Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Genetic Risk For Increased Oxidative Stress In The Aging Brain:Implications For White Matter Integrity And Cognition, Lauren Salminen

Dissertations

Oxidative stress is a key mechanism of the aging process that can cause damage to brain white matter and cognitive functions. Allele variations of two polymorphisms (SOD2, CAT -262) have been associated with abnormalities in antioxidant enzyme activity, suggesting a risk for enhanced oxidative damage to brain white matter and cognition among older individuals with these genetic mutations. The present study utilized diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neuropsychological assessment to compare differences in microstructural white matter integrity and cognitive performance among 96 older adults (age 50-85) with and without genetic risk factors of SOD2 (rs4880) and CAT -262 (rs1001179). Results …

To Shoot Or Not To Shoot: An Analysis Of Police Officers' Deadly Force Decision-Making Processes, Jordan Clare Pickering

Dissertations

How police officers exercise their unique power to use deadly force continues to be a topic of interest among academics and, due to recent events, has moved to the forefront of public policy concerns. A number of scholars have proposed theories as to how police officers make the decision to use deadly force, but arguably the most comprehensive deadly force decision-making framework was put forth by Arnold Binder and Peter Scharf three and a half decades ago (1980; Scharf and Binder, 1983). They posit that officers’ decision-making processes during an encounter that either includes police use of deadly force, or …

The Role Of Client Avoidance On Ptsd Recovery Throughout The Course Of Trauma Therapy, Chelsea Alyssa Gloth

Dissertations

The accumulation of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over the past few decades has contributed to the development of clinical treatment guidelines (Chambless & Ollendick, 2001; Forbes et al., 2010; Truax & Thomas, 2003). Two treatments that have gained substantial support are Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). Although these treatments result in most participants losing their PTSD diagnosis and obtaining meaningful reductions in symptoms, some clients remain refractory to treatment. Researchers have worked to identify predictors of treatment outcome, but have given minimal attention to aspects of client avoidance as …

Fidelity To The Cognitive Processing Therapy Protocol: Further Evaluation Of Critical Elements, Courtney Chappuis Farmer

Dissertations

Despite advancements in the field of trauma-focused treatment, a close examination of the literature reveals three concerns. First, a significant number of RCT participants either do not respond to treatment or drop out prematurely. Second, despite significant dissemination of evidence-based interventions, fidelity to those interventions beyond trainings is not well understood. And finally, the effectiveness of trauma-focused interventions in the “real-world” community setting remains unclear. Literature suggests that identification of key treatment components could help to address these three concerns. This study focused on one evidence-based treatment in particular, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and aimed to extend the current literature …

The Role Of Parental Locus Of Control In The Relations Among Early Childhood Temperament, Parenting Practices, And Child Externalizing Behavior, Amanda Kathryn Stary

Dissertations

Child externalizing behaviors are a common reason for children’s referral for mental health services, and parenting practices are a primary target of efficacious interventions. In turn, child temperament and parent beliefs, such as parental self-efficacy and locus of control, relate to use of specific parenting practices. The present study aimed to evaluate whether parental locus of control and related components moderate the indirect effect of preschool-aged children’s temperament on their externalizing behaviors through parenting practices. Specifically, child temperament was expected to predict parenting practices only at certain levels of locus of control. Female caregivers of 146 children ages 3-5 years …

The Effect Of Auditory Stimulation On Sleep Disruption In West Indian Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris), Natalija Lace

Dissertations

Florida manatees inhabit waterways where motorized boats are common. Although manatee mortalities resulting from boat strikes are well documented, the effect of boat noise on some manatee behaviors, including rest, has not been investigated. This study focuses on rest behavior and used a playback experiment with four manatees at the Lowry Park Zoo in Florida. We tested their responses to playback stimuli of either boat noise, silence, or manatee calls. A playback trial was initiated when the focal animal showed behavioral characteristics of rest.

Results showed that rest was interrupted in response to the playback of boat noise for each …

The Associations Among Expressed Emotion, Relationship Satisfaction, Ptsd Symptoms, Alcohol Use, And Depression: A Longitudinal Investigation With A Military Sample, Laci Lee Zawilinski

Dissertations

PTSD in military personnel is highly prevalent and accompanied by elevated rates of additional issues such as depression, problematic alcohol use, and interpersonal relationship problems. Family members and spouses of military personnel have also been shown to be negatively impacted by PTSD symptoms. Previous research has indicated that family members and spouses’ expressed emotion regarding the PTSD patients’ symptoms negatively impacts treatment outcome in civilian populations. However, studies have yet to investigate the effect of expressed emotion on the course of PTSD symptoms and associated problems in military personnel. Therefore, the purpose of the present investigation was to examine the …

The Effects Of Peer-Mediated Check-In, Check-Out With A Self Monitoring Component On Disruptive Behavior And Appropriate Engagement In The Classroom, Chandler Erin Mclemore

Dissertations

Check-In/Check-Out (CICO) is a commonly used Tier II behavioral intervention within public school settings. The present study evaluated the use of an alternative method of service delivery for CICO that included peers as interventionists. Self-monitoring was an additional intervention component, utilized in order to reduce teacher response effort associated with intervention implementation. Three target student/peer interventionist dyads served as participants (one elementary school dyad, one middle school dyad, and one high school dyad). Direct observation data were collected, and the effects of peer-mediated CICO were evaluated with an ABAB design. Social validity measures were also completed by each teacher as …

Understanding Factors Related To Negative Mental Health Outcomes Following Childhood Unintentional Injuries, Jennifer T. Kuhn

Dissertations

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children ages 0-19 and account for 9.2 million emergency room visits in the United States each year (Borse et al., 2008). Research shows that approximately 20% of children meet criteria for PTSD following an unintentional injury (Ostrowski et al., 2011). There are several factors that may contribute to the development of PTSD including caregivers’ posttraumatic stress symptoms after the injury event. Research has not explained the association between caregivers’ PTSD and children’s risk for PTSD symptoms, but it is possible that caregivers with PTSD may be modeling anxious behaviors to their …

Discriminative Stimulus Effects Of 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone And 4-Methylmethcathinone, Michael D. Berquist

Dissertations

Recent escalation in the popularity of recreational synthetic cathinone (“bath salts”) use has prompted numerous scientific investigations of the neurochemical and behavioral effects of 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC), two of the more common chemical constituents of these illicit “bath salts”. Previous neurochemical and electrophysiological studies have revealed that MDPV functions as a blocker, and 4-MMC as a substrate, at monoamine transporters, and both produce transient increases in extracellular monoamines. In addition, previous research has demonstrated that MDPV and 4-MMC support self-administration in nonhuman experimental subjects, and their rewarding effects are observed when paired with contextual cues in nonhuman models …

Dimensions Of The Doctoral Dissertation Advising Relationship In Counselor Education: Mentoring Expectations, Satisfaction, And Time-To-Degree, Lasonda Wells

Dissertations

High attrition rates among doctoral students are of great concern. Based on national statistics in the United States, at least 50% of students who start a doctoral program do not complete their degree (Council of Graduate Schools, 2008; Lovitts, 2000). Although factors leading to attrition can vary given the individual student and the discipline, the faculty-student relationship is the most commonly noted problematic factor across disciplines (Fedynich & Bain, 2011; Lovitts, 2001). However, the research on doctoral advisor-advisee relationships remains sparse, particularly in counselor education (Protivnak & Foss, 2009).

The purpose of this study was to explore the demographic profile …

U.S. State Building And The Second Amendment, Darren Dale Gil

Dissertations

This dissertation used a comparative case study strategy employing a mixed methods thematic content analysis approach¹ to explore U.S. government support for Second Amendment freedoms as compared to other freedoms in the U.S. Bill of Rights in American-led state-building projects in Cuba (1898-1901), Germany (1945-1949), and Iraq (2003-2005). The dissertation tested for Republican and Democratic political party support regarding Second Amendment freedoms in U.S. state-building projects. Findings from the three case studies showed that the American government did not support individual arms rights in its state-building efforts as it did with the other nine Bill of Rights freedoms. Findings …

The House That Propaganda Built: Historicizing The Democracy Promotion Efforts And Measurement Tools Of Freedom House, Emily A. Zerndt

Dissertations

Democracy promotion has been an overt objective of American foreign policy ever since Woodrow Wilson declared it the goal of WWI. This dissertation examines the influence of Freedom House on those policy decisions as well as academia. Freedom House was created in 1941 with the “quiet encouragement” of both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt to combat the pervasive isolationism in the United States. Erected as the Western counterpoint to the Braunhaus, the Nazi propaganda center, Freedom House has distinctly political origins. Over the course of its institutional life, Freedom House has evolved from keeping a “balance sheet” on the level of …

Increasing Caregiver Supervision Of Young Children: Teaching Scanning, Predicting Behavior, And Modifying For Safety, Natalie Truba

Dissertations

Unintentional injuries account for a significant number of child deaths and visits to the emergency department. Although increased supervision is routinely shown to be an effective method of preventing unintentional childhood injuries, few interventions systemically teach caregivers behavioral skills to supervise their children appropriately. The present study utilized a multiple baseline design to pilot test an intervention designed to increase caregiver supervision and decrease unintentional childhood injuries by training caregivers how to provide appropriate levels of supervision for their young children (ages 6 to 36 months). Specifically, caregivers were taught in the present study include: (1) scanning the environment (for …

An Evaluation Of The Acceptability And Effects Of A Computer-Delivered Values-Based Behavioral Activation Treatment For Depression Among Older Adults, Kellie Reynolds

Dissertations

Depression is a common psychological disorder among older adults and is associated with serious secondary effects to health and social well-being. Behavioral activation has been found to be an efficacious treatment for depression. However, there is limited research on the treatment effects of behavioral activation with older adults. In general, older adults under-utilize mental health treatments. Computer-delivered treatments have been developed to address access and under-utilization. The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the acceptability and effects of a computer-delivered values-based behavioral activation treatment for depression in older adults. This study consisted of two phases. Phase I consisted of …

Conceptualization, Measurement, And Effects Of Helicopter Parenting On College Students From The Millennial Generation, Baochun Z. Hind

Dissertations

The social phenomenon of helicopter parenting (HP) has been rapidly growing. Although HP is generally characterized as overly involved parents who “hover” over their college student children (Cline & Fay, 1990), and some research efforts have been made in recent years on understanding the construct of HP, an essential weakness of the majority of these studies is the inadequate conceptualization of HP, both theoretically and operationally. The aim of the current study was to develop a new scale to measure the construct of helicopter parent controlling (HPC), and three questions were used to guide this study: (1) What are the …

Rebuilding Security And Peace For Women: Exploring Women’S Security Challenges And Activism For Security And Peace Building In Northeast India, Rubi Devi

Dissertations

Women have been affected by violence and conflicts ever since the wars were first waged on earth. Woman as a grieving mother or widow is a common portrayal of war and conflict. However, the common portrayal of women as passive victims does not recount the whole story of women’s experience in conflict/post conflict scenario. Women face countless security challenges in the form of physical, psychological abuses, economic burden and most importantly sexual violence- rape, murder, molestation, kidnapping and sex trafficking. The gendered nature of conflict, thus, increases women’s security challenges and places them at a critical juncture of experiencing and …

“Eye For An Eye” Or “Turn The Other Cheek?” Exploring The Moderating Roles Of Revenge And Forgiveness When Examining Death Penalty Support And Religious Fundamentalism, William Howard Whited

Dissertations

Public attitudes towards the death penalty appear to influence the usage of legislative policies about this highly debated sanction in the United States. However, existing ways of measuring public opinion about the death penalty are limited in the information they provide. As such, one purpose of the study was to further develop the Revised Attitudes towards the Death Penalty Scale (RATDP), an instrument that measures level of support for the death penalty and is inclusive of the rationales that both proponents and opponents use to justify their stance. Support for a five-factor structure of the RATDP was found in an …

Refinement Of The Attitudes Toward Anger Management Scale, David Jerome Boudreaux

Dissertations

Identifying and addressing potential problems with anger before they result in adverse consequences could be beneficial in improving quality of life and minimizing the disruptive effects of anger on one’s social environment. Excessive anger or anger which is expressed in maladaptive ways present particular challenges for college students due to their developmental stage, stressors, and environmental demands. Unfortunately, too few college students utilize available mental health resources. Individuals with problem anger are influenced by unique factors that affect help seeking decisions. A better understanding of these factors could facilitate outreach and improve service utilization. This study continued the development of …

The Tootling Intervention With Classdojo: Effects On Classwide Disruptive Behavior And Academically Engaged Behavior In An Upper Elementary School Setting, Melissa Mchugh Dillon

Dissertations

The current study was designed to replicate and extend the literature on the effectiveness of a classroom intervention known as Tootling (Skinner, Skinner, & Cashwell, 1998) to include an interactive technological component, ClassDojo, to decrease disruptive classroom behavior as well as increase academically engaged behavior. Tootling is a peer-monitoring intervention that encourages students to report instances of appropriate behaviors they have seen their peers perform. Thus far, studies utilizing direct observation data to measure disruptive behavior during Tootling (Cihak, Kirk, & Boon, 2009; Lambert, 2014, Lambert el al., 2015, Lum et al., 2015; McHugh et al., 2014) have shown reductions …

Multi-Sensory Emotion Recognition With Speech And Facial Expression, Qingmei Yao

Dissertations

Emotion plays an important role in human beings’ daily lives. Understanding emotions and recognizing how to react to others’ feelings are fundamental to engaging in successful social interactions. Currently, emotion recognition is not only significant in human beings’ daily lives, but also a hot topic in academic research, as new techniques such as emotion recognition from speech context inspires us as to how emotions are related to the content we are uttering.

The demand and importance of emotion recognition have highly increased in many applications in recent years, such as video games, human computer interaction, cognitive computing, and affective computing. …

Implementing A Positive Variation Of The Good Behavior Game With The Use Of A Computer-Based Program, Shauna Lynne

Dissertations

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is an interdependent group contingency designed to address behavioral concerns. The vast majority of published findings on the GBG have supported its effectiveness in decreasing disruptive behavior in classroom settings. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and the social validity of a positive variation of the GBG in which teachers were asked to use ClassDojo to manage each team’s progress. ClassDojo is a computer-based program that enables teachers to track student behavior and monitor progress by way of a virtual system. Dependent variables included class-wide disruptive and academically engaged behavior (AEB), …

Natural Disasters In Latin America: The Role Of Disaster Type And Productive Sector On The Urban-Rural Income Gap And Rural To Urban Migration, Madeline Alice Messick

Dissertations

This research provides insight into the impact of natural disasters as drivers of rural to urban migration in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Disasters of varying types are predicted to have differing impacts on the productive sectors of agriculture, industry, and services; which due to the concentration of the various productive sectors in either urban or rural areas, subsequently changes the urban-rural wage differential. Changes to the wage differential (as measured by the urban-rural income gap) are predicted to lead to movement between urban and rural areas until a new equilibrium wage is reached.

This dissertation first identifies a …

The Influence Of The Electric Supply Industry On Economic Growth In Less Developed Countries, Edward Richard Bee

Dissertations

This study measures the impact that electrical outages have on manufacturing production in 135 less developed countries using stochastic frontier analysis and data from World Bank’s Investment Climate surveys. Outages of electricity, for firms with and without backup power sources, are the most frequently cited constraint on manufacturing growth in these surveys.

Outages are shown to reduce output below the production frontier by almost five percent in Africa and by a lower percentage in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. Production response to outages is quadratic in form. Outages also increase labor cost, reduce exports …

Cultural Moderation Of The Relationship Between Anticipated Life Role Salience And Career Decision-Making Difficulties, Emily Anne Schmidtman

Dissertations

The perceived importance of, and commitment to, work and family roles has significant implications for the career decision-making difficulty (CDMD) of undergraduate college students. Additionally, cultural variables have been shown to influence undergraduate students’ anticipated life role salience (LRS) as well as the amount of difficulty experienced in making a career decision. Given this information, the current study assessed the relationship between LRS and CDMD specifically in terms of differences that may occur within this relationship for different cultural groups. Using a sample of college students (total N = 246), an online survey was used to gather information about their …

Emotion-Related Factors As Mediators In The Relation Between Family Stress And Adolescent Externalizing Problems, Kristy Marie Disabatino

Dissertations

Adaptive regulation of emotions, maternal depression, parenting stress, and environmental stress have all been related to adolescent psychosocial outcomes. Considering these established relations, the current study examined serial mediation models in which it was hypothesized that (1) maternal distress or community stress (examined in separate models) would positively relate to adolescent externalizing behaviors directly and (a) indirectly through maladaptive maternal emotion socialization (ES) practices (i.e., magnify, neglect, and punish), (b) indirectly through adolescent emotion regulation (ER) difficulties, and (c) indirectly through both maternal ES practices and adolescent ER difficulties; (2) maternal distress or community stress would positively relate to adolescent …

Predictors Of Alcohol Consumption, Use Of Protective Behavioral Strategies, And Alcohol-Related Sexual Consequences: A Gendered Social Learning Perspective, Kayla Darlene Moorer

Dissertations

Given the long standing gender differences in regard to alcohol-related behaviors and consequences, understanding how conformity to gender norms may predict alcohol-related outcomes is an important next step in developing effective prevention efforts aimed at reducing alcohol-related sexual consequences for college women. The current study examined the relationships among conformity to feminine and masculine gender norms and alcohol-related outcomes (harmful drinking patterns, protective behavior strategy use, and sex-related consequences) among college women. Another primary aim of the study was to determine the extent to which sex-specific alcohol expectancies mediated the associations between gender norms and alcohol-related outcomes. Participants were 421 …

Exploring Interpersonal Variables Within The Supervisory Relationship: The Role Of Supervisory Alliance, Supervisory Style, And Supervisee Attachment, Kathryn Wierda

Dissertations

In the current study, I examined the role of the supervisory working alliance, supervisory style, and supervisee attachment within the supervisory relationship. A sample of 79 supervisees from a large Midwestern University in the United States, as well as 26 supervisors from a large Midwestern University and from the surrounding community, participated in this study. Interested participants were asked to complete an online survey, which included instruments measuring the supervisory working alliance, supervisory style, and supervisee attachment. Correlation analyses and multiple linear regressions were used to examine the relationship between and among supervisee attachment, supervisory style, and the supervisory working …

Assessing Change In Attachment Security Of Adolescents At Residential Therapeutic Programs, Laura Santa Thum

Dissertations

Adolescents with significant, persistent behavioral and mental health problems are increasingly being treated in private residential treatment programs (RTPs). Recent research at such programs shows that adolescents’ symptoms improve over the course of treatment and that such positive results persist up to a year post discharge. This study attempts to address what is occurring below the symptom level by exploring if attachment security increases as symptoms improve over the course of treatment in private RTPs. The level of attachment security was assessed along the dimensions of attachment avoidance and anxiety as a general construct and according to specific relationships (with …

Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Adolescent Difficulties With Emotion Regulation: An Open Trial, Julissa A. Duenas

Dissertations

Research suggests that youth rates of mental health problems are high and that evidence-based treatments for these populations exist; however, there is a significant problem in accessibility of mental health services. Recent movements in the mental health field have shifted focus to transdiagnostic dimensions of behavior in attempt to target a broader range of psychological difficulties across larger populations. One such construct, emotion regulation, has been defined as an ability to have awareness and acceptance of emotions and control urges and impulses in order to behave towards a goal. Emotion regulation has been linked to numerous internalizing and externalizing behavioral …