Applied Behavior Analysis Commons^™

Girls Just Want To Be Safe: An Analysis Of Drugged Drinking And Prevention Amongst Students At The University Of South Carolina, C. Gray Forsberg

Senior Theses

Drink-spiking has become a well-known phenomenon since the turn of the century, especially on college campuses in the United States. Drink-spiking or drugging can be defined as “adding alcohol or drugs into someone’s drink without their knowledge or permission” (Alcohol and Drug Foundation, 2006). Drink-spiking is not just relevant to the concern of an illicit substance being placed into an alcoholic drink, but adding additional alcohol to drinks or adding alcohol or drugs to non-alcoholic drinks is considered drugging as well. This study collected data through a survey sent to 250 current students at the University of South Carolina regarding …

Message Reframing & Covid-19 Safety Precautions, Elise Coberly

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Past research found that the personality aspect Orderliness was more strongly associated with conservatism, while Compassion was more strongly associated with liberalism. The present research aimed to examine whether framing COVID-19 safety precautions (about mask wearing, social distancing, and vaccination) with an Orderliness or Compassion focus would make the message more receptive to liberals and conservatives. We hypothesized that reframing the messages to match with the participants’ personality and ideological leanings would lead to greater support for the message. In our study (N = 679), participants read a COVID-19 safety precaution message with either an Orderliness or Compassion frame …

Smart Homes For Smart Health: Developing An Interactive System To Reduce In-Home Secondhand Smoke, Christie Kika, Janice Han, Vincent Berardi

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Smoke from any source is potentially harmful because it contains fine particulate matter that is associated with acute and chronic conditions. Second-hand smoke (SHS) is particularly unsafe for children due to biological characteristics (higher breathing rates, immature lungs and underdeveloped immune systems) that make it difficult to filter toxins.To address this concern, we recently completed Project Fresh Air (PFA), an NIH-funded R01 intervention that installed air particle sensors in the households of tobacco smokers who lived with children. The purpose of our research is to investigate and develop efficient smart home devices that monitor SHS in various living spaces to …

The Intersection Of An Epidemic And Pandemic: Smoking, Risk-Taking, And Covid-19, Allison H. Stranick

Student Publications

Electronic cigarette use has risen drastically in recent years among teens and young adults. Rates of conventional cigarette use have decreased, while rates of electronic cigarette use are on the rise. Knowledge and perceptions of the risks and benefits of conventional and electronic cigarettes greatly impacts adolescents and young adults’ decisions to use these products. Published literature explores the issues of social norms, intertemporal choice, present bias, prospect theory, and hyperbolic discounting as means to explain the way in which young populations perceive risk and risky behavior. Research suggests that children and young adults believe that e-cigarettes are safer, less …

Factors Associated With Binge Drinking During The Transition Into Adulthood: Exploring Associations Within Two Distinct Young Adult Age Ranges, Tamara Leech, Sarah Jacobs, Denis Watson

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background:

Binge drinking among young adults aged 18-21 years has declined over the past decade, but binge drinking rates among people 22-25 years old have remained largely the same. This steady trend in later years represents a departure from the traditional course of maturing out of risky alcohol use, perhaps because young adults are delaying the transition into adulthood.

Aims:

This paper explores the relationship between binge drinking and aspects of the transition into adulthood that could inform interventions targeting these two distinct groups of young adults.

Methods:

We use survey data on 1,081 young adults aged 18-25 living in …

Student Wellbeing And Open Studio Process In The School Curriculum, Maria Kim

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study aimed to explore whether Open Studio Process (OSP) increased wellbeing of middle and high school students when facilitated by teachers as a part of the regular art curriculum. It was hypothesized that OSP might increase the sense of wellbeing among middle and high school students as well as facilitating teachers. The research was conducted as a mixed methods study in South Korea where students need preventative interventions for their wellbeing. The researcher trained eight teachers to facilitate OSP and five of them implemented it with their classes for seven sessions. Quantitative data (K-YSR; pre- and posttest) were collected …

Targeted Advertising Can Increase Healthy Food Choices Among College Students, Stephanie Spera

Population Health Research Brief Series

Poor nutrition in young adulthood can increase risk of obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in mid- and later life. Targeted nutrition programs for young adults are essential to reduce the burden of chronic disease in the U.S. over the next several decades. This research brief describes a successful healthy food marketing strategy that was used at Syracuse University to promote healthy food purchasing among college students.

Servant Leadership Characteristics And Empathic Care: Developing A Culture Of Empathy In The Healthcare Setting, Mark Anthony Martin

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the degree to which servant leadership characteristics are exhibited in medical group practices, and the degree to which servant leadership characteristics correlated with measures of empathic care. This study featured an explanatory mixed methods research design embedded in appreciative inquiry. A total of 189 mid-level practitioners consisting of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and practice mangers responded to a 32-item scale survey that featured a six-point Likert scale to measure servant leadership items and a 10-point continuous scale to assess measures of empathic care. The servant leadership items were based on the seven …

Is It Who Am I Or Who Do You Think I Am? Identity Development Of Adolescents With Substance Use Disorders, Danielle N. Treiber

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to unearth how adolescents with substance use disorders achieve the task of identity formation and the construction of self-concept in the midst of the drug culture and society that exists. It sought to uncover the social constructs designed to ignore and/or remove human complexities and allow an intersectional approach to be brought to a study on this population. Historically, there has been a failure to investigate the underlying social attitudes and behaviors that impact the very delicate and vulnerable process of finding self. Psychosocial and relational adjustment are strongly influenced by the extent to …

“Are You Accepting New Patients?” A Pilot Field Experiment On Telephone-Based Gatekeeping And Black Patients’ Access To Pediatric Care, Tamara Leech, Amy Irby-Shasanmi, Anne L. Mitchell

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Study Objectives

To determine whether the name and accent cues that the caller is Black shape physician offices’ responses to telephone‐based requests for well‐child visits.

Method and Data

In this pilot study, we employed a quasi‐experimental audit design and examined a stratified national sample of pediatric and family practice offices. Our final data include information from 205 audits (410 completed phone calls). Qualitative data were blind‐coded into binary variables. Our case‐control comparisons using McNemar's tests focused on acceptance of patients, withholding information, shaping conversations, and misattributions.

Findings

Compared to the control group, “Black” auditors were less likely to be told …

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

Weight-Loss Treatment-Induced Physical Activity Associated With Improved Nutrition Through Changes In Social Cognitive Theory Variables In Women With Obesity, James J. Annesi, Nicole Mareno

Health Behavior Research

Behavioral weight-loss treatments have typically been unsuccessful and a theoretical. Even when treatments were scientifically derived, theory has rarely been used to decompose, and understand the bases of, their effects. This 2-year study evaluated mediation of the prediction of nutritional changes by changes in physical activity, through social cognitive theory variables. Data from women with Class 1–2 obesity, classified as “insufficiently active” (N = 50; Mage = 47.6 years), were extracted from 2 initial trials of a new cognitive-behavioral intervention. That treatment sought to improve self-regulation, mood, and self-efficacy through increased physical activity, to then induce improved eating …

Does First Sex Really “Just Happen?” A Retrospective Exploratory Study Of Sexual Debut Among American Adolescents, Lisa D. Lieberman, Eva S. Goldfarb, Samantha Kwiatkowski, Paul Santos

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

First sex marks a significant transition for most adolescents, yet teens often report that it was unplanned. Seventy-four college students participated in exploratory focus groups about their first sex. Although initially asked whether their first sex was spontaneous or planned, many participants revealed evidence of forethought or anticipation, signifying a third option, anticipation. This study suggests that the development and timing of sexual health messages should build on the apparent, albeit often unacknowledged, planning and thought that accompany the transition to first sex. Specifically, during the time immediately preceding first sex, young people might be particularly open to such messages.

Perspectives On Conceptualizing Developmentally Appropriate Sexuality Education, Sara Silverio Marques, Eva Goldfarb, Julianna Deardoff, Norman A. Constantine

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Despite recognition of the importance of a developmentally appropriate approach to sexuality education, there is little direct guidance on how to do this. This study employed in-depth interviews with experienced sexuality educators and developers of sexuality education materials to identify how this concept is understood and applied in the field. Developmentally appropriate sexuality education was conceptualized consistently across interviews to include (a) addressing developmentally relevant topics, (b) adapting content to cognitive development, (c) accommodating developmental diversity, and (d) facilitating the internalization of sexual health messages. However, these views fell short of incorporating the breadth of knowledge offered by adolescent development …

Urine Cotinine In Children And Parental Behavior Modification: A Pilot Study, Teresa Lachance

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

“Urine Cotinine in Children and Parental Behavior Modification” was designed by Dr. Deirdre Burns, a pediatrician at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital (BBCH). It was implemented as a pilot study to determine whether urine cotinine testing in children who are admitted to the hospital for respiratory illness and tracking parental smoking behaviors over time was feasible. Parents were given a brief survey to assess their current smoking behaviors and to understand their readiness to quit smoking. They received smoking cessation materials provided by the Breathe Easy Coalition of Maine. These materials outline information about second-hand and third-hand smoke, and encourage …

Perceptions Of Peer Sexual Behavior: Do Adolescents Believe In A Sexual Double Standard?, Michael Young, Susan Cardenas, Joseph Donnelly, Mark J. Kittleson

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

BACKGROUND

The purpose of the study was to (1) examine attitudes of adolescents toward peer models having sex or choosing abstinence, and (2) determine whether a “double standard” in perception existed concerning adolescent abstinence and sexual behavior.

METHODS

Adolescents (N = 173) completed questionnaires that included 1 of 6 randomly assigned vignettes that described male and female peer models 3 ways: (1) no information about model's sexual behavior, (2) model in love but choosing abstinence, and (3) model in love and having sex. Participants read the vignette to which they had been assigned and responded to statements about the peer …

Types Of Persuasive Message Promoting Blood Donation In Hong Kong, Pui Chuen Tam

Bachelor of Social Sciences – Senior Theses

Based on Ferguson, Farrell, & Lawrence (2008)’s study on persuasive messages promoting blood donation, this study has identified a characteristic of persuasive message that could influence Chinese participants’ behavioral intention to donate blood. Participants (N = 66) were randomly assigned to read one of the four messages with different focuses and framings. They then indicated their behavioral intention to donate blood after reading the messages. Two-way ANCOVA, with self-efficacy as covariate indicated that respondents after reading altruistic messages reported a higher intention to donate blood than those who read egoistic messages. Moreover, it is also revealed that within people with …

Diversity In Times Of Austerity: Documenting Resistance In The Academy, Tamara Leech, David Moscowitz, Terri Jett, Terri Carney, Ann Savage

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

What happens to feminism in the university is parallel to what happens to feminism in other venues under economic restructuring: while the impoverished nation is forced to cut social services and thereby send women back to the hierarchy of the family, the academy likewise reduces its footprint in interdisciplinary structures and contains academic feminists back to the hierarchy of departments and disciplines. When the family and the department become powerful arbiters of cultural values, women and feminist academics by and large suffer: they either accept a diminished role or are pushed to compete in a system they recognize as antithetical …

Local Tobacco Control: Application Of The Essential Public Health Services Model In A County Health Department’S Efforts To Put It Out Rockland, Lisa D. Lieberman, Una Diffley, Sandy King, Shelley Chanler, Maryanne Ferrera, Oscar Alleyne, Joan Facelle

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

In 2000, Rockland County, a small suburban county north of New York City, dedicated $1 million of its Master Settlement Agreement funds to a comprehensive tobacco control program, Put It Out Rockland. Developed and implemented by the county health department, this program used an essential public health services model and an ongoing financial investment, within the context of strong statewide tobacco control efforts, to lower adult smoking rates to 9.7% and to reduce both smoking among youths and exposure to secondhand smoke over the ensuing decade. By combining state funds and local dollars for a total of $6.75 cost per …

Short- And Long-Term Associations Between Widowhood And Mortality In The United States: Longitudinal Analyses, J. Robin Moon, M. Maria Glamour, Anusha M. Vable, Sze Yan Liu, S.V. Subramanian

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background

Past research shows that spousal death results in elevated mortality risk for the surviving spouse. However, most prior studies have inadequately controlled for socioeconomic status (SES), and it is unclear whether this ‘widowhood effect’ persists over time.

Methods

Health and Retirement Study participants aged 50+ years and married in 1998 (n = 12 316) were followed through 2008 for widowhood status and mortality (2912 deaths). Discrete-time survival analysis was used to compare mortality for the widowed versus the married.

Results

Odds of mortality during the first 3 months post-widowhood were significantly higher than in the continuously married (odds ratio …

Empowerment-Based Positive Youth Development: A New Understanding Of Healthy Development For African American Youth, Raphael Travis Jr., Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

A shift occurred in research about adolescents in the general population. Research is moving away from deficits toward a resilience paradigm and understanding trajectories of positive youth development. This shift has been less consistent in research and practice with African American youth. A gap also exists in understanding whether individual youth development dimensions generate potential in other dimensions. This study presents an empowerment-based positive youth development model. It builds upon existing research to present a new vision of healthy development for African American youth that is strengths-based, developmental, culture-bound, and action-oriented. It emphasizes the relationship between person and environment, the …

Risky Sexual Behavior: A Race-Specific Social Consequence Of Obesity, Tamara Leech, Janice Johnson Dias

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Scant attention has been given to the consequence of actual weight status for adolescents' sexual wellbeing. In this article, we investigate the race-specific connection between obesity and risky sexual behavior among adolescent girls. Propensity scores and radius matching are used to analyze a sample of 340 adolescents aged 16-17 who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Young Adult Survey in 2000 or 2002. Nearly even numbers of these participants identified as white and black (183 and 157, respectively). We find that compared to their non-obese white peers, obese white adolescent girls exhibit higher rates of multiple sex partners …

Subsidized Housing, Public Housing, And Adolescent Violence And Substance Use, Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

This study examines the separate relationships of public housing residents and subsidized housing residence to adolescent health risk behavior. Data included 2,530 adolescents aged 14 to 19 who were children of the National the Longitudinal Study of Youth. The author uses stratified propensity methods to compare the behaviors of each group—subsidized housing residents and public housing residents—to a matched control group of teens receiving no housing assistance. The results reveal no significant relationship between public housing residence and violence, heavy alcohol/marijuana use, or other drug use. However, subsidized housing residents have significantly lower rates of violence and hard drug use, …

Recently Arrested Adolescents Are At High Risk For Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Christopher Salvatore, Steven Belenko, Richard Dembo, Doris Weiland, Matthew Rollie, Alexandra Hanlon, Kristina Childs

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Adolescent offenders may be at high risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). With previous research and interventions focused on incarcerated adolescents, data are needed on STD prevalence and risk factors among newly arrested youth released to the community, a far larger subgroup.Participants were recruited from all arrested youth processed at the Hillsborough County, Florida Juvenile Assessment Center during the last half of 2006 (506 males, 442 females). Participants voluntarily providing urine samples for drug testing as part of standard protocol were also consented to having their specimens split and tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea, using an FDA-approved nucleic acid amplification …

Perceived Smoking Environment And Smoking Initiation Among Multi-Ethnic Urban Girls, Tracy R. Nichols, Amanda Birnbaum, Sara Birnel, Gilbert J. Botvin

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose

To examine associations between the perceived smoking environment and smoking initiation among urban multi-ethnic adolescent girls in New York City.

Methods

Self-report surveys completed in grades 7, 8, and 9 assessed girls’ (n = 858) smoking initiation, and perceived smoking environment (family smoking, friends’ smoking, smoking norms, and cigarette availability). Carbon monoxide breath samples were collected from girls using a variation of the bogus pipeline procedure.

Results

Differences were found in smoking prevalence with white girls reporting the highest prevalence of smoking at baseline and the greatest increase in smoking prevalence from seventh to eighth grade. Black girls reported …

Naturally Occurring Changes In Time Spent Watching Television Are Inversely Related To Frequency Of Physical Activity During Early Adolescence, Robert W. Motl, Edward Mcauley, Amanda Birnbaum, Leslie A. Lytle

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

In this longitudinal study, we examined the relationship between changes in time spent watching television and playing video games with frequency of leisure-time physical activity across a 2-year period among adolescent boys and girls (N=4594" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: normal; font-size: 16.200000762939453px; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; position: relative;">). Latent growth modelling indicated that a decrease in time spent watching television was associated with an increase in frequency of leisure-time physical activity. That relationship was strong in magnitude …

Self-Management Strategies Mediate Self-Efficacy And Physical Activity, Rod K. Dishman, Robert W. Motl, James F. Sallis, Andrea L. Dunn, Amanda Birnbaum, Greg J. Welk, Ariane L. Bedimo-Rung, Carolyn C. Voorhees, Jared B. Jobe

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background

Self-efficacy theory proposes that girls who have confidence in their capability to be physically active will perceive fewer barriers to physical activity or be less influenced by them, be more likely to pursue perceived benefits of being physically active, and be more likely to enjoy physical activity. Self-efficacy is theorized also to influence physical activity through self-management strategies (e.g., thoughts, goals, plans, and acts) that support physical activity, but this idea has not been empirically tested.

Methods

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the factorial validity of a measure of self-management strategies for physical activity. Next, the construct …

Scale Development For Perceived School Climate For Girls’ Physical Activity, Amanda Birnbaum, Kelly R. Evenson, Robert W. Motl, Rod K. Dishman, Carolyn C. Voorhees, James F. Sallis, John P. Elder, Marsha Dowda

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Objectives: To test an original scale assessing perceived school climate for girls' physical activity in middle school girls. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results: CFA retained 5 of 14 original items. A model with 2 correlated factors, perceptions about teachers' and boys' behaviors, respectively, fit the data well in both sixth and eighth-graders. SEM detected a positive, significant direct association of the teacher factor, but not the boy factor, with girls' self-reported physical activity. Conclusions:School climate for girls' physical activity is a measurable construct, and preliminary evidence suggests a relationship with physical activity.

Predictors Of Violent Behavior In An Early Adolescent Cohort: Similarities And Differences Across Genders, Jonathan L. Blitstein, David M. Murray, Leslie A. Lytle, Amanda Birnbaum, Cheryl L. Perry

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

The authors assessed a cohort of 2,335 students from the Minneapolis, Minnesota, area to identify predictors of violent behavior and to determine whether the predictors varied by gender. The sample was 76% White; boys and girls were equally represented. The majority lived with two parents. A measure of violent behavior collected at the end of the eighth-grade year (2000) was entered into Poisson regression against baseline data collected at the beginning of the seventh-grade year (1998). Predictors of violent behavior influencing both boys and girls included depressive symptoms, perceived invulnerability to negative future events, paternal nonauthoritative behavior, and drinking alcohol. …

Longitudinal Invariance Of The Center For Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale Among Girls And Boys In Middle School, Robert W. Motl, Rod K. Dishman, Amanda Birnbaum, Leslie A. Lytle

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

This study tested the longitudinal factorial invariance of a theoretically consistent, higher-order model for Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scores among adolescent girls and boys in middle school. Data were collected from 2,416 adolescents who completed a survey containing the CES-D in the fall of 1998, spring of 1999, and spring of 2000. The invariance analyses were conducted using LISREL 8.50 with maximum likelihood estimation and the Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square statistic and standard errors. The higher-order model demonstrated longitudinal, as well as gender, invariance of the overall factor structure and first- and second-order structure coefficients, first-order factor variances, second-order factor …