Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Behavioral Effects Of First-Generation Electronic Cigarettes After 24-Hour Tobacco Deprivation, Arit M. Harvanko

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Little is currently known about the ability of electronic cigarettes to manage tobacco withdrawal symptoms and their abuse liability. In the current study eight conventional cigarette smokers completed nine within-subject study sessions. In the first session participants practiced using an electronic cigarette containing 16 mg/ml of nicotine over six 10-puff bouts. Remaining study sessions were comprised of four two-day blocks (one for each condition), which assessed measures of tobacco withdrawal symptoms and abuse liability following unrestricted cigarette smoking and 24-hour tobacco deprivation. Study conditions included an electronic cigarette with 0, 8, or 16 mg/ml nicotine concentrations, or preferred brand of …

Developmental Trajectories Of Excessive Exercise And Fasting Across The Middle School Years, Heather A. Davis

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Repeated excessive exercise (EE) fasting behavior, in the absence of binge eating and purging, are important eating disorder behaviors that are not captured by the current diagnostic system. Though they appear to be harmful and distressing for adults, little is known about these behaviors in youth. To begin to understand their development, I studied the course of the behaviors across the three years of middle school (n = 1,195). Both behaviors were present in middle school girls and boys, and youth progressed along different developmental trajectories of engagement in the behaviors. Youth involved in either behavior experienced elevated levels of …

Development Of A Measure Of Craving Suppression, Brian T. Upton

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

While there is evidence to support the efficacy of mindfulness-based treatment for substance use, the mechanisms through which they lead to therapeutic outcomes have received less attention. A growing body of literature suggests that the ways in which people respond to cravings may be an important mediator of change. Individuals with substance use problems may use them to cope with or avoid negative experiences, which could include the experience of craving itself. Thought suppression in particular has been investigated as a specific form of experiential avoidance, and findings suggest that thought suppression strategies may interfere with attempts to quit using …

A Study Of Determinants Of The Birthrate Change In South Korea, Kyunghoon Ahn

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

South Korea has experienced a sharp demographic transition from a high birthrate of 4.5 children per woman in the 1970s to a low birthrate of around 1.19 in 2013. A low birthrate can lead to big problems for South Korean society.

In response to such a low birthrate, the South Korean government introduced policies to increase the birthrate, such as providing subsidies for daycare costs and the supply of daycare facilities. The South Korean government has spent heavily on these programs. However, the birthrate stays very low. Also, other social and economic factors could affect the birthrate.

Therefore, I studied …

The Role Of Administrative Procedures In Preventing The Backlog Of Sexual Assault Evidence Kits, Heather Darby

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Across the nation, states are facing a large backlog of sexual assault evidence kits. Sexual assault evidence often sits in a police department or hospital for years without being tested. Public safety is diminished as criminal DNA is not tested and entered into CODIS. Victims have no sense of justice, and may lose confidence in the system. Without attention to the issue, the backlog will only continue to grow. As states have developed innovative and effective methods for addressing the backlog, their successes and failures have served as a base for others who are considering changes to avoid future backlogs. …

Need And Cost Assessment: Transplant House Of Lexington, David Freeman

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Introduction

The University of Kentucky Healthcare administration is currently considering the creation and organizational structure of a transplant house. A transplant house would operate in a manner similar to the Ronald McDonald House, meaning that it would house caregivers and patients who have been accepted into the UK transplant program. The questions that this paper sought to answer were whether a transplant focused hospitality house would be cost effective and whether there is sufficient demand to justify offering the service.

Hospitality House Organizational Structure

Two academic studies discussing the impact and setup of a hospitality house are discussed, as well …

Cartel Leniency Program And Cartel Enforcement In South Korea, Kyung Jong Han

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) is in charge of competition and consumer protection policies in South Korea. Of these policies, the cartel leniency program is the most powerful enforcement tool to regulate cartel activities which expropriate consumer surplus and create social welfare deadweight loss. The cartel leniency program grants exemptions or reductions in penalties to firms involved in the cartel activities when they cooperate with the cartel investigation of a competition authority. The Korea cartel leniency program was first adopted in 1997 and considerably revised in 2004.

The cartel leniency program can enhance the cartel detection or discovery ability of …

Early Voting Methods And The Impact On Voter Turnout, Courtney Harris

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In 2004, over 27 million Americans voted prior to Election Day through early voting policies that exist in the United States. One of the most discussed questions is whether early voting has an effect on voter turnout.

In this analysis, I will review the voter turnout of states during the 2008 and 2010 election years. By executing this analysis, I hope to determine if these policies affect voter turnout. The implications of this analysis are useful for informing state decisions regarding voting procedures and can assist the other states in determining if these polices, and similar methods in the future, …

Do Air Pollutant Emissions Lead To An Increase In Total Personal Health Care Costs By State?, Dana Jespersen

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Total personal health care costs are increasing in the United States every year. Currently personal health care costs are predicted to increase at a national average rate of 6.5 percent. This is on track with the historical data. The increase has returned to the 6.0 percent mark after falling down to an increase of 3.7 percent in 2013. Recovering from the recession and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act has contributed to the steady increase back up to the average 6 percent increase per year. When looking at individual states, all averaged around the 6 to 8 percent increase …

Divorces Of Marriage Immigrants In South Korea: An Examination Of Factors Affecting Divorce, Sanghee Kim

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In South Korea, as of 2013, ten out of a hundred newlywed couples included a marriage immigrant, i.e. someone who came to the country for the purpose of getting married to a native (Statistics Korea). South Korea, a traditionally homogeneous society, has seen an increase in marriage immigrants, primarily women, in recent years. Multicultural families face a variety of challenges. Marriage immigrants experience cultural and lifestyle differences, language problems, poverty, and domestic violence. In 2011, the divorce rate in multicultural families reached 10 percent and the average length of a marriage that ended in divorce was 4.9 years (Statistics Korea). …

State Spending And Economic Growth: An Exploratory Analysis, Eli Levine

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

No executive summary.

Analyzing Charges And Payments Received For Discharged Patients At Teaching Hospitals In Relation To Patient Satisfaction And Overall Medicare Charges, Rob Sutter

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The affordability of healthcare is a major, recurring topic in the media. One of President Obama’s cornerstone policies has been the attempt to make health care affordable. Part of the concern lies in cost differences for similar procedures. The cost for a standardized procedure such as abnormal cardiac dysrhythmia without complication varies greatly between hospitals. The cost difference of a patient getting treated for such an event can be an average of $30,000 depending on which hospital you go to. There is no immediately apparent reason for such a large difference. Another noticeable item is that all the hospitals receive …

Impact Of Intellectual Property Promotion For Small And Medium Sized Enterprises (Smes) In South Korea: An Examination Of Ip Star Program Impact, Jongseok Yoon

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The creation of new processes and technology - in a word, innovation - is a powerful factor that determine s the progress of economies. The creation of new processes and technology can be accelerated by Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

However, many Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) do not get the most out of their use of the intellectual property, even though they represent over 90 percent of enterprise s in South Korea. As a result, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) has initiated support services for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

This study 's main focus is to examine the impact …

The Implication And Evaluation Of Participant Surveys For 4-H Teen Summit, Zack Turner

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

4-H Teen Summit is a unique and popular youth development program that does not currently utilize formally structured participant feedback as a part of its internal program evaluation. I designed and proposed the administration of a survey to begin the program evaluation process for 4-H Summit. The survey was administered to participants and the results were shared with me for analysis.

"I See Their Purpose": Looking At The Role Of Family Advocates In Partnering With Families And Advocating For Children In Guatemala City, Sierra K. Leonard

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

The purpose of this study was to get an in-depth, complete picture of a social worker and child/family advocate in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The intent was to study the participant’s work and responsibilities in order to examine how she processed and completed her dual role as social worker/advocate and mother to a group of children in a children’s home. A focus on responsibility, the effect of her dual role, and the influence of her personal and religious convictions emerged throughout the study. The participant’s unique position in a dual role offered insight into the various aspects of advocacy and intervention …

Female Adolescent’S Experience Of Their Therapist Crying In Therapy, Kassidy Pendleton

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Therapist self-disclosure is an important topic and the literature explains that how a therapist responds to their client can greatly impact the treatment process and therapeutic alliance. One of the ways that therapists respond to their clients is through crying. Although there have been studies that conclude that the majority of therapists do in fact cry in therapy, no studies have tried to understand how this response is perceived by clients. This qualitative study aims to understand the client’s perspective and how therapists’ crying affects the treatment process and therapeutic alliance. The informants in this study were adolescent females who …

Sex, Dementia, And Long-Term Care: Public Perspectives, Erin L. Yelland

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

The current mixed methods study utilized an ecological framework to examine public perspectives toward sexual behaviors among long-term care residents with dementia. Analyzing attitudes of the public is an integral component of understanding the entire ecological system that affects the development and overall well-being of a long-term care resident. Attitudes were examined using a multiple segment factorial vignette with a probability sample of 329 respondents from a southern state. Results indicate that attitudes were not statistically affected by sex or the elapsed time since diagnosis, and age, spousal disposition, and degree of intimacy predicted attitudes. A respondent’s education level also …

Mental Health Among Suicide Attempt Survivors: The Roles Of Stigma, Self-Disclosure, And Family Reactions, Laura M. Frey

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Although research has shown that mental-health stigma can impact an individual’s well-being, little is known about who perpetrates suicide stigma. Moreover, anticipation of stigma could impact whether individuals disclose their suicidal experiences; yet, little is known about suicide disclosure and how family members’ reactions play a role in subsequent mental health. To address these gaps, three studies were designed to examine how stigma, suicide disclosure, and family reaction impact subsequent mental health of attempt survivors and those who have experience suicidal ideation.

Individuals who had previously experienced suicidal ideation or a previous suicide attempt (n = 156) were recruited …

Impact Of Welfare Participation During Childhood On Adult Income, Curran A. Prettyman

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

This paper analyzes the impact of welfare participation during childhood on adult income. In the United States, welfare programs have a long history originating from the 1800s, and over $20 billion are currently allocated to various anti-poverty programs, such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Supplemental Security Income. Many people believe that these programs effectively eradicate childhood poverty. However, ordinary least squares and instrumental variables regression models suggest welfare programs are counterproductive. On average, holding all else constant, with 95% confidence, the total dollar amount of funding received from welfare programs during childhood is statistically significant to a …

The Implementation Of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (Sfbt) With At-Risk Youth In An Alternative School Environment, Martha C. Hinchey

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Research indicates the potential utility of schools as sites for service delivery of mental health interventions. The application of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) within the school domain is reflected in the child psychotherapy literature. Findings on the use of SFBT in school settings suggest that it may be well suited to school contexts given its time-efficient, goal-directed, and strengths-based behavioral approach.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of SFBT with at-risk youth in an alternative school setting. The researcher utilized a multiple case study design to examine the impact of a 6-session SFBT intervention on …

Campaigning For Judicial Office, 2012, Robert J. Zuercher

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Concerns over the way in which judicial campaigns are conducted have been voiced since the 1970s. Judicial elections are thought to have become rough and tumble contests, featuring increasing campaign expenditures and controversial campaign speech. With the widespread deregulation of judicial candidate campaign speech in the early 2000s, scholars have become increasingly concerned with how judicial candidates campaign. This dissertation examines the role of the media in judicial elections, campaign communication methods used by candidates, how candidates develop campaign messages, controversial campaign speech, the consequences of campaigning, and candidates’ attitudes toward judicial selection reform. Data gathered from a survey of …

The Effects Of A New Method Of Instruction On The Perceptions Of Appalachian English, Michelle L. Compton

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

This paper evaluates whether students’ perceptions of Appalachian English improve through a method of instruction that uses dialect literature in the classroom. Most existing methods of instruction tend to portray dialects as wrong, incorrect, or in some way less rule-governed than Standardized English, despite the numerous studies that have demonstrated otherwise (e.g., Labov 1969, Wolfram 1986). The data from this study derives from two groups of students enrolled in introductory composition and communication at the University of Kentucky. Each group is given a pre-test to determine attitudes toward Appalachian English and Standardized English. An experimental group is then exposed to …

Effects Of An Online Training In The Ziggurat Model On The Autism Knowledge Of School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists (Slps), Wendy L. Wilkerson

Theses and Dissertations--Rehabilitation Sciences

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a low-incidence disorder with high impacts on individuals, families, and society. School-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have tremendous responsibilities toward individuals with ASD, but pre-service SLPs are not adequately trained to fulfill these expectations. In order to reduce the widespread financial and social impact of ASD, school-based SLPs need to complete effective training to prepare them for the selection of established social-communication practices. One framework for the selection of individualized intervention is the Ziggurat Model (Aspy & Grossman, 2008). The following study used mixed methods to investigate the research question: “Does the ASD knowledge base of …

Authors Alliance: A Force To Promote Authorship For Public Good, Michael Wolfe, Adrian K. Ho

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Internet Reviews: Open Access Institutional Repositories, Jennifer A. Bartlett

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Time Is On My Side: Harnessing The Power Of Automation For Efficient Archival Workflows, Sarah Dorpinghaus, Heather Fox

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

New Models Of The Unilateral Presidency, Yu Ouyang

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Though scholars have assessed the unilateral presidency with renewed interests, the literature remains weak in three important areas. What relation, if any, exists between the public and presidential unilateral actions? What impact does the judiciary have on unilateral presidential power? To what extent do presidents use the many tools in the unilateral policy toolchest? The three essays in this dissertation address each of these questions in term. Results have implications for both the unilateral presidency and broader works in executive decision-making and democratic governance.

Social Capital At The Capitol: A Social Network Analysis Of Interest Group Influence In The 111th Congress, Steven A. Martin

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation builds on existing scholarship in political science and political sociology to explore the influence of interest groups in legislative action networks. The primary theoretical insight is that as the number of interest group affiliations between two members of Congress increases, so does the frequency with which they forge other sorts of social ties necessary to advance the interests of their interest group constituencies. In particular, the analysis looks at interest group donation strategies, legislative co-sponsorships, and roll-call votes during the 111^th Congress (2009-2010). The analysis uses social network analysis methods to create network models of 19 different …

The Effect Of The Oil Trade Network On Political Stability, Jungmoo Woo

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

My dissertation focuses on the impact of oil trade ties and network on political instability: democratization, civil war onset, and coups. Oil is an important resource to most states, while a few states, especially autocratic states, can produce and export it. This implies that the break of oil trade ties may strategically or economically damage oil-importing states more than oil-exporting states. In the three essays of my dissertation, I argue that oil trade ties allow oil-exporting states to resist to external pressures and encourage oil-importing states to support important oil exporters in order to avoid losing access to a much-needed …

Effectiveness Of Psychotherapy For Youth In Poverty: A Benchmarking Study Of A Public Behavioral Health Agency Using A Client Feedback System, Jonathan Kodet

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a public behavioral health (PBH) agency that had implemented continuous outcome feedback as a quality improvement strategy.

Method: I investigated the pre-post treatment outcomes of 4,389 ethnically diverse youths (6 to 17 years old) at or under the poverty line participating in treatment (from January 2008 to March 2014) for a broad range of primary diagnoses including depression and anxiety disorders (23%); adjustment disorders (27%); Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (13%), various V-codes (18%); bipolar disorders (3%); and substance use disorders (2%). I also investigated the treatment outcomes …