Search Results

open access

Childhood Learning: Examining Attitudes toward School and Learning Ability

Description: A child's ability to learn in school and school performance are affected by various factors. Variables that affect learning and academic performance in 46 children, 4 - 7 years old, were examined. Children, parents, and teachers completed questionnaires rating children's attitudes and behavior toward school. Children completed a computerized matching-to-sample (MTS) task. The MTS trained the children to form 3 stimulus classes. One stimulus class included three arbitrary stimuli, the others con… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Geddes, Jeffrey D.
open access

An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model of Attachment Processes, Conflict Resolution, and Psychological Abuse on Relationship Quality in a Community Sample of Heterosexual Couples.

Description: The purpose of this study is to determine whether adult attachment style, psychological abuse in the marriage, conflict resolution strategies, and gender are associated with relational quality in childless couples in the early years of their marriage. Data were collected from 92 married couples who were recruited from university campuses, churches, and community organizations through e-mails, flyers, newspaper advertisements and mailings. Conceptualizing the interdependence of dyadic data from … more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Bretz, Karen
open access

Role of Parental Anxiety on Pediatric Feeding Disorders

Description: The proposed study examined the relationship between parental anxiety, measured both subjectively (via self-report questionnaires) and objectively (via salivary cortisol) and the child's feeding progress. Children diagnosed with a feeding disorder were recruited with their parents at Our Children's House at Baylor (n=19; 11 females, 8 males). The patients and their parents were housed in the clinic for an eight-week intensive multidisciplinary pediatric feeding disorder treatment program. Calor… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Didehbani, Nyaz
open access

Victimization and expressions of relational and overt aggression among boys and girls with ADHD.

Description: This study investigated if girls and boys high in ADHD symptomology exhibited and experienced relational and overt aggression differently than boys and girls without ADHD symptoms using peer, parent and teacher ratings. A measurement of social behavior for parent ratings was also validated. Using archival data, 371 3rd- 6th graders from a north Texas school district participated in the study, along with a parent or guardian and teachers. Results supported that ADHD subtype predicted more overt… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Rivero, Arlene Jean Abello
open access

Evaluation of skill maintenance, performance factors, and external validity in a behavioral parent training program.

Description: Child maltreatment affects 900 thousand children in the U.S. every year and impacts all areas of daily functioning. Behavioral parent training (BPT) programs have effectively taught parenting and demonstrated externally valid outcomes (i.e., lower recidivism rates). Skill maintenance assessments for BPTs have mixed results. The Behavior Management and Parenting Services (BMAPS) program has shown effective skill training for court-mandated families. This study assessed skill maintenance and perf… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Scherbarth, Andrew J.
open access

Bidirectional Effects Between Engaged Lifestyle and Cognition in Later Life: Exploring the Moderation Hypothesis for Personality Variables.

Description: Longitudinal data (N = 263) was used to investigate the bidirectional relationship between engagement (engaged lifestyle activities) and cognition (crystallized & fluid intelligence). Extroversion and openness to experience were also tested as moderators of the relationship between engagement and cognition. Results showed that the relationship between engagement at Wave 1 and cognition at Wave 2 did not differ from the relationship between cognition at Wave 1 and engagement at Wave 2. Testing f… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Starkweather, Jonathan
open access

Perceived Racial Discrimination and Psychiatric Outcomes among Asian Americans

Description: The present study related generational status, family dynamics, and perceptions of racial discrimination (PRD) to acute psychiatric outcomes among a nationally representative Asian American sample (N = 2095), using data from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). High self-reports of PRD were correlated with endorsement of clinical depression and suicidality as predicted. Regression analyses suggested that high PRD, low family cohesion, and high family conflict served as signific… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Varghese, Anita
open access

Negative affect and positive symptoms of psychosis.

Description: The current study utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the factor-to-factor relations and temporal associations between disturbances in negative affect (NA) and positive symptoms of psychosis (PP). Data were drawn from a large, public-domain data set (MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study). A dimensional approach was used to conceptualize and identify latent variables of NA (depression, anxiety, and guilt) and PP (hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder) among indiv… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Crutchfield, Audra
open access

Factors of the Geriatric Depression Scale that may Distinguish between Four Cognitive Diagnostic Groups: Normal, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type, and Vascular Dementia

Description: The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationship between cognitive status and depression in a sample of geriatric patients. Participants included 282 geriatric patients ranging in age from 65 to 96 years who were classified according to diagnosis as: DAT, VaD, MCI, and Norm. All were referred for neurocognitive testing from the Geriatric Assessment Program (GAP) at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) in Fort Worth, Texas. This study sought to identify fa… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Cornett, Patricia F.
open access

Self Blame in Sexual Assault Survivors and Attributions to Other Sexual Assault Survivors

Description: Previous research indicates that survivors of sexual assault often blame themselves for the assault. Research has also shown that people blame the perpetrator in some situations and the survivor in other situations involving sexual assault. The purpose of this study was to discover if survivors of sexual assault who blame themselves tend to blame other survivors (survivor blame) in situations different from their own. Another purpose was to assess whether or not sexual assault survivors who do … more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Pepper, Sarah E.
open access

Moderators of the sociocultural internalization-body dissatisfaction relationship among female undergraduates.

Description: The sociocultural model of eating pathology is an empirically-supported model explaining eating disorder etiology. The model poses that body dissatisfaction and subsequent eating pathology stems from the unrealistic standards formulated by Westernized society. Although the model has strong empirical support, variables within the model do not account for 100% of the variance in disordered eating. Thus, the current researcher attempted to explore potential moderating factors in the sociocultural … more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Latimer-Kern, Kelsey M.
open access

Antecedents of Commitment to and Support of a Proposed Change Initiative in a Southern Baptist Congregation.

Description: This study extends research findings directed at a micro-focus of change by assessing individual organizational members' perspectives and psychological constructs influencing change efforts by an organization. The change initiative in question regards the construction of a new facility and subsequent relocation to said facility. Moral commitment to the organization (negative), change initiative's fit with organizational vision, and social influence significantly contributed to variance in membe… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Lee, Audra
open access

A Longitudinal Examination of Factors Associated with Custodial Grandparenting: A Test of Moderated Mediation

Description: The purpose of this study was to explore the following relationships: (a) how moderating factors (gender, age, ethnicity, social support, marital status, reason for role assumption and number of grandchildren in the home) can influence the mediating role of resiliency, and (b) how resiliency may mediate the negative effects of raising grandchildren (role demands, life disruptions, and difficulties with grandchildren) on grandparent adjustment over time. Resiliency was hypothesized to have the g… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Moske, Amanda Kay
open access

Relationship between Fortune 500 companies with regulatory violations and/or criminal offenses and resulting stock values.

Description: The purpose of this study was to determine whether publicly disclosed violations by U.S corporations, resulting in convictions or settlements, erode shareholder investment in the offending organizations. This study was designed to assess whether or not the shareholders' reactions to corporations' violations were related to a decline in organizations' stock valuations across sectors. In addition, this study attempted to assess whether or not shareholder support, expressed by stock prices, declin… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Bhagwat, Tanya A.
open access

A test of an etiological model: The development of disordered eating in Division-I university female gymnasts and swimmers/divers.

Description: Certain sport environments may contribute to the development of disordered eating and those that heavily emphasize weight and/or body shape can be particularly damaging to an athlete's body image, self-concept, and eating behaviors. In particular, female athletes in collegiate sports are at a greater risk for engaging in unhealthy behaviors because they face both societal pressures from Western culture to be thin, in addition to sport pressures that focus on performance and appearance. Accordin… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Anderson, Carlin Mahan
open access

Deficits in Miranda Comprehension and Reasoning: The Effects of Substance Use and Attention Deficits.

Description: Each year, an estimated 318,000 defendants who do not comprehend the Miranda warnings waive their rights and provide incriminating evidence without the protection of counsel (Rogers, 2008), which make Miranda-related competencies one of the most pervasive pretrial issues. A wide range of issues could potentially affect an individual's capacity to provide a knowing and intelligent waiver. Previous Miranda research has focused narrowly on the effects of cognitive and developmental factors. The cu… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Hazelwood, Lisa L.
open access

Examining Career Transitions during Mid-Adulthood through the Lens of Bioecological and Microdevelopmental Research

Description: Using hierarchical multiple linear regression, this study examined the predictive relationship between micro-career transitions and career related outcomes and how those relationships were moderated by equilibration style. Participants (n = 177) answered an online survey which included a variety of measures for control, predictor, moderator, and outcome criterion (i.e., demographic descriptors, Instrumentality, Openness, Job Insecurity, Social Support Satisfaction, Microtransitions, Equilibrati… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Davis, Joe Edd
open access

The role of resilience in mediating outcomes associated with grandparents raising their grandchildren.

Description: The occurrence of custodial grandparents is increasing greatly. These grandparents face added stress and many adversities that arise from caregiving. Findings of current research tends to be mixed on the effects of grandparents raising grandchildren experience. Much research concludes that grandparent caregivers experience negative declines in overall health and well-being, while other research points out that the caregiving role may actually be a positive experience for the grandparent. Th… more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Davis, Shanna R.
open access

Psychological Stress Reactivity and Recovery: The Role of Cognitive Appraisals, Ethnicity and Sex

Description: The aim of this research was to investigate the role of sex, ethnicity and cognitive appraisals, separately and in combination, on the physiological stress response. One hundred and eight undergraduate students from two North Texas universities participated in the study. They were subjected to a laboratory stressor and heart rate, peripheral temperature and cortisol levels were measured pre-, during-, and post- stressor. Perceived stress and cognitive appraisals were measured via self-report. … more
Date: December 2009
Creator: Malhotra, Damini
open access

No place to call home: Cultural homelessness, self-esteem and cross-cultural identities.

Description: The study examined relations between a cross-cultural geographically mobile childhood and adult cultural identity, attachment to cross-cultural identities (CCIs) and self-esteem. CCIs are loosely defined identities (e.g., third culture kids [TCKs], military brats, missionary kids) that describe some individuals' childhood cross-cultural experience. The 475 participants spent at least two years before age 18 in a culture different from their parents' and completed an online survey including chil… more
Date: May 2009
Creator: Hoersting, Raquel Carvalho
open access

Cognitive Dysfunction in Middle-Aged Adults vs. Older Adults with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Description: The presence of cognitive deficits in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is well-documented. Specifically, short- and long-term memory, attention/vigilance, and executive function (e.g. processing speed, mental flexibility, and problem solving) are affected. Cognitive deficits in aging occur in similar areas (i.e., memory and processing speed). Given that a greater percentage of older adults experience sleep-disordered breathing as compared to middle-aged adults, it is possible that OSA may accou… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Dolan, Diana C.
open access

A Comparison of Miranda Procedures: The Effects of Oral and Written Administrations on Miranda Comprehension

Description: Millions of custodial suspects waive their rights each year without the benefit of legal counsel. The question posed to psychologists in disputed Miranda waivers is whether this waiver decision was, knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. Mental health professionals must be aware of potential barriers to Miranda comprehension to provide expert opinions regarding a defendant's competency to waive rights. The current study examined how Miranda warning reading level, length, and method of administrat… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Blackwood, Hayley L.
open access

Structural Equation Model of Variables Associated with Family Functioning among a Nationally Representative Sample of Families with a Child with Autism

Description: Previous research indicates that stressors experienced by a family, the perceived level of burden assigned by the family to the stressor, and the utilization of resources predict family functioning. The current study utilized a nationally representative sample of families of children with autistic disorder to determine if previously proposed models of family functioning accurately conceptualized family functioning within a representative sample. Structural equation modeling was utilized to test… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Bezner, Stephanie K.
open access

Dementia, Diabetes, and Depression: Relationship to Cognitive Functioning

Description: The number of adults in the United States who are age 65 or older is rapidly increasing. With longer lifespan comes an increase in chronic diseases such as dementia, diabetes, and depression. This study used archival data from a larger study conducted at the Memory Clinic at John Peter Smith County Hospital in Ft. Worth, Texas to examine several hypotheses and research questions related to the influence of type of dementia, presence of Type II diabetes, and presence of depression on neuropsycho… more
Date: August 2009
Creator: Jackson, Lauren Innes
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