A Reexamination Of The Cognitive Behavioral Model Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Investigating The Cogency Of The Model’S Behavioral Pathway, Madison Sunnquist

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive behavioral theories of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) assert that cognitions and behaviors perpetuate the fatigue and impairment that individuals with CFS experience (Wessely, Butler, Chalder, & David, 1991). Vercoulen and colleagues (1998) utilized structural equation modeling to empirically develop a cognitive behavioral model of CFS. The resulting model indicated that attributing symptoms to a physical cause, focusing on symptoms, and feeling less control over symptoms were associated with increased fatigue. Additionally, individuals who attributed symptoms to a physical cause reported lower activity levels and more fatigue and impairment. However, in an attempt to replicate this model, Song and Jason …

Moderating Effects Of Ethnic Identity On The Relationship Between Environmental Stressors On School Suspensions Of Urban Latino/A Youth, Carlos Luna

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Latinos are the largest growing and overall youngest population in the US, in comparison to other ethnic groups. Nearly 40% of Hispanic youth were found to be living in poverty, the largest group of any minority. As of 2014, 20% of Hispanics had less than a high school education and fourteen percent had an educational attainment between ninth and tenth grades; indicating that they had begun a high school education but were unable to finish. Racial and ethnic disparities have also been found to exist within the justice system; Hispanics accounted for twenty-two percent of the prison population while only …

The Role Of School Climate In Mitigating The Effects Of Neighborhood Socio-Economic Status And Violence On Academic Achievement, Linda D. Ruiz

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

In recent years the quality of education available to children has become increasingly dependent on the social and economic demographics of neighborhoods in which the children live. This study assesses the role of community violence in explaining the relation between SES and academic outcomes and the potential of positive school climate to promote academic achievement. With a sample of 297 Chicago public elementary schools, we test the hypotheses that violent crime mediates the relation between SES and academic achievement, and school climate has a direct effect on achievement and moderates the relation between SES and academic achievement. Results support the …

Entrepreneurship As Empowerment: How Women Are Redefining Work, Charlynn Odahl

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The number of women who are entrepreneurs in the United States has steadily risen since the 1970s and today women found almost half of all new companies. For women, creating their own companies through entrepreneurship may be a way to reject existing work settings, where existing setting and gender dynamics may limit their advancement, creativity, or flexibility. Indeed, entrepreneurship may serve as a form of empowerment to enable women to pursue greater control over their lives. Yet research on the lived experience of this population is limited, with few studies examining the lived experience of this important group. Also, existing …

Housing And Abstinence Self-Efficacy In Formerly Incarcerated Individuals, Christopher R. Whipple

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Formerly-incarcerated individuals with substance use disorders face many barriers upon release from prison. In order to avoid returning to substance use and prison, these individuals must successfully navigate the re-entry process, which includes finding adequate housing and avoiding substance use. As abstinence self-efficacy, or confidence to abstain from substance use, has been found to predict better substance use outcomes, it is important to understand the relation between housing situations and abstinence self-efficacy in formerly-incarcerated individuals. This study examined the role that time spent in various housing situations, including controlled, recovery, independent, precarious, and homeless situations, affect abstinence self-efficacy. Two hundred …

State-Level Anti-Bullying Policy: Toward A System-Level Implementation Framework, Andrew Martinez

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a public health concern, with negative mental health and academic consequences. In response to the prevalence of bullying in our nation’s schools, all 50 states have now enacted anti-bullying legislation. Overall, these mandates include a series of requirements geared toward addressing bullying in school settings and improving overall school climate.

Following this trend of states enacting anti-bullying legislation, the State of Connecticut, the focus of this study, passed PA 11-232, An Act Concerning the Strengthening of School Bullying Laws (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 11-232). This legislation was passed in 2011 and brought forth a series of mandates geared …

Neighborhood And School Influences On Academic Achievement And Educational Attainment, Crystal Monique Coker

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that poverty is a greater predictor of educational disparities than race, despite the national focus on racial disparities. Further, living in disadvantaged neighborhoods that are characterized by qualities such as high poverty and unemployment can place a double burden on already poor students, further undermining educational achievement and future success. Neighborhood disadvantage is linked to a range of poor academic outcomes, yet only recently has research begun to explore the processes underlying the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and these outcomes. Drawing on ecological theory, the following study proposes to examine how multiple settings relate to student outcomes. …

The Response Of Religious Leaders To Intimate Partner Violence: Overcoming The "Holy Hush", Jaclyn Danielle Houston-Kolnik

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) continues to be a social problem with many survivors seeking assistance from their religious leaders. In order to understand how to improve the response of religious leaders to IPV, this dissertation explores the various ways religious leaders understand and respond to survivors of IPV and the religious beliefs that may contribute to their response. The responses of religious leaders vary as some may deny or justify the abuse while others may link survivors to resources within the religious congregation or local community. Furthermore, these responses may be shaped by particular religious beliefs such as beliefs about …

Thinking About Race: The Development And Implication Of Racial Ideology, Robert E. Gutierrez

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Underlying contemporary discussions of race and race relations in the United States is the concept of racial ideology. Racial ideology comprises the ways in which individuals conceptualize racial identity, race relations, and the practical and ideal roles race plays in our lives. Two dominant models of understanding racial ideologies have emerged: Colorblindness and multiculturalism. Colorblindness advocates a race neutral approach while multiculturalism affirms and values the diversity of racialized experience. Critics of colorblindness argue that inattention to the role race plays in individuals’ lives serves to propagate an unequal status quo, and can actually exacerbate racial inequality. Conversely, critics of …

The Influence Of Parish Factors In Catholic Deacon Ministry Assignments: An Ecological Model Perspective, Danielle S. Vaclavik

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Abstract Permanent deacons are a population within the Catholic Church whose numbers have been growing significantly in the last 50 years, with an estimated 18,000 men serving as deacons in the U.S. alone (Gautier, 2013). Deacons are ministers of charity and social justice, ordained to serve their local community for its religious, economic, and social needs through a commitment to their faith. In their growing importance and influence in the Catholic Church, little research examined permanent deacons as individuals or in relationship to the communities they serve.

For this thesis, data was taken from a larger nationwide study of 1,997 …