Community Psychology Commons^™

The Relationship Between Religiousness And Intimate Partner Violence Risk And Protective Factors, Peter Warren

Theses and Dissertations

This paper proposes an integrated model illustrating the mechanisms by which religiousness may serve to influence individual beliefs regarding intimate partner violence (IPV) and the potential for subsequent abusive behavior. Intimate partner violence is a serious public health issue in the US, affecting over 25% of women at some point in their lives (CDC, 2010; Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Religion is a near ubiquitous aspect of American culture, with over 80% of Americans reporting some kind of belief in a higher power (Gallup, 2008. Overall, the literature shows that religiousness typically serves as a protective factor against IPV, but digging …

The Trouble With Truth-Telling: Preliminary Reflections On Truth And Justice In Post-War Liberia, Gabriel Twose Ph.D., Caitlin O. Mahoney Ph.D.

Peace and Conflict Studies

This study investigates perceptions of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), particularly focusing on understandings of, and the links between, truth, justice, and reconciliation. Forty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted at three research sites in Liberia. Findings indicate that although most Liberians agreed with the TRC in principle, most of those who followed its proceedings saw major problems in its implementation, harming perceptions of reconciliation. Participants expressed concerns that the Commission had failed to discover the full truth of wartime abuses, that the truth that was discovered was not told in the right way, and that there had been problems …

Effectiveness Of Psychoeducation For Adult Survivors Of Sexual And Domestic Violence, Sophia Laun

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The current study investigated psychoeducational programs for adult, female survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence in a community-based, nonprofit organization in the Northeastern United States. Participants’ trauma symptoms were measured by the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40 (Briere & Runtz, 1989) and knowledge of interpersonal violence was measured by a Client Questionnaire developed by the organization. The study used the intent-to-treat analysis, using paired-samples t-tests to examine changes from pretest to posttest. There were 35 participants in the sexual violence sample and 61 participants in the domestic violence sample. The results indicated that for participants in both the sexual violence psychoeducational …

The Role Of Self-Efficacy In Mediating The Effect Of Physical Activity On Adolescent Depression, Nevelyn N. Trumpeter

Theses and Dissertations

Depression is a common psychiatric problem experienced in adolescence with nearly a quarter of all adolescents experiencing a major depressive episode before adulthood. Previous evidence indicates that physical activity (PA) is a known protective factor for depressive symptoms and major depressive disorder in adolescents and that PA self-efficacy (i.e., self-confidence) improves self-esteem, which in turn reduces depressive symptoms. Furthermore, PA self-efficacy may be more protective against depression for individuals who value or consider PA to be highly important. The proposed study aimed to determine the cross-sectional and longitudinal PA-depressive symptoms relation in adolescents. The study was designed specifically to test …

A Dream Best Forgotten: The Phenomenology Of Karen Refugees’ Pre-Resettlement Stressors, Theodore T. Bartholomew, Brittany E. Gundel, Neeta Kantamneni

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Refugees are often forced into states of imposed vulnerability in which loss is common and migration is normative. Karen refugees from Myanmar have endured a long civil war with the Burmese government, followed by their forced relocation to refugee camps and subsequent global resettlement. This phenomenological study aimed to understand the meanings ascribed to pre-resettlement stress among resettled Karen refugees. We interviewed six participants who were identified through purposeful sampling in a Karen refugee community. Using phenomenological analysis, we identified and interpreted 286 meaning units. The meaning units were then grouped into four themes: (a) Loss From Oppression, (b) Resignation …

Unequally Distributed Psychological Assets: Are There Social Disparities In Optimism, Life Satisfaction, And Positive Affect?, Julia K. Boehm, Ying Chen, David R. Williams, Carol Ryff, Laura D. Kubzansky

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Socioeconomic status is associated with health disparities, but underlying psychosocial mechanisms have not been fully identified. Dispositional optimism may be a psychosocial process linking socioeconomic status with health. We hypothesized that lower optimism would be associated with greater social disadvantage and poorer social mobility. We also investigated whether life satisfaction and positive affect showed similar patterns. Participants from the Midlife in the United States study self-reported their optimism, satisfaction, positive affect, and socioeconomic status (gender, race/ethnicity, education, occupational class and prestige, income). Social disparities in optimism were evident. Optimistic individuals tended to be white and highly educated, had an educated …

Interpersonal Rejection Sensitivity Predicts Burnout: A Prospective Study, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

We examined whether interpersonal rejection sensitivity (IRS)—the hallmark of atypical depression – prospectively predicted burnout, controlling for baseline symptoms, history of depressive disorders, antidepressant intake, gender, age, and length of employment (mean between-assessment duration: 21 months; n = 578; 74% female). IRS was related to a 119% increased risk of burnout at follow-up. Three of four burned out participants reported to be affected by IRS, or 2.5 times the rate observed in participants with no (or subthreshold) burnout symptoms. Our study highlights a dispositional factor in burnout’s etiology also known to be a key component of atypical depression’s etiology. The …

Burnout Does Not Help Predict Depression In French Schoolteachers, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Eric Laurent

Publications and Research

Objectives: Burnout has been viewed as a phase in the development of depression. However, supportive research is scarce. We examined whether burnout predicted depression among French school teachers.

Methods: We conducted a 2-wave, 21-month study involving 627 teachers (73% female) working in French primary and secondary schools. Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory and depression with the 9-item depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The PHQ-9 grades depressive symptom severity and provides a provisional diagnosis of major depression. Depression was treated both as a continuous and categorical variable using linear and logistic regression analyses. We controlled …

Working Memory In Children With Neurocognitive Effects From Sickle Cell Disease: Contributions Of The Central Executive And Processing Efficiency, Kelsey Erin Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at risk for neurocognitive impairment due to disease effects including stroke, sleep disordered breathing, anemia-induced hypoxia, and small vessel occlusion. In particular, problems in working memory are an area of concern due to the importance of this construct in determining intelligence and academic functioning. According to Baddely’s model, working memory is composed of verbal and spatial working memory, but it is unclear whether one aspect of working memory is more impacted than another in children with SCD. In addition, little is known about the role of two key components in SCD-related working memory …

What Do We Know About Technical Assistance? Enhancing The Science And Practice Of Technical Assistance Via A Research Synthesis, Jason S. Katz

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction. Each year billions of dollars are spent on providing technical assistance (TA) to build the capacity of host settings (e.g., organizations, communities) to implement innovations, but there is little consensus (or even discussion) about: what the essential features of TA are, how to provide TA with quality, and how a quality-based accountability perspective can help us to enhance the science and practice of TA. To begin to address these needs, a research synthesis methodology was used for conducting a content analysis of the current evidence base for TA using three frames: (1) applying a conceptual and operational model (Getting …

Profiles Of African American College Students’ Risky Behaviors: General And Culturally-Specific Stress And Social Support As Factors Of Risk And Resilience?, Isha Walwina Metzger

Theses and Dissertations

Studies show that, while alcohol use and risky sexual activities increase during emerging adulthood, college students are more likely to engage in these behaviors than their non-student counterparts (Slutske et al., 2004). Researchers should explore risk behavior participation among African American youth, as they often face health disparities and more severe consequences of engaging in these acts than their White American counterparts (Sharma & Atri, 2006; Jackson, Hodge, & Vaughn, 2010). Although epidemiological and variable-centered studies often examine the drinking and sexual behavior of African American college students, there is a need for research utilizing a profile-oriented approach to explore …

Mindfulness And Cognitive Aging, Elise J. Herndon

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness meditation involves the cultivation of a focused, pre-conceptual consciousness that enables increased present-centered awareness of internal states, cognitive processes, and external stimuli (Mikulas, 2011; Kornfield, 2010). Studies suggest that mindfulness practice affects the brain structures and cognitive processes related to fluid intelligence, and may affect fluid intelligence itself among highly experienced practitioners (e.g., Gard, Taquet, et al., 2014; Lazar et al., 2005; Ritskes et al., 2003). Fluid intelligence includes higher-order reasoning and problem-solving abilities that are independent of cultural and environmental influences. These abilities peak in young adulthood, then begin to decay (Cattell, 1987; Goldberg, 2005).

The current study …

Beyond Grades: The Impact Of Race And Academic Disidentification On Social Functioning And Academic Outcomes Among At-Risk High School Students, Brian K. Colar

Theses and Dissertations

An extant literature has supported the notion that black students perform poorly in comparison to white students on frequently used indicators of academic functioning, known as the academic gap between races. Although previous studies have identified this academic inequity between White and Black high school students, there is a dearth of literature examining the context and processes which may contribute to this gap. The current study further examines this educational disparity by evaluating the role of students’ social functioning, the impact of race, and academic outcomes among at-risk high school students. Although analytical evidence reports a positive correlation between social …

The Association Of Gender, Age, And Coping With Internalizing Symptoms In Youth With Sickle Cell Disease, Laura Reinman

Theses and Dissertations

Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at an elevated risk for having internalizing symptoms. Prior studies have suggested unique age by gender patterns of internalizing symptoms may be present in this population, however this pattern has not been thoroughly examined and the mechanisms underlying this pattern are not known. We examined rates of depression and anxiety symptoms between males and females with SCD across childhood and into adolescence in a cross-sectional design. We also considered the potential role of coping styles and health related locus of control for SCD morbidity that could account for age or gender patterns for …

A Comparison Of The Factor Structure Of The Short Form Liberal Feminist Attitude And Ideology Scale (Lfais) For Women And Men In A University Survey, V. Diane Woodbrown

Theses and Dissertations

The current study compares the factor structure of the short form Liberal Feminist Attitude and Ideology Scale (LFAIS; Morgan, 1996) for males and females in a University survey. We first provide a discussion of feminism, a brief narrative review summarizing previous and co-existing measures of the construct “feminist attitudes” for males and females, and then conduct confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) to test Morgan’s own theory that there may exist a single general factor underlying the Liberal Feminist Attitudes Ideology Scale for males and for females, and that the latent construct/s underlying this scale are …

Aboriginal Perspectives About Child Sexual Abuse: Informing The Cultural Dimension In Sex Offending Theories For Use With Aboriginal Offenders, Victoria Elizabeth Hovane

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Child sexual abuse (CSA) and its consequences constitute a serious social issue in Aboriginal and other communities throughout the world. As a result, a number of influential psychological theories about sexual offending have been developed. These theories suggest that the early socialisation and developmental experiences of offenders are implicated in the onset, development and maintenance of sexual offending behaviour. While these theories suggest that culture is important for understanding such behaviour, their specific role has largely been ignored in the literature. Given the paucity of research in this area the aim of this study was to understand the perspectives of …

An Examination Of The Moderating Effect Of Intergroup Anxiety On The Relationship Between Intergroup Contact And Islamophobia, Ahmed Ghuman Ma, Ms, Lpc

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 have led to feelings of disdain against Islam and have perpetuated Islamophobia in America. Research suggests that intergroup contact can help improve intergroup relations and reduce both prejudice and discrimination against members of out-groups. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not intergroup anxiety moderates the relationship between intergroup contact and Islamophobia. Research has shown that intergroup anxiety has been associated with increased negative attitudes toward Muslims, but that reduced levels of intergroup anxiety lead to increased intergroup contact with Muslims and improved out-group attitudes. Participants included 214 community members of various …

A Phenomenological Investigation Of Suicide Stigma, Amanda L. Demmer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Suicide is a stigmatized phenomenon within our society, and the stigma felt by individuals who struggle with suicide (suicide stigma) must be reduced if society aims at lowering suicide rates. Research on mental health stigma indicates that stigma can reduce help-seeking, lead to low self efficacy or negative self-talk, and can be detrimental to the recovery process. Suicide stigma research has focused on the perpetrators of the stigma, but research on those who are stigmatized has not been conducted. Research objectives for the current study are to explore public stigma, self stigma, and recommendations for reducing stigma giving voice to …

School-Based Supports For Trans Youth In Ontario, Charlie E. C. Davis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Trans youth are some of the most marginalized youths in schools. In 2012, the Ontario Government passed two legislations, one of which was the Accepting Schools Act, strengthening supports for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) students in schools. The other was Toby’s Act, an amendment to the Ontario Human Rights Code including protection from discrimination on the grounds of gender identity and gender expression. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how these two acts have created a political context supporting trans youth in schools. A comprehensive mixed-methods approach was used to examine provincial trends of trans-specific …

“Don’T Talk About It”: Investigating The Effects Of Pei’S Cultural Silence On Abortion Access And Advocacy From The Perspective Of Advocates And Support People, Emily A. Rutledge

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As an arm of a greater study that investigates the impacts of PEI's abortion restriction over the past two decades, "Don't talk about it" explores the situation from the perspective of support people and advocates to abortion access including; their emotional experiences of support and advocacy, the associated risks and repercussions, as well as their understandings of the barriers, facilitators and impacts of compromised access to off-Island services for PEI women and girls. Key findings show an overarching culture of silence and blame surrounding abortion on PEI, reinforced by stigma and repercussions for those speaking out. This silence serves to …