Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Counselor Education Doctoral Student Supervisors’ Preparedness To Address Indirect Trauma: Compassion Fatigue, Secondary Traumatic Stress, And Vicarious Trauma, Dynetta Clark

Dissertations

Hearing the painful stories of clients (indirect trauma) has been described as an occupational hazard for professionals working with trauma survivors and is becoming more common among mental health professionals. This might include counselors struggling with intrusive thoughts and having flashbacks of victimization, counselors viewing the world as an unsafe and unpredictable place, and/or counselors experiencing a loss of ability to empathize with clients. Clinical supervision is documented as an effective strategy to reduce the adverse effects of indirect trauma symptomology. A signature component of most counselor education and supervision doctoral programs is the training and preparation of students to …

White Counseling Psychology Doctoral Trainees’ Experiences Broaching Whiteness With White Clients: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study, Zari Koelbel Carpenter

Dissertations

This research builds upon scholarship of critical theorists and critical whiteness studies. The “invisibility” of whiteness has been increasingly acknowledged and attended to in counseling psychology. Further, prominent scholars have continuously urged the field of counseling psychology to acknowledge race as a psychological characteristic of white people (Helms, 2017; Helms & Carter, 1990a). Attention to whiteness is needed, as the majority of the counseling workforce, including doctoral students (55%), identifies as white (American Psychological Association, 2020). As racial identity development can advance the personal and professional development of white counseling psychologists and benefit clients, increased attention is merited for the …

A Comparison Of Training Approaches On Skill Acquisition Among Direct Care Staff At An Adult Day Program, Sandra Wagner

Dissertations

Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are often dependent on direct care staff to engage in daily activities, such as personal care, eating, and engaging in leisure activities. One way direct care staff can support adults with IDD to become more independent is by using prompting strategies. Often times, however, direct care staff have not been trained on how to use prompts to encourage independence. Current studies have demonstrated success in teaching direct care staff prompting strategies in personal care tasks (e.g., Engelman et al., 2002; Parsons et al., 1993) through behavioral skills training. Although the trainings produced an …

Black Female College Student’S Instagram Usage And Body Dissatisfaction, Shirlee Buchanan Moore Jr.

Dissertations

Within U.S. culture, girls and women of all ages are subject to experiencing body dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction often results from direct comparison of one’s body to others, often via media depictions. Viewing these images prompts women of all cultures to engage in social comparison and learn to view themselves through an observer’s perspective. The advent of contemporary social media has increased the accessibility of images of others and, subsequently, social comparison of one’s body to others. Research has noted that women of all racial backgrounds utilize social media and experience varying degrees of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with their bodies. Despite …

Relationship Enhancement With New College Dating Couples: An Examination Of Self-Report And Observational Data, Kyra Katte

Dissertations

The present dissertation project investigated relationship enhancement following a brief self-disclosure task (i.e., the Fast Friends Procedure; FFP) via self-report and observational data. Thirty-three undergraduate couples dating for less than six months asked and answered questions that required increasingly higher levels of self-disclosure for 45 minutes. Interactions were recorded and coded for fondness/admiration, experiential avoidance, interdependence, reciprocity, and relationship satisfaction. Relationship outcomes were assessed pre-FFP, post- FFP, and at a six-month follow-up timepoint. Variables measured via observation demonstrated correlations with and predicted relationship outcomes, though most findings were nonsignificant. Nonsignificant findings may be attributed to the virtual administration of the …

Three Essays On Financial Economics And Monetary Policy, Kumadebis Tamiru Gemechu

Dissertations

This dissertation comprises three independent essays that contribute to understanding the impacts of monetary policy announcements on financial markets and the banking industry.

The first essay studies a natural language analysis of FOMC statements to identify monetary policy and its effects on financial markets. Using structural topic modeling, in the first essay I identify three dimensions of Fed monetary policy announcements: inflation outlook, state of the economy, and policy stance factors. This article focuses on the qualitative information released by the Fed through the FOMC statement, which has previously been overlooked in favor of quantitative communication such as the Green …

Understanding The Needs Of Gender-Diverse Youth And Young Adults And Their Staff Members In Homeless Shelters And Supported Housing, Sharon Gutman, Ashley Choi, Alexis Kearney, Margaret Swarbrick Dr

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Gender-diverse youth experience twice the risk for homelessness as their same-age cisgender peers and report experiencing discrimination in homeless shelters and supported housing.

Method: Eighteen participants (9 gender-diverse residents and 9 staff members) were interviewed individually to understand their experience of and needs in these settings.

Results: The major findings included: (a) Gender-diverse service recipients felt unsafe and vulnerable in these facilities. Sharing space in which to carry out occupations of vulnerability often triggered anxiety and PTSD. (b) Gender-diverse service recipients felt that staff members did not understand how cumulative trauma adversely affected participation in programmatic …

Spatiotemporal Changes Of Urban Growth And Particulate Matter 2.5 Concentrations In Sylhet Sadar Upazila : A Regional Study Using Gis Rs Techniques., Mizanur Rahman

Waldo Library Student Exhibits

Despite being one of the fastest growing developing countries, Bangladesh is consistently ranked among the most air polluted in the world The adverse effects of air pollution on the economy and public health are significant, yet efforts to combat it have been minimal Unplanned urbanization and industrialization are key contributors to air pollution, particularly particulate matter This study employed the Support Vector Machine ( to identify different land use types and utilized ANOVA tests to examine the variations in land cover categories over time The findings reveal a substantial increase of approximately 28 42 in built up areas, alongside a …

The Impact Of Rural-Urban Migration On The Pension System In China, Boxia Xu

Waldo Library Student Exhibits

This research examines the influence of rural-urban migration on China's pension insurance system. China's urban-rural structure is rapidly transforming. Consequently, the migration of populations from rural to urban areas has significantly impacted the social security system, especially the pension insurance system. This study analyzes data from 141,456 respondents using a binomial logistic regression model to explore the key factors influencing individual participation in pension insurance for the urban working group. The results indicate that education level, income, employment status, workplace, and residential area significantly affect pension insurance participation. Notably, an increase in education and income levels, as well as residing …

Social Media Journalism And Its Impact On Social Change: The Case Of Twitter(X), Daniel Ebo

Waldo Library Student Exhibits

Traditional journalism has converged with digital media to provide easier and accessible ways of news production and distribution. Several studies have interrogated the impacts of social media on journalism, but less has been studied on specific mediums and how they impact some of the traditional journalistic roles of addressing social issues. This study specifically adopted a user approach in identifying the roles of news organizations and journalists on X and how those roles influence social change initiatives utilizing the agenda-setting model. A correlational analysis conducted showed that there is a significant positive relationship between user engagement with news organization tweets …

Communication Research On Sign Language Telecommunication And Digital Modes Of Interpretation., Scooter Briody

Honors Theses

Since the invention and proliferation of the telephone in the late nineteenth century, our world has become increasingly dependent on technologically mediated communication. Nowadays we are just as likely to have our next human interaction through our smartphone or computer screen as we are to meet another person face to face. We do not even tend to think of these things as tools for telecommunication anymore, but rather as extensions of our own will. Despite the overwhelming convenience of this technology, it is also fundamentally created with the interests of certain people in mind. If you are able to use …

Wikidata Projects At Wmu, Marianne Swierenga

University Libraries Faculty & Staff Presentations

At Western Michigan University, Wikidata has been used to create value-added connections to boost discoverability of archival collections, oral histories, and digitization projects. Smaller, bite-sized projects focus on increasing regional and institutional information on Wikimedia projects. The presenter will also share her experience in developing and running Wikidata edit-a-thons.

Cocoa Production In The Era Of Crude Oil Economy: The Case Study Of Ondo State, Nigeria., Hakeem Shina Lamidi

Masters Theses

Nigeria's cocoa industry has been faced with obstacles that include a lack of adequate infrastructure, little or no research and development efforts for weather-related challenges and pest control, limited financial support for cocoa farming startups, absence of modern farming techniques, an aging agricultural workforce, and decrepit cocoa trees all of which have contributed to the decline in the production of cocoa by Nigeria. The Nigerian government's failure to prioritize agricultural policies and support farmers instead of relying on oil exports exacerbates these issues. While it is assumed that countries endowed with abundant natural resources, including oil, like Nigeria, would naturally …

Long Covid Patients: A Phenomenology Study Exploring Mental Health And Psychosocial Adaptation To Disability, Tonia Joy Lans

Dissertations

In the United States, approximately 1 in 13 long COVID patients experience adverse complications two to three years post-recovery (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022), including physical, psychological, and cognitive impairment, issues with daily functioning, and difficulties returning to work (del Rio et al., 2020; Greenhalgh et al., 2020; Ladds et al., 2020; Logue et al., 2021). Moreover, collective research has indicated the debilitating complications of long COVID often result in impaired mental health, chronic illness, and disability. While significant research efforts have started to accumulate data to understand and treat the physical and neuro-logical manifestations of this chronic …

Modeling Blue Mondays: A Preclinical Evaluation Of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine Binge Dosing On Responding Maintained By A Progressive Ratio Schedule Of Food Reinforcement In Male Sprague-Dawley Rats, Candace Brenda Johnson

Dissertations

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has been abused recreationally in the rave scene for decades. As pharmacotherapy research has progressed to develop alternative medications to treat trauma-related psychiatric symptoms, MDMA has become a prime candidate for medication-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of PTSD and will soon be FDA approved for medicinal use. Despite convincing evidence for favorable clinical outcomes, this substance has been known to contribute to acute depressive states following excessive use. The sharp decrease in mood and cognitive impairment following MDMA use is colloquially termed Blue Mondays. Measuring lack of motivation or more broadly anhedonia through withdrawal of acute and chronic …

Brief Treatment For Ptsd: Promoting Trauma Recovery With A Five-Session Cognitive Processing Therapy Protocol, Sanela Kalakovic

Dissertations

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a first-line treatment for trauma. CPT is traditionally administered over 12 sessions. This open clinical trial examined the feasibility and efficacy of a 5-session CPT protocol. The abbreviated protocol moves more quickly to the proposed therapeutic mechanism of action, cognitive restructuring, to alter unhelpful traumarelated thoughts and beliefs. The goal is to maintain efficacy while making therapy more efficient and thereby reducing barriers to trauma treatment. Using a repeated measures open clinical trial design (with embedded multiple baselines), 67 adults (M age = 43 years, 90% female, 79% White) with clinically significant post-traumatic stress disorder …

A Brief Self-Compassion Intervention For Survivors Of Sexual Trauma With Psychological Distress, Natalie Marie Hogue

Dissertations

Individuals who have experienced sexual trauma are at an increased risk of psychological disorders and psychological distress (Dworkin, 2020; Dworkin et al., 2017; Dworkin & Schumacher, 2018). Sexual trauma has one of the highest conditional risks for the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (Domino et al., 2020; Perrin et al., 2014). Experiential avoidance, shame, and posttraumatic cognitions are associated with psychological distress after experiencing sexual trauma (Bhuptani et al., 2019; Domino et al., 2020; Foa et al., 1999; Merwin et al., 2009). Established research suggests that self-compassion-based therapies can be effective in reducing psychological distress and treating a wide range …

Echo Chambers And The Rise Of The Alt-Right, Ian Robert Mcdonald

Masters Theses

The uses of social media have expanded with the growing number of platforms and niches that these platforms seek to fulfill. One of the more common uses of many current social media platforms is to engage with politics. Social media platforms have become a political tool to some, with an enormous amount of news and information being shared throughout social media platforms. The increasing use of social media has coincided with an increase in political polarization, with some raising concerns over the ability for certain groups to operate in ideological isolation, referred to as echo chambers, and the role they …

Dietary Probiotic Supplement Attenuates Methamphetamine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference In Female Sprague-Dawley Rats, Kristen Powell

Masters Theses

Substance use disorders (SUD) represent a global public health crisis with limited effective treatment options. Recent findings implicate the gut microbiome and gut/brain axis in the pathophysiology of SUDs. Several preclinical studies have established that psychostimulants alter gut microbiome composition, but no published studies have assessed behavioral effects of dietary probiotic supplements on drug-induced behavioral changes. This study utilized rodent conditioned place preference (CPP) as a behavioral index of conditioned drug reward to determine if a dietary probiotic supplement alters the behavioral effects of (+)-methamphetamine (METH). Fifty-four adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to receive either a standard rodent …

Moral Responsibility And Other Visceral Attitudes Of Western Michigan University Students Toward Food Waste, Quinn Heiser

Masters Theses

Despite the large number of people that go hungry on a regular basis in America, food waste remains a looming issue, globally and nationally. Both American college students and the universities themselves contribute a large portion to the national food waste totals. A dichotomy that is especially curious is the difference between students who live on-campus and whose main source of meals is the dining centers, versus students who live off campus and rely mainly on groceries to make meals independently. However, food waste has seldom been studied in the context of the fact that college is a major transition …

The Effects Of Technology Based Self-Monitoring On Behaviors Related To Academic Engagement Of A University Student With A Disability, Rachel Mickelson

Masters Theses

College students with disabilities often experience difficulties with meeting the demands of university level courses due to challenges with time management and impulse control (Shmulsky & Gobbo, 2013). Self-monitoring has been proven effective for various populations and behaviors, although limited research has been conducted with college students with disabilities. I-Connect, a technology-based self-monitoring tool, is a digital application that utilizes momentary time sampling where users can select a behavior and interval of time to be prompted to self-monitor that behavior (University of Kansas, 2022). The app also collects real time data and automatically creates graphs to depict the responses collected …

School Counselors’ Perspectives On Preparing Students Experiencing Homelessness For College, Stacey A. Havlik, Dana Brookover, Patrick Rowley

Journal of College Access

The purpose of the study is to investigate school counselors’ support of youth experiencing homelessness going to college. Using survey methods, school counselors reported their knowledge, perceived competence, advocacy, and actions related to supporting students experiencing homelessness in their college preparation. The results suggested that training and the number of students experiencing homelessness on counselors’ caseloads were significantly related to their knowledge and competence. Knowledge, competence, and advocacy all impacted the number of interventions utilized by participants. The implications of these results for school counselors and counselor educators are discussed.

(Non)Cognitive Dissonance? A Stakeholder-Based Exploration Of The Consideration Of Graduate Admissions Applicants' Personal Skills And Qualities, Reginald M. Gooch, Joseph H. Paris, Sara B. Haviland, Jose Sotelo

Journal of College Access

Prospective graduate students’ noncognitive attributes are commonly evaluated as a part of a holistic review of their admission applications. Yet it is difficult to determine which noncognitive attributes are considered by those who evaluate graduate admissions applications and what approaches they take to measure applicants’ noncognitive attributes. It is even less clear to what degree prospective graduate students understand how they are evaluated for graduate admissions and how the evaluation of their noncognitive attributes factor into admissions decisions. Drawing on surveys of graduate enrollment management (GEM) professionals and prospective graduate students in the United States, our study investigates the noncognitive …

Virtual Reality As An Adjunct To Behavior Therapy: A Systematic Literature Review, Alya Alharrasi

Honors Theses

The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that by 2030, mental disorders will become the primary source of global disease burden [1]. Anxiety-related disorders, including specific phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and various forms of general or specific anxiety, are the most rapidly growing mental health disorders worldwide [2]. In the United States (US), over 1 in 10 American youths are experiencing depression, resulting in a severe impact on their personal, academic, or professional encounters and social engagements [3]. Similarly, anxiety disorders affect up to one-third of the US population during their lifetime [4].

Due to the growth of mental health …

An Investigation Of Bone Preservation As A Result Of Environmental And Cultural Variables In Mortuary Contexts, Adyn Hallahan

Honors Theses

Stable isotope analysis in bioarchaeology of human bone is generally used to reconstruct diet or migratory patterns of certain populations. Although this type of analysis is now standard practice, little research has been done regarding how cultural and mortuary practices may affect chemical composition of bone. This study aims to determine whether different simulated mortuary contexts have an effect on stable isotope levels in bone, using seven pig rib bone samples as proxy for human bone. In addition, macroscopic and microscopic observations are used to assess preservation and taphonomic processes. One of the samples served as a control, not being …

Implementing Choice In Treatment Modality For Adolescents With Autism Learning Daily Living Skills, Silvia Robazza

Honors Theses

Daily living skills, categorized as personal-care activities within the home, community, and school setting, are crucial components in establishing daily routines amongst adolescents (Stabel, 2013). Many of these activities require gross motor and fine motor skills, which are skills that tend to be difficult for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD;Chen et al., 2022). When trying to express their wants and needs surrounding completing day-to-day activities, individuals with ASD may engage in problem behaviors as a way to communicate (Iwata et al., 1982). Nonetheless, implementing choice in treatment has been found to significantly decrease occurrences of problem behavior (Shogren et …

The International Lens Of Western Michigan University, Tesha Nowak

Honors Theses

The international students highlighted in this documentary have different stories with the same experience of studying in the United States. Some international students are at Western with family, making the transition easier for them whereas some are here alone, still trying to find the community that fits their identity. In this documentary, Western Michigan University’s (WMU) international students, will discuss their study abroad experience in the United States such as culture shock, negotiating native and new cultures and managing assumptions that Americans have about them or their cultures. Their stories will bring to light the reality of the study abroad …

Psychological Influences On Reaction When Faced With Failure And Difficult Experiences, Marcus Cunha

Honors Theses

The current study investigated the impact of psychological traits on emotional reactions in the face of challenges. The study employed tasks designed to induce negative psychological states, such as a Learned Helplessness (LH) task (Hooper & McHugh, 2013) and the difficult Compound Remote Associate (CRA) task (Bowden & Jung-Beeman, 2003). A correlational study was conducted using a within-subjects design. All participants were given initially the same questionnaires measuring the following predictor variables: Grit, Need for Cognition (NFC), Psychological Flexibility (PF), Trait Cognitive Fusion (CF), and Emotional Stability. Participants then engaged in the LH and CRA tasks followed by completing outcome …

Latu Mae Rissa: Leader Come To War! An Autoethnography Of Colonialization And Post-Colonization, Leah Latumaerissa

Honors Theses

Latu Mae Rissa: Leader Come to War! An Autoethnography of Colonialization and Post-colonization is an undergraduate honors thesis that examines the effects and aftermath of Dutch colonialism regarding the Moluccan community through oral history, and unique narratives from four generations in the family Latumaerissa in the Netherlands. The generational narratives capture the indigenous Moluccan experience during the Dutch colonial and postcolonial eras. The findings in this thesis indicate that the Dutch colonial past and the historical events that occurred during and after Dutch decolonization function as significant Moluccan identity markers as they influenced the Moluccan being through intergenerational trauma which …

Improving Restaurant Customer Service Through Job Aids, Madisyn Slater

Honors Theses

A key concern for restaurants is good customer service as it directly relates to repeated customers and revenue generation. Customer service plays a large role in keeping a business up and running, without appropriate customer-employee interactions, a business may cease to exist. The field of Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) has several empirically-based interventions that may help. One of these interventions, job aids, gives a brief description of what is expected and can be consulted by an employee at any point in time. However, most research uses a package intervention and has not examined the effects of job aids alone. The …