Psychology Commons^™

Assessment Of Adolescent Anxiety, Anna E. Martinez-Snyder

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent of any group of disorders among adolescents. Further, the prevalence of anxiety disorders has been shown to increase from adolescence to young adulthood, underscoring the importance of researching adolescent anxiety. Screening for anxiety in adolescents is necessary to identify and treat these disorders, which requires measures with good psychometric properties. One aim of the present study was to examine and compare the psychometric properties of the separation anxiety, social anxiety, panic, and generalized anxiety scales of the Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS), and the Youth Anxiety …

Not A Good Fit For The Job: An Intersectional Study Of Occupational Stereotypes In The Field Of Technology, Jesus Jose Martinez

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Occupational stereotypes are preconceived notions about specific occupations, the people in those occupations, or one’s fit with an occupation (Lipton et al., 1991). Previous studies of occupational stereotyping have been useful to understand the impact of single demographic characteristics (e.g., gender; King et al., 2006) and multiple demographic characteristics (i.e., race-gender interaction; Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004) on hiring preferences. A set of three studies were conducted to expand the field’s understanding of fit with occupational stereotypes as a mechanism of discrimination toward multiple combinations of social groups in the technology field.

The goal of the first study was to establish …

An Observational Study Of Maternal Parenting Behavior And Adolescent Social Anxiety, Cassandra R. Mick

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Parenting behaviors, especially maternal parenting behaviors, have been implicated in the etiology and maintenance of adolescent Social Anxiety Disorder and its symptoms for decades. Following calls from meta-analyses and literature reviews for observational measurement of parenting behaviors and preliminary results from a pilot study reviewed here, this investigation sought to evaluate the utility of the undermining autonomous relatedness (UAR) index of the Autonomy and Relatedness Coding System as a path through which maternal social anxiety symptoms are transmitted to adolescents. A racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of 64 early adolescents (Mage = 12.37; 53.1% White; 64.1% female) and their mothers …

Merely Mortal: A Quantitative Examination Of The Dehumanization Of First Responders, Kari M. Mika-Lude

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Background: While understaffing and work-related stress are not unusual within first responder professions, the past few years have added additional strain. COVID-19, political and civil unrest, and economic downturn have stretched the first responder workforce thinner than ever, contributing to a reduction in the workforce through death, early retirement, attrition, or decreased vocational effectiveness. Unfortunately, public stereotypes coupled with the tenets of first responder culture have done little to support those who serve. Public perception often involves polarized stereotypes about first responders (e.g., good guys or bad guys, heroes or villains), and first responder culture encourages a machine-like demeanor. The …

“If I Had Felt Comfortable Or Accepted, I Would Have Made More Progress”: A Phenomenological Investigation Into The Experiences Of Lgbtq+ Persons In Clinical Professional Counseling, Valerie Moreno-Tucker

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The counseling literature has indicated that LGBTQ+ persons have experienced fewer positive mental health outcomes than cisgender heterosexual persons. Professional counselors, despite their requirement to provide culturally sensitive counseling services for all communities, must learn how to better need the needs of LGBTQ+ persons and communities. This dissertation elevates LGBTQ+ persons’ voices by examining the experiences of LGBTQ+ persons in clinical professional counseling. Specifically, the IPA approach was utilized in analyzing data from six individuals who each participated in two interviews lasting 45-90 minutes each. This investigation found commonalities between each participant regarding both their helpful and unhelpful experiences in …

Considering Construct Strength And Personality Differences On Susceptibility To Context Effects, Joy Samini Pawirosetiko

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Despite researchers’ best efforts, it still is unclear whether researchers and practitioners can feel comfortable randomizing survey items because of its inconsistent impact on psychometric properties. Using moderated non-linear factor analysis, the present study explored whether randomization, construct strength, and differences in conscientiousness and neuroticism affected respondents’ survey responding behavior to randomized and grouped versions of a communication anxiety measure. Randomization did not affect how respondents interpreted the measure’s content but did affect how they responded to matrix items that appeared next to repeated response scales. Construct strength positively predicted factor level differences, with respondents who reported feeling more certain …

The Effects Of Rater Training On Rater Effects And Validity Of Direct Behavior Ratings, Abigail E. Pruitt

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Educators have a responsibility to accurately measure student behavior in order to identify students in need of additional behavioral support. Current behavior screening tools can be lengthy or difficult to complete, and Direct Behavior Ratings (DBRs) offer a solution. However, DBRs are rater-mediated assessments, prone to rater effects. Rater training methods can be used to mitigate these rater effects, but previous research has not investigated the best training method for reduction of rater effects. Additionally, Many Facet Rasch Measurement (MFRM) provides an opportunity to adjust student ratings in response to individual rater tendencies of severity and leniency. Therefore, the primary …

The Role Of Social Support In The Association Between Socioeconomic Status And Academic Outcomes For Early Adolescents, Yoonsun Pyun

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Students’ experiences in school, specifically experiences of academic success, have a lasting impact on their future outcomes, such as future academic achievement, employment and financial stability, and reduced risk of substance use in adolescence and psychopathology in adulthood. However, there are a number of risk factors that affect students’ academic outcomes, such as low socioeconomic status (SES). The literature consistently demonstrates discrepancy in academic outcomes for students from different SES backgrounds, such as students from lower SES background entering high school with lower reading skills and having higher high school dropout rates in comparison to students from higher SES background. …

Modeling And Visualization Of Long-Term Public Opinion On Covid-19 Vaccine, Ashiqur Rahman

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The coronavirus pandemic created significant dependence on social media. While the social web was crucial in spreading timely information and informing the public, misinformation has also spread with little to no oversight. Several works have focused on identifying misinformation and topic analysis in COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) tweets. While most of the previous studies focus on a shorter time frame, we analyzed a larger dataset starting from the beginning of the pandemic until the end of December 2021. Our work focuses on a novel area that identifies the motivating and demotivating topics of COVID-19 vaccination and analyzes these topics based on time, …

Exploratory Study Of Practicum Counselor Strategies Of Connection And Disconnection, Ashley S. Roberts

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

There is an urge within professional counseling to provide socially just and multiculturally competent care. Relational Culture Theory (RCT) aligns with these goal as included its core components is theory about how people develop in stratified cultural contexts. Although there is increasing empirical support for RCT, there is a gap in understanding of how professional counselors implement RCT strategies of connection and disconnection. Therefore, the researcher in this study implemented instrumental case study design and directed content analysis to understand practicum counselor responses to clients. Findings of this study are applied to clinical practice, counseling education, and supervision.

Quarantine And Isolation Experiences Of College Students: A Narrative, Brooke Gibson

Masters Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic was an unanticipated phenomenon, with a lack of information surrounding quarantine and isolation experiences in college students and how this impacts their sense of belonging. This qualitative narrative study utilized semi-structured interviews to understand the participants’ experience of isolation at a rural mid-sized university in the Midwest. The research shared the students experiences and showed that participants lacked some sense of belonging whether it was with friends, family, or their institution.

Social Validity And Feasibility Of The Five In 20 Classroom Management Observation Tool, Kaylee Hampton

Masters Theses

The present study aimed to assess the social validity and feasibility of a standardized classroom observation tool intended to assess teachers’ current use of the five features critical to effective classroom management. Forty-three observers who regularly conducted classroom observations (e.g., school psychologists) were recruited to complete 20-min observations in kindergarten through twelfth grade classrooms, and then complete an adapted behavior intervention rating scale to assess their social validity ratings of the tool. Due to COVID-19, observers could either complete a live observation or recall a previously completed observation. Of the 43 observations, 15 were live and 28 were recalled. To …

Staff Perception Of Pbis Implementation In Illinois School Districts, Dominique Starling

Masters Theses

Behavioral management is a top priority in the educational setting. Historically, schools have implemented a variety of different methods to manage behaviors in schools. One of these methods is punitive punishment, which has led to the school-to-prison pipeline phenomena. The school-to-prison pipeline is a practice in the U.S. public schools that removes students with behavioral issues from educational institutions often resulting in placement in juvenile and criminal justice systems. Through zero tolerance and other punitive disciplinary policies, many youths find themselves dropping out or being expelled from school and eventually in juvenile detention centers and prisons. Research evidence shows that …

School-Based Mental Health Professionals’ Perceptions Of And Role In Disciplinary Practices Related To The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Ashlyn Wingate

Masters Theses

The school-to-prison pipeline is a process in which school children are funneled out of the school system and into the criminal justice system through suspension and expulsion, both forms of exclusionary discipline. Suspension and expulsion are ineffective disciplinary policies that have harmful effects on school children, contributing to grade retention, drop-out, involvement in the juvenile justice system, and higher unemployment and incarceration rates as adults. These damaging practices occur in the presence of school-based mental health professionals (school psychologists, school social workers, and school counselors) who are trained to promote the overall wellbeing and success of school children. In the …

Self-Compassion And Emotion Regulation As Predictors Of Disordered Eating, Mandira Srivastava

Masters Theses

Disordered eating attitudes and behaviors are becoming widespread, with individuals employing maladaptive compensatory strategies to cope with the distress and dissatisfaction with themselves that they face. Emotion regulation and self-compassion, both are well-researched areas, with their relationships with disordered eating also being an emerging area of interest. However, there is limited literature that has examined the relationships among the three constructs, wherein it has been reported that self-compassion and emotion regulation serve as predictors of disordered eating in individuals. The goal of this study was to look at the connections between emotion regulation and disordered eating, self-compassion and disordered eating, …

Problematic Social Media Use And Depression In College Students: A Mediation Study, Morgan Hummel

Masters Theses

Recent research has shown a relationship between problematic social media use and depression symptoms in adults in the United States. Social comparison has been identified as a mediator in this relationship in previous studies. Little research has explored the underlying mechanisms in social media use and the onset of depression symptoms in college aged students. The present study examines whether social comparison mediates the relationship between problematic social media use and depression symptoms in 102 college students in the US. The participants completed measures of problematic social media use, social comparison, and depression symptoms. The results indicated a positive relationship …

Ethnic Differences In The Way College Students Cope With Stress, Temavulane N. Motsa

Masters Theses

Stress is one of the key concerns for students and has also been labelled the highest factor impacting students’ academic performance in colleges. A student’s ability to adequately cope with their stressors could determine their academic success or failure. This study examined whether there are any ethnic differences in the way African American and Caucasian American Students cope with stress. Data were collected from Students at Eastern Illinois University which included 45 African American Students and 40 Caucasian American students. The results revealed no significant differences in the way Caucasian American and African American students cope with stress. This paper …

First Responders’ Assumptions: An Exploration Of Emergency Medical Technicians’ Secondary Traumatic Stress And Perceptions Of Substance Users, Glenn Noble

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Emergency medical technicians (EMT) and firefighters respond to critical incidents and provide emergent care. As the opioid crisis continues and drug overdose rates increase, first responders administer first aid to substance users, including Naloxone, more frequently. This study examined the influence of repeated exposure to drug-related critical incidents and provision of care to substance users on EMTs' and firefighters' secondary traumatic stress (STS) level, world assumptions, and substance use stigma. First responders' world assumptions, STS, burnout, and exposure to drug-related overdoses were analyzed for their power in predicting substance use stigma. Results suggest that occupational burnout, rather than STS, is …

Sexual Satisfaction And Dysfunction In Female Survivors Of Sexual Violence: The Moderating Effect Of Sexual Motivations, Kyla A. Leonard

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

One in four women are sexually assaulted at some time during their life, which often results in negative effects including lower levels of sexual satisfaction and higher rates of sexual dysfunction. While sexual violence has been consistently linked to lower levels of sexual satisfaction and higher rates of sexual dysfunction, not all women who experience sexual violence go on to experience these negative effects. This suggests that there may be another factor involved in the development of post-assault sexual problems. Research indicates that one factor may be motivation for sexual intercourse as different motivations have shown predictive value for sexual …

Social Support Networks As Buffers Against The Association Between Covid-19 Related Stress And Depression: A Latent Profile, Three-Way Interaction Approach, Kathleen Kelly

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Since the beginning of the pandemic, approximately one in four people in the general public have experienced moderate to severe levels of stress, which precures the development of depression. Young adults were extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 related stressors developing into mental health disorders (Wang et al., 2020). PURPOSE: The study aimed to explore this vulnerability in a young adult, undergraduate sample. The main purpose was to explore to what extent profiles of sources of social support networks can strengthen or weaken the proposed association between various types of COVID- 19-related stress and depression and whether social support was a …

Parent Training Workshop For Children With Selective Mutism: A Randomized-Controlled Trial, Jacqueline M. Pabis

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The present study aimed to examine the efficacy of a parent-based workshop for child anxiety adapted from a novel parent-based intervention, Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). This study expanded upon the current literature as the intervention was conducted with a sample consisting of parents with children who have selective mutism (SM). The sample included 53 parents (Mage = 40.34 years, 98% female, 77.4% White) of children who have SM symptoms. Participants were randomly assigned to the parent workshop condition (n = 26) or the waitlist control condition (n = 27). Participants in the workshop condition completed a 6-week …

Evaluating Dro With Asymmetrical Magnitude Of Reinforcement, Lindsey M. Hronek

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) is a reinforcement schedule used in behavior analytic procedures aimed at decreasing various forms of challenging behavior. DRO commonly includes a reinforcement component and an extinction component; a reinforcer is delivered on an interval-based schedule dependent on the omission of a target behavior and the reinforcer is withheld following the occurrence of the target behavior (i.e., extinction). Although interventions using DRO can be effective for challenging behavior, procedures that include extinction can at times be impractical or lead to undesirable side effects. A DRO schedule can be implemented without extinction, but previous research has …

Athlete Attachment Style With Coaches As A Predictor Of Athlete Disordered Eating And Body Image Anxiety, Taylor Allen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The coach-athlete relationship has been established as an important and significant relationship within athletes’ lives (Davis & Jowett, 2010; Jowett, 2008). There is also literature that demonstrates the impact of the sport culture environment and the quality of the coach-athlete relationship on disordered eating and body image anxiety in athletes (Galli et al., 2011; Petrie & Greenleaf, 2012; Reel et al., 2010; Shanmugam et al., 2013). However, much of the current literature does not examine this significant coach-athlete relationship from an attachment framework. Current literature supports the significance of the coach-athlete relationship and more recent research supports viewing coaches as …

When #Playaparttogether Takes A Dark Turn, Richard Alweis

CHED Talks

This is an M&M style presentation involving a case of internet gaming disorder. It focuses on the neurology and pathology of internet addictions, as well as screening tools.

Characteristics Of Sickle Cell Trait Policies And Procedures At Ncaa Division I Institutions, H Parker, B J. Warner, D M. Gallegos, S A. Cage

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

Context: In 2010, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) introduced a proposal addressing sickle cell trait screening. This proposal later became a policy that required student-athletes in their first year of eligibility to provide their institution with accurate information regarding their sickle cell trait status. There does not appear to be a recent study published that has examined the sickle cell trait policies and procedures currently being used by NCAA Division I institutions. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of sickle cell trait policies and procedures at NCAA Division I institutions. Methods: We used a web-based …

Characteristics Of Sickle Cell Trait Policies And Procedures At Ncaa Division Iii Institutions, M A. Eilers, B J. Warner, D M. Gallegos, J A. Clark, S A. Cage

Clinical Practice in Athletic Training

Context: In 2010, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) introduced a proposal addressing sickle cell trait screening. This proposal later became a policy that required student-athletes in their first year of eligibility to provide their institution with accurate information regarding their sickle cell trait status. There does not appear to be a recent study published that has examined the sickle cell trait screening policy and procedures currently being used by NCAA Division III Institutions. Thus, the purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of sickle cell trait policies and procedures at NCAA Division III institutions. Methods: We used …

Good Trouble: Disrupting The Disproportionality Of Black Boys In Special Education Due To Misdiagnosed And Unaddressed Trauma, Montrell Pryor

DSW Capstone Projects

Black boys experience a myriad of trauma as they navigate through society under the gaze of white patriarchy and archetypes. Whether engaging in trauma or witnessing it, it impacts Black boys tremendously, particularly in the educational setting. What typically looks like misbehavior in the classroom can be symptoms of unaddressed and untreated trauma that have been triggered and exacerbated in the school setting. As a result, this phenomenon contributes to the disproportionality of Black boys in special education and adds to the expansion of the school-to-prison pipeline.

This capstone provides a thorough examination of the literature in the form of …

Addressing The Mental Health Disparities Among Black Children During Natural Disasters: A Clinical Perspective And Response To The Covid-19 Pandemic., Brittany Reed

DSW Capstone Projects

The experiences of Black children resulting from the events surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic present a projection to create long-term mental health effects at higher rates than their peers of other races. While the long-term effects of this pandemic are still considered ongoing, the disparities within the Black community will subsequently develop into a trickle-down effect of secondary traumatic experiences faced by Black children. Then, where does that leave Black children and their mental health? This capstone project aims to examine how the Covid-19 pandemic will affect Black children, explore the mental health challenges and disparities faced by Black children resulting …

Zombie At Work (Aggressive) Zombie At Home: The Relationship Between Work Boredom And Romantic Partner Undermining And Disengagement, Kenzie Dye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Work boredom is an understudied topic within Industrial/Organizational psychology, and studies have yet to examine work boredom in the context of the work-nonwork interface. The present study reviewed the current work boredom literature and then examined two pathways by which boredom may be related to employees' behavior at home. It proposed that negative affect, in the form of frustration, is a link between work boredom and undermining behaviors toward one's romantic partner. The cognitive pathway connecting work boredom with romantic partner disengagement, was proposed to be affective rumination. These pathways were expected to be buffered with a high work-nonwork segmentation …

The Role Of A Certified Child Life Specialist Within A Child Advocacy Center, Breanna E. Hintz

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Childhood abuse and neglect is currently a prevalent issue in our society. Children who do not receive adequate support and ongoing services experience lasting impacts on their mental health and ability to cope with future events. Child Advocacy Centers (CAC) are community-based agencies that promote the intervention of childhood abuse and neglect. This setting, paired with the tailored support of Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS), is an under-researched yet promising combination of services that can encourage the healing process for these children and their families. This study aims to understand the role of CCLSs in a CAC and how their …