Psychology Commons^™

Views Of Addiction Etiology Predict Religious Individuals’ Willingness To Help., Emily Brady, Joseph Barnet, Valerie Hoots, Andrea Clements

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

Views of addiction etiology predict religious individuals’ willingness to help.

Emily Brady, Valerie Hoots, Joseph Barnet, and Andrea Clements, Department of Psychology, East Tennessee State University.

Addiction to drugs and alcohol is an accrescent societal problem. Individuals with substance addiction face stigma in their daily lives, specifically from religious individuals as explored in this study. The stigma these religious individuals might portray could be related to their ideas on addiction etiology. The purpose of this project is to evaluate if different views of addiction etiology predict religious individuals’ willingness to help individuals with substance addition. Our hypothesis for this …

Employer Perceptions About Addiction Recovery And Hiring Decisions, Haley Henderson, Joseph Barnet, Valerie Hoots, Andrea Clements

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Drug and alcohol addiction is a nationwide epidemic with an increasing number of Americans being affected. Individuals who seek treatment for their addiction often face barriers, such as costs, waiting time, and available support, and those who are able to receive treatment are likely to experience or anticipate stigma from others. Existing literature has found that many employers have negative perceptions of individuals in addiction recovery. However, there is limited research that has analyzed whether these negative perceptions affect hiring decisions. We predicted that employers would have negative perceptions of those in recovery, would be less likely to hire individuals …

Grit, Personality, And Job Performance: Exploring Nonlinear Relationships, Ellen Lovell

Doctoral Dissertations

Hiring employees suitable for specific jobs is a challenge facing organizations, as the cost of a poor hire is approximately 30% of that employee’s first-year earnings, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Employers look to individual differences, such as cognitive ability and personality, to help match applicants with appropriate jobs, as they are supported by research evidence. However, some variance in job performance is explained by differing combinations of these variables, among others.

Research in education and psychology have recently highlighted grit as a potentially strong predictor of success in non-work contexts. Grit was introduced by Angela Duckworth, who …

An Analysis Of Substance Use In College: Identifying Possible Risk And Protective Factors, Stephanie Penpek

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the United States, an estimated 20% of college students have an Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). AUD is conceptualized as compulsive use of alcohol even when presented with adverse effects. Historically, student activities and organization-involvement (e.g., Greek life) was a hypothesized risk factor for student substance use. However, other studies suggest that joining clubs and developing a support system during college can protect against substance use disorders. Undergraduate students were recruited from a South Eastern University using a university-sponsored, online recruitment website. The sample was predominantly White (n = 150; 86.70%) and female (n = 127; 73.40%). We …

Maternal Stress And Child Internalizing Symptoms: Parent-Child Co-Regulation As A Proposed Mediator, Tatum Harvey

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The effects of maternal stress on child behavior, especially externalizing problems such as aggression, defiance, and lack of self-control, are well-established within psychological literature. Few studies, however, have examined the effects of maternal stress on child internalizing problems, such as loneliness, withdrawal, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Moreover, there is much research within developmental psychology to support the notion that parent-child co-regulation, sometimes called dyadic synchrony, can predict child behavioral outcomes. Currently, researchers lack an understanding of how this process can interact with maternal stress to predict child internalizing symptoms. The following thesis details a multi-method assessment which is …

Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces) And Temperament In Children Aged 14 To 36-Months, Elysabeth Sexton

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Researchers have explored the effects of early adverse life experiences (ACEs) on children’s developmental outcomes for decades. In this study, I explored whether ACEs in toddlerhood were associated with temperament. I tested the hypotheses that: 1) children who were determined to have a difficult temperamental profile would have higher parent-reported ACE scores than children with an easy temperamental profile, and 2) children’s temperament types would have stronger associations with abuse and neglect ACE scores than with household dysfunction ACE scores. Parents of 94 toddlers, who were between 14 and 36 months of age, completed online surveys on behalf of their …

Polysubstance Exposure And Its Relationship To Pharmacological Treatment Characteristics, Parker Miller

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) remains an ever-growing public health issue and a continued avenue for future research. The research question for this retrospective study was whether polysubstance exposure is related to the dose of medication the infant received or to the number of opioid-medications required to treat the infants’ withdrawal symptoms? The hypothesis for the retrospective study was there will be a significant relationship between polysubstance exposure and the dose of medication the infant received as well as the number of opioid-medications required to treat the infants’ withdrawal symptoms. A bivariate correlational indicated that there was not a significant association …

Creative Gender Expression Performativity As A Coping Mechanism For Minority Stress, Emerson A. Todd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Creative Gender Expression Performativity may be a coping mechanism for dealing with minority stress in sexual and gender minority populations. The current study suggests the creation of a new scale that measures effortful presentation rather than directional presentation. Rather than examining whether someone identifies as masculine or feminine – the proposed model would instead look at how much effort an individual is putting into their gender expression. In this mixed methods study, participants (N = 187) completed a survey based on gender expression, minority stress, and mental health, while 10 participants completed a qualitative post-survey interview via email. Multiple regressions …

Is There A Relationship Between Experiences Of Workplace Discrimination And Self-Stigmatization Among Mental Health Peer Support Workers?, Nicole King

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis aimed to explore whether a statistically significant relationship existed between experiences of workplace discrimination and self-stigmatization among mental health peer support workers. This relationship has not previously been explored in this group. The Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness Scale (ISMI) was used to measure self-stigmatization, and a 3-measure scale adapted by Stromwall, Holley and Bashor (2011), alongside a newly created measure, were used to assess perceived workplace discrimination. The sample was a convenience sample of 20 participants. The researcher expected a positive correlation between workplace discrimination and self-stigmatization. Ultimately, no statistically significant relationship was found between the two …

Art And The Pursuit Of Happiness: How Artists Use Art To Promote Their Emotional Well-Being, August Namuth, Bruce Chase

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Artists have used art’s positive mental and physical health effects for as long as art has been around. Art is known to have many therapeutic and mood benefiting effects, from reduced anxiety and stress levels, to increased confidence and a sense of purpose. Many different clinical studies have found art to be beneficial to people who have suffered from PTSD, bipolar disorder, strokes, and cancer pain. Despite the clearly beneficial effects of creativity associated with art, artists suffer from disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia at a much higher rate than the general population. This study sought to …

What's All The Buzzy About? Using Cryotherapy And Vibration For Pain During Vaccinations In Children, Marta L. Byma

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Vaccinations are the most common painful needle procedure, with an estimated 12 billion injections given per year (CDC, 2019). The usual method for administration of vaccinations is through needle puncture, which is often painful. Children often report receiving a shot as one of the most feared and painful experiences (McMurtry et al., 2015). The purpose of this evidence-based practice (EBP) project was to improve patient experiences by decreasing the pain that is associated with vaccinations through the use of a nonpharmacological method for comfort via the Buzzy® device. After thorough analysis and synthesis of the literature, the Buzzy® device that …

Understanding Adolescent Friendships: An Analysis Of The Role Of Social Perspective-Taking In Friendship Dissolutions, Joseph W. Stewart

Transformations: Presentation Slides

Friendships are critical relationships in adolescence, however, many friendships dissolve. One construct that may play a role in how adolescents experience such dissolutions is social perspective-taking (SPT). To test this hypothesis, 354 middle-schoolers (Mage=11.89, SD=0.86; 53% female; 82% white) completed a self-report, online survey regarding a dissolution experience. Results from an independent samples t-test revealed that females (M=2.45, SD=0.70) displayed higher SPT than males (M=2.09, SD=0.73), t(270)=-4.13, p<0.001. A correlational analysis confirmed our hypothesis that adolescents who showed greater SPT would report higher quality friendships, r(271)=0.593, p<0.001. Contrary to our hypothesis, adolescents who displayed higher SPT were more likely to react with anger (r(257)=0.16, p<0.001), sadness (r(252)=0.31, p=0.01), loneliness (r(253)=0.28, p<0.001), and rumination (r(252)=0.23, p<0.001), and less likely to feel happy (r(259)=-0.29, p<0.001) and relieved (r(255)=-0.26, p<0.001) following a dissolution. These results aid in the understanding of social perspective-taking and its meaning in adolescent relationships and social development.

Assessing The Differences Between Same-Gender And Cross-Gender Friendships In Sexual Health Communication, Felicity Doddato

Transformations: Presentation Slides

Researchers have long studied the connection between sexual health practices and sexual health communication. While current research has examined communication between same-gender friends, it is lacking between cross-gender friends. To test whether differences exist between same-gender and cross-gender friends in their frequency of communication and comfort discussing sexual health, 187 college-aged participants (Mage=20.10, SD=1.34; 49.2% female; 75% White) self-reported their experiences using a Qualtrics survey. Results from independent samples t-tests revealed that same-gender friends reported more frequent discussion of both non-sex-related issues (M=2.53, SD=.51) and sex-related issues (M=1.20, SD=.73) than cross-gender friends (M=2.30, SD=.50; M=.95, SD=.70 respectively), tnonsex(185)=-2.54, p=.012; tsex(185)=-1.98, …

Assessing The Associations Between Friendship Length, Friendship Quality, And Comfort Level Discussing Sexual Health, Payton Charles

Transformations: Presentation Slides

Sexual health communication has been linked to sexual health practices. Such research on communication typically studies parent-child relationships. Therefore, this study sought to test whether friendship length and friendship quality are correlated with comfort level talking about sex among same-gender and cross-gender friends. We surveyed 187 young-adults (Mage=20.10, SD=1.34; 49.2% female; 75% White). Results indicated that there is a significant positive relationship between quality of friendship and comfort level (r(184)=.39, p<.001). However, there wasn’t a significant relationship between length of friendship and comfort level (r(184)=.101, p=.169). When looking at the results in cross-gender friends, women showed a significant positive correlation between friendship quality and comfort level (r(19)=.512, p=.018), while men did not (r(19)=.150, p=.528). These results indicate that there may be a difference in comfort when discussing sexual health topics across genders.

Tsp2 Online Program Evaluation, Carolanne M.L. Clark, Safiya K. Tonico

Transformations: Presentation Slides

This poster will report the results of a program evaluation for a new pilot online resource. The Study Place Project Online (TSP2 Online) is a personalized and confidential resource that aims to help students achieve their academic goals. The resource includes study tips, study locations, advice from professors, and a virtual study session. Students in psychology classes completed a brief online survey including a series of questions about the visuals and content of the pilot online resource. Final data collection and analyses will not be complete until early spring 2020, but preliminary findings suggest that TSP2 Online will be a …

Describing Sexual Health Communication And Education Of Non-Heterosexual Romantic Couples, Cami Allen

Transformations: Presentation Slides

STI rates are on the rise, especially among college-aged adults. Historically, there has been little research concerning LGBTQ+ couples and their communication and education regarding sexual health. To better understand this perspective, the current study utilized both self-report and observational data from five non-heterosexual couples (N=10; Mage=21.90 years, SD=2.92; 60% female; 100% White). Results showed that, on average, participants talked about sexual health related topics for 9.335 out of ten possible minutes. Afterwards, participants reported feeling comfortable discussing these topics (M=5.48, SD=0.73 on a scale from 1-6). A common theme that emerged was the lack of sexual health education for …

Weight Bias And Mindset In Physical Educators, Abigail Caroline Heller

Psychology Theses - Archive

While physical education (PE) classes and sports teams create an opportunity to increase overweight and obese students’ interest in physical activity (Price, 1990), these are settings in which such students encounter stigma from PE teachers and coaches (Bauer et al., 2004). Weight bias predicts negative psychological (Eisenberg et al., 2003) and physical (Hunger & Yomiyama, 2014) outcomes in children and adolescents, which could be offset by positive behaviors related to growth mindset in teachers. The current study examined weight bias in elementary PE teachers as well as the influence of teacher sport-related mindset on weight bias. PE teachers (N = …

The Effects Of Debt On The Relationship To Psychological And Social Well-Being, Kelley Bevers

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

Debt is negatively correlated with multiple health facets such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. The serious consequences of debt can be utterly detrimental to success, both in school and beyond. This study examined the relationships between debt and well-being in a longitudinal sample of 7,104 adults measured at three time points between 1995 and 2014. Data were extracted from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study waves one, two, and three conducted via telephone and mail surveys. Information regarding sex, age, income, student status, debt, psychological and social health, and attitudes toward debt and life satisfaction will be …

The Effect Of Viewing Distance On Empirical Discriminability And The Confidence–Accuracy Relationship For Eyewitness Identification, Robert F. Lockamyeir, Curt A. Carlson, Alyssa R. Jones, Maria A. Carlson, Dawn R. Weatherford

Psychology Faculty Publications (Archived)

The distance from which an eyewitness views a perpetrator is a critical factor for eyewitness identification, but has received little research attention. We presented three mock-crime videos to participants, varying distance to three perpetrators (3, 10, or 20 m). Across two experiments, increased distance reduced empirical discriminability in the form of a mirror effect, such that correct identifications decreased while false identifications increased. Moreover, high confidence identifications were associated with high accuracy at 3 m (Experiment 1 and 2) and 10 m (Experiment 2), but not at 20 m. We conclude that eyewitnesses may be less likely to identify a …

Safe Patient Handling – A Case For National Legislation, David O. Oba

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Introduction: This study examined the effectiveness of Safe Patient Handling (SPH) legislations in difference states across the country. In January 2006, the state of Texas legislated the Safe Patient Handling and Movement Practices Act which required all hospitals and nursing homes to implement safe patient handling and movement program. To date, 10 other states have enacted law or regulations to control work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among healthcare workers (HW). Despite the effectiveness of these policies in the individual states, MSDs remain prevalent among HW nationwide. Hence, the call for national legislation. Methods: Using the state-level incidence rate data from the …

Physician Hospital Arrangement Influence On Nonprofit Hospital Quality,Financial Performance And Community Benefit Expenditures, Andrea Cervin

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Federal policy has encouraged hospitals to provide certain quality outcomes and cost containment. Hospitals have responded by forming physician hospital organizations in attempts to achieve quality outcomes and capture reimbursements. At the same time, federal policy has awarded hospitals with nonprofit status with the requirement to provide community benefits in exchange for the tax exemption they receive. With the formation of physician hospital organizations, there remains the question of whether hospitals are achieving desired quality metrics and whether hospitals are financially viable. There is also public and media interest recently regarding whether nonprofit hospitals fulfill their obligations for community benefit …

T​He​ E​Ffect​ ​Of​ U​Nconventional​ G​As​ ​And​ O​Il​ D​Rilling​ E​Missions​ ​On​ A​Sthma​ ​And​ R​Espiratory D​Iseases​ ​In​ ​The​ B​Arnett​ S​Hale​ ​Of​ T​Exas, Stella A. Okoroafor

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Unconventional gas and oil drilling (UGOD) has increased substantially in the United States for more than a decade. The resultant environmental unsafe air pollution effects of UGOD both locally and regionally have been well documented in the literature. Despite the dramatic increase in unconventional well drilling and the toxicant exposure, the health consequences of UGOD remain largely uncertain. This study assesses the relationship between active wells and healthcare use for respiratory diseases by zip code from 2004 to 2008 in the Barnett shale area of Texas. The first modern shale gas well was drilled in the Barnett shale area of …

A Geospatial Examination Of The Association Between Geographic Food Access And Food Insecurity In Central Texas: The Role Of Race/Ethnicity And Urbanicity, Kathryn Janda

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Food insecurity is a public health issue that affects one in ten Americans, one in seven Central Texans, and is associated with malnutrition, chronic disease, and obesity. Geographic food access is the most intervened upon aspect of food insecurity and is often measured objectively through mapping software, such as ArcGIS. Yet when geographic food access is only measured in terms of distance to food retail, analyses do not full capture the nuances of community context. Thus, other sources of data, like survey data, and demographic indicators, such as race/ethnicity and urbanicity, should be incorporated into the research exploring the association …

Determining The Drivers Of Quality Of Life In Hiv Patints Treated With Antiretroviral Therapy In Subsaharan Africa, Oubote Sangbana

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

During the last decade, HIV in sub-Saharan Africa has shifted from a fatal disease to a chronic condition thanks to the expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART). As a result, the focus of care has transitioned from survival to quality of life (QoL), and the latter has become a significant outcome measure during patient follow up. Yet, the determinants of QoL among HIV patients in western and central Africa are not well known. The objective of this dissertation was to determine the main factors associated with QoL among ART-treated HIV adult patients in western and central Africa to ensure healthcare providers …

Utility Of Plasma Biomarkers In The Validation Of Reported Loc & Pta For Gcs 13-15 Patients: A Track-Tbi Pilot Study, Jeffrey Brennan

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Depending on a brain injury patient to accurately report their duration of unconsciousness and amnesia is clearly flawed. We constructed biomarker-based models to validate these self-reported measurements using a GCS 13-15 subset of participants from TRACK-TBI, a multi-institutional study on traumatic brain injury. Potential covariates were assessed for significant interactions with biomarker level. We report that the predictions of LOC and PTA failed. GFAP exhibited the most consistent serum level increase between categories of both LOC and PTA. Given a number of issues with the study sample, we recommend continued investigation on the prediction of LOC and PTA using a …

When Valerie Solanas Shot Andy Warhol: A Feminist Tale Of Madness And Revolution, Phyllis Chesler

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

In 1967 Valerie Solanas published the Society for Cutting Up Men (the SCUM) Manifesto. She shot artist Andy Warhol in 1968. Her Manifesto raises issues about whether a revolution can be fought or won without using violence. “Nice” girls were of no use to her Radical feminists, especially Ti-Grace Atkinson and Flo Kennedy, saw Solanas as a symbol of a feminist fighting back and rushed to her side. They found a smart, very paranoid woman who was a decided loner. Ultimately, Solanas would not work with Atkinson and Kennedy; she refused to allow them to help her or explain …

Refuge For The Refugee, Chelsia Sooksengdao

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

This capstone investigates the overlap of psychology and architecture as a tool to address the issue of mental wellness in refugees. It focuses on the way refugee camp conditions perpetuate the trauma that is experienced, and how the inhabited spaces foster unhealthy interactions that add to the emotional stress refugees endure. Most of these unhealthy interactions are caused by overcrowded living conditions that prevail in most refugee camps, leading to violations of privacy and personal space. By investigating aspects of social psychology and proxemics, this capstone connects these concepts to spatial solutions, with the goal of reducing emotional stress and …

Simultaneous Multi-Region Local Field Potential Recordings In Response To Noxious Stimuli From Freely Moving Rats, Zhen Wang

Psychology Theses - Archive

Pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage” can be ignited by noxious chemical (e.g. acid), mechanical (e.g. pressure) and thermal (e.g. heat) stimuli and generated by activation of sensory neurons and their axonal terminals called nociceptors in the periphery. Nociceptive information transmitted from the periphery is projected to the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), secondary somatosensory cortex (S2), insular, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala, periaqueductal grey (PAG), and prefrontal cortex (PFC), etc. Local field potential (LFP) attracts an increasing number of attentions as a neurophysiological tool …

Icebreakers And Anxiety, Sara Jurkiewicz

WRIT: Journal of First-Year Writing

This project is based on a personal experience of feeling anxious during icebreakers. It is also incorporated the idea of shyness and sociability and related these to anxiety in general and during icebreakers. A survey was created with questions based on a previous survey, common symptoms of anxiety, and other personal symptoms with anxiety during icebreakers. The survey was distributed among students at one college. The results of the survey were analyze using various functions on a spreadsheet to give each respondent an identity and to organize the data in a fashion suitable for graphs and charts. The result do …

Playing Devil’S Advocate: A Conceptual Replication Of Hirt Et Al. (2003), Bresh Merino, Ed Munnich, Milo Martinez

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

In the field of psychology, it is important that we foster unbiased judgments in our students and encourage them to engage with material on a critical level. The proposed study is a conceptual replication of Hirt et al. (2003), investigating whether considering alternative hypotheses about the results reduces explanation and overconfidence biases for questions about psychological research. Our proposed replication will also consider whether the benefits of counterfactual thinking were transferable, meaning once individuals are prompted to think counterfactually in one domain, they should show reduced biases when considering an unrelated domain. If these debiasing effects generalize to psychological information, …