Psychology Commons^™

Exploring Social Determinants Of Covid-19 Related Sickness And Suffering In The Bronx, Hamida Chumpa

Student Theses and Dissertations

Through a positivistic and phenomenological approach, the study examines social determinants of COVID-19 related sickness and suffering in the Bronx, New York City, New York, ZIP codes 10462, 10472, 10467, 10458, 10474, and 10464. I utilize a violence paradigm (structural and everyday violence) to describe the social determinants of risk and sickness-related suffering and deploy an assemblage framework to shed light on how these determinants create negative synergies that undermine wellbeing and render certain communities vulnerable to extreme suffering. The mixed methods include 64 surveys and eight interviews. Analysis methods include a descriptive analysis of survey results and a thematic …

Spring 2021

Scientia

From the Dean: A Decade of Purpose and Progress; Lab Notes: Alumna Wins Gordon Bell Special Prize, New Scholarships, Vaccination Site Volunteers; Women in Science Lecture, National Institutes of Health Grants, "Unequal Cities" Research; All Hands on Deck: Inspired pandemic approaches showcase interdisciplinary acumen in action; Unlocking Potential: Christopher Beasley thinks psychology is key to academic transformation for the formerly incarcerated; Puzzle Master: Bridget Tenner goes to pieces solving problems in cutting-edge mathematics

The Political Pandemic: Investigating The Relationship Between Political Ideology And Covid-19 Compliance, Allison Moore

Undergraduate Theses

One key to curtailing the health costs of COVID-19 is adherence to social distancing measures. Despite their importance, distancing measures seem to have proved divisive. The present research sought to identify ideological differences in behavioral compliance to distancing measures and to account for the psychological underpinnings of behavioral differences. A first study (April, 2020; N=571) using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk revealed conservatives to be significantly less likely to obey social distancing recommendations than liberals. Differences among conservatives and liberals in adherence to self-reported social distancing practices were significantly mediated by perceived COVID-19 health risk and perceived media accuracy in covering the …

Why Do Some Americans Resist Covid-19 Prevention Behavior? An Analysis Of Issue Importance, Message Fatigue, And Reactance Regarding Covid-19 Messaging, Hannah Ball, Tayah Renea Wozniak

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the rapid transmission of and death toll claimed by COVID-19, there is evidence of resistance toward behaviors shown to effectively prevent and slow the spread of the disease, such as mask wearing and social distancing. This study applies psychological reactance theory to examine COVID-19 message factors (i.e., message fatigue, issue importance) that may be linked to nonadherence to CDC recommendations via the experience of reactance. Participants (N = 268) were current U.S. residents over the age of 18 who completed an online survey about their perceptions of COVID-19 messaging in general as well as toward a specific COVID-19 …

Can A Self-Compassion Writing Intervention Impact Feelings Of Loneliness?, Brooke R. Offenhauser

Psychology Honors Projects

Loneliness is an increasingly widespread concern for many individuals, especially college students and young adults, and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Loneliness can negatively impact health and well-being; however, many interventions are not successful in reducing loneliness. One possible intervention may be a resilience practice. Namely, self-compassion may reduce feelings of loneliness because it provides a way to connect with oneself and support well-being. This study aimed to examine the impact of a self-compassion intervention on feelings of loneliness and well-being in college students. It utilized a self-compassion writing intervention compared to a control self-affirmation writing intervention and …

Examining Physical Activity Behaviors And Psychometric Beliefs Of College Students Before And After The Covid-19 Shutdown, James White Iii

Graduate Theses

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine PA behaviors, social support and self-efficacy for PA, Rosenberg self-esteem, and perceptions of body weight before and after the COVID-19 shutdown (March 15, 2020) among the college demographic.

Participants: 311 college students from a four-year, comprehensive, southeastern university in the United States were included in the study from December 1, 2020 until March 5, 2021.

Methods: Surveys were conducted via Qualtrics, an online survey system, and consisted of approximately 40 items, including demographic information, PA behaviors, social support and exercise, self-esteem, self-efficacy to exercise, and perceptions of body weight and self-image. …

Psychological Distress And Susceptibility To Disease In The Infant And Early Childhood Mental Health (Iecmh) Workforce In The Time Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ashley Sexton

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Chronic stress, anxiety, and depression can have many adverse effects on physical health, including immunosuppression and increased susceptibility to disease. For the last year, the world has endured sustained stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which has had its own impact on mental health. Stress from COVID-19 will likely have an even greater impact on the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) workforce due to the stressful nature of their work. Self-care has been shown to improve overall wellbeing and act as a buffer for stress. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate if IECMH workers with clinically significant …

How Covid19 Has Impacted Students Nutrition And Eating Habits With The Abrupt Closure Of Restaurants And Campuses, Chloe Sermet

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic causing college campuses, restaurants, and businesses to shut down, many college students found themselves having to return home or find alternative food resources. Due to these factors, it was imperative to examine how college student’s eating habits have changed throughout the pandemic, dealing with lots of stressors, and whether having prior education on nutrition influenced those eating habits. To examine those effects, 17 nutrition minors and 126 non-nutrition minors participated in the current study in which they took the College Students Eating Habit survey and the Perception of Peer Pressure Scale. The outcome of the …

The Effect Of Companion Animals On The Mental Health Of College Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sarah E. Cooper

Global Public Health | Senior Theses

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the burden of mental illness in the United States, especially among young adults (Czeisler et. al., 2020).

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine whether pet ownership has an effect on the mental health, specifically depression and anxiety, of students at Dominican University of California during COVID-19.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional quantitative survey that included demographic questions as well as questions developed from modified questions from validated survey items. Data was collected on whether participants owned or lived with any pets. Participants who answered “yes” were asked whether the companion …

Masked Emotions: Studying The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Emotional Regulation In College Students And Beyond, Sara Katherine Taft

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Studies regarding the socioemotional selectivity theory have found that upcoming endings lead to a positivity bias in individuals’ executive functioning. The current study seeks to expand upon this theory by studying the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on college students and graduates. It was predicted that a) current students would demonstrate more negative emotionality than pre-COVID students, b) that current students would demonstrate a greater positivity bias than pre-COVID students, and c) that this bias would be more pronounced in current seniors and weaker in current freshmen and college graduates. Participants responded to several scales regarding personality (neuroticism, shyness) and …

Covid-19’S Impact Of Social Isolation On Seniors In An Assisted Living Facility, Mary Mclaughlin

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This study explores the impact of social distancing precautions in response to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic by resident seniors in an assisted living facility. Previous studies describe how social distancing regulations can amplify feelings of loneliness in all age groups. However, pandemic-related lockdowns and social distancing measures disproportionately affect vulnerable older populations. Resident seniors in an assisted living facility in Omaha, NE participated in a semi-structured interview focused on the perceived impact of COVID-19 safety precautions. Participants reported a temporal dimension of impact, specifically, an increased level of loneliness in the evening, but also discussed the importance of encouragement …

Social Environment Changes During Covid-19 Quarantine, Aileen Jimenez

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research project is to understand perceptions of the psychological, behavioral, and social impacts of COVID-19. Students at the University of Mississippi were invited to participate in an online questionnaire administered through Qualtrics. The questionnaire was composed of questions concerning health behaviors, including questions from the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Scale, Fear of Coronavirus-19 Scale, and the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring study. 274 students participated in the study. Overall, the results of this study suggested moderate distress across the sample, differences in sleep, exercise, and alcohol consumption during quarantine conditions, …

The Relationship Between Resilience And Social Support Among College Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Amy Baskin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to the unprecedented and unexpected nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is little data to date that have investigated the impact on college students. The current study evaluated the relationships between resilience, social support, and distress levels among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. One-hundred and ninety-one college students in a psychology course completed three measures assessing resilience, social support, and distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first hypothesis was that as social support increases, then resilience will also increase in a college population during a worldwide pandemic. A second hypothesis was that as resilience increases, then distress will …

Roboethics In Covid-19: A Case Study In Dentistry, Wendy C. Birmingham, Yaser Maddahi, Maryam Kalvandi, Sofya Langman, Nicole Capicotto, Kourosh Zareinia

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused dramatic effects on the healthcare system, businesses, and education. In many countries, businesses were shut down, universities and schools had to cancel in-person classes, and many workers had to work remotely and socially distance in order to prevent the spread of the virus. These measures opened the door for technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence to play an important role in minimizing the negative effects of such closures. There have been many efforts in the design and development of robotic systems for applications such as disinfection and eldercare. Healthcare education has seen a lot …

Innovative Virtual Role Play Simulations For Managing Substance Use Conversations: Pilot Study Results And Relevance During And After Covid-19, Glenn Albright, Nikita Khalid, Kristen Shockley, Kelsey Robinson, Kevin Hughes, Bethany Pace-Danley

Publications and Research

Background: Substance use places a substantial burden on our communities, both economically and socially. In light of COVID-19, it is predicted that as many as 75,000 more people will die from alcohol and other substance use and suicide as a result of isolation, new mental health concerns, and various other stressors related to the pandemic. Public awareness campaigns that aim to destigmatize substance use and help individuals have meaningful conversations with friends, coworkers, or family members to address substance use concerns are a timely and cost-effective means of augmenting existing behavioral health efforts related to substance use. These types of …

Activities In A Long-Term Care Facility Amidst A Global Pandemic, Kayla Valente

Honors Projects

This paper focuses on the lives of individuals in Wood Haven Health Care in Bowling Green, Ohio during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Living in a long-term care facility can be difficult any time, but since the lockdown began life has been especially challenging for the individuals in nursing facilities. I worked directly with the residents at Wood Haven during my internship with the activities department. With this position, I was tasked with creating fun and engaging activities that also kept residents safe. I will be discussing different research about activities in long-term care facilities, specifics about activities during the COVID-19 …

Supporting The Child Welfare Workforce During The Coronavirus Pandemic: Technology, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

Other QIC-WD Products

The child welfare workforce is responsible for ensuring children’s safety and well-being, delivering treatment, and intervention services to families. Workers must document child and family information, service plans, and visit records in secure data systems, that are often only accessible from an office. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, many states had to rapidly pivot to remote technology to conduct mandatory visits of children in foster care and engage in supervised visitation between children and their families. They also had to determine how to provide oversight of treatment and intervention services required through case plans even though many provider services had …

Economic Insecurity As A Risk Factor During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Klaus E. Cavalhieri

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently spreading at a rapid rate worldwide. The current pandemic may have several adverse effects on overall psychological functioning and health behaviors. Economic insecurity, operationalized as financial strain and employment uncertainty, can be a significant risk factor for both psychological outcomes and compliance with shelter-in-place recommendations (i.e., health behaviors). One hundred and twenty four participants answered survey data on economic security, fear of COVID-19, health care system distrust, anxiety, well-being, and compliance with CDC recommendations to curb the spread of COVID-19 (i.e., health behaviors; CDC, 2020). Economic security was significantly associated with well-being, …

Parent-Child Relationships And Student Outcomes In Children: A Comparison Before And During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Angela Kladias

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

The current study investigated the connection between parent-child relationships, academic achievement, and child attitudes in school-aged children both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, I examined relationships among parent- and child-perceived emotional closeness, attitudes toward school, and child achievement in elementary and middle school aged children. The current study examined associations between parent-child relationship factors and academic student outcomes, comparing these associations both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Differences in student outcomes were examined based off of COVID-19 circumstances as well as what level of emotional closeness and interaction the parents and child have. Attitudes and achievement of …

A Qualitative Study Examining Home As Faculty Workplace During Covid-19 Self-Isolation, Lee Stadtlander, Amy Sickel

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: Using the lens of the virtual workplace model, the current basic qualitative study examined how COVID-19 self-isolation affected both online and land-based faculty (working online as an emergency due to COVID-19) workspaces and work processes.

Method: A total of 20 online and six land-based faculty completed e-mail interviews both one month and 3 months post self-isolation.

Results: Online faculty were more satisfied with their home workplace, but both groups felt more negative about their online work, as they felt a loss of freedom and independence due to the isolation.

Conclusions: Findings indicated that both land-based and online faculty showed …

Leadership Crisis Communication During The Pandemic Of 2020, Daryl Watkins, Steven Walker

Publications

COVID-19 provided a unique opportunity to examine leadership communication strategies during an extended crisis. The authors used political discourse analysis to review the crisis communication of President Donald Trump and seven U.S. governors using the U.S. Center for Disease Control crisis communication framework. The findings demonstrated that U.S. governors typically used effective communication strategies during their press briefings. President Trump often did not use effective crisis communication. The governors’ crisis communication styles were consistent with the CDC’s guidelines. The governors’ communication styles demonstrate that they are “in the arena,” while President Trump has attempted to remove himself from the arena.

Creativity As A Means To Well-Being In Times Of Covid-19: Results Of A Cross-Cultural Study, Min Tang, Sebastian Hofreiter, Roni Reiter-Palmon, Xinwen Bai, Vignesh Murugavel

Psychology Faculty Publications

he coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought about unprecedented uncertainty and challenges to the worldwide economy and people’s everyday life. Anecdotal and scientific evidence has documented the existence of a positive relationship between the experience of crisis and creativity. Though this appears to be ubiquitous, the crisis-creativity-well-being relationship has not been sufficiently examined across countries and using a working adult sample. The current study drew on a sample consisting of 1,420 employees from China (n = 489, 40% females), Germany (n = 599, 47% females), and the United States (n = 332, 43% females) to examine whether creativity can …

Covid-19, Camping, And Construal Level Theory, Christopher Craig, Siyao Ma, Ismail Karabas

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

This study explores the impact of COVID-19 on travelers’ future recreational vehicle, cabin, and tent camping decisions extending the Construal Level Theory. Findings suggest that camping consideration due to COVID-19 is significantly related to understanding about time and distance of travel and dependent on pandemic scale.

Health Literacy Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Behavior Of Street Children’S Mothers In Indonesia, Yanti Tayo, Ninis Agustini Damayani, Atwar Bajari, Wawan Setiawan

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The COVID-19 virus, which is spreading rapidly and massively around the world, is causing panic and fear in everyone; the Indonesian government is taking quick steps to solve the COVID 19 pandemic that is currently happening. What about the fate of street children currently still on the streets working as street singers, beggars, and hawkers? This study aims to see how health literacy possessed by the mothers of street children who are still on the streets during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses a qualitative research method with a phenomenological approach. The resource persons in this study were ten mothers …

Analyzing Student Experience On Group Work With The Application Of Different Group Allocation Approaches, An Yee Tan

Management and HR

Working as a group can be as challenging as working by oneself. Common issues like ineffective group work, unequal work contribution, and poor communication are believed to be the reasons why many students preferred to work individually. The purpose of this study is to understand if there is a disparity in student experience on group work by implementing different methods of group formation, which are, intentional group formation and random assignment. Topics around team well-being, team communication, and team effectiveness are the main focus of this study. The second emphasis of this study is students’ opinions on whether or not …

Noncompliance With Safety Guidelines As A Free-Riding Strategy: An Evolutionary Game-Theoretic Approach To Cooperation During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jose C. Yong, Bryan K. C. Choy

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Evolutionary game theory and public goods games offer an important framework to understand cooperation during pandemics. From this perspective, the COVID-19 situation can be conceptualized as a dilemma where people who neglect safety precautions act as free riders, because they get to enjoy the benefits of decreased health risk from others' compliance with policies despite not contributing to or even undermining public safety themselves. At the same time, humans appear to carry a suite of evolved psychological mechanisms aimed at curbing free riding in order to ensure the continued provision of public goods, which can be leveraged to develop more …

Asian Americans Experience Microassaults During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Aaron Cheng, Brooklyn King, Aldo Barrita, Anthony King, Gloria Wong-Padoongpatt

Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal

Microaggressions are typically brief and common behavioral/verbal indignities that communicate a sense of hostility, derogatory, or negative perception towards a targeted group. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed an increase in the amount of microassaults, a more intentional type of microaggression, towards the Asian American population. In our study, we used a two-way 2x2 (Race: Asian Americans vs. White Americans; Time: before vs. during COVID-19) analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with repeated measures on one factor (Time) to determine whether there was a statistical significance between race in the experiences of microassaults before and during COVID-19. We used a self-report survey …

The Psychosocial Well-Being Of Older Adults In Covid-19 And The 'New Normal', Micah Tan, Paulin T. Straughan, William Tov, Grace Cheong, Wensi Lim

ROSA Research Briefs

Early research into COVID-19 has focused predominantly on the immediate and direct physical health effects of the pandemic, as compared to the wider, indirect effects of the pandemic on general well-being brought about by the various measures put in place to contain the virus. In terms of policies, focus has also been placed largely on containment and broad based policies for the entire population. As experts increasingly recognize that the pandemic will be a protracted event (The Straits Times, 2021), however, there is a need for stakeholders to place greater emphasis on the indirect effects of COVID-19 that will likely …

Student Well-Being In The Time Of Covid: Survey Of Online Students’ Coping, Ellen Catherine Coble

Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented the global population with a considerable stressor resulting in significant loss of life, impaired health, disrupted social practices, and economic atrophy. While many have been impacted and are currently being studied, a population less frequently considered in the literature is that of online college students. Previous research has indicated the influence of several factors on college students’ well-being when coping with stress under typical circumstances such as coping strategies (e.g., problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant/dysfunctional), experiential avoidance, and social support. Studies performed in the wake of large-scale crises highlight proximity to the crisis …

Increased Mood Disorder Symptoms, Perceived Stress, And Alcohol Use Among College Students During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nora E. Charles, Stephanie J. Strong, Lauren C. Burns, Margaret R. Bullerjahn, Katherine M. Serafine

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption during the spring of 2020. Many college students were told to leave campus at spring break and to complete the semester remotely. This study evaluates effects of this disruption on student well-being. Measures of psychological symptoms, perceived stress, and alcohol use during the pandemic were completed by 148 students in spring 2020 and 352 students in fall 2020 at a university in the southeastern U.S. Results from both cohorts were compared to 240 students who completed the same measures in the fall 2019 semester. Participants in spring 2020 reported more mood disorder symptoms, perceived …