Health Psychology Commons^™

Fruit And Vegetable Consumption At Bear River Charter School; A Demand Curve Analysis, Mckelle Tobey

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Many variables contribute to the rising prevalence of children being overweight and obese, one being poor nutrition and the lack of a balanced diet. Proper nutrition helps children to grow and develop normally, as well as lowers the risk of developing chronic problems such as cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and certain cancers later in life. Conducted alongside an applied behavioral intervention to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, a behavioral economic evaluation of demand curves was administered to students in the fifth through eighth grades. Findings suggest that the intervention had no significant effect on the elasticity of the …

Faculty Assessments Of The Potential For Emergency Events On Their Campus And Their Perceived Preparedness To Respond, Craig A. Bishop

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study examined the perspectives held by college and university faculty regarding the risk and potential for emergency events to occur on their campus. The study also examined the faculty assessments of the extent to which they are prepared to respond to an emergency event. Most significant was the examination of the perspective held by faculty at public institutions of higher education in comparison to faculty at private institutions of higher education. The study encouraged the development of a culture of preparedness within institutions of higher education to best fulfill state and federal mandates while also proactively reducing the risk …

Attitude Accessiblity As A Determinant Of Object Construal And Evaluation, Alison I. Young, Russell H. Fazio

Faculty Scholarship – Psychology

Attitude accessibility, the ease with which a given attitude comes to mind, has been demonstrated to affect attention. The current experiments focus on the construal of multiply-categorizable objects. They seek to provide evidence that (a) construals toward which individuals have more accessible attitudes, i.e., those that are more attitude-evoking, are more likely to influence the evaluation of related objects and that (b) this effect of attitude accessibility on construal processes can be extended to a whole series of objects which vary along multiple dimensions. Experiment 1 provides evidence that construals whose related attitudes were made more accessible via attitude rehearsal …

Activation And Suppression Of The Innate Immune System: Effects On Alcohol Intake, Marjorie Levinstein

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Constructing Body Image In University Women: The Relationship Between Self-Esteem, Self-Compassion, And Intuitive Eating, Peta Stapleton, Ankita Nikalje

Peta B. Stapleton

Body image related concerns among women are well researched. However, this research has consistently focussed on identifying pathological and maladaptive correlates of body image. Body image research has been based on the assumption that a positive body image is merely an absence of or is defined by low levels of a negative body image. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between self-esteem, self-compassion and intuitive eating in conceptualising body image related avoidance behaviours. Female university students (N = 137) completed four measures online: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Self-Compassion Scale of Neff, Intuitive Eating Scale of …

The Photovoice Process In Stress-Induced Depression: How Giving A Voice To The Unheard Through Pictures May Reduce Stress, Adedayo Okubadejo

Adedayo Okubadejo

Depression has been predicted to be the second leading cause of disease worldwide by the World Health Organization. However, many people in low socioeconomic status communities do not have access to the many expensive and inaccessible treatments of depression, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), antidepressant drugs, electroconvulsive therapy and deep brain stimulation (DBS). Photovoice is a process that provides substantial social support from community members and can increase self-awareness through self-reflection, which both have been shown to reduce stress. Thus, I propose that the Photovoice process can help to reduce levels of stress through increases in social support and …

An Event-Related Examination Of Neural Activity During Social Interactions, Jason R. Themanson, Stephanie M. Khatcherian, Aaron B. Ball, Peter J. Rosen

Jason R. Themanson, Ph.D

Social exclusion is known to cause alterations in neural activity and perceptions of social distress. However, previous research is largely limited to examining social interactions as a unitary phenomenon without investigating adjustments in neural and attentional processes that occur during social interactions. To address this limitation, we examined neural activity on a trial-by-trial basis during different social interactions. Our results show conflict monitoring neural alarm activation, indexed by the N2, in response to specific exclusionary events; even during interactions that are inclusionary overall and in the absence of self-reported feelings of social pain. Furthermore, we show enhanced attentional activation to …

Negative Religious Coping Styles Predict Greater Depressive Symptoms And Less Life Satisfaction, Kira A. Barros, Hannah Toyama, John E. Perez

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

The purpose of this study was to identify negative religious coping methods
 that have an association with depressive symptoms and life satisfaction among cancer patients. This study was based on Pargament’s (1997) framework of positive and
negative religious coping styles that specify how an individual makes use of religion to understand and deal with stressors. The sample included 179 predominantly White, Christian, female patients with stage II through IV cancer. We used a cross-sectional design with self-report measures to examine punishing God reappraisal and spiritual discontent as they relate to depressive symptoms and satisfaction with life. We hypothesized that both …

The Effects Of Hiv/Aids On The Mother-Child Relationship, Margaret Gross

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

39 semi-structured interviews were conducted with HIV+/- mothers living in central Uganda. Interviews were assisted by a translator and recorded manually on paper then coded and analyzed. The majority of HIV+ mothers were found to be single, supported 5+ children, worked longer days to get by, and emphasized the importance of having a counselor. These findings suggest a strong relationship exists between HIV and motherhood. There is a need for further attention to help single mothers and foster programs that encourage economic growth within their families, nutritional improvement, and overall attention to a group that is currently receiving little assistance.

The “Green Eating” Project: A Pilot Intervention To Promote Sustainable And Healthy Eating In College Students, Kelleigh E. Eastman

Geoffrey Greene

The “Green Eating” Project: A Pilot Intervention to Promote Sustainable and Healthy Eating in College Students Kelleigh Eastman Sponsor: Geoffrey Greene, Nutrition and Dietetics A topic of interest that is growing in the general population is the idea of being sustainable, or “green”, and there is a rising awareness in sustainable practices involving food and the environment. Some of the “green” eating behaviors identified through my research included eating a plant-based (i.e. vegetarian or semi-vegetarian) diet, eating locally grown foods, eating organically grown foods, and eating foods that are labeled fair-trade. Frequently, these “green” eating behaviors are healthful eating behaviors …

Interactive Video Gaming: Do We Feel Like We Are Exercising?, Antonio Santo, Shaelee Allen, Janet Dufek, Paul Hafen, Michael Jarrett, Krystina Moschella, Robert Rietjens, James Navalta, Richard Tandy, Jacob E. Barkley

Interdisciplinary Research Scholarship Day

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and hedonics (liking or enjoyment) changed during 30 contiguous minutes of playing select, interactive video games on the Nintendo Wii system. A secondary purpose was to determine if RPE and liking differed among games.These data suggest that individuals do perceive difference in the amount of work they are performing during extended play of the same game or among sedentary and physically interactive games. Additionally, liking was similar during extended game play and among games suggesting that the physical interaction with the game may be …

Still In The Shadows: A Content Analysis Of Sexual Addiction In Couple Therapy, Austin Ellis, Quintin Hunt, Tod Young, Rebecca Nemecek, Jordan Staples, Stephen Fife, Colleen Peterson

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

There is no universally accepted definition of “sex addiction” in the literature, though it is generally understood as persistent patterns of sexual behaviors acted out despite negative consequences to self or others (Kafka, 2010; Levine, 2010). Though sexual addictions are often addressed individually, most take place within a social context that includes family members and/or intimate relationships. The purpose of this presentation is to present the results of a content analysis of M/CFT peer-reviewed journals and summarize the extent to which this literature addresses sexual addictions and couples therapy. The content analysis adds to the existing literature by examining the …

Efinancial Health: Discovering Synergies In The Promotion Of Physical, Mental, And Financial Health, Nan Taylor

Cornerstone 1 Reports : Expansion and Enhancements of the Thinkfinity Platform

No abstract provided.

Combatting Dental Anxiety In Patients, Gretchen Osdoba

Natural Science Student Work

Dental Anxiety is a highly debilitating condition that can keep people away from the dentist and from receiving critical care. This can lead to serious medical conditions that could have easily been prevented through proper dental care. The purpose of this paper is to describe the nature of dental fear and the different treatment options available. I will focus on helpful traits of dentists and the use of psychological treatments, nitrous oxide, anti-anxiety medications, and general anesthesia to reduce this fear. I will also discuss a comparison of a psychological treatment and an anti-anxiety medication as short-term and long-term treatment …

Psychological Factors, Health Care Knowledge, And Experiences And How They Impact Students’ Illness Behaviors On A Rural Campus, Elizabeth Pappenfus, Chelsea Walsh

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2013

When entering college, most students go through critical transitional and developmental stages into adulthood (Montgomery & Cote, 2003). Therefore, it is necessary that college students use health care appropriately and maintain a good health status by exhibiting positive illness behaviors. Illness behavior is defined as the manner in which a person monitors their body, interprets their symptoms, and how they react to those symptoms. In the current study, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1985) model, which combines attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived control in order to predict health decision-making behavior, was used. In this study, we examined the …

Effects Of Pack Weight On Endurance Of Long-Distance Hikers, Anthony T. Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Hikers attempting long-distance trails, like the Appalachian Trail, load their backpacks down with gear that may exceed ideal limits on pack weight. Hikers pack clothing to deal with changing weather conditions, sleeping bags, tents, tarps, cooking gear, food, water and other accessories to compensate for the lack of comfort in the remote wilderness. These heavy weights may affect hikers' ability to walk in comfort and result in physical injuries such as ankle sprains, knee pain, muscular fatigue, and soft tissue damage. Heavy pack weights can cause injuries and possibly prevent hikers from completing long distance hikes.

This study evaluated pack …

Review Of Physical Activity Prevalence Of Asian School-Age Children And Adolescents, Andre M. Müller

Andre M Müller

Overweight and obese populations in Asia are high and increasing rapidly. Physical activity prevalence studies have found low physical activity rates among Asian school-age children and adolescents. The purpose of this review is to establish a baseline for physical activity rates in Asian school-age children and adolescents and serve as a platform for additional research. Thirty articles published between 2000 and 2011 on physical activity prevalence of school-age children and adolescents were included in the review. Fourteen studies were conducted in East Asia, 10 in Southeast Asia, 2 in South Asia, and 2 in West Asia. Studies used subjective methods …

Stress, Anxiety, And Somatic Symptoms: A Comparison Of Biomarkers In A Clinical Sample, David J. Finitsis

Master's Theses

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent class of mental disorders, often characterized by a chronic course and comorbid psychopathology. The anxiety-stress literature utilizing cortisol as a biomarker of the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis has been inconsistent. The establishment of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) as a biomarker of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation allows researchers an opportunity to examine the stress response more fully. This study sought to explore relationships between trait anxiety and salivary stress biomarkers in an outpatient sample attending a specialized anxiety treatment center. Multiple regression and moderator analyses were conducted to examine associations between psychosocial and physiological …

Exploring Gender Differences In The Association Between Alcohol Use And Depression Among Emergency Department Patients, Davida Woods, Joanna Akin, Gabe Kuperminc

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Psychological Flexibility In Mental Health Stigma And Psychological Distress For The Stigmatizer In An African American College Sample, Chantel M. Sims, Akihiko Masuda

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.