Interactions Between Maternal Prenatal Obesity And Physiological Stress: Predictors Of Offspring Adult Obesity, Jennifer L. Hambleton, Jared Vineyard, Nicki L. Aubuchon-Endsley (Mentor)

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

Over half of US women of childbearing age are overweight or obese. This is significant because excessive gestational maternal weight may program offspring for greater risk of lifetime obesity. Preliminary research suggests this effect may be moderated by fetal exposure to stress hormones, known to be dysregulated in obese individuals. However, long-term longitudinal research of these constructs is needed.

Therefore, this study used archival data from the NEFS/CPP Studies to examine interactions between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI/gestational weight gain and fetal cortisol exposure as predictors of offspring growth trajectories from birth-7 years and adult BMI via growth curve modeling and ANOVAs. …

Modeling Bmi, Dietary Habits, And Physical Activity Among Ethnically Diverse Urban College Students, Hollie Jones, Nicholas Freudenberg, Lorraine Mongiello

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Objectives The objective of this research study was to examine the relationship between BMI, physical activity, dietary habits, and student demographic factors (age, ethnicity, income, immigration, and sex). Given the association between overweight and obesity and the inequitable burden of chronic health conditions among ethnic minority populations, a deeper understanding of the socioeconomic, gender, age, and racial/ethnic variation in BMI, physical activity, and dietary habits is needed. The shifting demographics of urban college populations make urban college campuses an important setting for addressing the lifetime health needs of ethnically diverse urban populations.

Methods In this cross-sectional non-experimental study, we used …

Health Coaching For Chronic Disease Management: A Program Evaluation Conducted At Denver Health Managed Care, Adam Altschuh

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

The purpose of this study is to evaluate health coaching at Denver Health Managed Care Center. We evaluated patients with diabetes and obesity who received a telephonic, motivational-interviewing intervention. Our hypothesis was that patients who received health coaching would have improved health outcomes compared to patients who received standard medical care alone. This research benefits this specific program in clarifying effectiveness (i.e. improvement in health and efficiency, indicated by length of treatment). Health coaching is a growing area of study. This research also adds to a broader conversation about what professionals best serve in the role of health coaches, what …

Variability Modifies Life Satisfaction's Association With Mortality Risk In Older Adults, Julia K. Boehm, Ashley Winning, Suzanne Segerstrom, Laura D. Kubzansky

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Greater life satisfaction is associated with greater longevity, but its variability across time has not been examined relative to longevity. We investigated whether mean life satisfaction across time, variability in life satisfaction across time, and their interaction were associated with mortality over 9 years of follow-up. Participants were 4,458 Australians initially at least 50 years old. During the follow-up, 546 people died. After we adjusted for age, greater mean life satisfaction was associated with a reduction in mortality risk, and greater variability in life satisfaction was associated with an increase in mortality risk. These findings were qualified by a significant …

Intrapersonal And Interpersonal Consequences Of Loneliness: Health Behavior, Social Interactions, Self-Disclosure, And Perceived Responsiveness, Sarah Noel Arpin

Dissertations and Theses

As a social species, human beings are driven by an innate desire to belong and are thus motivated to develop and maintain meaningful social relationships. As such, perceiving a lack of belongingness strongly impacts psychological and physiological health and well-being. A common form of perceived relationship deficits is loneliness, a negative-affective experience detrimental to health and well-being over time. Through a series of three manuscripts, this dissertation applies the full-cycle model of social psychological research to explore various affective, behavioral, and cognitive consequences of loneliness. Whereas existing models of loneliness focus on long-lasting or chronic forms of loneliness, these studies …

Rejection Sensitivity, Perceived Power, And Hiv Risk In The Relationships Of Low-Income Urban Women, Kathy R. Berenson, Christine Paprocki, Marget Thomas Fishman, Devika Bhushan, Nabila El-Bassel, Geraldine Downey

Psychology Faculty Publications

The psychological processes associated with HIV infection in long-term relationships differ from those operative in casual sexual encounters, and relatively little research has considered the aspects of personality applicable in the ongoing heterosexual relationships in which women are at greatest risk. Sensitivity to rejection has been linked with efforts to prevent rejection at a cost to the self and, therefore, may be relevant to the health risks that many women incur in relationships. We examined the association of rejection sensitivity with women's sexual risk behavior in a sample of women at heightened risk for HIV exposure. Women in long-term heterosexual …

Sleep Hygiene Practices: A Cross Cultural Survey Of Sleeping And Dreaming In College Students, Ivan Noe Martinez Salazar

Masters Theses

There is consensus that a sizeable percentage of people in most developed countries do not obtain adequate amounts or quality of sleep. These disruptions in sleep, when chronic and severe, can lead to psychological, behavioral and health consequences. The focus on behavioral and contextual factors that impact sleep has been termed “sleep hygiene”. An on-line anonymous survey collected sociodemographic information, as well as self-reports on sleep, sleep hygiene practices and dreaming across two cultural groups (English & Spanish speaking responders). A total of 204 participants (majority of them college and graduate students) answered the survey. Both cultural groups, English and …

The Emotional Experience Of American Indians Receiving Hemodialysis And How It Relates To Treatment Adherence, Anitra M. Warrior

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study used a phenomenological approach as an attempt to capture the essence of the experience of American Indians with diabetes who are receiving dialysis. The purpose of this study and this approach was to develop an understanding of factors that influence treatment adherence, specifically with mental health concerns. As an additional component of this study, this research also followed an advocacy/participatory approach (Creswell, 2007) in which steps to reform services are provided to the Indian Health Service in support of this marginalized group through a written Agenda for Change.

Participants for this study were recruited from multiple states serving …

Predictors Of Money Spent On Drugs In Substance Users, Simona Ciobotaru

DePaul Discoveries

Financial need is a major stressor for individuals who are reentering the community after substance abuse and/or incarceration. Family members and friends make up a great majority the support networks from which reentering people can receive financial support. However, that financial support could possibly contribute to drug use when the individual is actively using. The goal of this study was to further understand the implications of material and financial support specifically being transmitted from family members. This study looks at psychosocial predictors in relation to money spent on drugs in the last 30 days of 270 individuals entering substance abuse …

Social Media As Support For Partners Of Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Susan L. Ruiz, Lee Stadtlander

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Researchers have established that partners of veterans who isolate socially because of posttraumatic stress disorder are also socially impacted. It is not known how partners cope with their own social isolation and the influence of social media on the isolation while maintaining commitment to their veteran partners. Weiss’ theory of the syndrome of loneliness was used as the basis for this phenomenological study investigating social experiences in 10 female participants drawn from social media groups. Although the study was open to male or female partners, only female partners of male veterans chose to participate. Qualitative email interviews established how the …

Negative Cognitive Style, Rumination, And Negative Emotionality As Mediators Of The Antidepressive Effects Of Physical Activity Among Young Adults, Kara Pegram

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Abstract

This study assessed whether three potential cognitive and affective mechanisms mediated the relationship between physical activity and depressive symptoms. Participants were 143 young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 (M = 19.29, SD = 1.65); the majority of participants were female (72%) and Caucasian (69.9%). Participants were followed across eight weeks and completed measures of trait and state rumination, negative emotionality, cognitive style, depressive symptoms, and physical activity. A mediated model was proposed hypothesizing negative association between physical activity and depression mediated by less rumination, negative emotionality, and cognitive style. Hypotheses were examined cross-sectionally and prospectively. …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Emotional Literacy Instruction On At-Risk Students, Shannon H. Garcia

Dissertations

This study examined the impact of social-emotional literacy instruction for at-risk adolescents ages 13 to 18 at the high school level. Of particular interest is the impact of social-emotional literacy instruction on at-risk youth Grades 9-12 in secondary high schools’ 8-week-long social-emotional literacy class through Project AWARE, particularly in the areas of suspension, expulsion, attendance, connectivity, attitude toward school, resiliency, and relational aggression rates; the data were analyzed using archival data and teacher interview. Project AWARE, the social-emotional literacy intervention examined in this study, educates and provides mentorship for at-risk students, while also providing a group educational component on relationships …

Fatalism, Diabetes Management Outcomes, And The Role Of Religiosity, Vincent Berardi, John Bellettiere, Orit Nativ, Slezak Ladislav, Melbourne Hovell, Orna Baron-Epel

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

This study aimed to determine whether fatalistic beliefs were associated with elevated levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and to establish the role of religiosity in this relationship. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 183 Jewish adults with diabetes visiting a large medical center in northern Israel. Self-administered questionnaires assessed level of religiosity, fatalistic beliefs, diabetes management behaviors, and demographic/personal characteristics; laboratory tests were used to measure HbA1c. Multivariate regression indicated that fatalism was significantly associated with HbA1c (β = 0.51, p = 0.01). The association was no longer statistically significant after including self-reported religiosity in the …

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, The Primary Motor Neuron Disease, Jacob P. Naumann

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a degenerative neurological disease that damages nerve cells in the brain, in particular the neurons that are involved in voluntary muscle movements. Internationally the disorder is also known as Charcot’s disease and motor neuron disease. In the United States, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, motor neuron disease, and more colloquially ALS. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is the most prominent of the five motor neuron diseases, distinguishing itself from the others through degeneration of both upper motor neurons (UMN) and lower motor neurons (LMN) respectively. The “Father of neurology” Jean-Marie Charcot founded …

Personality Types And Attachment Styles Underlying Body Dissatisfaction, Milad Khosravi, David Frederick

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Attachment style and personality are powerfully related to a person’s patterns of thoughts, interests, and behaviors. Surprisingly, there is little research on the links between these psychological factors and body dissatisfaction. We hypothesized that anxious attachment style and neuroticism would be linked to greater body dissatisfaction in women.

Methods: Adult women reported their overall satisfaction with their weight, muscle tone, and appearance using validated, one-item measures. Participants also completed measures of attachment style and personality type.

Results: Consistent with the hypotheses, people who were more neurotic and with more insecure-attachment styles reported higher body dissatisfaction.

Discussion: This study highlights the …

The Effect Of Communication Type On Knowledge Retention Of Brain Injuries, Alyson Cregger

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Misconceptions about traumatic brain injuries have been seen in the general population since 1988. Previous research has demonstrated that the misconceptions are not limited to geographical area and have been seen in health care professionals. A possible explanation for these misconceptions could be the ineffective transmission of knowledge. The current study examined the effect of an educational intervention on eight misconceptions and their ‘real life’ applications, as well as the general knowledge surrounding traumatic brain injuries. Comparative and absolute risk were also examined. Thirty undergraduate students were given a pre-test consisting of four surveys (misconceptions, application of misconception, general knowledge, …

Revisiting A Common Measure Of Child Postoperative Recovery: Development Of The Post Hospitalization Behavior Questionnaire For Ambulatory Surgery (Phbq-As), Brooke N. Jenkins, Zeev N. Kain, Sherrie H. Kaplan, Robert S. Stevenson, Linda C. Mayes, Josue Guadarrama, Michelle A. Fortier

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

The Post Hospitalization Behavior Questionnaire (PHBQ) was designed for assessing children's posthospitalization and postoperative new‐onset behavioral changes. However, the psychometric properties of the scale have not been re‐evaluated in the past five decades despite substantial changes in the practice of surgery and anesthesia. In this investigation, we examined the psychometric properties of the PHBQ to potentially increase the efficacy and relevance of the instrument in current perioperative settings.

Method

This study used principal components analysis, a panel of experts, Cronbach's alpha, and correlations to examine the current subscale structure of the PHBQ and eliminate items to create the Post …

An Investigation Of Aerobic Fitness, Perceived Quality Of Life And The Direct Effects Of Self-Determination Theory In College Students 2015, Alanna Darling

Master's Theses

There have been numerous studies examining the association between physical activity, motivation and quality of life. In contrast, studies focusing on aerobic fitness and its relationship with levels of motivation and perceived quality of life are lacking. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between a direct measure of aerobic fitness, behavioral regulations, and perceptions of quality of life in college-aged sample. Participants included both males (n=129; 21.1±1.8 years) and females (n=89; 20.8±1.4 years) who completed the Behavioral Regulations of Exercise Questionnaire-2 sub-scores and Perceived Quality of Life (PQoL) instruments. Participants then performed the Queen’s College Step …

How The Phoenix Took Wing: An Examination Of The Humanities Canon As It Relates To The Psychology Of Posttraumatic Growth, Stephen Dalton

Senior Theses

The investigation of posttraumatic growth as a psychological principle is giving researchers new ways to understand how it is that some people seem to thrive following events that are normally perceived as tragic and wholly negative. These survivors do not just bounce back from their tragedies; the researchers describe these people as “bouncing forward” – that is, the survivors report that their lives now are profoundly better than they were before the trauma. While the psychological research into posttraumatic growth is relatively new, the field of Humanities has conducted this same inquiry for several thousand years. For example, Friedrich Nietzsche …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Koru: A Mindfulness Program For College Students And Other Emerging Adults., Jeffrey M Greeson, Michael K Juberg, Margaret Maytan, Kiera James, Holly Rogers

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of Koru, a mindfulness training program for college students and other emerging adults.

PARTICIPANTS: Ninety students (66% female, 62% white, 71% graduate students) participated between Fall 2012 and Spring 2013.

METHODS: Randomized controlled trial. It was hypothesized that Koru, compared with a wait-list control group, would reduce perceived stress and sleep problems, and increase mindfulness, self-compassion, and gratitude.

RESULTS: As hypothesized, results showed significant Group (Koru, Wait-List)×Time (Pre, Post) interactions for improvements in perceived stress (F[1, 76.40]=4.50, p=.037, d=.45), sleep problems (F [1, 79.49]=4.71, p=.033, d=.52), mindfulness (F [1, 79.09]=26.80, p

CONCLUSIONS: Results support the …