Exploring The Process Of Mindful Breathing With Stressed Mothers, Caleb D. Farley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mindfulness exists in many parenting and family interventions and are intended to decrease stress, improve familial relationships, and indirectly improve child wellness, and these mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) are relatively effective at doing so. However, critical issues remain related to designing effective and useful interventions for school-based and other community practitioners. Specifically, research has not demonstrated clear relationships between parent mindfulness practice increasing generalized mindfulness behaviors (i.e., awareness and acceptance), experiencing subsequent parental stress reduction, and reporting decreased behavior problems in children. The current study examined these relationships between practicing mindfulness and experiencing changes in parents’ mindfulness process, wellbeing, and perceptions …

The Relation Between Racial Attitudes And Facets Of Impulsivity, Diana M. Perez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Racism is an ongoing issue in U.S. society. The present study examined the relation between racial attitudes and two types of impulsivity (i.e., behavioral inhibition and delay discounting). Prior research has not touched upon the relationship between impulsivity and racial bias; nonetheless, the factors that influence the ability to interfere with automatic thinking and bad decision making may be a way to address racial bias. One hundred eighty-seven White adult participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online survey taking website. The value participants place on future rewards (i.e., delay discounting) and the ability to stop their behavior …

The Sexual Objectification Experiences Of Non-Binary People, Lee R. Pradell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Transgender people are a historically marginalized and disenfranchised group, leading to discriminatory interpersonal treatment such as sexual objectification experiences (SOEs), a type of objectification. Women look at themselves the way men look at them, reducing themselves to objects for someone else’s viewing. This flattening of oneself to value your bodily presentation over functioning increases dissociative states and promotes disordered eating behaviors. Non-binary people experience additive stressors within objectification experiences as people with less social power than cisgender women. This thesis is composed of three separate studies aimed at understanding the SOEs of non-binary people.

The first of three studies recruited …

Children’S Disclosure Of School Bullying: The Relation Between Peer Victimization, Internalizing Symptoms, Negative Affect, And Gender, Julia L. Kiefer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children who are bullied by their peers are at risk for several negative developmental outcomes and are therefore advised to tell an adult when they are. However, victims of school bullying are often reluctant to disclose to adults that they are being bullied. Some bullied children also experience symptoms of anxiety or depression, which could further reduce their likelihood of telling an adult. In this study, I tested the degree to which children’s internalizing symptoms predicted their likelihood of telling adults about being bullied at school, and if this relation was exacerbated by children’s negative feelings associated with telling an …

The Dynamics Of Emotion-Related Impulsivity: An Analysis Of Emotional Control And Daily Emotion-Driven Urges And Actions Via Ecological Momentary Assessment, Jeremy B. Clift

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Emotion-related impulsivity, or the engagement in impulsive reactions specifically in response to emotions, has been identified as a crucial transdiagnostic factor. Mixed evidence from ecological momentary assessments (EMA) underscores a potential discrepancy between the existing measurements of emotion-related impulsivity at trait and state levels. Unlike previous EMA studies examining emotion-related impulsivity through measures of urgency, the current study tested Carver and colleagues’ (2008) reflexive responding to emotion framework by investigating the relationship between emotional control and emotion-related impulsivity. Participants (N = 197) with varying levels of emotional control completed one week of EMA to investigate two central questions. First, we …

Inner Portraits, Bethany Salisbury

Graduate Theses

This paper investigates the many interconnected layers of women’s mental health through portraiture and how animal and plant symbolism can represent the way women's hormones and bodily health affect their mental health. I reveal how the artwork created presents these connections and inner mental health narratives to the viewer, creating a space of empathy, destigmatization, and self-reflection. This body of portraiture art connects five women through a series of both two-and three-dimensional portraits based on interviews using my own adaptation of Sara Lawrence-Lightfoots’ (1983) portrait methodology.

Women and non-binary individuals have always dealt with difficult interactions of bodily and mental …

Comparison Of Neurocognitive And Quality-Of-Life Outcomes In Pediatric Craniopharyngioma Patients Treated With Partial Resection And Radiotherapy Versus Gross-Total Resection Only, Guillermo Aldave, M Fatih Okcu, Murali Chintagumpala, Lucia Ruggieri, Charles G Minard, Fatema Malbari, Lisa E Mash, Arnold C Paulino, Susan Mcgovern, Uma Ramaswamy, William Whitehead, Lisa S Kahalley

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: The optimal management of pediatric craniopharyngioma patients remains controversial, shifting from radical resection (gross-total resection [GTR]) to a more conservative approach with partial resection/biopsy followed by radiotherapy (PR+RT). To the authors' knowledge, no previous studies have compared neurocognitive and quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes between the two main treatments. In this study, the authors compared changes in intellectual, adaptive, and QOL scores in children treated for craniopharyngioma with GTR and those treated with PR+RT.

METHODS: Patients underwent annual neurocognitive and QOL evaluations for up to 10 years posttreatment, including the Full-Scale IQ, Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), Working …

Addicted To The Beloved? - A Comparison Of Craving For And Attention To The Beloved, And Vape Stimuli, Oluchi Onyegbula, Caitlyn Harriman, Sandra Langeslag

Undergraduate Research Symposium

People who are in love seem to be addicted to their beloved. People who are in love have attentional biases for the beloved and people who are addicted have attentional biases for the substance they are using. This raises the question of how similar craving and attention are for the beloved and an addictive substance. However, there are no studies that directly compared craving and attention to the beloved and addictive stimuli. The aims of the current research were to directly compare subjective emotional experiences and sustained motivated attention for the beloved and vape stimuli, in people who are both …

Exploring The Effect Of Sexual Identity And Social Support On Drinking Habits Among College Students, Emily Shelton, Ryan Carpenter

Undergraduate Research Symposium

This study examines the effect of sexual identity status and social support on drinking habits among college students, focusing on the frequency of alcohol consumption.

Unlike previous research that primarily emphasizes the impact of discrimination on drinking behaviors among sexual minority individuals, this study examines the role of social support. We hypothesize that social support serves as a protective factor, buffering the relationship between sexual identity status and alcohol consumption frequency. Using a series of self-report questionnaires, college students were asked to report their perceived social support (PSS), demographic characteristics, alcohol use frequency, and binge drinking habits.

Results from linear …

A Comparative Analysis Of The European And American Child Advocacy Model To Address Violence Against Children, Abigail Champion

Undergraduate Research Symposium

This presentation attempts to explain how each of the child advocacy models in the United States and Europe are different and similar. In addition, the presentation demonstrates how each model addresses violence against children. The slideshow provides examples of tools and resources therapists, social workers, and other social scientists use in the field. Lastly, the slideshow offers solutions and references on how the audience can become advocates and learn more information about child advocacy, child advocacy centers, and the different careers people can work in the child advocacy area.

Acculturation In Psychologists Practicing In The Southwest, Lisa Adams, Amy Band

Undergraduate Research Symposium

It is predicted that within 25 years over 50% of the United States population will identify partially as non-white. There are growing concerns about the immediate availability of culturally competent psychologists prepared to provide effective treatment for increasingly diverse clients. Traditional psychological models of acculturation evaluate an individual’s response to their environment. However, developing research suggests that acculturation can be best be understood through concepts relating to intersectionality. This is an emerging field of study in which multiple facets of identity interact to create a unique culture for a particular individual. While it is believed that intersectionality will ultimately transform …

Only 2000 Psi Of Bottom-Time Air: A Case Study Of Diveheart Participant Social Capital, Kirk J. Williams

Nonprofit and NGO Studies Student Projects

Social capital development for many, but not all, is a relatively organic process, and as social creatures, people work together to reach collective goals. The defined interactions related to the practices of societal norms, taboos, and broad cultural acceptance are constructs of communal decisions lending deep credence to the value of any number of the social capital definitions. However, opportunities are not always readily available to individuals living with disabilities, so they can and do get left out to varied degrees. With unsurprising results, previous research relied on comparing survey data from individuals with and without disabilities to identify possible …

When Tinder Swiping Gets Challenging: Women’S Narratives Of Gender-Based Violence As Shared Through Quora, Zivana Sabili, Elizabeth Kristi Poerwandari

Psychological Research on Urban Society

Amidst the popular use of Tinder in urban society, the decision whether or not to date someone tends to be made quickly based on a photo and a short profile description. Simple as it may seem, there are moments when swiping gets challenging, especially for women. Tinder has a notorious reputation when it comes to gender-based violence. Unfortunately, despite the significant increase in online dating apps usage during the COVID-19 pandemic, this phenomenon is still highly underresearched.

In this qualitative netnographic research, we explore Tinder sexual harassment narratives uploaded by women in Quora. Through judgment sampling, 15 answers from 7 …

Understanding The Impact Of Social-Environmental Context On The Relationship Between Drinking Motives And Drinking Frequency, Janiah Henderson, Ian A. Mcnamara, Ryan Carpenter

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Several studies have shown that drinking motives are a common and proximal pathway to alcohol use, which is in turn linked to long-term health risks such as chronic disease and cancer. The present study builds on earlier research by examining how drinking alone modifies the relationship between drinking motives and frequency of alcohol consumption. Cross-sectional data were collected from undergraduate students (n = 153) at the University of Missouri - St. Louis through an online Qualtrics survey. Participants (mage = 24.42) were largely female (71.9%) and white (71.9%). Linear regression was conducted in RStudio 4.2. RESULTS: In univariate models coping-anxiety, …

The Development Of Kansei-Based Work Events Scale, Nor Hafizah Ibrahim, Zafir Khan Mohamed Makhbul, Abu Hanifah Ayob, Anitawati Mohd Lokman

The South East Asian Journal of Management

Research Aims: This research aims to discover work events that influence employees’ emotional states to construct a more comprehensive Kansei-based work events scale.

Design/Methodology/Approach: A mixed-method approach was adopted by combining qualitative and quantitative techniques in an Exploratory Sequential Design.

Research Findings: In study 1, the Kawakita Jiro (KJ) method (i.e., focus group study) (N = 28) identified four (4) categories of work events (i.e., interpersonal, task-related, organisational policies, and infrastructure and facilities). A new category, career development, was also discovered through this qualitative inquiry. Study 2 (N = 152) and Study 3 (N = 537), which used a quantitative …

Test Of Scientific Literacy Skills (Tosls) Indicates Limited Scientific Thinking Gains As A Result Of Science And Mathematics General Education, Pamela M. Propsom, William M. Tobin, Jacqueline R. Roberts

Interdisciplinary Faculty Scholarship

A number of instruments designed to measure scientific literacy exist, but none has been used to assess improvements in undergraduates’ scientific thinking over their college career. This study utilized the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) in a longitudinal fashion to measure scientific thinking gains of over 800 students from matriculation to graduation at a small liberal arts college. We found the TOSLS to be a useful assessment instrument. Our results indicated rather small benefits of science general education overall, though there were larger improvements for some demographic groups (i.e., women, first-generation college students). STEM majors showed much greater development …

Are You Ready For Retirement? Retirement And Quality Of Life As Resources, Hyunsook Kang, Gina Causin, Mary Olle

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Abstract

Retirement in later life has been considered as an important aspect of life course, because it contributes in many ways to one’s life change, social relations updates, and health declines. Although aging brings with changes and declining all aspects of life, many older adults still remain in active after their retirement. This study will address about relationships between older adults’ retirement and its’ quality-of-life resource. Retirement, itself, may be associated with a loss of professional colleagues and work-related friends (Gloria et al, 2015). By contrast, growing numbers of older adults may maintain their active participation in social networks through …

Logistic Regression With Machine Learning Sheds Light On The Problematic Sexual Behavior Phenotype, Shui Jiang, Keanna Wallace, Esther Yang, Leslie Roper, Garima Aryal, Dawon Lee, Rohit J. Lodhi, Randolph Arnau, Rick Isenberg, Bradley Green, David Wishart, Katherine J. Aitchison

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objectives: There has been a longstanding debate about whether the mechanisms involved in problematic sexual behavior (PSB) are similar to those observed in addictive disorders, or related to impulse control or to compulsivity. The aim of this report was to contribute to this debate by investigating the association between PSB, addictive disorders (internet addiction, compulsive buying), measures associated with the construct known as reward deficiency (RDS), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods: A Canadian university Office of the Registrar invited 68,846 eligible students and postdoctoral fellows. Of 4710 expressing interest in participating, 3359 completed online questionnaires, and 1801 completed the Mini-International …

In-Class Multitasking Among College Students, Huey-Wen Chou, Shuo-Heng Liang

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

The use of mobile devices in class has become a common scene on the college campus. The negative effects of in-class multitasking behaviors have been identified in many educational settings, including colleges. This study investigates the factors that drive college students to multitask and seeks to understand the relationship between learning engagement and multitasking behaviors in the classroom. This study also explores whether polychronic traits relate to multitasking behavior.

A total of 282 survey samples were collected from college students in Taiwan. The results confirmed our hypotheses: (1) Students’ multitasking motivation, including social and emotional needs, positively relates to their …

University School Training Model Consultation Practica: Dismantling Anti-Black Racism With Predominately White Educators To Improve School, Family, Community Collaborations With Black Families And Community Stakeholders, Katherine L. Nelson, Joseph R. Morris

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

This article outlines a consultation case study facilitated in an urban elementary school through the University School Training Model (USTM) (Colles et al., 2019; Morris et al., 2016). The USTM is a collaboration between an APA accredited Counseling Psychology doctoral program and an urban school district to provide racially responsive counseling and consulting services and graduate level training. The case study details a consultation practica to improve school, family, and community collaborations in an urban elementary school with predominantly Black stakeholders and a predominantly White female school staff. The introduction, background, and self-evaluation of the consultation process are reviewed. Project …

Rural Social Work Practice: Trauma-Focused Interventions Social Workers Use, Jose Carbajal

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

This research study examines rural social workers’ level of trauma knowledge and trauma treatment self-efficacy and the use of evidence-based interventions (CBT, TF-CBT, CPT, EMDR and PE). A retrospective design was used to examine Texas rural social workers’ use of evidence-based interventions. The Texas rural social worker sample (N=19) was extrapolated from a larger study (N=1007) conducted in 2014 examining Texas social workers’ trauma treatment and their use of evidence-based interventions. Descriptive and correlation statistical procedures were implemented to analyze the data for the current study. The results show social workers’ knowledge of trauma and treatment self-efficacy scores are above …

Effects Of The True Crime Genre On Anxiety, Armani Lacour, Theresa A. Moore

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Within the literature, violent media is well-established to induce acute and chronic anxiety; violent media is often utilized in experimental research to induce anxiety. Because a relationship between violent media and anxiety has been established, it is plausible exposure to true crime media may also induce anxiety.

The true crime genre features criminal cases of a violent nature, often communicated through visual or auditory media (e.g., television or podcasts, respectively). Within the literature, true crime is an exploratory area of research, thus, additional research is required to determine whether exposure to true crime increases anxiety. The present study will add …

Loneliness As A Predictor Of Stress, Brendan T. Spencer, Ian A. Mcnamara, Ryan Carpenter

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Though much research indicates that loneliness may cause increases in stress, findings are not ubiquitous. In a literature review, only 64% of studies found significant associations between loneliness and stress. One possible explanation for this inconsistency is a non-linear association. Additionally, social support is shown to provide a buffer against stress. Understanding differences in which sources of social support create resilience against loneliness is critical in supporting students. This study examines 1) the shape and nature of the association between loneliness and stress, and 2) the impact of social support on this relationship. Data (n =153) were collected via online …

The Association Of Social Media Use And Psychiatric Diagnoses Among Missouri College Students, Avigail Davidovits, Ryan Carpenter, Khrystyna Stetsiv

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Introduction: “Many college students experience significant mental health difficulties, with the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating these concerns (Sonet al., 2020). Mental health is significantly impacted by social media use, and this relationship has become increasingly complex after the COVID-19 pandemic (Haddad et al., 2021).” Research shows that depression, eating disorders, and anxiety are associated with more time spent on social media (Alam et al., 2021; Khan et al., 2019; Reighm et al., 2019; Sansha et al., 2017; Sidani et al., 2016). To follow-up on this research and assess the relationship between social media usage and psychiatric diagnoses among Missouri college students, …

Negative Emotions In Adults With Congenital Heart Disease, Haley Alberson, Kamila White, Philip Ludbrook, Ari Cedars

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Pain may signal a life-threatening heart problem, particularly for a person with living with congenital heart disease (CHD). Aims of the current study were to describe pain and its distribution, and to test a theoretical framework for poor outcomes including the independent and combined impact of medical and psychological risk among 106 outpatients (46% female) with CHD. Our sample represented a wide-range of pain experiences, and included both tails of the distribution (i.e., quartiles), SF-36 Pain Scale IQR = 32.5, R 22.5–100. About one-third reported persistent, at least moderately intense pain interfering with daily life. Univariate tests showed poorer pain …

The Interaction Of Psychopathic Traits And Self-Agency In A Student And Community Sample, Carter B. Wheelock

Undergraduate Research Symposium

The current study aims to explore the relationship between an individual’s psychopathic traits and their experience of agency as previous research has yet to examine the contributions of these constructs in a non-criminal sample. The current study hypothesized that an individual’s total psychopathy and blame externalization subscale scores would have a negative correlation with their scores of self-agency. The participants (N = 73, 63% female), who were university students or nonstudents from the local community, completed online surveys assessing their psychopathic traits and experience of agency via the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) and Sense of Agency Scale (SoAS). Our analysis …

Music & Synesthesia: An Exploration Of Synesthesia And Its Relation To Musical Perception, Raquel S. Johnson

Pacific Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference (PURCC)

This research investigates synesthesia and its impact on musical perception. Synesthesia is the multimodal sensory phenomenon in which the stimulation of one sensory modality generates the experience of a second, otherwise unrelated sense. Discussed topics include: a description of synesthesia and its neurophysiological and perceptual characteristics, the historical conceptualization and documentation of synesthesia beginning with the ancient Greeks, and present-day scientific inquiry. This research explores three varying types of auditory synesthesia - chromesthesia (sound-to-color synesthesia), auditory-tactile synesthesia, and sound-gustatory/sound-olfactory synesthesia - and their multimodal sensory characteristics in relation to music. Prominent neurophysiological hypotheses regarding the existence of synesthesia are examined, …

The Mental Health Epidemic In Veterinary Medicine: An Analysis Of Burnout In The Veterinary Field, Hannah Eckstein

Undergraduate Theses

The Mayo Clinic describes burnout as a specific type of stress that involves a state of physical or emotional exhaustion. This exhaustion can lead to a lowered sense of accomplishment and negative personal identity. Despite burnout not being an actual diagnosis, many researchers believe there are several mental health components that contribute to burnout, such as depression and anxiety. Several factors are known to contribute to specifically work-related burnout, including lack of control, work-life imbalance, lack of social support, and extremes of the activity. All of the above factors relate to the veterinary field. In one study, 6.8% of male …

Mental Health Stigma And Social-Cognitive Factors Influence Behavioral Intentions To Seek Psychological Help, Bobbie Juaneza, Whitney Whitaker

Academic Leadership Journal in Student Research

Recent estimates suggest that one in five adults in the United States of America experience mental health issues each year; this is estimated to be approximately 51.5 million adults. Despite many individuals who might suffer from mental health issues, and perhaps be diagnosed with a mental health disorder, these same individuals may not seek psychological services when needed. The current study examined mental health stigma (i.e., public and self-stigma of mental health) and social-cognitive factors (i.e., attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control) that might influence a person’s willingness to seek out psychological help. The Theory of Planned Behavior was used …

Attitudes Of Muslim Americans Regarding Prejudice And Discrimination Displayed By Non-Muslims, Munder Abderrazzaq

Journal of Social Work in the Global Community

Abstract

Muslim Americans have reported experiencing racial profiling, physical threats, and verbal abuse based on their religion, ethnicity, and color (Samari, 2016). These types of lived experiences can have negative personal consequences for Muslim Americans and influence their attitudes and behavior toward non-Muslims. A literature review conducted by Simon et al. (2018) suggests the need for research that explores the point of view of minorities regarding intolerance displayed by majority members. Intolerance is defined as the refusal and unwillingness to tolerate or respect individuals from different social or minority groups who hold different beliefs. Prejudice and discrimination can hinder the …