Psychology Commons^™

Determining The Relationship Between Weight Dissatisfaction And Attention To Calories, Eleanor Didden

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Laws which require the display of calorie information on menus are becoming more prominent throughout the United States and the world, but the efficacy of this information has not yet been studied on an individual level. An Eyetracker and two menus (which were identical save for the inclusion or exclusion of caloric information) were utilized to determine how much time college-aged women spent looking at calories. We also gathered their personal measure of weight dissatisfaction using a body image scale and participants’ self-reported weight dissatisfaction. Using random assignment, 22 participants were placed in the experimental group and 25 participants were …

The Association Between Discrimination And Sleep Is Exacerbated In Individuals With Comorbid Chronic Health Conditions, Sarah M. Ghose, Natalie D. Dautovich, Joseph M. Dzierzewski, Sahar M. Sabet, Janna L. Imel, Dana R. Schreiber, Ashley R. Macpherson, Morgan P. Reid

Graduate Research Posters

Introduction: The consequences of recurrent, stressful daily experiences for sleep health appear intensified in individuals with pre-existing health conditions. Although discrimination has been associated with sleep outcomes, the role of comorbid chronic health conditions (CCHCs), and impact of perceived discrimination, remains unclear. The present study investigated (1) the associations between daily discrimination and sleep and (2) moderating roles of CCHCs and daily life interference and hardship.

Methods: The current study utilized archival data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Study II. Participants, 174 adults (51% female, M_age=57 yrs., SD=11.5 yrs.), completed 7 days of actigraphy, …

Study On Technology And Learning, Jeremy Bramwell

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this research thesis is to investigate technologies effects on learning. Specifically the researchers studied the usability of intelligent personal assistant-enabled devices for learning assistance. It is assumed that using technology in educational context helps both students and educators because there is a positive effect on engagement which increases learning curves. Although, this is not always the case. The present study yielded results that were not consistent with the assumption that using any type of technology as an aid for learning has a positive effect. Further research will seek to investigate other intelligent personal assistant devices for classroom …

Comparison Of Scrupulosity Self-Report In Mexico Versus The United States, Johanna E. Hidalgo

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The prevalence rate for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is between 0.8% to 2%. Many of these individuals experience scrupulosity or religious obsessive-compulsive disorder. Although scrupulosity is a salient theme for those who suffer from OCD, there is limited amount of research on scrupulosity across cultures. Research is particularly limited in relation to individuals from Latin American countries, including Mexico. In response to this limitation, the purpose of this study is to determine if there is a significant difference in symptoms of scrupulosity in non-referred samples of college students from the U.S. and Mexico. Results indicated that scrupulosity is a valid and …

Positive Education: Promoting Well-Being At School, D. Gomez-Baya, Jane Gillham

Psychology Faculty Works

What is positive education, and are there different conceptual boundaries? Why does it arise now? What is its origin? What is positive education about? What does it contribute that has not already been done and how does it differ from other existing orientations and practices? Where are the interventions implemented and why in these scenarios? What characteristics do they meet? When are these interventions carried out, i.e. what are the stages of the life cycle for which they are most oriented, and why in them? Who are the people in charge of positive education, how are they organized, or what …

Treatment Of Substance Abuse 1, Helen Stayna

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Household Chaos And The Home Language Environment On Preschool-Age Children’S School Readiness, Laura Mary Northerner

Wayne State University Dissertations

School readiness, including both cognitive and social-emotional development, is an important indicator of a child’s preparedness for school entry, and a meaningful predictor of future academic success (Duncan et al., 2007). The home environment plays a critical role in the development of children’s school readiness, especially for children facing social inequalities. Within the home environment, household chaos and home language have been found to impact school readiness. The current study expanded on previous research on household chaos by collecting multiple measures of household chaos, including a naturalistic observation across several days. The current study also naturalistically investigated the home language …

Marriage And Family Therapists’ Clinical Impressions Of Romantic Relationship Dissolution Heartbreak: A Modified Delphi Study, Isibel C. Moreno

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2018) defines heartbreak as “crushing grief, anguish or distress.” Heartbreak can lead to biological, psychological and social responses and consequences. Heartbreak from the dissolution of a romantic relationship is a form of disenfranchised grief, which is defined as the griever’s belief that society does not recognize their source of grief as legitimate (Doka, 1989). The literature shows that talking about grief helps those who experience it (Fisher & Archer, 2008). Hence, the present study sought to provide a consensus of the best practices that marriage and family therapists have utilized to help broken-hearted clients. I employed a …

Psychometric Properties Of A New Measure For Orthorexia Nervosa: The Orthorexia Nervosa Scale (Ons), Rebecca Conrad

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) is a disordered eating pattern that has recently attracted attention from researchers and clinicians, and can lead to some of the same negative effects as other recognized eating disorders, including malnutrition. To continue exploring unique symptoms and features of this disorder, a new scientifically rigorous and inclusive measure needs to be created, focusing on a sample of individuals in the United States. The purpose of this dissertation was to create a valid measure for ON symptomology using rigorous statistical procedures with samples of United States adults. The first study determined the factor structure of the items though …

Ambivalent Prejudice In News Media: Does Social Hierarchy Threat Change How We View Reporters?, Rebecca E. Burchette

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Despite research demonstrating the importance of news media, there remains a gap in the literature on how the reporter influences the perception of the information. This current experiment aims to fill that gap by evaluating how reporter race and social hierarchy threat alters perceptions of both the reporter and the information. White participants read an article with content that indicated that the current racial hierarchy is either under threat or likely to continue; the article was written by either a Black or White reporter. Participants then completed measures of perceptions of warmth and competence of the reporter, acceptance levels towards …

The Impact Of Stress On Resilience: Examining The Moderated Effects Of A Savoring Intervention, Hannah L. Newman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Resilience is characterized by the ability to bounce back from stress (Bonanno, 2004; Ong et al., 2006; Smith et al., 2008). Research suggests resilience is a personal resource that helps individuals effectively cope with stress and provides protection from negative outcomes (Loh, Schutte, & Thorsteinsson, 2013). Exposure to stress is a prerequisite to building resilience across many different contexts (Graber et al., 2015; Hennessey & Levine, 1979; Rutter, 2006). Interestingly, a high accumulation of stress detracts from an individual’s abilities to build resilience (Ong et al., 2006; Tuguade & Frederickson, 2007). However, it is unknown what types of interventions explicitly …

Does Sharing Information With Friends And Family Cause Men To Adhere More Strongly To Masculine Norms?, Clint E. Johnson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

It is clear that social influence can elicit conformity to norms (e.g., Asch, 1956). It remains unclear, however, how various relationships elicit differential conformity to masculine norms in particular. In this pre-registered experiment, I tested the hypothesis that when men are asked to reveal their responses on the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI; Mahalik et al., 2003), men conform more when sharing that identifiable information with others who know them (i.e., “public” conformity), namely friends and family, as compared to sharing that information anonymously with a random stranger (i.e., the anonymous “private” condition). My convenience sample consisted of participants …

Are Chronic Inflammatory Diseases Associated With Trauma Exposure And Gender? An Empirical Analysis Of Self-Reported Trauma And Health Histories Of Men And Women, Meghan Lacienski

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

A growing body of research indicates an association between trauma, inflammation, and chronic inflammatory disease; however, the mechanisms of this relationship are not fully understood, and the salience of potential risk factors, such as cumulative effects of trauma, trauma type, and gender, remain unclear. Trauma is associated with poor mental and physical health, such as PTSD, depression, and chronic inflammatory conditions, and this association may be stronger when certain risk factors are considered (Brody, Pratt, & Hughes, 2018; Groer, Kane, Williams, & Duffy, 2014; Husky, Mazure, & Kovess-Masfety, 2018; Kilpatrick et al., 2013). For example, sexual trauma and multiple traumatic …

Investigating The Interaction Between Memory Recall Content And Savoring Interventions On Openness, Caroline V. Young

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Openness is generally characterized by a stark curiosity for novel experiences and the ability to flexibly shift one’s attention and thinking processes to appreciate differing perspectives. Research suggests openness is a personal resource in terms of helping individuals effectively regulate emotions, cope with stress, and socialize with diverse populations. However, it is unknown what interventions specifically lead to an increase in openness. Positive affect appears to be associated with openness, yet the mechanisms by which positive affect promotes openness remain unclear. It is possible savoring, the ability to maintain and extend positive affect, may play an important role in clarifying …

The Trouble With Burnout: An Update On Burnout-Depression Overlap, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Reducing depression to its clinical stage—to a nosological category—is unwarranted when examining the burnout-depression distinction. Recent factor analytic studies of burnout and depression measures indicate that the discriminant validity of the burnout construct is not satisfactory. Exhaustion—the core and only consensual characteristic of burnout—has been repeatedly found to correlate more strongly with depression (including anhedonia and depressed mood) than with the two other components of burnout (cynicism and professional inefficacy).

An Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling Bi-Factor Analytic Approach To Uncovering What Burnout, Depression, And Anxiety Scales Measure, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Jay Verkuilen, Renzo Bianchi

Publications and Research

In this study, we addressed the ongoing debate about what burnout and depression scales measure by conducting an exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) bifactor analysis. A sample of 734 U.S. teachers completed a survey that included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D-10), the depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), which contains emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and (diminished) personal accomplishment (PA) subscales. Job adversity and workplace support were additionally measured for the purpose of a nomological network analysis. EE, burnout’s core, was more highly …

Labeling Sexual Assault Perceptions Associated With Ptsd Symptom Severity, Shania Cole

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Many agree that sexual assault is a common problem among females, but there is less agreement regarding how to label individuals who experience sexual assault. Most research has examined the connotations associated with the labels, most of which has associated “victim” with negative connotations and “survivor” with positive adjectives. Few studies empirically examine how individuals of sexual assault respond to these labels and how the labels relate to outcomes in these individuals’ lives. Unfortunately, individuals who have experienced an unwanted sexual encounter are at higher risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Understanding how these individuals label themselves, and how …

Barriers To Change For Augmentative And Alternative Communication, Lauren E. Brown

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of counseling training on speech language pathologists’ (SLPs) perceived competency to address Attitude Barriers within the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) assessment process as presented by Beukelman and Mirenda (2005). Counseling techniques, such as the use of the Readiness to Change© tool, are within the scope of practice for SLPs. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research on how to apply these tools and techniques with individuals who use AAC .

A training seminar was conducted to educate participants in the use of the Readiness to Change© tool. Data was …

The Impact Of Gender Normed Scoring Of The Brief Symptom Inventory On Trans* Individuals, Ashley Megan Bieze Wilson

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the significance of the choice of gender normed scoring on the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) (Derogatis, 1993) when assessing cisgender and trans* or gender non-conforming individuals. This study compared two groups, cisgender and trans* individuals, on male and female gender normed scoring for the BSI. Each participant’s responses on the BSI were scored using both male and female norms and the number of clinically significant elevations (T-score ≥ 63) was counted. Results indicated that regardless of gender identity or sex-assigned-at-birth (SAAB), a higher mean number of elevations was found when using male …

The Effects Of Parental Engagement In Early Childhood On Academic Achievement In Adolescence, Alex Velez

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Parental involvement and engagement have been used interchangeably in research regarding the academic outcomes of children. The current study assessed parental engagement and its relationship to academic achievement in adolescence. Specifically, the study looked at parental engagement with children aged 3 and its effects on academic achievement at age 15 in 1-parent and 2-parent homes. Exploratory analyses were also conducted to examine the effect of ethnicity on the relationship between parental engagement and academic achievement. Data were taken from participants (N = 3350) who were a part of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, a longitudinal dataset. Findings showed …

Predicting Academic Achievement With The Kaufman Assessment Battery For Children—Second Edition, Amy Cherry

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Intelligence progresses in measurable and predictable stages and IQ tests are used to test basic intellectual functioning, such as conceptual thinking, language, and problem solving. The IQ test is used to diagnose developmental disabilities as well as learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities in schools. School aged children may be given an IQ test to determine eligibility and placement for special education services and to pinpoint specific deficits and/or strengths. Part of the strength of using IQ tests is their ability to predict specific attributes, such as academic skills and adaptive skills. However, these correlations change with the child’s age. …

Perceptions Of Health Coaching And Its Associations With Personality Style And Weight Loss In Meal Replacement Program Participants, Bailey Judith Larson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: To determine if personality style is related to perceptions of health coaching and if there is a relationship between perceptions of health coaching and the ability to lose weight. Methods: Data was gathered from approximately 2,000 MR program participants via an electronic survey. The Client Evaluation of Motivational Interviewing scale was used to determine if perceptions of health coaching affect the ability to lose weight. The Ten Item Personality Inventory was used to determine if personality style is associated with the perception of health coaching. Self-reported start weight and current weight were used to calculate percent of starting weight. …

Investigation Of Intergroup Bias In Two Neuromaturationally Distinct Age Cohorts: An Erp Study, Reuven M. Hanna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Currently, sociological investigation of adolescent behavior focuses on the intersection of biography, history, and structure to explain adolescent risk-taking, reward-seeking, impulsivity, novelty-seeking and peer-salience. However, the preponderance of the evidence points away from social ecology and to a significant neuromaturational restructuring event between the 12th and 25th years of life as the root of adolescent behavioral tendencies. As a result, sociological social psychology can benefit from engaging in basic research using neuroscience methods. The present study expands the dual systems model of brain development to account for maturational changes in the social brain network as a way to explain social …

The Relationship Between Campus Wellness Center Usage And Symptoms Of Depression In College Freshmen, Allison Leonard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is limited research done on the relationship between the program utilization at a campus wellness facility and the symptoms of depression in college freshmen. College students have been found to have a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms than the general population, possibly due to the stressors college life can add. Studies have been done on the effects of physical activity as an intervention for depression as well as on the benefits of campus wellness facilities; however, there have been few studies that look at both campus recreation and depression. The author’s purpose for this study was to see if …

Comparative Assessment Of The Flow State Scale And The Work-Related Flow Inventory: A Relative Weights Analysis, Samantha Gildemeister

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Flow experiences, or optimal experiences of intense concentration and enjoyment, were originally measured using qualitative measures. More recently, quantitative measures such as the Flow State Scale (FSS) and the Work-Related Flow Inventory (WOLF) allowed for structural assessment of the construct, but the vague definition of flow led to variability in the foundation of the measurement. As such, this study aimed to investigate the extent of overlap between the FSS and the WOLF at the factor level in a sample of working adults. Specifically, we investigated the relation between the nine FSS factors and the three WOLF factors using confirmatory factor …

A New Lens: Psychological Ownership As An Element To Promoting Organizational Change, Tyler Carlson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much of the change management literature has focused on change from the perspective of the organization as a whole. However, researchers have begun to explore the impact change has on employees, as well as employee perceptions of organizational change. The current study explored the role psychological ownership has in the context of organizational change, by using it is as a moderator between employee openness to organizational change (EOOC), and organizational commitment, job stress, and turnover intentions. Results revealed a significant positive correlation between EOOC and organizational commitment, a significant negative correlation between EOOC and job stress, as well as turnover …

Providers' Perspectives On Women’S Integrated Healthcare: An Exploratory Study, Jenesse Kaitz

Psychology Department Dissertations

Women of color, low socioeconomic status (SES) women, and other minority groups face healthcare disparities in the U.S. healthcare system, including lower quality care (Cook et al., 2009), dissatisfaction, and barriers to accessing care (Anderson et al., 2001; Avery et al., 2011). In recent years, within the healthcare field, there is an increased interest in integrated healthcare, specifically, the integration of mental health services in primary care. The current study uses a mixed method exploratory approach to investigate providers’ perspectives on women’s healthcare disparities from a relational and systems perspective. We included both psychologists and primary care physicians from three …

Multilevel Resilience Characteristics Of Youth Who Are At Risk For Trauma, Kerrie Anne Pieloch

Psychology Department Dissertations

Research on resilience, or “the capacity of a dynamic system to withstand or recover from significant challenges that threaten its stability, viability, or development” (Masten, 2011, p. 494) is a burgeoning field, particularly in the area of childhood resilience. Recent literature has moved away from the idea of resilience as a trait someone has or does not have and toward the integration of resilience at multiple levels beyond the individual child, such as their family and their community (Masten, 2014b; Masten, 2015; Southwick, Bonanno, Masten, Panter-Brick, & Yehuda, 2014). To address this call, this dissertation presents two original studies of …

Evaluating Psychosocial Mechanisms Underlying Stem Persistence In Undergraduates: Scalability And Longitudinal Analysis Of Three Cohorts From A Six-Day Pre–College Engagement Stem Academy Program, Sophie Kuchynka, Danielle Findley-Van Nostrand, Richard S. Pollenz

Psychology Faculty Publications

In a previous report, we validated that a cohort of first-year undergraduates who participated in a weeklong pre–college engagement STEM Academy (SA) program were retained in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at a higher rate than a matched comparison group (MCG). In addition, SA students yielded increases in science identity and sense of belonging to STEM and to the university. Here, we report the ability to scale the size of the SA program to accommodate more students and replicate the previous findings with two additional cohorts. Longitudinal analysis of the 2015 and 2016 program cohorts demonstrate that both groups …

The Hiv Seers Project: A Qualitative Analysis Of Program Facilitators’ Experience, Tiffany Chenneville, Kemesha Gabbidon, Hunter Drake

Psychology Faculty Publications

HIV-related stigma creates barriers to HIV testing, medication adherence, and retention in care. Guided by the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR) and in collaboration with community health workers (CHWs), the Stigma-reduction through Education, Empowerment, and Research (SEERs) project was developed with and for youth living in Nakuru, Kenya to reduce HIV-related stigma. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of the CHWs serving as SEERs facilitators. To evaluate SEERs, 37 facilitators completed open-ended survey questions to gather their experiences and recommendations for future program implementation and sustainability. Participants’ mean age was 30.58 (standard deviation = …