

Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric asthma disproportionately affects racial/ethnic minority children and children living in low-income, urban areas. Many families living in low-income, urban areas experience a number of stressors that can place children/adolescents at risk for worse asthma outcomes. This study examined the impact of a cumulative risk model of stressors (e.g., ED visits, quick-relief medication use, lung function, asthma control, QOL) in urban children (7-12 years) with persistent asthma. This study further aimed to examine both the original cumulative risk model and an adolescent-specific cumulative risk model as predictors of asthma outcomes in a sample of 60 adolescents (13-17 years). Asthma-related caregiver …

Longitudinal Bidirectional Relations Between Subtypes Of Anxiety And Callous-Unemotional Traits In Early- To Mid-Adolescence, Stephanie A. Hitti

Theses and Dissertations

Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by limited empathy, lack of guilt or remorse, and callous use of others. They are a risk factor for adult psychopathy, especially when comorbid with conduct problems. Thus, efforts to identify risk factors and consequences of CU traits have been prominent. One construct that may act as both a risk factor for and consequence of CU traits among youth is anxiety. While the most consistent finding is in this literature is a negative relation between CU traits and anxiety, findings have been mixed. The present study examined bidirectional relations between three subtypes of anxiety (i.e. …