Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Efficacy Of An Audio-Based Biofeedback Intervention To Modify Running Gait In Female Runners 2020, Sarah Rothstein

Master's Theses

Introduction: Gait retraining interventions are used to modify foot strike parameters associated with musculoskeletal injuries. Such interventions may prove beneficial if gait modifications are maintained long-term and provide a physiological performance benefit. Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether female recreational runners can use a smartphone decibel app to self-modify gait mechanics associated with injury. The secondary purpose was to determine if such gait modifications are retained beyond the initial training session. The tertiary purpose was to determine if such gait modifications were associated with improved running economy. Methods: The peak vertical ground reaction force (vGRF), …

The Effect Of Attentional Focus Instructions On Single Leg Balance Performance 2020., Cory Monahan

Master's Theses

Balance and postural control exercises are often a part of exercise programs. During exercise programs, movement practitioners can provide instructions to facilitate performance and learning. Instructions can be used to direct attentional focus, which has been found to affect the performance and learning of motor skills, including balance and postural control tasks. However, no known studies to date have investigated the effect of both internal and external attentional focus instructions on static single leg balance performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of attentional focus instructions on static single leg balance performance as reflected by the …

The Relationship Between Sport Commitment With Off-Season Training Time And Previous In-Season Playing Time In College-Aged Soccer Players 2020., Luke Zuber

Master's Theses

Sport commitment is defined as “…the desire and resolve to continue sport participation” (Scanlan, Carpenter, Schmidt, Simons, & Keeler, 1993, p. 6). Since the first definition, the concept has been further refined to reflect a more multidimensional paradigm. Overall, sport commitment is thought to be comprised of the dimensions of enthusiastic commitment and constrained commitment (Scanlan, Chow, Sousa, Scanlan, & Knifsend, 2016). Those constructs can be broken down further to 12 subconstructs that are represented in the Sport Commitment – 2 (SC; Scanlan, Chow, Sousa, Scanlan, & Knifsend, 2016), in order to evaluate the source and level of an individual’s …

The Effects Of Optimism On Anti-Natalism, Faith L. Brown

Master's Theses

People sometimes hold opinions on others’ choices, particularly their reproductive decisions, as these choices are important decisions that impact the lives of multiple people. People can believe that everyone should have children (pro-natalism) or that everyone should refrain from having children (anti-natalism) or they can hold no position on the reproduction of others. The main justification for anti-natalism is that life contains more suffering than pleasure and that it would be better if new people were not born to experience this suffering. This is why some theorists argue that people reject anti-natalism irrespective of how bad …

Sustainable Wastewater Treatment In The American South, Caroline Miles

Master's Theses

Aging infrastructure and changing social and environmental conditions are two factors that are currently pushing wastewater treatment towards more sustainable methods. This thesis investigates what sustainable treatment technologies are being used in the American South through a focused sample of six cities across the region: Austin, Texas; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Ocean Springs, Mississippi; and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The study assesses the types of sustainable treatment technology utilized at each facility, the perspectives of wastewater professionals about the technology, and the economic and environmental sustainability of each facility. Data was collected through direct observations on tours of the facilities, …

“Making The World A Better Place To Live In”: Hattiesburg Women’S Literary Organizations And The Formation Of A Progressive Southern City, 1884-1945, Daniella Kawa

Master's Theses

This study examines the activity and impact of white women’s literary clubs in Hattiesburg, Mississippi between 1884 and the end of World War II in 1945. This project examines to what extent women adhered to or broke away from societal norms of the time by involving themselves in intellectually stimulating groups with other women, especially in response to rapidly changing standards of femininity and womanhood during the Progressive era. Women’s literary clubs reveal patterns of women moving out of the home and into a public role, in addition to signifying the new ways in which women fit themselves into a …

Willingness To Seek Professional Help For Suicidal Thoughts: The Role Of Masculine Norms And Self-Stigma In Service Members, Samantha E. Daruwala

Master's Theses

Given the high rate of suicide, it is important to understand what barriers are preventing service members from seeking professional help for suicidal thoughts. Self-stigma and conformity to masculine norms, which are evident in the military culture, have been demonstrated as barriers to care in civilians. This study sought to better understand how these two factors are related to willingness to seek professional help for suicidal thoughts and a personal-emotional problem among service members. Specifically, we (1) identified service members’ willingness to seek help from a variety of sources for suicidal thoughts and a personal-emotional problem, (2) examined how conformity …

A Comparison Of Power Variables For Two Loading Methods In Weighted Vertical Jumps 2020, Jonathan Tanguay

Master's Theses

Training exercises to develop muscular strength and power, such as the weighted jump squat, commonly utilize barbells and dumbbells to increase resistance. Strength coaches often measure improvements in peak force, peak power, and rate of force development to determine effectiveness of a training program. The purpose of this study was to determine if equipment selection (barbells vs. dumbbells) affects peak force, peak power, and/or rate of force development in weighted jump squats. Thirteen physically active, college-aged males (age: 21.6 ± 2.0 years, height: 182.8 ± 9.7 cm, body mass: 87.2 ± 9.0 kg, lean mass: 72.3 ± 8.1 kg) performed …

Layperson's Norms Surrounding Politician Sexual Misconduct And Sexual Harassment, Yelyzaveta Distefano

Master's Theses

While there are legal definitions of what actions and circumstances constitute gender based prejudiced, sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape, less is known about lay people's norms and perceptions of what behaviors and situations qualify as each of these categories, especially involving the role of context in which ambiguous social-sexual behaviors occur. Additionally, sexual harassment paradigms have not explored the unique power relationships of politicians and those working under them in political office, an especially topical locale of workplace SH in a post #MeToo America. 277 participants completed a survey with a 2 (setting: workplace, office party at the bar) …

Decreasing Women's Endorsement Of Benevolent Sexism, Kelsey Berryman

Master's Theses

The aim of the current study was to reduce women's endorsement for benevolent sexist beliefs. the intervention aimed to educate women about the prevalence and seriousness of benevolent sexism. as this is a subtle and deceptively positive type of sexism, women are particularly susceptible in endorsing it (Glick & Fiske, 2001). in order to increase awareness for benevolent sexism in their everyday lives, some participants read an informational text about the pervasiveness and harmfulness of benevolent sexism in the U.S. This text was read after participants had already written about a time they engaged in benevolent sexism to elicit negative …

Latino Parents' Acculturative Stress And Their Preschoolers' Prosocial Development: Testing The Mediating Role Of Parenting Style, Zahra Fatima Naqi

Master's Theses

Studies increasingly recognize the importance of cultural factors when studying the development of immigrant children from low-income backgrounds. There is reason to believe that parents' acculturative stress may be linked to children's prosocial development, via parenting. the present study included a sample of immigrant Latino parents of 3- to 5-year-old Head Start preschoolers (N = 28) to examine how parents' acculturative stress might be associated with children's prosocial behavior at home, as reported by parents, and at school, as reported by teachers. Furthermore, it studied whether this linkage is mediated by warm, supportive, and hostile parenting practices. Results indicated that …

Beyond Family: Patterns Of Kin And Fictive Kin Caregivers Among Children And Youth In The Child Welfare System, Jennifer Osborne

Master's Theses

Children and youth in the child welfare system experience significant benefits from placement with custodial kin caregivers in psychological, social, relational, and educational domains (Winokur, Holtan, & Batchelder, 2018; Vasileva & Petermann, 2018). Additionally, the extant literature suggests that non-custodial kin and non-custodial fictive kin, or individuals unrelated by blood or marriage though afforded the same unofficial status as family (Taylor, Chatters, Woodward, & Brown, 2013), also contribute positive outcomes (Smetana, Campione-Barr, & Metzger, 2006). However, little research has examined the ways in which custodial kin, non-custodial kin, and non-custodial fictive kin work together to provide social support to children …

An Experimental Test Of Fiedler's Contingency Model Of Leadership Effectiveness: The Effect Of Gender, Samantha De Souza

Master's Theses

The present study is an experimental test of Fiedler's (1967) Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness across genders, as Fiedler's Contingency Model has been tested largely with male participants. The model predicts group performance based on four key variables: leadership style, as indexed by the Least-Preferred Coworker (LPC) Scale, and three situational variables, leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. In situations characterized by high leader-member relations, and low position power, Fiedler predicts a negative correlation between the leader's LPC score and group performance when groups perform a structured task (Octant II), and a positive correlation when groups perform an unstructured …

Educational Debt: Educational Loans And The Family, Keyla Navarrete

Master's Theses

Student debt is a well-documented topic in sociological literature. It is well known that there is a student loan crisis in the United States. However, kinship or familial ties in educational debt is not as studied as individual student loans. The student debt crisis seems to reach a new catastrophic level as years pass. Yet, not much research exists that looks at external sources of financing for students such as parents, grandparents, or other familial ties. This study contributes to the literature of student debt by analyzing debt patterns across those that take out loans for themselves, their spouse, or …

A Chronic Route?: Examining The Path Between Community Violence Exposure, Posttraumatic Stress & Juvenile Delinquency In Low-Income, Urban, African-American Youth, Kaleigh Valencia Wilkins

Master's Theses

Background: Exposure to community violence (ECV; direct victimization and witnessing) can predict negative outcomes for youth such as posttraumatic stress (PTSS) and juvenile delinquent behavior (JDB). Psychosocial reactions to violence can be different based on gender. Predictors of ECV in youth is less understood. This study aims to explore potential chronic pathways between initial ECV and continued ECV for early adolescents. The relationship between ECV as a predictor and ECV as an outcome is hypothesized to be mediated by both PTSS and JDB and moderated by gender. Method: A total of 266 African-American, sixth grade students in high crime, high …

Understanding The Role Of Relationship Satisfaction In Social Support Provision For Youth In The Child Welfare System, Nathan Michael Lutz

Master's Theses

The objective of this study was to examine kin social support and relationship satisfaction, as well as the interaction between these two variables, in terms of their association with placement stability, externalizing behaviors, and internalizing symptoms for youth in the child welfare system. Ordinary Least Squares Regression methods were used in conjunction with Poisson and Negative Binomial Regression methods. the study also examined two different methods for calculating the interaction term to determine relationship satisfaction's moderating effect on the relationship between social support and the outcomes. Results suggested that relationship satisfaction does act as a moderator when externalizing behaviors and …

The Correlation Between Servant Leadership And Organizational Health Within The North England Conference Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Carlton Hugh Douglas

Master's Theses

Problem

Statistics indicate the SDA church in the North England Conference (NEC) is having little effect on the population in the UK. This may be due to the fact that the leadership approach and the structure of the church have not changed despite globalisation, advances in technology, and increased migration. With the demands of operating within a secular, pluralistic society, the North England Conference faces a real challenge to maintain its integrity while being relevant. This study investigates the correlation between perceived servant leadership principles and organizational health by the leaders, pastoral workers, and members of the NEC.

Method

The …

The Longitudinal Relationship Between Callous-Unemotional Traits And Exposure To Community Violence: Examining Primary And Secondary Psychopathy In Serious Adolescent Offenders, Elizabeth Sargent

Master's Theses

in youth, psychopathy is often represented by callous-unemotional traits, characterized by a lack of guilt and empathy. While justice-involved youth can exhibit such traits, less research has been done in adolescents than has been with adults in the justice system. Still, previous research supports that callous-unemotional traits in particular can predict higher risk for adverse outcomes and violent behavior in youth. Various vulnerabilities and experiences contribute to the development of callous-unemotional traits, and while some individuals with psychopathic traits are thought to have been born with an innate inability to feel empathy (primary psychopathy), others may experience psychological distress in …

Understanding Resilience: Investigating The Relationship Between Risk Factors, Resilience, And Psychological Well-Being, Paulyna Schulz

Master's Theses

Numerous studies have indicated that adversity serves as a primary antecedent in the development of psychological resilience, however, adversity can have negative effects on psychological well-being. The current study focused on contributing to present literature by further investigating the roles of protective factors and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on resilience development, as well as the relationship between risk factors, resilience, and psychological well-being in adulthood. It was hypothesized that ACEs would predict the development of resilience when protective factors were high. It was also hypothesized that resilience positively influences the relationship between risk factors and psychological well-being by negating the …

A Karst Feature Predictability Model Within Barber County, Kansas, Gary M. Kelner

Master's Theses

This research consisted of two topics: 1) geographic predictive models of karst features and 2), a petrographic study examining the lithology of the study area. The study area is a privately owned ranch in the Gypsum Hills of Barber County, Kansas and is known to have karst features. Two predictive models for karst features were utilized. Previously identified features, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) imagery aided in the creation of these predictive models. These predictability models also used the ESRI ArcMap software platform. The data for these models consists of slope, …

Use Of Gis Spatial Analysis, Remote Sensing, And Unmanned Aerial Systems In Determining The Susceptibility To Wildfires In Barber County, Kansas, Kara Sill

Master's Theses

Wildfires are becoming more frequent each year not only in the United States, but throughout the world. Barber County, Kansas experienced a devastating wildfire in March 2016, and continues to be at risk of wildfires during the fire season months. This study involved creating a functional GIS Database with layers corresponding to communication, transportation, and infrastructure throughout the county. This will allow responders and officials to have one unified reference space, which will facilitate communication and navigation. Within the ArcGIS environment, route maps can be created to show potential routes and quickest drive time to the scene of the emergency. …

State Park Selection As Determined By User Health, Connor Phelan

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether state park difficulty affected location of travel. This study was conducted at three state park locations within the United States. Surveys and on-site examinations were made at the following locations; Wilson State Park, Kansas, Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas, and Kiholo State Park, Hawaii. Park locations were chosen by varying levels of terrain difficulty, as well as a rating from the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum. Participants were asked to report data via iPads on exercise habits, mobility limiting impairments, and frequency of exercise so a ranking of the healthiest participants could be …

The Impact Of Berrien Springs Water Types On Multiethnic Hair Textures, Ralna M. Simmonds

Master's Theses

This thesis documents an explorative study into the effect of water from various Berrien Springs water sources on the multiethnic hair texture of Andrews University students/faculty. Participants were living in the area for at least five months, whether originally from the United States or other countries of the world. The theory informing this study is the Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT) by Burgoon (1976). EVT is a communication theory that examines the reaction to behaviors within nonverbal communication that are expected or unexpected in a positive or negative light. In this context EVT has not been used to examine nonverbal communication, …

Using Moral Foundations Framing To Influence Partisan Attitudes Toward Latino Immigrants, Salma Moaz

Master's Theses

This study aims to use Moral Foundations Theory to reduce prejudiced attitudes towards Latino immigrants. Research has shown that liberals and conservatives tend to differ in their support of moral foundations. Liberals are more likely to endorse individualizing moral foundations (fairness and caring for others) while conservatives are more likely to endorse binding moral foundations (sanctity, loyalty, and authority). Participants read one of two brief messages in support of Latino immigrants framed in either the binding or individualizing morals. the hypothesis was that conservatives who read the binding message will have more pro-immigrant attitudes, be more supportive of pro-immigrant policies, …

Condition Severity And Parent Psychosocial Functioning In Families Of Youth With Spina Bifida: The Role Of Parental Attitudes And Beliefs, Elicia Wartman

Master's Theses

Past research suggests that parents of youth with spina bifida (SB) have worse psychosocial outcomes than parents of typically developing youth. SB is a complex medical condition that is accompanied by varying degrees of physical disability and cognitive deficits. Research on stress and coping suggests that parents' attitudes and beliefs may contribute to their own psychosocial adjustment. This study unpacks condition severity and examines the role of severity of condition-related factors in predicting parental adjustment and parental attitudes and beliefs. Participants were recruited as part of a larger longitudinal study. Information on condition severity, including type of SB, lesion level, …

Trajectories Of Adaptive Functioning Among Youth With Spina Bifida: The Influence Of Neurocognitive Functioning And Parental Scaffolding, Adrien Winning

Master's Theses

Youth with spina bifida (SB), a congenital birth defect affecting the central nervous system, are at risk of experiencing an array of psychosocial and functional deficits (Copp et al., 2015; Holmbeck et al., 2003). Indeed, previous research has documented difficulties across the three adaptive functioning domains outlined by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD): conceptual (e.g., communication, self-direction, functional academics), social (e.g., interpersonal skills), and practical (e.g., self-care, navigating health-care; Copp et al., 2015). Despite this evidence, whether or not children with SB typically acquire skills across development is largely unknown. Additionally, little is known about risk …

Emotion Reactivity And Its Relation To Daily Affect And Sleep Experiences Among First Year College Students, Elizabeth Marie Rea

Master's Theses

Individuals with high emotion reactivity may be at increased likelihood to experience emotions more intensely, frequently, and for longer periods of time than those with low emotion reactivity. This might lead to more extreme fluctuations in their daily experience of emotion. Additionally, those high in emotion reactivity may be at risk for poor sleep. The transition to college has been shown to be a difficult time for some students, and potentially contribute to these emotional fluctuations and shorter sleep duration. However, students high in emotion reactivity might be more likely to experience the negative effects of this transition than those …

The Effect Of Imagined Intergroup Contact On Heterosexism, Laurel Mertz

Master's Theses

Heterosexism and other forms of prejudice against the LGBTQ community remain prevalent across the world. Thus, the study of how to reduce heterosexism has become a much more common and necessary domain of research in recent years. Previous research has demonstrated mixed results of the effect of imagined intergroup contact on heterosexism. the current study sought to evaluate various contexts in which imagined intergroup contact would decrease or increase levels of both implicit and explicit heterosexist attitudes. I predicted that individuals who imagined winning a basketball game with a gay teammate would display more positive attitudes toward gay men whereas …

Uncovering The Depression Treatment Gap: The Role Of Motivation To Change, God Image, And Religious Affiliation, Cyrus Chiasson

Master's Theses

Research analyzing factors that are indicative of treatment seeking for depression is warranted. In the United States, approximately 70% of individuals with depression do not receive treatment. The aim of the current study is to evaluate motivation to change, God image, and religious affiliation as predictors of current treatment engagement for depression. Motivation to change has previously been evaluated as a predictor of treatment outcome for depression but not as a predictor of current treatment engagement. Additionally, previous research indicates religious involvement is associated with less depressive symptomology but is in turn related to negative views towards mental health treatment …

Dear Mama, These Cops Don’T Understand Me: The Influence Of Mental Health Stigma On Youth Incarceration, Ashley Lockwood

Master's Theses

Youth within the juvenile justice system have a higher prevalence of mental illness when compared to the general population, with some literature revealing up to 80% of incarcerated youth possess a diagnosable disorder (Shufelt & Cocozza, 2006; Underwood & Washington, 2016). Today, mental health stigma is widely prevalent and results in prejudice, discrimination, lowered self-esteem, and other negative outcomes for individuals struggling with mental health related issues (Corrigan & Watson, 2002; Dalgin & Gilbride 2003). With this in mind, the role mental health stigma plays in the lives of youth in the juvenile justice system should not be overlooked. Although …