UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
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Item Behavior Displacement in Sedentary and Screen Time Among Older Adults(2024) Li, Mengying; Choe, Eun Kyoung; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this thesis, I examine sedentary and screen-based activities among older adults, aim- ing to offer insights for designing effective behavior displacement interventions. While displacement represents a potentially effective intervention in reducing sedentary behavior, research in this area has largely overlooked older adults. Through a 7-day diary study and debriefing interviews, I examine reasons and factors that influence older adults’ decisions to displace sedentary and screen-based activities. I find that attention demand and overall productivity and quality of activities are key factors that influence older adults’ decisions to engage in displacement. I identify internal and external catalysts for displacement and preferred displacement strategies by older adults in various conditions. These findings emphasize the importance of designing personalized and adaptive interventions to reduce sedentary time, considering the diverse preferences and agency of older adults.Item Associations between Classical Music, Physical Activity and Symptoms of Depression in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic(2023) Arnold-Nedimala, Naomi A; Smith, J Carson; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Background: The initial lockdown in March 2020 due to COVID-19 rattled the residents of North America as normalcy came to a standstill, freedom was stripped away, and people were forced to adapt to new restrictions and regulations, simply to survive. The elderly population was greatly affected by the lockdown as it prohibited those living in assisted living facilities to physically interact with family and friends highlighting the need to identify protective behaviors against mental health and depression. The neurological benefits of listening to classical music is an emerging area of research. A few studies suggest the positive outcomes of listening to classical music in reducing symptoms of depression. Additionally, while the cardiovascular benefits of exercise are well known, the impact of exercise on affect continues to be an emerging area of research. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the efficacy of listening to classical music in attenuating symptoms of depression in older adults (50 – 90+) utilizing data collected from 3 separate time points during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine if physical activity is associated with providing additional benefit to lowering symptoms of depression Methods: A survey including the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE), and questions about listening to music (classical, Broadway, Christian music), and the frequency of listening to music was generated and distributed to people living in the United States and Canada immediately following the initial COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020. Informed consent was obtained prior to completing the survey, and participants who were interested in receiving a follow-up survey were asked to provide their email addresses. The follow-up surveys were generated 4-months (August 2020) and one year (April 2021) after the initial survey. Results: At the initial onset of the COVID-19 lockdown in April 2020, significant associations were observed between classical music listening (CML) and lower symptoms of depression, physical activity (PA) and lower symptoms of depression, music listening frequency, and lower symptoms of depression. In August 2020 and April 2021, significant associations were found between physical activity and lower symptoms of depression. However, no associations were observed between classical music listening and lower symptoms of depression, and music listening frequency and lower symptoms Additionally, significant associations were observed between age and lower symptoms of depression, sex, and lower symptoms of depression at all three time points. Conclusion: The results from our study suggest that there is an association between classical music listening and symptoms of depression, physical activity and symptoms of depression, music listening frequency and symptoms of depression in older adults (50+) during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020). Additionally, the association between physical activity and symptoms of depression was maintained throughout the first year of the pandemic as supported by the data collected in August 2020 (4 months) and April 2021 (12-months).Item A MORE-THAN-HUMAN PERSPECTIVE ON OLDER ADULTS’ USE OF AND PARTICIPATION IN DESIGN OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES(2022) Pradhan, Alisha; Lazar, Amanda; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Till date, research on aging in HCI has largely adopted human-centered approaches, such as user-centered and participatory design. However, recent research is beginning to question this “humanistic” focus in aging. Through this dissertation, I provide a case of adopting posthumanist entanglement perspective to understand the ‘more-than-human’ aspects of aging. Posthumanist entanglement perspectives [71]—previously adopted by HCI researchers in different contexts varying from creative design to technical areas such as machine learning and neural networks—attunes to the agency of nonhuman world in addition to the human world to account for how humans and their socio-material worlds are entangled. In Study 1, I investigate older adults’ ontological perceptions with respect to a popular emerging technology to examine the phenomena of “ontological uncertainty” (here, ontologies refer to how things exist and what categories they belong to). Although some researchers adopting entanglement perspectives in HCI argue that ontological uncertainty is posed by emerging technologies such as AI, IoT [71], we lack an understanding of when this uncertainty emerges, and why this matters. Here, the first study of my dissertation focuses on older adults’ use of emerging AI-based voice assistants, and contributes by providing an empirical understanding of the different factors that contribute to ontological uncertainty (e.g., location in house, time, user’s desire for companionship), and provides recommendations for designing voice technologies with ontological categorization in mind. In the next two threads of my work, I attune to the agency of nonhuman entities and how they shape reality associated with older adults’ use of emerging technology (Study 2), and when older individuals engage in designing emerging technology (Study 3). My analysis from Study 2 reveals how nonhuman actors such as materials and norms play a role in shaping older adults’ preference and use of voice technologies. My findings also reveal the salient ways in which voice assistants play an active role in mediating relations between older adults and their larger social world. These mediations are shaping our social practices around what it means to live alone, to give company, or to give and receive care. Finally, my analysis from Study 3— which adopts a posthumanist perspective to understand older adults’ engagement in design workshops— reveals the nuanced ways in which designs materials (both expected and unexpected) act in relation to older adults: from facilitating creative brainstorming, to limiting creative brainstorming, to leading to clashing of ideas, and contributing to non-participation in the design activity. My findings also reveal how older adults went beyond focusing on just the technology idea to account for the physical objects or the environment associated with both technology use and non-use, thus bringing to attention that technology cannot be seen, used, or designed in isolation, and exists within specific configurations of actor-networks. Overall, my thesis contributes by providing insights on the new directions that HCI researchers working on aging can take in terms of: a) taking into account the ways in which the nonhuman entities act and hold them accountable for undesired realities, b) designing emerging technologies that support meaningful relationships between older adults and their world, and c) move beyond designing technology in isolation to instead purposefully situate older adults in designing meaningful configurations of human and nonhuman entities (including technology).Item CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS AND BASAL FOREBRAIN CHOLINERGIC NETWORKS IN OLDER ADULTS(2021) Won, Junyeon; Smith, J. Carson; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)BACKGROUND: Age-related cholinergic dysfunction within the basal forebrain (BF) is associated with cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in older adults. Accumulating evidence suggests that higher cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is linked to neuroprotective effects. However, we have yet to understand the associations between CRF, BF cholinergic function, and cognitive function in older adults. In humans, resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) using functional MRI (fMRI) is useful to characterize the functional aspect of the BF cholinergic connectivity. PURPOSE: 1) To investigate the relationships between CRF-BF rsFC, CRF-cognitive performance, and BF rsFC-cognitive performance in older adults; 2) To investigate the moderating effects of CRF in the relationship between BF rsFC and cognitive function; 3) To investigate the possibility of BF rsFC as a neurophysiological mechanism underpinning the association between CRF and cognitive function in older adults. METHODS: We utilized a publicly available dataset from the Nathan Kline Institute Rockland Sample in which CRF, cognitive test scores (e.g., Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Delis-Kaplan color-word Interference test, and D Delis-Kaplan trail making test), and fMRI data are available in a large sample of older adults. Resting-state fMRI were preprocessed using a rigorous method and valid image processing software. Linear regression models were used to assess the associations between CRF, BF rsFC, and cognitive performance in Specific Aim 1. Sex-dependent differences in the BF rsFC were also investigated as a post-hoc analysis. The interaction between CRF and BF rsFC on cognitive performance was tested using linear regression and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for Specific Aim 2. Mediation analysis was administered to examine the possible mediating role of BF rsFC in the relationship between CRF and cognitive function (Specific Aim 3). RESULTS: There was an association between higher CRF and greater NBM rsFC in older adults. There were significant correlations between CRF, CRF-related NBM rsFC, and trail making test performance only in women. Importantly, higher CRF was associated with better Trail Making performance through greater NBM rsFC in females. Lastly, higher CRF was associated with a greater positive association between NBM rsFC and Color-Word Interference performance in older women. CONCLUSION: Higher CRF is associated with greater NBM rsFC in older adults. The association between higher CRF and better executive function performance, however, was evident only in females. Our results further provide evidence that the NBM rsFC may be an underlying neural mechanism in the relationship between CRF and executive function specifically in older women. Hence, sex differences may exist within the CRF-related neuroprotective effects on the NBM functional network and executive function.Item Food Insecurity, Service Awareness, Social Factors, and Quality of Life in Community-Dwelling Older Adults(2021) Vaudin, Anna Margaret; Sahyoun, Nadine R; Nutrition; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Older adults are at risk for food insecurity due to financial constraints, physical difficulties, social isolation, and the resulting limitations on food access. Social isolation has two components – objective, such as social contacts, and subjective, such as loneliness – and each may have a unique relationship with food insecurity. Unmet needs exist for services that aim to improve food access in older adults, and research is limited on how those who do use the services find out about them. Additionally, these services aim to improve quality of life (QOL), and yet this impact cannot be quantified because current tools do not capture the ways food affect QOL beyond nutritional status. This dissertation uses qualitative methods to understand (1) how food and eating impact QOL in community-dwelling older adults, (2) how individuals become aware of the services they use to address barriers to food and eating, and (3) the interaction between food security, loneliness, and QOL. In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 urban- and suburban-dwelling older adults. Interview scripts were transcribed and themes identified in the data using grounded theory methods. The first study showed that health and vitality, independence, mental and emotional well-being, socialization and support, and activities, both inside and outside the home, affected participants’ QOL. Food and eating affected QOL through access and choice, health and vitality, enjoyment of food, and food preparation. The second study showed that participants primarily found out about the resources they use through encounters in their daily lives, rather than service outreach. The final study showed that, compared with those who were food secure, those who were food insecure were more likely to report a negative effect of loneliness on their QOL, primarily experienced as depressive symptoms. This dissertation shows that food and eating affect older adults through not only the physiological effects of good nutrition, but also through social, psychological, and sensory effects on QOL. Additionally, the results point to the importance of social factors for both service awareness and mental health in those who face barriers to food and eating. Future studies and new tools are needed to quantify these impacts.Item The Relationship between Dietary intake and Biomarkers of carotenoids and Physical Functioning among U.S. Older Adults(2015) Sheikomar, Olfat Bakur; Sahyoun, Nadine; Nutrition; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Decline of physical function [PF] in old age might be related to oxidative damage caused by free radicals, and antioxidants may play a role in reducing the risk of physical functional limitations [PFL]. Yet little is known about the role of carotenoids in PFL. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of total and daily dietary intakes of carotenoids, fruit and vegetables [FV] and their biomarkers with PF among U.S. older adults. Data were from 2,905 men and women [≥ 60 years] in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES] 2003-2006. Using logistic regression, we found that serum concentration of carotenoids was associated with limitations in PF. In the fully adjusted model, the ORs [95% CI] of having limitation in activities of daily living [ADLs], instrumental activities of daily living [IADLs] and movement difficulties [MD] were 2.03 [1.16 - 3.53], 2.34 [1.61 - 3.42], and 2.15 [1.46 - 3.18], respectively, comparing the lowest quintile of serum carotenoids to the highest. Total intake and dietary intake of carotenoids were found to be associated with limitations in IADL. However, low FV consumptions were not significantly associated with PF domains. In conclusion, elevated levels of serum carotenoids are significantly associated with better physical functional performance and may play an important role in delaying the onset of physical decline.Item Unmet Need for Nutrition-Related Services in Recently Hospital-Discharged Older Adults(2015) Vaudin, Anna Margaret; Sahyoun, Nadine R; Nutrition; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Older adults returning home from the hospital may have disabilities that prevent them from obtaining or preparing adequate nutritious food. Additionally, they may have difficulty identifying their need for or accessing services that could provide support. We aimed to identify the level of unmet need for services that may affect nutritional health in community-dwelling older adults. We also compared the prevalence of perceived need for services with objectively assessed need. We explored the need for home health care, transportation, mental health, oral health, vision, grocery delivery, and physical therapy services in 566 community-dwelling, recently hospital-discharged older adults. Almost half (45.6%) of the sample reported unmet need for at least one service. For each service, there was discrepancy between perceived need and assessed need. By improving the screening of hospital-discharged older adults' needs for nutrition-related services, the healthcare community can improve targeting of services to those with the most nutritional risk.