Preventing Sexual Victimization: An Assertiveness Training Program For Female Adolescents, Emily Morgan

Dissertations

Unwanted sexual experiences occur too frequently in the United States and result in myriad deleterious consequences. The first instances of unwanted sexual experiences for females most frequently occur during adolescence (ages 12 to 17). Despite this, the majority of literature on sexual victimization and victimization prevention programs focus on college-aged females, thus leaving a need for research on prevention programs for adolescent females. The present study examined the effects of an assertiveness training program on the risk for sexual coercion among adolescent females. A behavioral skills training model (i.e. instruction, model, rehearsal, and feedback) was used to teach seven adolescent …

Norms For Baseline Concussion Tests, Kaci Lee Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The present study was designed to establish Baseline concussion normative data for non-athlete students using the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT-5), Rey Word Recognition Test (RWRT), The A Random Letter Test of Auditory Vigilance (A-Test) and the Rey Dot Counting Test (DCT). The study considers the comparative differences when the non-athletes are told to complete the task to the best of their ability, to those who are told to perform poorly on purpose, and those who are instructed how to perform badly. Method: Sixty non-athlete students at Florida Institute of Technology volunteered in the study using the university’s online …

An Examination Of The Degree Of Self-Knowledge Across Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, And Millennials, Jenna Marie Manelli

Theses and Dissertations

Generations and their differences, as well as the construct of self-knowledge, have been studied at length due to their potential predictive power over an individual’s behaviors. This research proposes to build upon these constructs by blending them together in order to see the differences that exist on various personality dimensions, as well as on self-knowledge, between the Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millennial generations. In order to test these hypotheses, archival data were used. Participants in the archival data set were grouped based on their generation depending on the year of their birth. The federal government, specifically the U.S. Census …

Mental Health Stigma And Help-Seeking In A College Sample: Barriers And Potential Motivators For Action, Christina H. Morris

Honors College Theses

Stigma surrounding mental health is one of many barriers impeding help-seeking behavior. This study had two aims: (1) to examine the relationships between mental wellbeing, internalized stigma, help-seeking attitudes, and demographic variables such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, and marital status, and (2) to explore what hinders students in the help-seeking process and determine what would make students more likely to seek psychological help if they perceive a need for it. It was hypothesized that the relationship between internalized stigma and help-seeking attitudes would be moderated by gender, and the relationship between mental wellbeing and help-seeking attitudes would be mediated …

Overcoming Exposure To Complex Stressors: An Examination Of Protective Coping Mechanisms For Low-Income Urban African American Youth, Molly Cory

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Low-income urban African American youth experience multiple uncontrollable stressors (e.g. community violence) that may then impact the severity of controllable stressors (e.g. school stressors) and combine to produce negative life outcomes. In light of these negative outcomes, it is important to understand individual protective factors, and the coping response in particular. Past research has emphasized the advantages of primary control engagement coping, but recent evidence suggests that low-income urban African American youth facing complex and uncontrollable stressors may benefit more from disengagement strategies in response to uncontrollable stressors. Although it is expected this population would additionally benefit from applying engagement …

Chronic Life Stress And Change In Stress Response Functioning In Urban Youth: The Role Of Social Support And Gender, Heather M. Marshall

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) has been established as a bio-marker of stress reactivity in acute stressor tasks. Much less research exists exploring whether sAA is bio-marker for chronic stress exposure, and therefore, allostatic load. Extant research is inconsistent with some evidence to support chronic stress exposure having an impact on sAA reactivity and diurnal levels of sAA, while other studies have failed to support this theory. Social support is regarded as a protective factor against stress, mental health, and physical health consequences. It has been suggested that gender may play a role in the utilization and benefits of social support networks. …

An Exploration Of The Psychometric Properties Of The Self-Sufficiency Matrix Among Individuals And Families Currently Or At Risk Of Experiencing Homelessness, Camilla Cummings

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The homeless service sector has moved toward the implementation of assessment tools to better understand the support service needs of individuals and families. While a variety of assessment tools are available, their psychometric evidence base is limited. The Self-Sufficiency Matrix (SSM) is one assessment that holds promise with regard to its reliability, validity, and potential use as an instrument for triaging services. However, research examining the factor structure of the SSM has been inconsistent across samples. Moreover, it has never been tested among a broad population of both those currently experiencing and at-risk of experiencing homelessness, or examined unaccompanied adults …

The Ecology Of Educational Attainment: Resilience Among Black High School Students, Jacqueline O. Davis

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Achievement gaps among students of color in the United States are pervasive and persistent. Identifying trajectories of resilience among Black teens is an important step toward promoting their educational attainment. This study identified risk and protective factors at the individual, family, and school levels hypothesized to influence Black high school students’ attainment. The effects of these risk (behavior problems, lack of college planning, and school problems) and protective factors (academic self-efficacy, parent involvement, and academic climate) on Black students’ educational attainment at 10-year follow-up were assessed. The sample included 2,423 Black 10th-grade students who participated in the Education Longitudinal Study …

Latent Classes Of Exposure To Potentially Traumatic And Stressful Life Events In A Sample Of Young Predominantly Ethnic Minority Women, Alyssa Donovan

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Women are disproportionately affected by specific types of potentially traumatic and stressful life events that are strongly linked to PTSD and depressive symptoms (Tolin & Foa, 2006; U.S. Census Bureau, 2016). Yet, while many studies have investigated patterns of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and their associations with clinical outcomes, few have assessed PTE typologies with exclusively female samples (e.g., Cavanaugh et al., 2013). This study examined profiles of childhood and adulthood potentially traumatic and stressful life events in a predominantly ethnic minority, community sample of 191 young women. Using latent class analysis, we found four distinct profiles of exposure to …

The Relationship Between Masculinity And Stigma: Predicting Help-Seeking Behaviors In Men, Bethany G. Johnson

Honors College Theses

Men tend to not seek help for mental health reasons, even when they express significant symptomology. Men’s barriers to help seeking are masculinity and stigma. The current study examined how masculinity, self-stigma, public-stigma, and perceived public stigma are related to men’s help seeking behaviors and the type of help seeking behavior men report advising for themselves, a friend, and a stranger. Results show masculinity was positively correlated to self-stigma and public stigma and self-stigma and public stigma are also positively correlated. Additionally, men reported being less willing to seek psychological help when expressing symptomology but more willing to suggest a …

An Exploration Of The Quality Of Relationship Between Step-Children And Step-Parents Based On Address Term Usage, Sierra R. Payton

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to examine address term usage as a communicative component of blended/step-families by examining the address terms that step-children use to address their step-parent and whether address term usage can allude to the quality of relationship reported by step-children within the step-child step-parent relationship. Rowan University undergraduate students (n=67) were recruited to complete questionnaires on address term usage and quality of relationship using the Quality of Relationships Inventory (QRI). Address term usage was the independent variable and was measured using three levels: formal, familiar, and familial. Quality of relationship was the dependent variable and was measured using the …

Breaking The Silence: Discussions About Disability, Sex, & Gender Identity, Janet Sauer, Kirsten Bond, Cassidy Donahue, Molly Wolber, Hannah Hunter, Elizabeth Bellin, Katherine Deluga

Violence Against Women conference

Silence often accompanies topics about disability, sexuality, and gender identity. This panel of Lesley students, alumni, and faculty discuss the issue of silence involving social stigma and ignorance that can often lead to violence against people with disabilities. The panelists participated in an interdisciplinary course, Disability Studies, in which students chose to research these topics for their social action projects and papers. Panelists who see themselves as allies and/or self-identify as disabled share their research, personal experiences, and interviews with the audience to provide insights into some of the systematic exclusion of people with disabilities in these discussions, particularly in …

Message Received? The Relationship Between Graphic Warning Labels, Message Framing, And Psychological Responses Among Smokers, John B. Correa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: This study was designed to evaluate the effects of graphic components and message content on daily smokers’ responses to cigarette pack warning labels. It was hypothesized that graphic warning labels (GWLs) would produce increases in state psychological reactance, that loss-framed messages would generate increases in risk perception and psychological reactance, and that GWLs and gain-framed messages would interact to generate increases in motivation to quit smoking when compared to the GWL/loss-framed condition. It was also hypothesized that trait reactance, smoking behavior, and baseline motivation to quit smoking would moderate effects of the warning label exposures.

Method: In a within-subjects …

Associations Among Impulsivity, Adverse Childhood Experiences, And Desirability Of First Sexual Experience On Substance Use And Sexual Risk Taking In Justice-Involved Male Adolescents, Ryan S. Ross, Elizabeth A. Yeater, Gabriela Lopez, Kristen N. Vitek, Angela D. Bryan

Shared Knowledge Conference

Adolescent substance use is a serious public health problem (Johnston et al., 2016). Notably in adolescents, adverse childhood experiences including unwanted sexual experiences (Wills et al., 2001; Negriff, Schneiderman, & Trickett, 2015) and impulsive sensation seeking (impulsivity) (Donohew et al., 2000; Fernández-Artamendi et al., 2016) are linked to adolescent substance use and high-risk sexual behaviors. Research also suggests delinquent youths are particularly vulnerable to substance use disorders and sexually risky behaviors (Pinto et al., 2015). Given the health consequences of both prolonged substance abuse and risky sexual behaviors, identifying additional risk factors is critical to help inform interventions for high-risk …

Mirror Mirror: A Look Into Muscle Dysmorphia, Olivia Parker, Jamie Scott

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Muscle dysmorphia is a subcategory of body dysmorphia. There is an extreme desire to gain body mass, and this is characterized by many psychological and behavioral symptoms. Previous research has found that mirror checking is a symptom of muscle dysmorphia. The purpose of this study is to continue the investigation into mirror checking as a diagnostic symptom of muscle dysmorphia. Our hypothesis is that participants who score higher on a scale of muscle dysmorphia will spend more time looking in a mirror than those who score low on the scale of muscle dysmorphia. Participants were males enrolled in psychology courses …

Early Childhood Stressors And Negative Personality Behaviors, Kyler Joachim

Scholars Week

Early Childhood Stressors and Negative Personality Behaviors

Research is moving away from static to contextual models of understanding personality development, making it imperative to consider daily occurrences, not just biology or significant traumatic events, in personality formation. Temperament has long been considered the innate source of behaviors that later solidify into personality, but behaviors themselves and the conditions that produce and reinforce them are shaped by the daily environment. This behavior-environment interaction is especially important for children experiencing childhood stressors like poverty, food insecurity, and parental aggravation. Non-clinical personality related behaviors may arise from these stressors, which can lead to …

Parenting During Childhood On Adolescent Social Engagement, Cassie Gonzalez

Scholars Week

Healthy social skills development prepares children and adolescents for a future of healthy interactions, effective communication, and meaningful relationships. Parental involvement and aggravation in parenting contribute differently to the development of social skills. Literature suggests higher levels of parental involvement is related to higher levels of child social skills ratings, while decreased ratings of aggravation in parenting are associated with higher ratings of maternal involvement and child social skills. Whereas existing literature have explored the impact of non-resident father involvement, academic consequences, and dual-parent homes on the development of child social skills, few studies examine the effects of aggravation in …

Profile Patterns Of Sex Offenders Using The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory- Second Edition- Restructured Form (Mmpi-2-Rf), Renee Vanslyke

Theses and Dissertations

Personality assessment of sex offenders provides clarifying information regarding underlying characteristics that may contribute to commission of sex offenses. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and its second edition, the MMPI-2, have been the most extensively used personality measures in the psychological assessment of sex offenders. The latest version of the test, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Second Edition, Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) is the focus of the current study. The current study evaluated MMPI-2-RF profiles obtained from a sample of 281 adult male sex offenders. The mean age of the sample was 36.3 (SD = 13.1; range = 18 – …

The Role Of Injury Type (Concussion Versus Orthopedic), Coping Style, Depressive Symptomology, And Neurocognitive Functioning In Predicting Student-Athlete Injury Rehabilitation, Eileen Margaret Croes-Orf

Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: To examine the role of injury type, coping style, depressive symptomology, and neurocognitive functioning in student-athlete injury recovery Method: Eighty-two (54.9% male; 45.1% female) students, aged 18-25, from the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne Florida were administered the Coping with Health Injuries and Problems and PHQ-9 questionnaires to study the relationship between coping and depressive symptomology. Baseline neurocognitive functioning data from ImPACT scores were gathered in both student athlete groups. Participants in the concussion group were assessed with the ImPACT during their follow-up concussion management appointments at the Florida Tech Neuropsychology Laboratory. Results: A significant interaction was found …

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent-Restructured Form (Mmpi-A-Rf) With Juvenile Drug Court Adjudicated Outpatient Adolescents, Mary Caitlin Fertitta

Theses and Dissertations

Many psychological disorders have their beginnings or foundations during the critical developmental period of adolescence. Substance use is particularly problematic at this time because of its risk for continuation into adulthood and because of the many problems associated with it, such as delinquency, family conflict, and poor emotional adjustment. Accurate assessment of emotional and behavioral disturbances in adolescents is important for directing treatment and intervention. This study aimed to contribute reference data for this specific population to the growing body of research with the newly published Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent-Restructured Form (MMPI-A­RF). The central purposes of this study were to …