Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
Browse
11 results
Search Results
Item “THIS WILL NOT KILL US:” A REFLECTIVE EXPLORATION OF HOW BLACK WOMEN DOCTORAL STUDENTS AND ALUMNAE STRIVED FOR HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS(2024) Stone, Joakina; Kelly, Bridget T; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this qualitative research study was to develop a better understanding of the factors that influenced the holistic mental health and wellness of Black women doctoral students and recent alumnae during their doctoral journey. Although research is emerging on the wellness of graduate students, there is limited literature on Black women doctoral students’ wellness. From 2020 to 2023 there were national events involving Black women that underscored the necessity to understand and prioritize the holistic wellness of Black women doctoral students (e.g. Black women in higher education leaving their high-ranking positions and Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles taking a break from their respective sports and citing mental health as a factor). Using narrative inquiry as a methodological approach, and a conceptual framework comprised of Black feminist thought (Collins, 1986, 1989) and Hettler’s (1980, 1984) six dimensions of wellness, the experiences of nine Black women doctoral students and recent alumnae (who were no more than six-months post-graduation) were explored. This research sought to understand the strategies Black women doctoral students and recent alumnae used to manage and maintain their holistic mental health and wellness. The specific research questions that guided this study are: (1) How do Black women doctoral students and recent alumnae at Research 1 (R1) or Research 2 (R2) institutions in the mid-Atlantic region describe their mental health and wellness while pursuing their doctoral degree? (2) What contributed to and interfered with the holistic mental health and wellness of Black women doctoral students and recent alumnae during their doctoral programs?Co-narrators (participants of the study) participated in two semi-structured interviews, each ranging from 60 to 90 minutes in length. Data collection also included co-narrators submitting memes or gifs that represented their mental health and wellness during their doctoral journey. There were several themes that emerged from the data. First, the visual data revealed that co-narrators experienced exhaustion, anguish, fluctuation between joy and stress, and the need to keep moving forward despite what was happening around them. The images submitted served as a visual representation for the overall experiences of the women in the study and enhanced the understanding of the factors that contributed to or interfered with the holistic mental health and wellness of Black women doctoral students (i.e., Research Question 2). The additional findings that emerged from study are as follows: (a) “Wellness for Your Whole Body:” Co-Narrators Definitions of Holistic Mental Health and Wellness; (b) Factors that Contributed to Holistic Wellness, including the subthemes “They Needed the Sisterhood:” The Importance of Community with Other Black Women, and “Finding Those Pockets:” Intentionally Choosing Wellness in the PhD Journey; (c) Positive and Negative Contributing Factors to Holistic Mental Health and Wellness, which included the subthemes “All Skin Folk Ain’t Kinfolk:” Interactions with Challenging Black Faculty and Administrators, and “My Advisor . . . Was Super Supportive:” How Relationships with Black Faculty and Non-Black Faculty and Administrators of Color Can Influence Wellness; (e) Detractors From Holistic Mental Health and Wellness, which included the subthemes “The PhD Program Is Good About . . .Letting You Know You Don’t Belong:” Impostorism and Lack of Belonging in the Academy and “What Is the Benefit of . . . Being Productive, If You’re Literally Killing Yourself?”: Negotiating Wellness to Finish the PhD. The study concluded with implications for practice and research, followed by a letter from the author directly addressing Black women doctoral students.Item OUTCOMES OF YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID USA WITH PARENTS: EXAMINING BELIEFS, BEHAVIORS, AND KNOWLEDGE(2020) Marsico, Kristen Frese; Wang, Cixin; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Youth typically do not seek mental health services for themselves, and instead rely on their parents to play a “gatekeeper role,” and identify the problem and seek appropriate services for the youth. Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) USA teaches adults to recognize signs of youth mental illness and intervene using a five-step action plan that focuses on assessing for risk, listening nonjudgmentally, and connecting youth to resources and mental health care. While studies have examined the effects of the program on various stakeholders in children’s lives, limited attention has been given to parent trainees. The present study examined the effects of YMHFA USA on parents’ mental health literacy; mental health first aid intentions, self-reported MHFA behaviors to help youth, and confidence in their helping skills; attitudes toward seeking professional help and intentions to do so; and stigma. Six trainings were provided at no cost to parents with at least one child under the age of 21, and 107 parents participated in the research by completing pre-, post-, and two month follow-up surveys (n = 64). Paired sample t-tests were conducted to examine change, and results indicated that following the training, parents reported statistically significant increases in all variables of interest with the exception of stigma, which decreased. Changes in MHL, attitudes, intentions toward help-seeking, and stigma were maintained at two month follow-up. Participants answered six open-ended questions and responses were thematically analyzed. Qualitative results indicate that parents signed up for YMHFA USA due to a desire for knowledge and skills, having multiple roles that necessitate interactions with youth, prior experience with mental illness, and the increasing prevalence of youth mental illness. Parents identified that the most beneficial aspects of the training were learning the ALGEE action plan, participating in roleplays and examples, gaining information about youth mental illness, having a positive/open training environment, and learning strategies for understanding and interacting with youth. Finally, improvements to YMHFA USA were suggested in regard to both the content and structure of the training. Implications for practice and research are discussed.Item Chinese Parenting Styles and Parental Involvement on Adolescents’ School Success(2020) Zhu, Qianyu; Wang, Cixin; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Academic burnout and engagement are important indicators of students’ school success. Studies have revealed that parenting styles and parental involvement have significant influences on students’ academic burnout and engagement. However, few studies have explored the mechanism of how parenting styles and parental involvement impact students’ academic burnout and engagement, especially among Chinese high school students. This study examined whether parenting styles and parental involvement (based on parental report) influenced high school students’ academic burnout and engagement via perceived parental support (based on adolescent report). A total of 285 Chinese high school students and their fathers and mothers participated in the current study. Results indicated that paternal authoritative parenting negatively related to academic burnout, and maternal authoritarian parenting positively related to academic burnout. Additionally, in both paternal and maternal models, perceived parental support mediated the relations between authoritative parenting and knowledge and skills involvement and students’ academic engagement. Moreover, the study also indicated that fathers and mothers may influence boys’ and girls’ academic burnout and engagement differently. Parents and schools can use the findings to increase high students’ academic engagement and decrease students’ academic burnout.Item Secondary Traumatic Stress, Financial Stress, and the Role of Coping in Understanding Southeast Asian American Mental Health(2019) Truong, Nancy Nguyen; Miller, Matthew J; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study advances the literature by jointly examining two stressors (secondary traumatic stress and financial stress) hypothesized to impact the mental health of the Southeast Asian American (SEAA) community and focused on the experiences of generational stress with SEAAs. This study also examined how coping moderated the relationship between stress and mental health. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to test whether secondary traumatic stress, financial stress, direct and indirect coping (entered in Step 1), and the interactions between stress and coping (entered in Step 2) predicted mental health. Participants included 134 self-identified 1.5-generation and second-generation SEAA adults who completed an online survey. Consistent with emerging research, increased financial stress and secondary traumatic stress significantly predicted poorer mental health. Further, indirect coping significantly predicted poorer mental health. Contrary to expectations, none of the moderation effects were significant. Post-hoc analyses were also conducted. Limitations and implications for future research and practice are addressed.Item Perceived Ethnic-Racial Socialization and Parenting Styles on Asian American College Students' Depressive Symptoms(2018) Ahn, Lydia HaRim; Miller, Matthew J; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present study examines how perceived mothers’ culturally relevant parenting styles and ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) are associated with depressive symptoms among 280 Asian American college students (M =19.53, SD = 1.57). We hypothesized that perceived ERS will predict depressive symptoms, and perceived authoritarian, authoritative, and training parenting styles will moderate this association. We used a cross-sectional, quantitative design to measure this model through an online questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were dependent on the parenting style and the type of ERS message. Results indicated that 1) training parenting style (high in guidance and care for children) was negatively associated with depressive symptoms, 2) the combination of promotion of equality messages and training parenting style was negatively linked with depressive symptoms, and 3) authoritarian parenting was positively correlated with depressive symptoms. Findings highlight the importance of culturally sensitive parenting on mental health.Item Mental Health Literacy, stigma, and attitudes toward help-seeking at school for Asian- and Latino-American adolescents(2018) Barlis, Julia Emily Christine; Wang, Cixin; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Although adolescents are most likely to receive mental health services in the school setting compared with other settings, few studies have examined barriers to mental health help-seeking at school for ethnic minority students. The current mixed-methods study utilized surveys and semi-structured interviews to examine the relation between mental health literacy (MHL), stigma, and attitudes toward formal help-seeking among 56 adolescents (50.0% Asian-American, 44.6% Latino-American, 5.4% Asian/Latino bi-racial; M age= 17.28 years, SD= 2.28). As hypothesized, stigma negatively predicted attitudes toward formal help-seeking. However, contrary to our hypotheses and prior work, MHL did not predict attitudes toward formal help-seeking. Qualitative analysis revealed important knowledge, attitudinal, and practical barriers that inhibit minority adolescents from seeking help for mental health problems at school. The current work has implications to assist school personnel and service providers in understanding and reducing barriers to care, particularly for Asian- and Latino-American adolescents at school.Item ‘Butch Up’ or ‘Sissy That Walk’? Testing the Potential of Gender Affirmations to Moderate Masculinity Threat in Gay Men(2018) Vernay, Collin; Shin, Richard Q; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)There is evidence to suggest heterosexual men respond to threats to their masculinity in a number of deleterious ways, but few studies have examined this relationship in sexual minority men. For this reason, the present study sought to investigate the effects of an experimentally manipulated masculinity threat on the moods, internalized heterosexism, and self-esteem of gay men, while exploring the potential for gender affirmation exercises to moderate such effects. A sample of 129 gay men were recruited and asked to engage in either a gender affirmation or control writing task, after which they were either exposed to a masculinity threat or control. Findings across conditions were nonsignificant for each of the outcome measures regardless of writing task or threat exposure. Findings were similarly nonsignificant for the interaction between these variables. These findings further complicate the limited and often inconsistent literature on gay men and masculinity.Item A Social Cognitive Approach to Coping with Acculturative Stress in International Students(2015) Ezeofor, Ijeoma; Lent, Robert W; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present study employed a cross-sectional design to test a model of coping with acculturative stress in an international student sample. Drawing from Lent’s (2004) social cognitive model of restorative well-being, several direct and mediated paths were hypothesized to predict (negatively) acculturative stress and (positively) life satisfaction. Behavioral acculturation and behavioral enculturation (Kim & Omizo, 2006) were also examined as predictors of coping with acculturative stress among international students. Using a self-report survey, participants’ ratings of acculturative stress, life satisfaction, social support, behavioral acculturation, behavioral enculturation, and coping self-efficacy were assessed. The results revealed that the variables of the model explained 16% of the variance in acculturative stress and 27% of the variance in life satisfaction. A final model, including the use of modification indices, provided good fit to the data. Findings also suggested that coping self-efficacy was a direct predictor of acculturative stress, and that behavioral acculturation and coping self-efficacy were direct predictors of students’ life satisfaction. Limitations, future research, and practical implications are discussed.Item Predictors of feelings of depression among Asian American college students(2016) Koo, Katie; Park, Julie J.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between various collegiate experiences including substance use, religiosity, campus climate, academic life, social life, self-concept, satisfaction with college, and perceived feelings of depression among Asian American college students compared to other racial groups. Employing Astin’s (1993) I-E-O model, the study utilized the 2008 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) the Freshman Survey (TFS) and the follow up College Senior Survey (CSS) in 2012 with the final sample of 10,710 students including 951 Asian American students. Descriptive analysis, cross-tabulations, blocked hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the equality of the unstandardized beta coefficients from the regression analyses, and a one-way ANOVA were conducted for the data analysis. Asian American students who are female, from low SES backgrounds, academically less achieved, frequent substance users, less religiously involved, and less satisfied with overall college experiences showed higher levels of feeling depressed. For the rate of feeling depressed across racial groups, Asian American college students showed the highest rate of feeling depressed while White students reported the lowest rate of feeling depressed. For Asian American college students, feeling depressed in high school, hours spent per week on studying and homework, and self-confidence in intellectual ability were the most significant predictors of feelings of depression while drinking beer, drinking liquor, spirituality, failing to complete homework on time, hours spent per week on socializing, self rated self-confidence in social ability, and satisfaction with overall college experiences were significant predictors of feelings of depression. Asian American college students spent the longest hours on studying and homework, reported the highest GPA, but showed the lowest self-confidence on intellectual ability. For all four racial groups, feeling depressed in high school and self-confidence in intellectual ability were significant predictors of feelings of depression in common. Implications for practice and directions for future research emphasize the need for better understanding the unique cultural background and impact of academic life associated with feelings of depression among Asian American college students and developing customized psycho-educational and outreach programs to meet unique needs for psychological well-being for each racial group on campus.Item DETERMINING THE VARIABLES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO JOB TENURE FOR PEOPLE WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES PARTICIPATING IN AN EVIDENCED-BASED SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM(2012) Ethridge, Glacia; Fabian, Ellen S; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Despite the implementation of supported employment programs and the assistance from supported employment specialists, people with disabilities continue to have lower employment rates than their non-disabled counterparts. Persons with psychiatric disabilities continue to have lower employment rates than people with visual disabilities and people with hearing disabilities. The purposes of this secondary analysis research study were to identify factors that distinguished those individuals with psychiatric disabilities who obtained employment while participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program from those individuals with psychiatric disabilities who did not obtain employment while participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program and to identify the variables that contributed to job tenure of people with psychiatric disabilities participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program. Participants were clients who participated in the Back to Work Program at St. Luke's House and were enrolled in the study for 27.5 months. Univariate and bivariate analyses revealed that the only factor that distinguished those individuals with psychiatric disabilities who obtained employment while participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program from those individuals with psychiatric disabilities who did not obtain employment while participating in an evidenced-based supported employment was social security benefits. No variables were found to contribute to the job tenure for clients with psychiatric disabilities participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program. Due to the low enrollment rate, additional descriptive analyses were used and found interesting patterns for employment and job tenure for clients with psychiatric disabilities participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program. This study introduced the Social Cognitive Career Theory as a proposed framework to understanding employment for persons with psychiatric disabilities and their job tenures while participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program. Attachment to the labor market was used to expand how job tenure was measured. Limitations to the study, implications for Rehabilitation Counselors and Rehabilitation Counselor Educators, and future research suggestions were provided.